THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE: (7 of 12) PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS

Perseverance of the Saints.

Like I said, we're getting to the to the fifth and final point of the doctrines of grace and as we do every week

you're starting to see a pattern in our notes.

We have to cover definition, right?

So we have to look at definition.

So look there on page 57 in your notes with me.

Definition.

Number one.

The term perseverance presents us with difficulties because it

suggests that it is something we do in and of

ourselves.

It's something we do in and of ourselves.

Well, of course, here's the thing.

We are doing it.

We're walking in it.

We're living in it.

We're persevering.

After all, we see that perseverance in each other, right?

We look around and that's how we can see faith and the evidence of faith in each other's

lives, not just from a profession of faith, but a life lived out that is

persevering.

So we see this.

However, we are not the source of that perseverance.

It is the power of the Holy Spirit within us.

We must make sure that we understand this.

We understand it well.

Which leads us to that second point that you see there in your notes.

A companion term.

You know I had to throw in a different term, right?

But this one sticks with the acrostic, thankfully.

But a companion term for this doctrine is preservation of the saints.

Why is that?

Because it is God who is preserving us.

God who is preserving us.

We're gonna see the passage later on, but y 'all know my favorite passage of Philippians.

What is it?

Yeah, well what is it?

Can you quote it?

He who began a good work in you will see it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.

He is persevering in us.

He is preserving us.

You have kind of two sides to this.

You have man's side and that is the responsibility side, which is the

perseverance.

And you have God's side, the sovereignty side, which is the preservation.

So he is the source.

He is the one that is leading us to and causing us to persevere

because of his preservation.

Does that make sense?

Everybody on the same page so far?

Well look there in that block.

We have a section of the 1689.

I want you to see.

This is what we believe.

This is a summary of what we believe Scripture to say about this matter.

Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, effectually called and

sanctified by his Spirit, and given the precious faith of his elect unto,

can neither, you can underline this section, can neither totally nor finally

fall from the state of grace, but

shall certainly persevere there into the end and to be eternally

saved.

You get about halfway down in that paragraph.

There's a section there.

He's talking about faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces of the Spirit into

immortality.

And though many storms and floods arise and beat against them, which we have that, don't

we?

There are trials and difficulties, yet they shall never be able to

take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened

upon.

There is not a chance where we who have been placed upon the rock can then find

ourselves on the sand.

Our foundation is anchored to that rock securely.

Our foundation is solid at all times and there is nothing, nothing that this life can throw at us to change that

and as we will see as we keep going here.

We'll look at section three.

The preservation of the saints means that all who

have been elected by the Father,

atoned for by the Son, and regenerated by the

Holy Spirit will be saved for all of eternity and that

not one will fall away totally or finally.

It's like the longest fill -in -the -blank we've had so far, right?

I wanted you guys to write those words because this is a summary of what has been talked about so far.

So that first one there, that we've been elected.

Those of you that were here on week two was our definitions.

We talked about election.

What is election?

Do y 'all remember?

What?

God's choosing.

Divine selection of choice is how we defined it in week two.

Election is God's divine selection of choice and so we have been elected by the Father and

we have then been atoned for.

What is this atoned?

Y 'all remember what atonement is?

What the atoning work is?

What is it?

Propitiation.

There's a propitiation made, yes?

Pay the price.

That's good.

By blood ransom.

It's like a reparations for wrongdoing, right?

There's a price that's been paid.

So Christ is atoned and what is regeneration?

What's synonymous with regeneration in scripture?

Remember we talked about this a couple weeks ago.

What is it?

The new birth.

The new birth is synonymous with regeneration.

It's from death to life.

There has been new life that has been brought about by the Holy Spirit and this work that will

not fall away totally and finally we will by no means lose

what he has set out to do.

Look there that passage Romans 8 30 and those whom he predestined he also called

and those whom he called he also justified and those whom he justified he also

glorified.

What does that mean?

We made it.

Is this in the future sense or is this in the past tense?

It's in the past tense and in this passage meaning he's saying it as if it's already done.

It's accomplished.

So that means that those he predestined, those he called, and those he justified will

without question most certainly unequivocally be glorified.

There's not a chance it can't happen.

That's encouraging isn't it?

If he set out to do it he will accomplish it.

He who began a good work and you will see it to completion, right?

This is the preservation of the Saints or the perseverance of the Saints.

Number four, perseverance of the Saints refers to

the external manifestation of holiness in a saved

person's life.

You will know them by their fruit, right?

You remember when we talked about the monergistic act of salvation?

Y 'all remember that?

Mono, singular, God's the one that called, predestined, God's the one that

justified, God's the one that does it all, he's the one that's accomplished it all and you didn't play any

role in it at all even in the slightest.

But then we mentioned that there's this thing called progressive

sanctification that is a synergistic act.

The power is all coming from him.

He's the one sanctifying you, he's the one convicting you, he's the one prodding you, but now you've been

freed to righteousness, meaning that now you can walk in the good works

that he's prepared beforehand, meaning that you can walk in that progressive

sanctification.

Make sense?

But we will know them by the fruit.

This is why this doctrine is so vastly different than once

saved, always saved.

Anybody ever heard that phrase?

We've even used it, haven't we?

Once saved, always saved.

We get our ticket.

The Christian doesn't just say a prayer, seal the deal, and then go on with his life.

There is a life change, there is a heart change, there is an outward

activity change that will accompany a

changed life.

You know, I've seen many people all the time, especially when it involves family members, who are like, yeah, my brother

prayed the prayer years ago, he's just kind of, he's just not living for the Lord right now.

I'm like, well, man, how long has that been going on?

About four years.

Your brother's not in Christ, like you know that, right?

Like, he is as lost as a person that's never heard of Jesus.

Actually, probably in worse shape because now he has heard of Jesus.

Like, you know this, right?

Like, this once saved, always saved has led to many people thinking that we've got nominal

Christians out there that aren't really living for the Lord.

There's no category for that in Scripture.

None.

There is only the perseverance of the saints.

That being said, can a believer go through seasons of rebellion?

You betcha.

But those seasons do not last extended periods of time because

God chastens those that he loves.

And when a believer, when a child of his is in sin, he

cannot stay in the mud long before the Father comes and chastens him

and brings him back into the, to holy living.

That's what we mean by the perseverance of the saints.

That's why we don't use the term once saved, always saved.

Now you got your insurance card, you're good.

Your friend, your neighbor, your family member, your child, your uncle, your

nephew, your niece, your daughter, whatever it may be who does not

live for the Lord, you either one can most certainly not have any confidence that they are

truly in Christ.

You cannot.

More than likely they're not.

Even if they prayed the prayer, got baptized, and had their Bible signed with the date,

and they even cried when they did it, that means nothing.

Nothing.

That's scary, isn't it?

Scripture only teaches the perseverance of the saints, period.

We don't have categories in Scripture for something other than that.

So when we talk about this, we're not talking about the same thing.

We're talking about something categorically different than what we as Baptists have affirmed to

that.

Look on the next page, we've got some Scripture references.

I don't want to just speak for me, I want to speak for Scripture.

First John 2, 3 through 5, and by this we know

that we have come to know him.

If we prayed the prayer, if we attend church,

if we got baptized, walked the aisle, nope,

if we keep his commandments.

Whoever says, I know him but does not keep his commandments is a

liar, and the truth is not in him.

But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.

By this we may know that we are in him.

Hebrews 12, 14, strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see

the Lord.

Now is the writer of Hebrews affirming a works -based righteousness, that you're producing a holiness?

Of course not.

Then that would contradict all of Scripture.

What is he saying?

He's simply saying that a true Christian that's been freed to righteousness, freed to holiness, can

walk in holiness.

And if he doesn't, he's not saved.

And if he does, then that is evidence that we see of a changed heart, that he is

persevering in it.

Matthew 24, 13 But the one who endures to the end

will be saved.

Again, the Word of God, and this is Jesus speaking, Jesus isn't talking about works

righteousness of endurance.

That's not what Jesus is talking about.

He's referring to the persevering power of the Holy Spirit within us.

If the Holy Spirit is within us, you cannot continue on in open

rebellion against him for long.

You can go through seasons, but you cannot go long because he will convict you

because you belong to him.

And as Tari, as you said earlier, like we can't refuse him, we also

will walk in obedience to him because he's the one persevering in us.

He's the one preserving us, convicting us, driving us to holiness, driving us to

obedience, driving us to the body, driving us to all the things that he's called us to.

I'm moving too slow guys, we got to get to the foundation.

Number one, what God starts he will finish.

Simple, isn't it?

There you see my favorite passage there.

I'm sure of this, that you began a good work and he's gonna see it to completion.

It's most certainly gonna happen.

John 10 26 through 30, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

Interesting.

What's unique about a sheep?

He says, they hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.

That's why church discipline is so effective because Jesus gave us four steps to go

through because he knows the hardness of somebody when sin has got its claws into them, but he knows his sheep will

hear.

He knows maybe, maybe when you go to that brother that first time and you say this is the words of Jesus

and you show scripture to him, he knows that sometimes sin isn't gonna let go and he's not gonna let go.

So now you took two or three brothers with you, right?

And if he listens, then he hears the voice of Jesus.

He knows and he follows.

If he doesn't, then the whole church gets involved.

And if he doesn't hear the words of Jesus, now you're left to go, well we have to come to the conclusion

and make the declaration.

They're not his.

They're a Gentile and a tax collector and whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven because we have the keys to the kingdom.

He doesn't belong to Jesus.

She doesn't belong to Jesus because my sheep hear my voice.

Period.

I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them

out of the Father's hand.

And I and the Father are one.

That's encouraging.

If I belong to him, if he loves me, he ain't letting go.

And there's no power in the whole created universe that can overpower that power.

That's the beauty of the perseverance of the Saints, the preservation of the Saints, right?

Number two, if you have it, you will never

lose it.

If you lose it, you never had it.

It's that simple.

People that say you can lose your salvation and they go to passages and Hebrews and they're like, man,

it's just obvious you can lose your salvation.

And we're like, no, no, that's, we understand there's apostates.

Jesus said they would be amongst us, right?

He said they were gonna be.

There were gonna be tares amongst the wheat.

It's inevitable.

Why do you think church discipline exists?

Well, to keep the ones that are truly his in line but then to also mark the ones that aren't.

Well, they're gonna be there.

John, 1st John 2 19, they went out from us, but they were not of us.

For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

Oh, but they went out that it might become plain that they are not of us.

Demas, there you go.

That's exactly right.

Look at the next page.

We got a few more scripture references here.

Matthew 7 23, and then will I declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.

They seem to know his name.

I said, Jesus, didn't we prophesy in your name?

Can we do miracles in your name?

He says, oh, I never knew you.

John 17 12, while I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.

I have guarded them and not one of them has been lost except

the son of destruction that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

Who's he talking about there?

Judas, right?

If some of your translations say son of perdition, this is eternal punishment, one that is eternal

punishment, damnation, but he keeps those that are his.

Section C, Christians and sin.

If we are persevering, being preserved, then why do we still sin?

Why do we still sin?

Why is the sin still present?

Why didn't he just strip that from us?

Sanctification, right?

Number one there.

Even after being saved, Christians can lapse into serious sin.

David, man after God's own heart, committed quite the sins.

Committed adultery, has a husband murdered, conspiracy, lying

to his people.

That thing just kept piling up and snowballing, right?

New Testament, we have Peter.

You're like, well, how did Peter sin?

Oh, don't you remember what he did when Jesus is in the midst of his suffering?

Jesus told him what he was gonna do.

What did he end up doing?

He rejected Jesus Christ publicly, even with oaths.

Sin.

Number two, true Christians can have radical and serious falls,

but here's the hope.

Not total and final falls.

They can have radical and serious falls.

The severity of the sin that you and I are capable of falling into,

even now that we're in Christ and we have the indwelling Holy Spirit, oh, you know it.

You know it all too well.

You know your own mind.

You know your own flesh.

We have the ability to fall into tremendous sin, and sometimes God allows us to fall into those

sins.

He doesn't lead us to them.

He doesn't make us sin.

Oh, but he sovereignly ordains to allow it to happen, and he uses it.

He uses it to drive our dependence to him, to be able to minister in ways that we wouldn't

have been able to minister before.

He will use it.

Don't use that as an excuse, though.

Go out and commit some heinous sin, be like, my pastor said God ordained it.

You'll be responsible.

Trust me, there's consequences to it.

Luke 22, 31 and 32, Simon, Simon, behold Satan demanded to have you,

that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not

fail, and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Notice, he did fail.

However, that's not what Jesus prayed for.

What Jesus prayed for, that his faith

wouldn't fail.

He says, and when you've turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Use that for my good or for my glory.

Use your broken sin against me for my glory once it's said and done.

Oh, by the way, because your faith is intact, because I already paid for that sin even.

Right?

There's beauty in this, right?

We still fall into sin, and God uses all means.

All things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes.

All things, not some things, not most things, not a few things, all things, including your

sin.

God has purpose in it, and he's molding us, but if we belong to him, we will persevere even though

we have these momentary lapses of sometimes heinous, terrible, wicked

sin that we are ashamed of.

It's the Christian life.

We're left with this wretched flesh.

Who's gonna deliver me from it?

Right?

Do the things I don't want to do, and I don't do the things I want to do.

That's the reality of where we're at.

God uses it.

Number three, there are restraints against sin

for a Christian to use.

There are restraints against sin that a Christian can use, so God gives us the means then

because he tells us that there is no temptation that's gonna come our way that we do not have

the power to overcome.

Doesn't mean that we are gonna overcome everyone.

He just says you've got the power to do it.

Now, whether or not you tap into the power, that's yet to be seen, but you got the power to do it

because you got the indwelling Holy Spirit.

You have the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead in you.

You've got plenty of power to do it.

You're just not utilizing it, and we don't always utilize it well, but he gives us means.

I want to point out just three means in this, okay?

Because I don't want to leave you having to guess in the midst of this, and you can start filling in the blanks, and you can start kind of putting other

pieces together.

These are three of the biggies that I really wanted to focus on, okay?

The first one that you see there is the Word of God.

Voila!

Captain obvious, right?

This is one of the means of restraint that God uses in our life.

The psalmist in Psalm 119 says, I have stored up your Word in my heart that I

might not sin against you.

His Word is life -giving.

I love that many of you read through Colossians this week, and I can see it just hearing from

your voices.

There's a few you were speaking to it just like, man, that was, that felt life -giving, like that felt encouraging, like that,

that really, that was so good.

Like, why don't I read the Bible more?

Why don't I just live in it?

Because it's hard for me to go open it, but then once I do, I'm like, why do I ever leave?

This is so good.

This is life -giving.

This is everything I needed.

This is better than than a meal.

Like, this is, this is the food that I need, but we, we avoid it at times.

This is one of the restraints against sin in a Christian life for that,

that synergistic act of progressive sanctification that we've talked about, right?

We're being sanctified, and he gives us the tools to do these things and avoid sin.

Look at the next page.

We have the second, or the second one there.

One of the restraints is the body of Christ.

What is the body of Christ?

Come on, guys.

I just gave you all an easy one.

Okay, the church, right?

He's the head.

We are the body.

We make up different body parts, right?

And this is the body of Christ that is carrying out his work here on earth.

This is the body of Christ.

And we mention this passage a lot on Sunday mornings, Hebrews 10, right?

And let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works, not

neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but

encouraging one another.

And all the more, as you see the day drawing near.

I know that we've really hounded on that a lot over the past few months in

Ephesians, but I cannot stress it enough.

The body of Christ, the local ecclesia, the representation of that body, the

practical outworking of that body, it's a non -negotiable for us.

You know, we're talked about as sheep, right?

What happens to a sheep when it wanders off into a corner of the pasture by itself?

Yeah, it gets eaten.

Thank goodness for the good shepherd that goes and gets them before they're eaten, right?

But you can't live the Christian life out there.

You're literally...it would be like, and I'm notorious for the worst off -the -cuff body illustrations.

I got to get better with these.

But how useful would this finger on me be if I set it on this table, cut it off, and threw it

out in the parking lot?

It's out in the parking lot.

It's still there.

It's still a finger.

How useful is it?

Come on, guys, seriously.

Is that illustration that bad?

It's gross, I'll give you that.

I want an extreme example for you to understand that the body of Christ is

essential.

If you're not connected to the body, you're going to fall prey to sin.

I told a young man this, that he was like, you know, he's kind of wavering on church membership.

I said, you think I'm a mature Christian?

He's like, I think so.

I was like, well, you think too highly of me then.

Take me away from you six months.

Six months, get me away from you, out from accountability with you.

And I can promise you out there, I will fall into sins that I didn't imagine I was capable of.

I promise you that.

God uses restraints, and this is one of those restraints.

Which leads us to the third, the discipline of the church.

I'm not going to go into great detail on this one.

We've talked about Matthew 18, of church discipline, but look down at 1 Corinthians 5, 1 through 5.

Paul's telling them, it's been reported to me, hey, there's some sexual immorality that's going on among you that even

the pagan world won't tolerate.

Like, even they're looking in at you, like, what are you people doing?

And he's saying, you're celebrating this, you're accepting it, you should rather mourn.

He says, let him who has done this be removed from among you.

Don't let him in your midst.

And then he goes on, look at that last couple of sentences there at the bottom, or the last sentence.

He says, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh

so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

What's he talking about?

Well, he's saying, this man is obviously not in Christ.

We are to not let him think he is.

By leaving him in our midst and allowing him in our midst, we're leading him to think that he is

spiritually okay with Christ.

We're giving him false hope, but we are to hand him out into the world, into this present darkness, so that

he can be made very aware, if the Holy Spirit's going to awaken him, to the fact that, oh, no,

I can't be deceived.

I am not in Christ.

I am part of this darkness.

And hopefully, prayerfully, the Holy Spirit would awaken and save them through it.

1 Corinthians 5, 11 through 13.

But now I'm writing to you not to associate with anyone

who bears the name of brother.

Now, this is hard, guys.

Our sensitivities today can't bear that verse.

We're like, that's harsh.

Not to associate.

It gets worse.

Don't associate with anyone who bears the name brother if he is guilty of

sexual immorality, greed, if he's an idolater, a

reviler, a drunkard, a swindler, and you are not even to eat

with such a person.

For what have I to do with judging outsiders?

And that's an interesting statement intermixed into that.

Now, that statement kind of gives us some insight.

Paul's not talking about worldly people.

He's not talking about those people who are outside of Christ that don't claim the name of Christ, that aren't...they

don't claim to be a brother.

You're not talking about those people.

He said, who are we to judge them?

They're already condemned.

Like, we're not judging them.

They're in that darkness.

But if they are claiming to be in the light, but not living as if they're in the light,

they are not a brother and they are dangerous.

And you cannot pretend like you're in fellowship with them to

lead them to think that they're okay.

This is a big deal.

The perseverance of the saints is a big deal.

This is a massive, major doctrine, guys.

We must walk accordingly.

We can't just keep allowing these nominal Christians, these people who claim

Christ, but aren't living in a persevering way in Christ, but they're living an

idolatrous lifestyle, they're living a moral lifestyle, and they're just walking in darkness, walking in darkness, and they

continue to do so.

We can't allow them even an inch to think for one second that they are in Christ.

That needs to be very clear.

Oh, no.

Yeah, I won't even be around you as long as you're claiming Christ and doing that, because

you're making a mockery of my Savior, because you're saying, he's my Lord and

I'm not going to obey him, and I'm not having to do with that.

That's hard, isn't it?

This is all interwoven into the perseverance of the saints.

You see how the tentacles of this doctrine just make their way into all elements of life, of the Christian

life?

This is a massively key doctrine to the Christian faith.

Let's move on.

Look to the next page, section D, the Holy Spirit and perseverance.

Number one, the Holy Spirit not only initiates the work of

salvation, he prays for us and

preserves us.

He prays for us, he preserves us.

In Romans 8 .26, likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know what to pray as we

ought.

The Spirit is working in us.

He is preserving us, and he's doing so while

praying and interceding for us things that we can't comprehend.

Number two, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and

if you've been in Ephesians study, you know what the next word is going to be.

As a guarantee, you got it.

As a guarantee, that's good.

Ephesians 1 .13 -14, in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and

believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the

guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.

If we fall away, the Holy Spirit was never in us.

You get that, right?

If a person walks away from the faith, they were never in the faith.

They simply gave the faith lip service like those people who said, didn't I prophesy in your name?

And Jesus says, depart from me, I never knew you.

Because they never, ever had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Because once the Holy Spirit indwells, he ain't leaving

because it's a guarantee.

Some people like to refer it as the down payment.

I don't like that reference because here's the problem with a down payment, it's like that can be

broken.

No, this is a covenant.

This is an unbreakable thing.

Like, it's a guarantee you've been marked.

Like, you've been marked like a slave.

You've been branded with his name and you cannot get unbranded.

This is amazing.

Section E, the intercession of Christ.

Number one, Christians can have confidence in the

ongoing intercessory work of Christ.

Romans 8 .34, Paul had just said, who shall bring any charge against God's elect?

It is God who justifies.

And he says, who's to condemn?

Christ Jesus is the one who died.

More than that, who was raised?

Who is at the right hand of God?

Who indeed is interceding for us

at the very right hand of God?

If King Jesus accomplished the work that we've been talking about, like you were totally depraved, right?

And God has unconditionally elected you not based on anything you did.

And you have a limited atonement that Christ came and specifically paid an atonement that is a done deal

for the people that God had given him, that God had set his love on.

And there was an unconditional irresistible grace, got it backwards.

And then there's this irresistible grace that you would be drawn to him because of the atoning work that he accomplished and the

regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.

And now, you persevere in it because King Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father

interceding for you, saying, all that the Father gives me, I've not lost

one.

That's awesome.

That's an amen, that's right.

Christian, if you get past that, if I said that to you

and you were like, eh, cool, something's wrong.

The one that was there at creation because nothing was created without him and everything was

created through him, came and represented you, paid the price for you,

and now intercedes for you.

Talk about security.

And then you have the audacity and people out here have the audacity to read Scripture and think that

you can choose to be stripped from his hand.

It's absurd, total absurdity.

Number two, he is our great high priest,

the one that does intercede for us daily.

A priest is the one that mediates for his people.

He is holy, he is set apart, and he is the great high priest.

John 17, 24.

Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am, to

see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

That's so good.

Next page, Hebrews 7, 24 through 26.

But he holds his priesthood permanently because

he continues forever because he is God, right?

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since

he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy,

innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

In this passage, jot this down.

I wanted to add this to the notes, Hebrews 9, 12.

He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of

blood, the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus

securing an eternal redemption.

This covenant that was made, that covenant of redemption that we talked about early on in this study, that

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit made amongst himself,

that they would create and redeem a people unto himself,

Jesus accomplished it.

It's eternal, it's secure, and that redemption is absolute.

This is the perseverance of the saints.

This is the preservation of the saints.

Amen?

Amen.

Well, hey, look at that, with one minute to spare.

Read an assignment this week.

Read the section on perseverance there in your appendix from the 1689.

Read the final perseverance of the believers in Christ Jesus by William O

'Neill.

Again, that's in your appendix.

Read The Cause of God and Truth, Perseverance by John Gill.

I'll be honest, that's probably going to be challenging for some of you.

John Gill's writing is not easy.

You think Spurgeon was hard to read.

John Gill is going to be a little bit of a challenge.

And then, you all know my verse there.

I'm sure of this, that he began a good work, and you will bring it to completion the day of Jesus Christ, is the translation

there.

I always say Christ Jesus, but if you can, meditate on that verse, if not,

memorize it.

Everybody good?

If you've got questions, you all can come chat with me afterwards.

I'm sure Pastor Keith would love to chat with some of you.

I'm sure you do.

Next week, we have a very special night.

I want you all to be here.

I've already asked one person, and I've got a couple other people in mind that I want to talk to.

We're going to have a night of testimony.

Before we keep into our study and keep diving into some of these

truths, I just want to take a night where we hear in a very practical way

from some saints as to why these doctrines are essential

and how they function in the day -to -day of your life.

Because all Scripture is profitable, right?

It's profitable before us.

And to be able to hear it, I think it's going to encourage your souls and challenge us.

So if you would like to give testimony of that, please come chat with me, and we'll talk about it.

But let's go to the Lord in prayer as we get ready to close.

Lord, we thank you for your grace and mercy.

We thank you for your kindness.

We thank you that we cannot be stripped from your hand, that those of us

that have been chosen and called and set apart, that we will persevere because you are preserving

us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, we thank you for that because if I could lose my salvation, I most certainly would,

that you, you keep us, you hold us, you secure us, and you are

maintaining and you are restraining us from sin or continue to restrain us from sin that

we may not dishonor you.

May we walk in your precepts.

May we love you.

May we encourage those around us to look to Christ.

We thank you for the perseverance of the saints.

Help us to persevere.

In Christ's name, amen.