The sermon, 'Of The Perseverance of the Saints,' delivered by Mike Davenport, explores the doctrine outlined in Chapter 17 of the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith. It emphasizes the perseverance of believers as rooted in God's acceptance, effectual calling, sanctification, and faith granted by God. Davenport describes perseverance and preservation as two sides of the same coin, emphasizing that perseverance is possible due to God's preservation. The sermon highlights the certainty of perseverance and eternal salvation due to God's unchanging nature and promises. It also addresses the inner and supernatural characteristics of perseverance, acknowledging that while believers may face doubts and struggles, their faith is secured on a firm foundation. The sermon further discusses the role of God's decree, the work of Jesus Christ, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in ensuring the perseverance of the saints. Finally, it acknowledges the possibility of backsliding due to temptations but assures believers of restoration through repentance and God's preservation.

Well, what a glorious topic for us to cover tonight. The perseverance of the saints. I couldn't help but have those words just kind of soak into my soul. Ponder anew What the Almighty will do if with his love he befriends thee? That's what we're going to be discussing tonight And we get to ponder anew what God the Almighty will do if he has befriended you with his love.

Well, let's look to the Lord in prayer and ask God's blessing on our time that We would have teachable spirits and that we would be changed by the doctrine that we deal with tonight. Oh gracious God, we thank you and praise you for your Word which teaches us, which instructs us, which is a lamp and a light, oh Lord, in a very dark place. We thank you that you have not left us to figure out our way, but Lord, you have set that way before us. Give us grace to walk in that narrow way, having entered by that narrow gate. And though the way be difficult, God, bring us safely at last.

Lord, we thank you that we have such a precious promise as the perseverance of your saints Lord may may those who have tasted of Jesus Christ rejoice at this provision of their perseverance and also of their preservation. In Christ's name we pray, amen. In our continuing study of the second London Baptist Confession of 1689, we come tonight to chapter 17 entitled, Of the Perseverance of the Saints. Now if you are familiar at all with what has come to have been known as the five points of Calvinism, you might recognize this phrase, the perseverance of the Saints. You may be even familiar with the acrostic formed by the first letter of each of these five points.

It spells out down the board tulip t u l I p and that p in that acrostic TULIP stands for the perseverance of the saints or as some have preferred and therefore argued for the preservation of the Saints. I personally see no need to argue perseverance, preservation. I prefer the use of perseverance simply because the writers of our confession entitled the chapter, The Perseverance of the Saints. Good enough for me. But they will talk about preservation even in these paragraphs.

And so we need to look at it as a two-sided coin. Every coin, in a while we call it a two-sided coin, every coin is two-sided, right? But there are two sides to the coin. On one side we see the perseverance of the saints. We turn that same coin over and we see the preservation of those saints.

And so we see these two truths together and we can understand that the perseverance of the saints is due to their preservation by the power of God. A reality that we'll see even as this chapter unfolds. You know, Paul said it like this to the church at Philippi, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. In other words, be persevering. Work it out knowing, knowing this, that it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.

God's upholding you. God's causing it to happen. He's preserving you so that you might persevere. So let's jump right into the first paragraph. Now, for the sake of being able to put it on the screen, we've divided it.

So we'll deal with this first portion here that says, 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 totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved. Seeing the gifts and callings of God are without repentance Whence he still he still begets and nourisheth in them faith repentance love joy hope and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality. So do you recall those precious words of James regarding the conviction that should be ours because of the transforming power of the new birth back in James 1 18 when we were studying it of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Well this opening paragraph here before us roots our perseverance in God's acceptance of us in his Son Jesus Christ. But secondly it roots that perseverance in our effectual calling that call that was effectual in bringing us to himself in order that we might be justified by the active and passive obedience of his Son, Jesus Christ.

But third, it's rooted in the work of our sanctification by the Holy Spirit, having predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. God cannot leave us in the state we were in when we first came to him. We, like Lazarus, who came forth from the grave, were wrapped in the death cloths of the life that we were living and they need to be removed and So God sends the spirit and God puts us into a church because if you recall, Jesus when Lazarus was raised said, help him out with these claws. He's wrapped up. And they came alongside and helped Lazarus.

And so this is the work of the Spirit, the work of the church. And then the fourth thing our perseverance is rooted in is the act of God in granting to His elect the faith that we need to exercise in the very trusting of his Son. So these are all the roots of this perseverance. Perseverance is something that we see Done in our lives on the outside, but it has roots This is what it's rooted in these very doctrines So then having established those doctrinal truths as the very roots of this perseverance the writers then go on to use these words can neither nor can neither nor These words indicate there that there is absolutely no ability Absolutely no possibility Can neither nor can't happen Impossible Well, what is it that of which there is no ability or no possibility well there's no ability or possibility of the Saints either totally or finally falling away from this state of grace because God has called them to it God has called them So do you see why these roots are so important to this doctrine? They're so important So established are these roots So established are these roots that the writers continue by stating that the elect shall certainly Persevere there in to the end and be eternally saved The way is marked by a certainty of perseverance and the end is marked by a certainty of eternal salvation It's certain The way is certain.

It's a way of perseverance, but the end is certain. Eternal salvation. So at this point the writers direct our attention to the unchanging character and goodness of God. Why will these roots not get blown over in the next storm? Well, what happens if that tree wants to be replanted and pull up those roots?

No. Seeing the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. That's why these roots are established. With God, there is no change of mind. There is no quote-unquote Indian giving.

There's no factory recalls. What God does is established. It's done He is unchanging his decree is Unchanging as we saw in James with him. There is no variation No shadow of turning it's secure the roots will remain But the writers do not simply leave our faith grasping only To the roots that they have laid down they could do that But they press on They press on they also encourage us to great faith and assurance in regards to the certainty of this our perseverance by pointing us also to the fruits that result from these roots. Because there are roots, we expect there to be fruit, and there is.

What are these There is What are these fruits? Went God still begets and nourishes in them faith Repentance love Joy hope and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality. They remind us here that Jesus Christ is both the author and the finisher of our faith. He begets and he nourishes. He's the author.

He's the finisher of our faith as well as all of the other graces that accompany this faith. And because he is the author and finisher, the one who has faith will persevere. And these are the things that he will persevere in Okay, we're talking about the perseverance of the Saints. Well now we're talking about what they'll persevere in They'll persevere in faith They'll persevere in repentance. They will persevere, as we were reminded in 1 John, over and over in love.

They will persevere in joy. They will persevere in hope. They will persevere in all the graces of the Spirit that lead to immortality. Now Note both the inner and the supernatural characteristics of this perseverance. Okay?

It's inner. Do you see the fruit? Faith, repentance, love, joy, Hope and all of these graces its inner but it's also Supernatural these are all what God begets in us what God Nourishes in us and the graces themselves are the graces of the Spirit. It's supernatural. It's inner and it's supernatural.

Now these things are not external though they do have manifestations. Okay We will see manifestations of these very things but these things what the spirit is working in us And they are not natural None of us have this faith this repentance This love this joy this hope in us by nature supernatural So they are basically telling us that we can rest the assurance of our faith and our perseverance in the graces of that faith on God's will and God's work That's what he's telling us look God God decreed it. This is his will He effectually drew a people he called them to himself. He regenerated them. He accepted them in the beloved and Then not only his will but we can rest in his works, he begets and nourishes these graces in us, He does not leave us to ourselves Now at this point the writers of our confession as we look at the next slide the writers of our confession anticipate the doubts of one who Raises his hand and asks the question But what about all those times of doubt of struggle and a sin?

The real They're real Didn't even the Apostle Paul speak of the struggle to persevere in the ways of righteousness Well this anticipation led them to include the remaining portion of this paragraph and through many storms excuse me and though many storms and floods arise and Beat against them yet. They shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon not withstanding through unbelief and the temptation of Satan the sensible sight of the light and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured from them, yet he is still the same. Yes, storms and floods shall arise. Storms and floods shall arise Storms and floods shall beat against them We saw that we saw that in James When those various trials come. But our perseverance weathers the storm and it looks for the break in the clouds.

For our faith is fastened upon a foundation and rock that will never be moved. Storms, floods, unbelief and temptation may change our circumstances. They may test our faith, but they will never overcome us Because God is still the same. Our circumstances vary. Our response to those circumstances may vary.

God is the same. He does not change. And we can rest in that. And that's why our perseverance will continue. Now the writers in this first paragraph as you see it continues they in this first paragraph regarding perseverance by flipping this coin and Showing us the opposite side the preservation of the Saints So this perseverance that God has set at work in us It's under attack The waves the storms the temptations of the devil the world all of this has come upon us.

But God is still the same. And they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being engraven upon the palms of his hands, and their names having been written in the Book of Life from all eternity." This is the preservation of our God for His saints. He preserves us. We are kept by His power. So what of the answer?

Or what of that question, rather? But what about all those times? And the writers say, what about our God? He's still the same, And his promises are the same. He doesn't change.

We're engraven upon the palm of his hands, our names having been written in the book of life from all eternity. My mind can't help but run to those words that we sang in that last hymn Immovable our hope remains though shifting sands before us lie the one who washed away our stains shall bear us safely to the skies the floods may rise the winds may beat torrential rains descend yet God his own will not forget He'll love and keep us till the end. Yes, you'll love and keep us till the end. The Lord acquits who can condemn though Satan's accusations fly His power can never reach our names to blot them from the Book of Life. The Son has surely made us free.

His Word forever stands and all our joy is knowing we are graven on his wounded hands. Yes, we're graven on your wounded hands. It's almost like the writer of that song was staring at these words, this chapter of the perseverance of the saints. Immovable our hope remains. Then second paragraph, paragraph two, this perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, and upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with him, also the oath of God, the abiding of his Spirit, and the seed of God within them and the nature of the covenant of grace from all which arises also the certainty and infallibility thereof Now the writers used some pretty confident language in that first paragraph.

Can never, nor They will persevere to the end Their ring their words ring with surety Yet they shall never be able to take them, that is the storm in the waves, shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon. Yet they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God and to salvation where they shall enjoy their purchase possession." Confidence was in these men when they wrote that paragraph. But how Can the writers of this confession, how can they have such a confidence? They didn't even know the people of their day that would be reading these words. They certainly had no clue about us here tonight at Hope Baptist Church how can they be so sure of our perseverance they don't even know us They don't even know us This is why Because the perseverance of the saints depends not upon our wills can we join into their confidence and assurance absolutely why because it doesn't depend on us if our perseverance depended on us, we might as well throw that first paragraph right out the window.

It's no good. It's no good. The roots are worthless. They're rotten, but they're not because it doesn't depend on us. What does it depend upon?

What is this basis of such confidence and such assurance? For the writers of our confession are glad you asked. They continue on. This perseverance of the saints depends upon the immutability of the decree of election. And that immutability of the decree of election flows from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, and the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and our union with him even the oath of God the abiding of his spirit and the seed of God within us and the nature of the covenant of grace.

Well that's a that's a lot to digest but I like how Sam Waldron breaks it down in his commentary on this confession of ours. First he says, this perseverance depends upon the immutability of the decree of election. That's obvious, that's number one. It depends upon the immutability of the decree of election what's that mean the decree of God can in no way change God is unchanging and so is everything that he decrees. It's immutable.

It's not going to change. That's the first thing. But also Secondly, this perseverance depends upon the efficacy, the effectiveness of the work of Jesus Christ. This efficacy of Jesus Christ flows from what? His active and passive obedience on our behalf.

It's through his living and his dying and the power of it that is our hope for perseverance. Our union with Christ Makes us partakers of this efficacy Number three this perseverance depends upon the perpetuity of the indwelling spirit the perpetuity the permanent nature of the indwelling spirit the spirit has been given to believers as a Guarantee of the inheritance God's not going to give us a guarantee of an inheritance and then withhold it He's not going to give us a guarantee of an inheritance and not give us What we need to persevere to reach that inheritance for which he's given a guarantee This is a permanent Abiding he takes up Residents and so in in these first three Taking a slight bit out of order but given to us here in this order by mr Waldron in these first three note the attention of God the father in the decree of election the attention on God the Son in the work of redemption and then the the the Focus on God the Spirit in the application of that redemption So our perseverance finds its hope in God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and what they the Trinity are doing and have done on our behalf Fourth this perseverance depends upon the dependability of the oath of God the dependability of the oath of God Listen to the words of Hebrews chapter 6 verses 17 and 18 Thus God Determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel Going back to number one the immutability of this decree for his elect.

God showing more abundantly to the heirs of promise this immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie We might have strong consolation Who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us? Do you get that? God said It's enough that my decree is immutable My decree for your salvation that should be enough but God Wants us to be so full of assurance and confidence, he gave us something else that can't change, an oath. And by these two immutable, unchangeable things, his decree and his oath, God gave us a strong consolation. So note, if the unchanging, unchangeable counsel of God's decree of our election is not enough to convince us, we also have the unchanging, unchangeable oath of God regarding his unchanging, unchangeable counsel in regards to his purpose to save us for all eternity.

Then fifthly, this perseverance depends upon the infallibility of the covenant of grace. You see, where there is an oath, there is a covenant. And this covenant, initiated by God this covenant Kept by God both his part in our part are kept by him It gives us assurance of our perseverance that even the very covenant that God makes with us and keeps with us he's the one who gives us the grace to keep our end of the covenant And so it's not dependent on us. It's not dependent on our will Bless God From all these arise of also the certainty and infallibility of our perseverance So do you see why the writers of our confession could be so confident about the perseverance of all the true saints of God? They don't have to know us.

They knew our God and that gave them confidence and do you see why you can and should have confidence and assurance Note the following comments from our brother Sam Waldron. The idea that anyone who has a genuine title to the covenant who really is in the New Covenant may fail to continue and persevere in it and finally perish is foreign to the Bible. It's foreign. The emphatic assertion of the scriptures is that all those who ever Were brought into the covenant are finally saved We are to be assured personally of our final perseverance in salvation the perseverance of the saints is not to be just an abstract truth personal confidence the language involves this it is a seal an anchor a pledge and Then hear these words Christianity marked by a lack of true assurance is just as defective as Christianity marked by a false assurance a Christianity marked by a lack of assurance is just as defective as a Christianity marked by a false assurance. Neither one, neither one finds a confidence in Jesus Christ.

Those last words are strong words, but when you consider the richness and the completeness of the grace of God to us Those words are necessary Those words are necessary thirdly third paragraph and though they may Through the temptations of Satan and of the world the prevalence of corruption remaining in them and the neglect of means of their preservation fall into grievous sins and for a time continue therein whereby they incur God's displeasure and grieve his Holy Spirit come to have their graces and comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves. Though they fall and for a time continue Yet shall they renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end The need for this last paragraph brings sorrow. Here we are sinners saved by such great grace and given such marvelous promises and yet And yet we can fall into seasons of backsliding Sending against such grace Well the writers first list the causes of such backsliding, causes through the temptation of Satan and of the world, the prevalence of corruption remaining in us, and the neglect of the means of our preservation by these things we fall into grievous sins and for a time can continue therein.

This really harkens back to what we saw in James last week. The temptations that come to us from Satan and the world, But also the remaining corruption that drives us to wrong desires We're drawn away by our own desires and they realize this then added here in this equation is the neglect of watching and praying The very things that Jesus told his disciples there in the garden before they fell into grievous sin. Watch and pray. These three ingredients make up a most dangerous recipe of grievous sins that can continue for a time dear ones though our perseverance to the end is promised by God we must ever be watchful and praying we can't become lax we cannot we cannot bring an end to the temptation that comes from the world and from the devil we can't bring that to an end on this side of eternity We can't bring an end to the evil desires that still remain in our hearts, though it can be weakened. But we can.

We can. We must be sure that we are not neglecting the means of grace and the perseverance in those means that's our duty It's our duty Now we see the results here the results of such seasons of backsliding They incur God's displeasure and grieve his Holy Spirit These come to have their graces and comforts impaired have their hearts hardened and their consciences wounded They hurt and scandalize others and they bring temporal judgments upon themselves Our backsliding has an effect upon our God. His relationship with us cannot remain the same It has an impact upon our God It has an impact upon us Upon the graces and comforts that are ours in Christ upon our hearts upon our consciences it has an effect on our families and on our churches it brings hurt and scandal to those around us our backsliding oh if we would just consider the impact of our sin you've heard me say it before but it is right and good for me to stir up your minds by way of remembrance. Sin will take you further than you intended to go. It will keep you longer than you intended to stay, And it will cost you more than you intended to pay But bless God This is not the end of the story, nor is it the end of this paragraph.

I'm thankful for that little word, yet. Three letters. But boy, they make a big difference. Yet. Yet.

Yet shall they renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end once again here at the end of the chapter we turn that little coin over. We've been talking about the perseverance of the Saints and here at the end we turn it over once again and we see the preservation of the saints. The preservation of the saints brings to them full repentance and they are preserved through God's gift of faith, faith that finds as its foundation, its anchor, Jesus Christ and Christ alone. And So I close with these two precious promises regarding God's people. They almost act as bookends.

If we were to go back and look at the beginning of chapter 1 and as you see it here at the end of chapter, or paragraph 3 rather Here the book ends Those whom God hath accepted in the beloved shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end. To the end, to the end. They will persevere. They will be preserved. That's our bookends, dear ones.

That's our bookends. What more marvelous thoughts could we have? By God's grace we will persevere to the end, and by his grace we will be preserved through faith in Jesus Christ to the end. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, power that works in us. To Him, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.

Amen. Oh Father we thank you for this marvelous doctrine. Oh, may we be marinated in it. Give us grace to fall afresh upon Jesus Christ, to ponder