Descriptive Greeting Continued - Preserved By Son Of God Series

Intro:

1. IN ONE of the Superman movies, Superman saves a man from a burning building. He rescues him from the top floor and is carrying him to safety by flying through the skies.

The man looks at Superman and then looks down to the ground. "I'm scared, Superman. Look how far down that is."

Superman replies, "Now if I delivered you from the burning fire, what makes you think I am going to drop you when I'm carrying you to safety?"

2. If God has delivered you from a burning hell, what makes us think He will drop us before He safely puts you down in our heavenly home?

3. Eternal Security - kept for the Son of God.

Trans: We have seen that we are Called by the Spirit of God; and loved by God the Father; now we see we are kept in, for, or by the Son of God.

I. FIRST WE ARE PRESERVED.

kept - τηρέω tēreō [Tay-reh-0]

"tēreō expresses the idea of "keep" with the sense of "preserve" in a number of different contexts...tēreō refers to believers being kept or preserved for the coming of the Lord, the eternal inheritance for the people of God (1 Thess. 5:23; 1 John 5:18; Jude 1; 1 Pet. 1:4)." [Expository Dictionary of Bible Words]

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved [kept] complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NASB)

"to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved [having been kept] in heaven for you," 1 Peter 1:4

"We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him." 1 John 5:18

"Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy," Jude 1:24

Trans:We are preserved, kept, guarded, watched over by God - you cannot get any securer then that.

Carnell Taylor was working on a paving crew repairing the Interstate 64 bridge over the Elizabeth River in Virginia. The road was icy, and a pickup truck slid out of control and hit Taylor, knocking him off the bridge. He fell 70 feet and hit the cold waters of the river below. His pelvis and some of the bones in his face were broken.

Joseph J. Brisson, the captain of a barge passing by at that moment, saw Taylor fall and quickly had to make a life-or-death decision. He knew Taylor would drown before he and his crew could launch their small boat and reach him. The numbingly cold water and strong currents of the river could kill him if he dived in to rescue Taylor. He had a family, and Christmas was three days away.

Joseph decided to risk his life for a man he had never met. He dived into the river, swam to Taylor, and grabbed hold of him. "Don't worry, buddy," he said, "I got you." Brisson held Taylor's face above the water and encouraged him to keep talking. Then he took hold of a piece of wood in the water and slid it under Taylor to help keep him afloat. The current was too strong for them to swim to safety, and eventually the cold caused Brisson to lose his grip on Taylor. So Brisson wrapped his legs around the injured man's waist and held on.

After nearly 30 minutes the crew from the barge was finally able to reach the two men and pull them from the water into the small boat. Taylor was hospitalized for broken bones. Joseph, the hero, was treated for mild hypothermia.

He later told the Associated Press he knew what he had to do when he saw the man fall. "I have a family, I thought about that. But I thought about how life is very important. I'm a Christian man, and I couldn't let anything happen to him."

Jesus is like that, He grabbed a hold of us in salvation and is not about to let us go! He is not going to let anything happen to you!

II. FURTHERMORE, IT IS A PERFECT PARTICIPLE.

kept - the verb is a perfect participle, "having been kept." It means that we are kept at a point in time, with the results that we are continually kept.

If you have been kept in the past, then you will be kept throughout eternity!

III. NEXT IT IS RELATED TO CHRISTS PRAYER.

Same word found in John 17:11-12,15...

"10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 "I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. 12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. John 17:10-12 (NASB)