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)
""I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one." John 17:15 (NASB)
Does God answer God's prayer!
IV. FOURTHLY, ANSWERED PRAYER IS RELATED TO OUR
POSITION.
preserved in Christ - is a possible translation. NKJ
We were born In Adam and now we are In Christ, speaking of our place of security. In Adam there was nothing but condemnation; but there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus!
I love to watch the Crocodile man, Steve Erwin. Once he had built a cage and placed it in shark infested waters. No matter how aggressive the sharks became, no matter how close, he was perfectly safe as long as he stayed in that cage!
Spirit baptism placed us safely in Christ!
"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:13 (NASB)
V. FIFTHLY, WE ARE SAVED FOR A PURPOSE.
kept for Jesus Christ - NASB/AMB/ESV/WUEST
Not only is God our inheritance but we are His inheritance!
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints," Ephesians 1:18 (NASB)
We are His possession!
"But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;" 1 Peter 2:9 (NASB)
VI. SIXTHLY, WE ARE KEPT BY HIS POWER.
kept by Jesus Christ - another possible translation. NIV
Jacob was kept by God wherever he went, so are we!
""Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Genesis 28:15 (NASB)
It is God's power that is keeping us alive at this moment. David confessed:
"O LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit." Psalm 30:3 (NASB)
It is God's power that we are kept from sinning! God said to Abimelech:
"Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her." Genesis 20:6
"The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life." Psalm 121:7 (ESV)
"Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back." Isaiah 38:17 (NASB)
He is the one who keeps on giving us our daily food. Just like when Jesus fed the multitude, he feeds us individually day by day.
"Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people." Luke 9:16 (NASB)
The Lord is our keeper!
"5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night." Psalm 121:5-6 (NASB)
Christ's Ability - "He Is Able" Eph. 3:20
1. He is able to save to the uttermost, for He lives to do it, therefore rest in Him and be glad—Heb. 7:25.
2. He is able to make all grace to abound towards us, therefore be satisfied with Him, and be thankful—2 Cor. 9:8-11.
3. He is able to give us the victory when tempted, therefore take Him as Victor, and be an over-comer—1 Cor. 10:13.
4. He is able to keep us from falling, therefore lean upon Him and be upheld—Jude 24.
5. He is able to shield us from harm, therefore abide in Him, and be at rest—Psa. 121:3-8.
6. He is able to make us active, therefore let Him work effectively through us, and be useful—2 Tim. 1:12, R.V., margin.
7. He is able to keep us always, therefore let Him tend us, and be fresh and sweet—Isa. 27:2, 3.
VII. FINALLY, ARE KEPT BASED ON MANY PROMISES.
A. Undertakings Related to the Father:
(1) the sovereign purpose of God, which is unconditional.
John 3:16
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." John 5:24 (NASB)
"36 "But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." John 6:36-37 (NASB)
(2) the infinite power of God set free to save and keep.
"28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 "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." John 10:28-29 (NASB)
(3) the infinite love of God.
"just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love." Ephesians 1:4
(4) the influence on the Father of the prayer of the Son of God
(cf. John 17:9-12, 15, 20).
B. Undertakings Related to the Son:
(1) His substitutionary death.
Rom. 8:1
"1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." 1 John 2:1-2 (NASB)
(2) His resurrection, securing a resurrection unto life for believers.
"5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Ephesians 2:5-6 (NASB)
(3) His advocacy, His intercession in heaven. 1 Jn. 2:2
"who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." Romans 8:34 (NASB)
"Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7:25 (NASB)
"For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;" Hebrews 9:24 (NASB)
C. Undertakings Related to the Spirit:
(1) regeneration (partaking of the divine nature is entrance into that which cannot be removed;
"4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit," Titus 3:4-5 (NASB)
(2) indwelling (He is given to abide forever and certainly by His presence the believer will be preserved;
""I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;" John 14:16 (NASB)
"and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:5 (NASB)
(3) baptism (by which the believer is joined to Christ so as to share eternally in the New Creation glory and blessing;
"But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him."
1 Corinthians 6:17 (NASB)
I Cor. 12:13
(4) sealing (Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30).
"13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." Ephesians 1:13-14 (NASB)
"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Ephesians 4:30 (NASB)
Con:
1. Kept in, by, and for Jesus Christ, and what a blessing to be kept by God, reminds me of Num. 6:24:
"The LORD bless you, and keep you;" Numbers 6:24 (NASB)
2. All saying you are Eternally secure!
Kept every day from morn to night,
We know His promises are sure.
Kept by His truth, His power and might
No jot shall fail, while words endure.
Kept all the way from youth to age,
Thus far the Lord hath sheltered me.
Kept from the fangs of Satan's rage,
Safely we'll cross life's troubled sea.
Kept all these years by God's own hand,
To Him be praise and homage given.
Kept by His grace we'll hope to stand.
At evening time, in sight of Heaven.
Kept from the power of hell and sin.
Home of the pure in heart we'll see.
Kept by His love we'll here begin
The life that fills eternity.—Selected.
www.StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/pastor-palmer
