If you have your copies of God's Word, I invite you to turn to John 17. I shouldn't have to preach after that. John 17, page 903 in your Pew Bibles. Christ is praying for his disciples. the Father would hold them fast and keep them and guard them. This is the night that he would be betrayed and arrested, the following day crucified. Last week, we looked at the very difficult topic of Jesus coming to die for his bride, his sheep, his people, and for them only. and the great security that that is, not only in our salvation at that time for them, but that our God would keep them saved eternally. All who persevere to the end are preserved by God, and those who are preserved by God persevere to the end. The wonderful doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, or what I like to call the preservation of the saints, that they are kept by the preserving, sovereign, holy and gracious hand of God. And it is closely associated and connected in our text to our growth in grace called sanctification. So if you're able to stand for the reading of God's Word, I ask you to do so. John 17, starting at verse 11, this is Jesus praying. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. And I am coming to you, Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 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 scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world. Just as I am not of the world, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for your sake, I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. This is God's holy, inspired, and inerrant word. You may be seated. When I was younger, I had the great privilege of going through second grade twice. I was what you call a bad kid. I spent probably more recesses inside and not with my friends than outside. My temper and my grades were such that we were not becoming of a third grader and my parents wisely kept me back. And I was thinking, as my time went on, we moved one year from the old Sigmount Elementary School, which is now called the Mountain Arts Community Center, over to Thrasher Elementary. And we got there. This is the big school. They just renovated it and expanded it and got there. And by the time of my fifth grade year, my dream had come true of becoming part of a team called Safety Patrol. And Safety Patrol members had a sash and a badge. And I was filled with great delight as I was thinking about the great power and authority that I would have in calling out my peers, running through the halls, and helping them be safe through not tripping on bags in the hallways and various things. Of course, that's not true at all. You don't earn the respect of your fellow classmates, nor the admiration of the other young ladies. And so I was thinking of all the ways that we devise to keep people safe in this world. I love this one, the safety patrol. It's my favorite. But all the other ways as I've grown up and think about, you learn the dangers of the world. Even from a young age, you start seeing that. And not too long ago, I looked out my front door and my middle child Garrett was was screaming and he was sitting on top of a big old anthill just sitting on it they were all over him learning as a young age the dangers of this world And we spend a lot of money to protect ourselves with insurance, and gates, and fences, and dogs, and security systems, and firearms, and safes, and seat belts, and airbags, and life jackets, and on, and on, and on. We spend enormous amounts of money to keep us safe. But what about our salvation? Is your salvation safe? Is your eternal security, is that intact? And this passage answers with a profound and clear yes, absolutely, absolutely. If God has the power to save you, he has the power to keep you saved. If you look in the text, in verse 11, he's praying and he asks, Holy Father, keep them in your name. Verse 12, while I was with him, I kept them in your name. I have guarded them. Verse 15, that you keep them from the evil one. He's praying the Father would keep those whom the Father has given to Christ, those that the Father has chosen out of the world, that God would keep them, guard them until the end, called glorification. And this idea of keeping them in your name, that is according to your authority and power, that you have all authority and power to keep them, to keep you to the end. What do we need to be kept from? What do we need to be guarded from? Well, certainly our own sinful flesh and hearts. You know, sometimes when we talk about, when we do counseling, marriage counseling or premarital counseling, and we go to the role of the husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church, and we see that primarily in providing, protecting, nourishing, and cherishing. providing, protecting, nourishing, and cherishing. When we think about the protection piece, certainly there's the aspect where the husband should be a protector of his wife, but was oftentimes missing as a protector of his wife from his own heart, from his own heart. So certainly an area we need to be guarded against apostasy. are in hearts certainly from the impact and succumbing to the influence of the world. Certainly as it says in our text in verse 15, kept from the evil one, the influence of Satan. Those fiery darts. except he says in our text the son of in some translations prediction or destruction i have to remember that it's this same night just i mean it seems like months ago but it's actually the same very night that judas would betray jesus and he did he's already left and And this was to fulfill scripture. In fact, the text that he's alluding to is that he actually alluded to specifically earlier, chapter 13, Psalm 41, verse nine, which says, even my close friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. And this is exactly what Judas does. He eats the bread and leaves. But the point though is that Christ has not failed to keep his own. He has not failed to keep them. None of them has been lost except the son of destruction so that the scripture would be fulfilled. So that scripture would be fulfilled. But it does raise an interesting question, doesn't it? Is it possible to lose your salvation? Is it possible to lose your salvation? Certainly you may have had friends that at one point profess faith and now they're not walking with the Lord. And you wonder what happened. Has God failed to keep them and to guard them? Well, certainly, Judas is an example of this. There's an old ditty that says, if you have it, referring to salvation, you never lose it, and if you lose it, you never had it. 1 John 2 says that those that had left the company of the disciples, it says they went out from us But they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. And we think about in the visible church, there's wheat and tares. There's an invisible church throughout all ages, all time, all places, those that are truly God's people, and then you have the visible church who we see, and just because we come to church doesn't mean that we're saved. Just because we join in a small group doesn't mean that you're saved. The real test is looking and seeing, am I a child of God? Do I love God? Do I love His worship? Is there fruit of the Spirit in my life? Those are the things that we're called to look at and examine. There's a number of passages that I think help us in this. Let me just mention a few of them to you. 1 Peter chapter one, verse three. According to God's great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Philippians 1.6 talks about he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. Romans 8, those who are predestined are also called and those who are called are also justified. Those who are justified be glorified. This great golden chain of God's sovereign grace, the grace that has brought me safe thus far is the grace that will do what? Will lead me home. Earlier in John chapter 10, I read part of this last week about his sheep, and he says, 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. I and the Father are one. And then the work of the Holy Spirit in this, not only in sanctifying us, but sealing us. Listen to Ephesians 1, verse 13. 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 to the praise of his glory. So the Holy Spirit here is seen as like a down payment, a guarantee. If you ever bought a house or bought land or something, you had to put down earnest money. It's the deposit of the Holy Spirit coming, sealing you. You come to full fruition. The Bible talks about you have been saved, you are being saved, and one day you will be saved. And if Christ has died for you, you will be saved. From heaven, as we looked at last week, he came and sought her to be his holy bride. And you are his holy bride if you are in Christ Jesus. And you are a new creation. You've been born again. Imagine this. If you have been born again, you have a new nature. You're a new creation, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5. You're a new creation. You can't go back to being an old creation again. You can't not be born again. I mentioned this to some of you a few months ago, that when I was in seminary, I didn't have insurance, health insurance, and I had some heart issues, and I was working at a bookstore, Jonathan Benton Booksellers, and my job at the bookstore was to oversee the religion and spirituality section of the bookstore, and over time, I started pulling out some books and putting in others, and it started to take on a new shape and form. One day, a man walked in, I watched him go over to the religion section and he was scanning the books and he came over, somewhat marching over to the counter and said, who oversees the books in the religion section? And I said, well, me. And he says, you must be a Calvinist. And he said it in that kind of way. And I said, well, he said, you must believe in Calvinist theology. I was like, well, I believe in biblical theology. Calvin happened to agree. And we started talking, and he completely, he didn't like Calvin, obviously. But he was a medical doctor. And he said, how about this? How about you come to my office every week? And I told him about some of my problems, my heart, and physically. And he said, how about you come to my office every week, and we'll read through a book together and study. You teach me theology, and I'll work on your heart. And we'll make it, we'll call it a day. I was like, that sounds great. Sounds wonderful. So every week I would go, and we were reading through a book by Wesley, John Wesley. Wesley denied this specific doctrine that we're looking at today. And this doctor would say to me, you know, if I woke up in the morning and my faith was strong and I felt happy in Jesus and I wanted to trust and obey him and I was going to my office and I saw a billboard that made me question my faith and I started to enter into serious doubts and despair and then I died, I crashed and I died, I would lose my salvation. But if, you know, let's say I didn't crash and I got to work and I was happy again in Jesus and my strength had returned, someone gave me a Bible verse when I walked in or something, and I died from a heart attack that day, I would go to heaven. And it makes perfect sense. If salvation is something that you just kind of reach up and grab onto, and it's just as easy to just let go again. If it's that kind of thing. I'm just gonna embrace some different values. If that's all salvation is, then certainly, then you can just give it up. But if you're a new creation, if Christ has died for you, and through faith you're converted, you've been born again to a living hope, There's no going back. We're gonna burn the ships. There's no going back. You are his, you are saved. And here's the good news, is that God is not content to keep you just where you are right now, but he's gonna grow you in his grace, and by faith, that you would grow in this thing called sanctification, that you are set apart and made holy. Imagine that. You're gonna be more holy than you are now. There's a guarantee of it. And this is Christ's prayer for you as the disciples. Not only that the Father would keep you and guard you, but that the Father would sanctify you in the truth. And he says your word is truth. There's an emphasis four times in our text. It mentions the word. It mentions the word. There's an emphasis on God's word in your sanctification. His truth. His word is truth. We'll come back to that in just a moment. But as you are more and more set apart from the world, you will be hated by the world. Jesus is the ultimate realist here. He's gonna say, because the world hated me, the world will hate you. We already looked at this earlier in John chapter 15, verse 18. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Why does the world hate us? Why does the world hate us? Verse 14 tells us, because they are not of the world. If we were of the world, we would have its values and goals and worldview. Throughout church history, Christians have been seen as subversive and treasonous because we have a greater allegiance always. The early Christians, when they were put before Caesar and demanded to say the Caesar is Lord, they would just simply say Christos est incurios, Christ is Lord. He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. We have a greater allegiance and so the world hates us. Our beliefs are out of step and more and more our beliefs here in this nation will be out of step with our culture. And there will be, as John Flavels says, Jesus' summer friends. Quickly, there will be a sifting in the church of God. As 1 Peter says, the judgment begins in the household of God. There's going to be a separating of sheep and goats. And the fire of persecution comes. And so Jesus is telling them, be hated by the world. But, he says, don't take them out of the world. They have a mission. They are sent here on a purpose, not to withdraw. I know for a lot of people, and even some within our church, there is maybe a temptation, a desire to say, I've gone through so much suffering, and I'm suffering so intensely now, that I just wanna be gone. And even Paul said this, Philippians chapter one. I wish, I would rather depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. Can you imagine Paul? He's in prison, probably one walking piece of scar tissue, beaten with rods, stoned. I desire to be with Christ, which is better by far. But, he says, it's more necessary that I remain with you for your progress and joy in the faith. God, would you sanctify us in your truth? Let me give you three quick, very briefly, three quick principles of sanctification because there's so much confusion on this. If God is the one who sanctifies us, what do we do? Do I take part in my growth in holiness? Is that legalism? Let me give you just three quick principles of this. Sanctification, number one is this. Holiness is God's purpose for you as a believer and the goal for his church. Holiness is God's purpose for you as a believer and goal of the church. Obedience to God is not legalism. It's obedience to God. Legalism is thinking that you're gonna earn God's favor by your obedience, that's legalism. Ephesians 1.4, even as God chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Ephesians 5, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So holiness is the goal of the church, the purpose for the believer. Now we have a purpose on our end as to what? Chief end. Glorify God, enjoy Him forever, okay? And here's principle number two. The sanctification, our growing in holiness, being set apart, is the work of God alone, is the work of God alone. 1 Corinthians 15, 10. By the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me is not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I. but the grace of God that is in me. Hebrews 13, we use this sometimes for our benediction. May the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. John Flavel and his comments on the shorter catechism. He asks the question, who is the author of sanctification? Answer, God only, God only. Third principle. While the work of sanctification is of God alone, he uses various means to sanctify, and we put forth real and sincere effort to grow by his grace. I'll say that again. While the work of sanctification is of God alone, He uses various means to sanctify and we put forth real and sincere effort to grow by His grace. Hebrews 12, 14, strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2, 12. "'Be all the more diligent to make your calling "'and election sure.'" 2 Peter 1.10, Louis Burkhoff says, "'While sanctification is very decidedly "'a supernatural work of God, "'the believer can and should cooperate in it "'by the diligent use of the means "'that God has placed at his disposal.'" What are the means by which we can grow in holiness? It's the mission statement that we read earlier. the means of grace, that we want to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ through faithfully planting of the gospel through the word of God, prayer, sacraments, ordinarily those three, but worship, service, gospel community, That God would use these things to grow us in the faith. And so we should avail ourselves to those means to grow by His grace. Brian Chappell said, holiness is not so much a matter of what we achieve as it is the grace that God provides. And so Jesus ends this section by stating, I consecrate myself. He's setting himself apart for this task, for this mission, that they also may be sanctified in truth, in truth. As the word of God goes out as you read it, as you study it, the Holy Spirit uses the word to grow us, to strengthen our faith. But the last thing here, as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And we are on mission here. We are on mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ among the nations. So, you are kept by God. A sovereign will of God. You are kept in salvation. You are secure in him. That is meant to give you peace. Jesus is about to be betrayed, arrested, crucified. He's telling his disciples, you're kept by God. You're secure in him. And my God is sanctifying you. Even those days when you feel like you're taking 10 steps backward, you're being sanctified. Even sometimes through discipline, you're being sanctified. Let me give you just a few takeaways from the text. The first. is that we should expect persecution. This has been the norm in Christian history, is persecution. We've been something, this privilege that we've had in this nation, to be able to worship like this. I know in a lot of countries, I used to do some research in Uzbekistan, and we researched human rights violations, and you couldn't even gather in groups of more than seven people without filing a petition to the government. And we can gather like this to worship Him. It's a privilege that we have, but persecution is the norm. And the more and more that you desire to live a godly life in this age, the more and more that you will face persecution. Not necessarily from those that flat out reject Christ, but also from some who profess faith in Christ. Second, that we should be comforted, that we are kept and guarded by a sovereign and holy God. We should be comforted by that. Those weak days that we would sing, that's what we just heard, Christ will hold me fast. My faith is weak, Christ will hold me fast. You've had those days, right? That's what Martin Luther called this anfachtung, this despair of the soul, this assault of Satan, the dark night of the soul, the doubts. Some people, I think it says in 1 Corinthians, have the gift of faith that never seem to have those wrestlings. And I love those people, because those are the people I call, I'm struggling here, I'm struggling here. But in those moments to know that Christ is for you, God is for you, who can be against you? Oh love that will not let me go. What can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus? Nothing, nothing. Thirdly, make your calling and election sure. Avail yourself to the means of grace. This is preparing yourself for coming together in worship, being in the word, praying to God. People have told me, I don't feel like praying. Tell God that. Tell God that. I don't feel like praying. I don't feel like talking to you. I don't feel like reading your word, help me. I believe, but help my unbelief. Go to God with those things. You know in, read that, singing this hymn earlier about on Jordan's stormy banks I stand, Joshua chapter four, waters were parted of the Jordan, an army of God crossed over into the promised land, the Canaanites. And they ordered, God ordered that they would erect this pillar of 12 stones on the other side. And you see this throughout the Bible. We were saying earlier, here I raise my, what? My Ebenezer, this stone of help, 1 Samuel chapter seven. This stone of help. And you see this throughout the Old Testament, various times. They'd make piles of rocks. And the reason was that they'd look back at the pile of rocks and remember the deliverance of God. And so when they're afraid, and they're scared, and they're facing their enemies, they can look back and say, God has brought me safe thus far. He will deliver me again. Oh, we have a greater stone. The cornerstone. Rejected. And we can look back and see Him, and see the cross, and say, He has delivered me, and He has brought me safe thus far, and He will bring me home. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would impress upon us not only our sin, but your overwhelming grace in saving us, in keeping us, in guarding us to the last day. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.