PRESERVATION OF THE SAINTS

He (the Lord) will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. (Psalm 145:19-20)

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. (Psalm 118:24-26)

  Singing of the future, the psalmist wrote, “This is the day the Lord hath made.” What “day” is that? “The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.”

And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. (Joel 2:30-32). 

The “great” part of that day is for those “whosoever” calls on the Name of the Lord. That prophecy of old imparts John 3:16 when “whosoever” shall not perish, but have eternal life, the latter for which it is the “great day” and “perishing” the “terrible day.” The criterion for deliverance is calling upon the Name of the Lord. And only by the Name, Jesus, can whosoever be saved. (Acts 4:12). There is a gospel message in the psalms! The message throughout the Bible is that anyone can be saved who trusts Jesus for eternal preservation.
  Let me make a distinction. “Preservation” is the state of keeping fresh. “Freshness” is rebirth – when an unbeliever trusts Jesus for salvation, and is born again (John 3:7). “Salvation” for those who are born again is on the Great Day (for them.) It is when they are rescued from destruction on that Terrible Day (for others). Therefore, Christians are preserved until they are preserved until death and saved in the end.

Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. (Psalm 97:10) 

  “Saints” are the faithful who endure to the end, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Hence, God preserves the faithful, but to be saints required enduring faith. The saints (those who maintain faith) will be saved in the end – on that Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.
  What must be endured? Being hated because of Jesus. Those who hate is as murderers (1 John 3;15). That’s not to murder anyone physically, but to kill their soul by emptying God’s Spirit from it!

  Think of the soul as fruit because it should have any number of the fruits of the spirit if the soul is right with God. He makes them good because no one can clean and preserve themselves. That realization is the climax transforming the natural man into the spiritual man (or woman), and is called “born again.” God puts that “new fruit” into a nice clean container, and seals it (Ephes 1:13).  Those with fruits of the spirit are preserved for a future time. Those who are faithful trust the Preserver and the preservation process until Judgment Day. On that Day, Jesus opens the seal, so to speak, unscrews the lid, and checks the “preserves” inside. Is it still good flesh and fruits, or has contamination despoiled it. God preserves the fruit within His “jar” (Jesus referred to it as a “cup”). Jesus’s “fruit” remained unspoiled in his “jar” to be without sin to take on the sins of the world!
  With the “jar” (wineskin, if you prefer) all new, God puts the purified “fruit” – the new person – into the “jar,” puts on a “Ball seal” and clamps on a “Ball lid.” Then the Holy Spirit, as with fire, purifies the jar and all within it. With that done, the saint is preserved and sealed for further use. The purpose of the preservation is for eternal use, with eternity starting on the Great Day of the Lord.
  Now Satan is clever. He knows the fruit will be despoiled if the seal is broken, even if cracked just a little. Once the sin “yeast” finds its way in, then the old “lump” of flesh (the fruit) is despoiled. Sin multiplies, and eventually the gases accumulate, the seal is broken, and the preserved flesh explodes and perishes.
  It is imperative not to allow that first mite of sin to squeeze under the seal, or log-sized sin will enter in. Once that seal is loosened, it cannot be restored unless the jar is examined, opened, cleansed again, and the preservation continued. However, it must be the same new flesh as before. Putting despoiled flesh in the jar, one with no fruits, cannot have the seal maintained. In other words, it is as if crucifying Jesus afresh, if his blood that preserved is taken vainly. Our flesh can only be saved one time, but by God’s grace, confession and repentance will continue the preservation process.
  Satan can break the “seal.” He has cunning on how to do it! He contrives with the flesh to experience life fuller, and the flesh itself breaks the seal. Rather than the twelve fruits of the spirit, any one of the bad fruits of the demons will despoil the entire “jar.”
  Before Jesus preserves the fruit, the bad part must be circumcised of its hardness. For those who are reborn, the Lord circumcises the hard flesh from the heart, then quickly cleanses what remains, contains it in its “cup,” seals it with His hand (Jesus), cold-packs it with the Power of His Spirit for preservation, and then awaits the Day of the Lord’s Delight! God takes out the preserved flesh, garnishes it to perfection, and then God is served a glorious “meal.” He says, “Well done, My preserved!”
  The Lord allows sin to endeavor to penetrate, but the person inside must nudge the lid and mislocate the seal just a tiny bit. Satan encourages that by always suggesting, “You are not ready yet for this sanctuary; have some more world to experience for a while. You deserve more of my fruit, and preserved, you cannot eat of it!”
  What keeps the flesh from contamination? It is preserved with many good fruits: love, kindness, patience, and so forth. If those fruits remain active, then there is no space in the “cup” for fruits with yeast – those that have  fermented. God even has a recipe for preservation. It is the Word of God. Specifically, the flesh and fruits are preserved with Loving Hands, and the fermentation inside is evacuated and replaced with love.
  Where is love obtained? From God’s “recipe” for preservation. His “Ten Words” were written as the prescriptions for preserving the flesh in its fruit, until the time God calls for it. On that Great Day, God will find fresh flesh fit for garnishing if the fruits within it remain palatable. If the flesh appears to be bad and the fruits vile, then God will dump it into the trash – that place called Sheol.
  Allow God to preserve you until the time of your salvation. You aren’t saved until the shelf-life has expired. Each day, those who are preserved are nearer the day of their salvation than when they first trusted God for preservation: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom 13:11).
 What “time” are Christians saved? On that Great Day when they are judged as preserved to the end! The “prosperity” mentioned in Psalm 118 above is the day the preserved flesh is garnished with glorification… the “gain” is death, as Paul said, and Psalm 115:15 – “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints”   …and you thought it was monetary! When the “jar” is opened with death, then God has delivered His precious fruit-filled flesh to His table. Isn’t God good?

Preserved Flesh Awaiting Consumption (credit; Smuckers)