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Final Perseverance
A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Morning, March 23, 1856, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."Hebrews 6:4-6.
There are some spots in Europe which have been the scenes
of frequent warfare, as for instance, the kingdom of Belgium, which might be called the
battle field of Europe. War has raged over the whole of Europe, but in some unhappy spots,
battle after battle has been fought. So there is scarce a passage of Scripture which has
not been disputed between the enemies of truth and the upholders of it; but this passage,
with one or two others, has been the special subject of attack. This is one of the texts
which have been trodden under the feet of controversy; and there are opinions upon it as
adverse as the poles, some asserting that it means one thing, and some declaring that it
means another. We think that some of them approach somewhat near the truth; but others of
them desperately err from the mind of the Spirit. We come to this passage ourselves with
the intention to read it with the simplicity of a child, and whatever we find therein to
state it; and if it may not seem to agree with something we have hitherto held, we are
prepared to cast away every doctrine of our own, rather than one passage of Scripture.
Looking at the scope of the whole passage, it appears to us that the Apostle wished to
push the disciples on. There is a tendency in the human mind to stop short of the heavenly
mark. As soon as ever we have attained to the first principles of religion, have passed
through baptism, and understand the resurrection of the dead, there is a tendency in us to
sit still; to say, "I have passed from death unto life; here I may take my stand and
rest;" whereas, the Christian life was intended not to be a sitting still, but a
race, a perpetual motion. The Apostle, therefore endeavours to urge the disciples forward,
and make them run with diligence the heavenly race, looking unto Jesus. He tells them that
it is not enough to have on a certain day, passed through a glorious changeto have
experienced at a certain time, a wonderful operation of the Spirit; but he teaches them it
is absolutely necessary that they should have the Spirit all their livesthat they
should, as long as they live, be progressing in the truth of God. In order to make them
persevere, if possible, he shows them that if they do not, they must, most certainly be
lost; for there is no other salvation but that which God has already bestowed on them, and
if that does not keep them, carry them forward, and present them spotless before God,
there cannot be any other. For it is impossible, he says, if ye be once enlightened, and
then fall away, that ye should ever be renewed again unto repentance.
We shall, this morning, answer one or two questions. The first question will be, Who
are the people here spoken? Are they true Christians or not? Secondly, What is
meant by falling away? And thirdly, What is intended, when it is asserted, that it
is impossible to renew them to repentance?
I. First, then, we answer the question, WHO ARE THE PEOPLE HERE SPOKEN OF? If you read Dr.
Gill, Dr. Owen, and almost all the eminent Calvinistic writers, they all of them assert
that these persons are not Christians. They say, that enough is said here to represent a
man who is a Christian externally, but not enough to give the portrait of a true believer.
Now, it strikes me they would not have said this if they had had some doctrine to uphold;
for a child, reading this passage, would say, that the persons intended by it must be
Christians. If the Holy Spirit intended to describe Christians, I do not see that he
could have used more explicit terms than there are here. How can a man be said to be
enlightened, and to taste of the heavenly gift, and to be made partaker of the Holy Ghost,
without being a child of God? With all deference to these learned doctors, and I admire
and love them all, I humbly conceive that they allowed their judgments to be a little
warped when they said that; and I think I shall be able to show that none but true
believers are here described.
First, they are spoken of as having been once enlightened. This refers to the
enlightening influence of God's Spirit, poured into the soul at the time of conviction,
when man is enlightened with regard to his spiritual state, shown how evil and bitter a
thing it is to sin against God, made to feel how utterly powerless he is to rise from the
grave of his corruption, and is further enlightened to see, that "by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh living be justified," and to behold Christ on the cross, as the
sinner's only hope. The first work of grace is to enlighten the soul. By nature we are
entirely dark; the Spirit, like a lamp, sheds light into the dark heart, revealing its
corruption, displaying its sad state of destitution, and, in due time, revealing also
Jesus Christ, so that in his light we may see light. I cannot consider a man truly
enlightened unless he is a child of God. Does not the term indicate a person taught of
God? It is not the whole of Christian experience; but is it not a part?
Having enlightened us, as the text says, the next thing that God grants to us is a
taste of the heavenly gift, by which we understand, the heavenly gift of salvation,
including the pardon of sin, justification by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ,
regeneration by the Holy Ghost, and all those gifts and graces, which in the earlier dawn
of spiritual life convey salvation. All true believers have tasted of the heavenly gift.
It is not enough for a man to be enlightened; the light may glare upon his eyeballs, and
yet he may die; he must taste, as well as see that the Lord is good. It is not enough to
see that I am corrupt; I must taste that Christ is able to remove my corruption. It
is not enough for me to know that he is the only Saviour; I must taste of his flesh and of
his blood, and have a vital union with him. We do think that when a man has been
enlightened and has had an experience of grace, he is a Christian; and whatever those
great divines might hold, we cannot think that the Holy Spirit would describe an
unregenerate man as having been enlightened, and as having tasted of the heavenly gift.
No, my brethren, if I have tasted of the heavenly gift, then that heavenly gift is mine;
if I have had ever so short an experience of my Saviour's love, I am one of his; if he has
brought me into the green pastures, and made me taste of the still waters and the tender
grass, I need not fear as to whether I am really a child of God.
Then the Apostle gives a further description, a higher state of grace: sanctification
by participation of the Holy Ghost. It is a peculiar privilege to believers, after
their first tasting of the heavenly gift, to be made partakers of the Holy Ghost. He is an
indwelling Spirit; he dwells in the hearts, and souls, and minds of men; he makes this
mortal flesh his home; he makes our soul his palace, and there he rests; and we do assert
(and we think, on the authority of Scripture), that no man can be a partaker of the Holy
Ghost, and yet be unregenerate. Where the Holy Ghost dwells there must be life; and if I
have participation with the Holy Ghost, and fellowship with him, then I may rest assured
that my salvation has been purchased by the blood of the Saviour. Thou need'st not fear,
beloved; if thou has the Holy Ghost, thou hast that which ensures thy salvation; if thou,
by an inward communion, canst participate in his Spirit, and if by a perpetual indwelling
the Holy Ghost rests in thee, thou art not only a Christian, but thou hast arrived at some
maturity in and by grace. Thou hast gone beyond mere enlightenment: thou hast passed from
the bare tastethou hast attained to a positive feast, and a partaking of the Holy
Ghost.
Lest there should be any mistake, however, about the persons being children of God, the
Apostle goes to a further stage of grace. They "have tasted the good word of God."
Now, I will venture to say there are some good Christian people here who have tasted the
heavenly gift, who have never "tasted the good word of God." I mean by that,
that they are really converted, have tasted the heavenly gift, but have not grown so
strong in grace as to know the sweetness, the richness, and fatness of the very word that
saves them. They have been saved by the word, but they have not come yet to realize, and
love, and feed upon the word as many others have. It is one thing for God to work a work
of grace in the soul, it is quite another thing for God to show us that work; it is one
thing for the word to work in usit is another thing for us really and habitually to
relish, and taste, and rejoice in that word. Some of my hearers are true Christians; but
they have not got to that stage wherein they can love election, and suck it down as a
sweet morsel, wherein they can take the great doctrines of grace, and feed upon them. But
these people had. They had tasted the good word of God, as well as received the good gift:
they had attained to such a state, that they had loved the word, had tasted, and feasted
upon it. It was the man of their right hand; they had counted it sweeter than
honeyay, sweeter than the droppings of the honeycomb. They had "tasted the good
word of God." I say again, if these people be not believerswho are?
And they had gone further still. They had attained the summit of piety. They had received
"the powers of the world to come." Not miraculous gifts, which are denied
us in these days, but all those powers with which the Holy Ghost endows a Christian. And
what are they? Why, there is the power of faith, which commands even the heavens
themselves to rain, and they rain, or stops the bottles of heaven, that they rain not.
There is the power of prayer, which puts a ladder between earth and heaven, and bids
angels walk up and down, to convey our wants to God, and bring down blessings from above.
There is the power with which God girds his servant when he speaks by inspiration, which
enables him to instruct others, and lead them to Jesus; and whatever other power there may
bethe power of holding communion with God, or the power of patient waiting for the
Son of Manthey were possessed by these individuals. They were not simply children,
but they were men; they were not merely alive, but they were endued with power; they were
men, whose muscles were firmly set, whose bones were strong; they had become giants in
grace, and had received not only the light, but the power also of the world to come.
These, we say, whatever may be the meaning of the text, must have been, beyond a doubt,
none other than true and real Christians.
II. And now we answer the second question, WHAT IS MEANT BY FALLING AWAY?
We must remind our friends, that there is a vast distinction between falling away and
falling. It is nowhere said in Scripture, that if a man fall he cannot be renewed; on
the contrary, "the righteous falleth seven times, but he riseth up again;" and
however many times the child of God doth fall, the Lord still holdeth the righteous; yea,
when our bones are broken, he bindeth up our bones again, and setteth us once more upon a
rock. He saith, "Return, ye backsliding children of men; for I am married unto
you;" and if the Christian do backslide ever so far, still Almighty mercy cries,
"Return, return, return, and seek an injured Father's heart." He still calls his
children back again. Falling is not falling away. Let me explain the difference; for a man
who falls may behave just like a man who falls away; and yet there is a great distinction
between the two. I can use no better illustration than the distinction between fainting
and dying. There lies a young creature; she can scarcely breathe; she cannot herself, lift
up her hand, and if lifted up by any one else, it falls. She is cold and stiff; she is
faint, but not dead. There is another one, just as cold and stiff as she is, but
there is this differenceshe is dead. The Christian may faint, and may fall
down in a faint too, and some may pick him up, and say he is dead; but he is not. If he
fall, God will lift him up again; but if he fall away, God himself cannot save him. For it
is impossible, if the righteous fall away, "to renew them again unto
repentance."
Moreover, to fall away is not to commit sin. under a temporary surprise and
temptation. Abraham goes to Egypt; he is afraid that his wife will be taken away from him,
and he says, "She is my sister." That was a sin under a temporary
surprisea sin, of which, by-and-by, he repented, and God forgave him. Now that is
falling; but it is not falling away. Even Noah might commit a sin, which has degraded his
memory even till now, and shall disgrace it to the latest time; but doubtless, Noah
repented, and was saved by sovereign grace. Noah fell, but Noah did not fall away. A
Christian may go astray once, and speedily return again; and though it is a sad, and
woeful, and evil thing to be surprised into a sin, yet there is a great difference between
this and the sin which would be occasioned by a total falling away from grace.
Nor can a man who commits a sin, which is not exactly a surprise, be said to fall
away. I believe that some Christian men(God forbid that we should say much of
it!let us cover the nakedness of our brother with a cloak.) but I do believe that
there are some Christians who, for a period of time, have wandered into sin, and yet have
not positively fallen away. There is that black case of Davida case which has
puzzled thousands. Certainly for some months, David lived without making a public
confession of his sin, but, doubtless, he had achings of heart, for grace had not ceased
its work: there was a spark among the ashes that Nathan stirred up, which showed that
David was not dead, or else the match which the prophet applied would not have caught
light so readily. And so, beloved, you may have wandered into sin for a time, and gone far
from God; and yet you are not the character here described, concerning whom it is said,
that it is impossible you should be saved; but, wanderer though you be, you are your
father's son still, and mercy cries, "Repent, repent; return unto your first husband,
for then it was better with you than it is now. Return, O wanderer, return."
Again, falling away is not even a giving up of profession. Some will say, "Now
there is So-and-so; he used to make a profession of Christianity, and now he denies it,
and what is worse, he dares to curse and swear, and says that he never knew Christ at all.
Surely he must be fallen away." My friend, he has fallen, fallen fearfully, and
fallen woefully; but I remember a case in Scripture of a man who denied his Lord and
Master before his own face. You remember his name; he is an old friend of yoursour
friend Simon Peter! he denied him with oaths and curses, and said, "I say unto thee
that I know not the man." And yet Jesus looked on Simon. He had fallen, but he had
not fallen away; for, only two or three days after that, there was Peter at the tomb of
his Master, running there to meet his Lord, to be one of the first to find him risen.
Beloved, you may even have denied Christ by open profession, and yet if you repent there
is mercy for you. Christ has not cast you away, you shall repent yet. You have not fallen
away. If you had, I might not preach to you; for it is impossible for those who have
fallen away to be renewed again unto repentance.
But some one says, "What is falling away?" Well, there never has been a case of
it yet, and therefore I cannot describe it from observation; but I will tell you what I
suppose it is. To fall away, would be for the Holy Spirit entirely to go out of a
manfor his grace entirely to cease; not to lie dormant, but to cease to befor
God, who has begun a good work, to leave off doing it entirelyto take his hand
completely and entirely away, and say, "There, man! I have half saved thee; now I
will damn thee." That is what falling away is. It is not to sin temporarily. A child
may sin against his father, and still be alive; but falling away is like cutting the
child's head off clean. Not falling merely, for then our Father could pick us up, but
being dashed down a precipice, where we are lost for ever. Falling away would involved
God's grace changing its living nature. God's immutability becoming variable, God's
faithfulness becoming changeable, and God, himself being undeified; for all these things
falling away would necessitate.
III. But if a child of God could fall away, and grace could cease in a man's
heartnow comes the third questionPaul says, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO BE
RENEWED. What did the Apostle mean? One eminent commentator says, he meant that it would
be very hard. It would be very hard, indeed, for a man who fell away, to be saved. But we
reply, "My dear friend, it does not say anything about its being very hard; it says
it is impossible, and we say that it would be utterly impossible, if such a case as is
supposed were to happen; impossible for man, and also impossible for God; for God hath
purposed that he never will grant a second salvation to save those whom the first
salvation hath failed to deliver. Methinks, however, I hear some one say, "It seems
to me that it is possible for some such to fall away," because it says, "It is
impossible, if they shall fall away, to renew them again into repentance." Well, my
friend, I will grant you your theory for a moment. You are a good Christian this morning;
let us apply it to yourself, and see how you will like it. You have believed in Christ,
and committed your soul to God, and you think, that in some unlucky hour you may fall
entirely away. Mark you, if you come to me and tell me that you have fallen away, how
would you like me to say to you, "My friend, you are as much damned as the devil in
hell! for it is impossible to renew you to repentance?" "Oh! no, sir," you
would say, "I will repent again and join the Church." That is just the Arminian
theory all over; but it is not in God's Scripture. If you once fall away, you are as
damned as any man who suffereth in the gulf for ever. And yet we have heard a man talk
about people being converted three, four, and five times, and regenerated over and over
again. I remember a good man (I suppose he was) pointing to a man who was walking along
the street, and saying, "That man has been born again three times, to my certain
knowledge." I could mention the name of the individual, but I refrain from doing so.
"And I believe he will fall again," said he, "he is so much addicted to
drinking, that I do not believe the grace of God will do anything for him, unless he
becomes a teetotaller." Now, such men cannot read the Bible; because in case their
members do positively fall away, here it is stated, as a positive fact, that it is
impossible to renew them again unto repentance. But I ask my Arminian friend, does he not
believe that as long as there is life there is hope? "Yes," he says:
"While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return."
Well, that is not very consistent, to say
this in the very next breath to that with which you tell us that there are some people who
fall away, and consequently fall into such a condition, that they cannot be saved. I want
to know how you make these two things fit each other; I want you to make these two
doctrines agree; and until some enterprising individual will bring the north pole, and set
it on the top of the south, I cannot tell how you will accomplish it. The fact is you are
quite right in saying, "While there is life there is hope;" but you are wrong in
saying that any individual ever did fall into such a condition, that it was impossible for
him to be saved.
We come now to do two things: first, to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian
fall away, he cannot be saved; and, secondly, to improve the doctrine, or to show
its use,
I. Then I am going to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian fall awaynot
fall, for you understand how I have explained that; but if a Christian cease to be a child
of God, and if grace die out in his hearthe is then beyond the possibility of
salvation, and it is impossible for him ever to be renewed. Let me show you why. First, it
is utterly impossible, if you consider the work which has already broken down. When
men have built bridges across streams, if they have been built of the strongest material
and in the most excellent manner, and yet the foundation has been found so bad that none
will stand, what do they say? Why, "We have already tried the best which engineering
or architecture has taught us; the best has already failed; we know nothing that can
exceed what has been tried; and we do therefore feel, that there remains no possibility of
ever bridging that stream, or ever running a line of railroad across this bog, or this
morass, for we have already tried what is acknowledged to be the best scheme." As the
apostle says, "These people have been once enlightened; they have had once the
influence of the Holy Spirit, revealing to them their sin: what now remains to be tried.
They have been once convincedis there anything superior to conviction?" Does
the Bible promise that the poor sinner shall have anything over and above the conviction
of his sin to make him sensible of it? Is there anything more powerful than the sword of
the Spirit? That has not pierced the man's heart; is there anything else which will
do it? Here is a man who has been under the hammer of God's law; but that has not broken
his heart; can you find anything stronger? The lamp of God's spirit has already lit up the
caverns of his soul: if that be not sufficient, where will you borrow another? Ask the
sun, has he a lamp more bright than the illumination of the Spirit! Ask the stars, have
they a light more brilliant than the light of the Holy Ghost? Creation answers no. If that
fails, then there is nothing else. These people, moreover, had tasted the heavenly gift;
and though they had been pardoned and justified, yet pardon through Christ and
justification were not enough (on this supposition) to save them. How else can they be
saved? God has cast them away; after he has failed in saving them by these, what else can
deliver them? Already they have tasted of the heavenly gift: is there a greater mercy for
them? Is there a brighter dress than the robe of Christ's righteousness? Is there a more
efficacious bath than that "fountain filled with blood?" No. All the earth
echoes, "No." If the one has failed, what else does there remain?
These persons, too, have been partakers of the Holy Ghost; if that fail, what more can we
give them? If, my hearer, the Holy Ghost dwells in your soul, and that Holy Ghost does not
sanctify you and keep you to the end, what else can be tried? Ask the blasphemer whether
he knows a being, or dares to suppose a being superior to the Holy Spirit! Is there a
being greater than Omnipotence? Is there a might greater than that which dwells in the
believer's new-born heart? And if already the Holy Spirit hath failed, O, heavens! tell us
where we can fight aught that can excel his might? If that be ineffectual, what next is to
be essayed? These people, too, had "tasted the good Word of Life;" they had
loved the doctrines of grace; those doctrines had entered into their souls, and they had
fed upon them. What new doctrines shall be preached to them? Prophet of ages! where whilt
thou find another system of divinity? Who shall we have? Shall we raise up Moses from the
tomb? shall we fetch up all the ancient seers, and bid them prophecy? If, then, there is
only one doctrine that is true, and if these people have fallen away after receiving that,
how can they be saved?
Again, these people, according to the text, have had "the powers of the world to
come." They have had power to conquer sinpower in faith, power in prayer, power
of communion; with what greater power shall they be endowed? This has already failed; what
next can be done? O ye angels! answer, what next! What other means remain? What else can
avail, if already the great things of salvation have been defeated? What else shall now be
attempted? He hath been once saved; but yet it is supposed that he is lost. How, then, can
he now be saved? Is there a supplementary salvation? is there something that shall overtop
Christ, and be a Christ where Jesus is defeated.
And then the apostle says, that the greatness of their sin which they would incur,
if they did fall away, would put them beyond the bounds of mercy. Christ died, and by his
death he made an atonement for his own murderers; he made an atonement for those sins
which crucified him once; but do we read that Christ will ever die for those who crucify
him twice? But the Apostle tells us that if believers do fall away, they will
"crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Where, then,
would be an atonement for that? He has died for me; What! though the sins of all the world
were on my shoulders, still they only crucified him once, and that one crucifixion has
taken all those sins away; but if I crucified him again, where would I find pardon? Could
heavens, could earth, could Christ himself, with bowels full of love, point me to another
Christ, show to me a second Calvary, give me a second Gethsemane? Ah! no! the very guilt
itself would put us beyond the pale of hope, if we were to fall away?
Again, beloved, think what it would necessitate to save such a man. Christ has died
for him once, yet he has fallen away and is lost; the Spirit has regenerated him once, and
that regenerating work has been of no use. God has given him a new heart (I am only
speaking, of course, on the supposition of the Apostle), he has put his law in that heart,
yet he has departed from him, contrary to the promise that he should not; he has made him
"like a shining light," but he did not "shine more and more unto the
perfect day," he shone only unto blackness. What next? There must be a second
incarnation, a second Calvary, a second Holy Ghost, a second regeneration, a second
justification, although the first was finished and completein fact, I know not what.
It would necessitate the upsetting of the whole kingdom of nature and grace, and it would,
indeed, be a world turned upside down, if after the gracious Saviour failed, he were to
attempt the work again.
If you read the 7th verse, you will see that the Apostle calls nature in to his
assistance. He says, "The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon
it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from
God: But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose
end is to be burned." Look! there is a field; the rain comes on it, and it brings
forth good fruit. Well, then, there is God's blessing on it. But there is according to
your supposition, another field, on which the same rain descends, which the same dew
moistens; it has been ploughed and harrowed, as well as the other, and the husbandman has
exercised all his craft upon it, and yet it is not fertile. Well, if the rain of heaven
did not fertilize it, what next? Already all the arts of agriculture have been tried,
every implement has been worn out on its surface, and yet it has been of no avail. What
next? There remains nothing but that it shall be burnt and cursedgiven up like the
desert of Sahara, and resigned to destruction. So, my hearer, could it be possible that
grace could work in thee, and then not affect thy salvationthat the influence of
Divine grace could come down, like rain from heaven, and yet return unto God void, there
could not be any hope for thee, for thou wouldst be "nigh unto cursing," and
thine end would be "to be burned."
There is one idea which has occurred to us. It has struck us as a singular thing, that our
friends should hold that men can be converted, made into new creatures, then fall away and
be converted again. I am an old creature by nature; God creates me into a new thing, he
makes me a new creature. I cannot go back into an old creature, for I cannot be uncreated.
But yet, supposing that new creatureship of mine is not good enough to carry me to heaven.
What is to come after that? Must there be something above a new creaturea new
creature. Really, my friends, we have got into the country of Dreamland; but we were
forced to follow our opponents into that region of absurdity, for we do not know how else
to deal with them.
And one thought more. There is nothing in Scripture which teaches us that there is any
salvation, save the one salvation of Jesus Christnothing that tells us of any other
power, super-excellent and surpassing the power of the Holy Spirit. These things have
already been tried on the man, and yet, according to the supposition, they have failed,
for he has fallen away. Now, God has never revealed a supplementary salvation for men on
whom one salvation has had no effect; and until we are pointed to one scripture which
declares this, we will still maintain that the doctrine of the text is this: that if grace
be ineffectual, if grace does not keep a man, then there is nothing left but that he must
be damned. And what is that but to say, only going a little round about, that grace will
do it? So that these words, instead of miltating against the Calvinistic doctrine of final
perseverance, form one of the finest proofs of it that could be afforded.
And now, lastly, we come to improve this doctrine. If Christians can fall away, and
cease to be Christians, they cannot be renewed again to repentance. "But," says
one, "You say they cannot fall away." What is the use of putting this
"if" in, like a bugbear to frighten children, or like a ghost that can have no
existence? My learned friend, "Who art thou that repliest against God?" If God
has put it in, he has put it in for wise reasons and for excellent purposes. Let me show
you why. First, O Christian, it is put in to keep thee from falling away. God preserves
his children from falling away; but he keeps them by the use of means; and one of these
is, the terrors of the law, showing them what would happen if they were to fall away.
There is a deep precipice: what is the best way to keep any one from going down there?
Why, to tell him that if he did he would inevitably be dashed to pieces. In some old
castle there is a deep cellar, where there is a vast amount of fixed air and gas, which
would kill anybody who went down. What does the guide say? "If you go down you will
never come up alive." Who thinks of going down? The very fact of the guide telling us
what the consequences would be, keeps us from it. Our friend puts away from us a cup of
arsenic; he does not want us to drink it, but he says, "If you drink it, it will kill
you." Does he suppose for a moment that we should drink it. No; he tells us the
consequences, and he is sure we will not do it. So God says, "My child, if you fall
over this precipice you will be dashed to pieces." What does the child do? He says,
"Father, keep me; hold thou me up, and I shall be safe." It leads the believer
to greater dependence on God, to a holy fear and caution, because he knows that if he were
to fall away he could not be renewed, and he stands far away from that great gulf, because
he know that if he were to fall into it there would be no salvation for him. If I thought
as the Arminian thinks, that I might fall away, and then return again, I should pretty
often fall away, for sinful flesh and blood would think it very nice to fall away, and be
a sinner, and go and see the play at the theatre, or get drunk, and then come back to the
Church, and be received again as a dear brother who had fallen away for a little while. No
doubt the minister would say, "Our brother Charles is a little unstable at
times." A little unstable! He does not know anything about grace; for grace engenders
a holy caution, because we feel that if we were not preserved by Divine power we should
perish. We tell our friend to put oil in his lamp, that it may continue to burn! Does that
imply that it will be allowed to go out? No, God will give him oil to pour into the lamp
continually. Like John Bunyan's figure; there was a fire, and he saw a man pouring water
upon it. "Now," says the Preacher, "don't you see that fire would go out,
that water is calculated to put it out, and if it does, it will never be lighted
again;" but God does not permit that! for there is a man behind the wall who is
pouring oil on the fire; and we have cause for gratitude in the fact, that if the oil were
not put in by a heavenly hand, we should inevitably be driven to destruction. Take care,
then Christian, for this is a caution.
2. It is to excite our gratitude. Suppose you say to your little boy, "Don't you know
Tommy, if I were not to give you your dinner and your supper you would die? There is
nobody else to give Tommy dinner and supper." What then? The child does not think
that you are not going to give him his dinner and supper; he knows you will, and he is
grateful to you for them. The chemist tells us, that if there were no oxygen mixed with
the air, animals would die. Do you suppose that there will be no oxygen, and therefore we
shall die? No, he only teaches you the great wisdom of God, in having mixed the gases in
their proper proportions. Says one of the old astronomers, "There is great wisdom in
God, that he has put the sun exactly at a right distancenot so far away that we
should be frozen to death, and not so near that we should be scorched." He says,
"If the sun were a million miles nearer to us we should be scorched to death."
Does the man suppose that the sun will be a million miles nearer, and, therefore, we shall
be scorched to death? He says, "If the sun were a million miles farther off we should
be frozen to death." Does he mean that the sun will be a million miles farther off,
and therefore we shall be frozen to death? Not at all. Yet it is quite a rational way of
speaking, to show us how grateful we should be to God. So says the Apostle. Christian! if
thou shouldst fall away, thou couldst never be renewed unto repentance. Thank thy Lord,
then, that he keeps thee.
"See a stone that hangs in air; see a
spark in ocean live;
Kept alive with death so near; I to God the glory give."
There is a cup of sin which would damn thy
soul, O Christian. Oh! what grace is that which holds thy arm, and will not let thee drink
it? There thou art, at this hour, like the bird-catcher of St. Kilda, thou art being drawn
to heaven by a single rope; if that hand which holds thee let thee go, if that rope which
grasps thee do but break, thou art dashed on the rocks of damnation. Lift up thine heart
to God, then, and bless him that his arm is not wearied, and is never shortened that it
cannot save. Lord Kenmure, when he was dying, said to Rutherford. "Man! my name is
written on Christ's hand, and I see it! that is bold talk, man, but I see it!" Then,
if that be the case, his hand must be severed from his body before my name can be taken
from him; and if it be engraven on his heart, his heart must be rent out before they can
rend my name out.
Hold on, then, and trust believer! thou hast "an anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast, which entereth within the veil." The winds are bellowing, the tempests
howling; should the cable slip, or thine anchor break, thou art lost. See those rocks, on
which myriads are driving, and thou art wrecked there if grace leave thee; see those
depths, in which the skeletons of sailors sleep, and thou art there, if that anchor fail
thee. It would be impossible to moor thee again, if once that anchor broke; for other
anchor there is none, other salvation there can be none, and if that one fail thee, it is
impossible that thou ever shouldst be saved. Therefore thank God that thou hast an anchor
that cannot fail, and then loudly sing
"How can I sink with such a prop,
As my eternal God,
Who bears the earth's huge pillars up?
And spreads the heavens abroad?"
How can I die, when Jesus lives,
Who rose and left the dead?
Pardon and grace my soul receives,
From my exalted head."
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