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Hope
Unlimited
Chapter
17: Assurance
I WANT YOU TO NOTICE the security which Paul confidently expected
for all believers. He says - "He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."
(1 Corinthians 1:8)
This is the kind of assurance which is to be desired above all
things. You see it supposes that the persons are
right, and it proposes to give them assurance in the right. Would it
not be an
awful thing to give a man assurance whose ways are lost in sin and
error?
Divine
assurance can only be enjoyed by those to
whom the grace - the unmerited kindness - of God has been already manifested. It is the work of
the Holy Ghost. He gives faith and He strengthens and establishes it:
He kindles love in us and he preserves it and increases its flame. What
He makes us to know by His first teaching, He causes us
to know with greater clearness and certainty by still further
instruction.
Holy acts are
strengthened till they become habits, and
holy feelings are strengthened till they become abiding conditions.
Experience and practice strengthen our beliefs and our resolutions.
Both our joys and our sorrows, our successes and our failures, are
sanctified to the selfsame end: even as the tree is helped to root
itself both by the soft showers and the rough winds.
The mind is
instructed, and in its growing knowledge it gathers reasons for
persevering in the good way: the heart is comforted, and so it is
made to cling more closely to the consoling truth. The grip grows
tighter, and the tread grows firmer, and the man himself becomes
more solid and substantial.
This
is not a merely natural growth, but is as distinct a work of the
Spirit as is conversion. The Lord will surely give it to those who are
relying upon Him for eternal life. By His inward working He will
deliver us from being "unstable as water," and cause us to
be rooted and grounded. It is a part of the method by which He saves
us - this building us up into Christ Jesus and causing us to abide in
Him. Dear reader, you may daily look for this; and you shall not be
disappointed. He whom you trust will make you to be as a tree
planted by the rivers of waters, so preserved that even your leaf
shall not wither.
A
genuine Christian is real strength to the church! He is a comfort to
the sorrowful, and a help to the weak. Would you not like to be
such? Genuine believers are pillars in the house of our God. These
are not carried away by every wind of doctrine, nor overthrown by
sudden temptation. They are a great stay to others, and act as
anchors in the time of church trouble. Shall you who are beginning the
holy life not hope that you will become like them? You need not fear; the good Lord will work in you as well as in
them. One of these days you who are now a "babe" in Jesus
shall be a "father" or a "mother" in the church. Hope for this great
thing; but hope for it as a gift that you do not deserve, as a gift of grace, and not as the wages of
work, or as the product of your own energy.
Returning
our attention to our text, notice that the
inspired apostle Paul encourages these people to be confident until
the end. He expected the grace of God to preserve them personally to
the end of their lives, or till the Lord Jesus should come. Indeed,
he expected that the whole church of God in every place and in all
time would be kept to the end of time, till the Lord
Jesus as the Bridegroom should come to celebrate the wedding-feast
with his perfected Bride.
All who are in Christ will
have confidence in
Him till that illustrious day. Has He not said, "Because I live
ye shall live also"? He also said, "I give unto my sheep
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand." He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
The work of grace in the
soul is not a superficial reformation; the life implanted as the new
birth comes from a living and incorruptible seed, which lives and
abides for ever; and the promises of God made to believers are not
merely passing promises, but they will only find fulfillment if the
believer holds true till Jesus comes in endless glory.
We are
kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation. "The
righteous shall hold on his way." Not as the result of our own
merit or strength, but as a gift of free and undeserved favor those
who believe are "preserved in Christ Jesus." Of the sheep
of His fold Jesus will lose none; no member of His Body shall die;
no gem of His treasure shall be missing in the day when He makes up
His jewels.
Dear reader, the salvation which is received by faith is
not a thing of months and years; for our Lord Jesus has
"obtained eternal salvation for us," and that which is
eternal cannot come to an end.
Paul
also declares his expectation that the Corinthian saints would be
kept blameless until the end. This blamelessness is a
precious part of our keeping. To be kept holy is better than merely
to be kept safe. It is a dreadful thing when you see religious
people blundering out of one dishonor into another. You see, they have not
believed in the power of our Lord to make them blameless. The lives
of some professing Christians are a series of stumbles; they are
never quite down, and yet they are seldom on their feet. This is not
a fit thing for a believer; for he is invited to walk with God, and by
faith he can attain to steady perseverance in holiness; and he ought
to do so. The Lord is able, not only to save us from hell, but to
keep us from falling. We need not yield to temptation. Is it not
written, "Sin shall not have dominion over you?" The Lord
is able to keep the feet of His saints; and He will do it if we will
trust Him to do so. We need not defile our garments, we may by His
grace keep them unspotted from the world; we are bound to do this,
"for without holiness no man shall see the Lord."
God grant that in that last great day
we may stand free from guilt, that none in the whole universe
may dare to challenge our claim to be the redeemed of the Lord. We
have sins and infirmities to mourn over, but these are not the kind
of faults which would prove us to be out of Christ; we shall be
clear of hypocrisy, deceit, hatred, and delight in sin; for these
things would be fatal charges. Despite our failings, the Holy Spirit
can work in us a spotless character before men; so that, like
Daniel, we shall not give any opportunity to accusing tongues.
Multitudes of godly men and women have
exhibited lives so transparent, so consistent throughout, that none
could find ground for accusing. The Lord will be able to say of many a believer,
as he did of Job, when Satan stood before Him, ""Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns
evil?" This is what my reader must
look for at the Lord's hands. This is the triumph of the believer -
to
continue to follow the Lamb wherever He goes, maintaining our
integrity as though we were ever standing before the living God. May we never turn aside into
crooked ways, and give cause to the adversary to accuse us. Of the
true believer it is written, "he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him." May it be so written concerning
us!
Friend,
if you are just beginning in the divine life, the Lord can give you an
irreproachable character. Even though in your past life you may have
gone far into sin, the Lord can altogether deliver you from the
power of former habits, and make you an example of virtue. Not only
can He make you moral, but He can make you hate every false way
and follow after all that is godly and right. Do not doubt it. The chief of
sinners need not lag behind the purest of the saints. Believe this, and according to your faith shall it be unto you.
Oh,
what a joy it will be to be found blameless in the day of judgment!
We do sing falsely when we join in that charming hymn:
Bold
shall I stand in that great day,
For who aught to my charge shall lay;
While through Thy blood absolved I am,
From sin's tremendous curse and shame?
What
bliss it will be to enjoy that dauntless courage, when heaven and
earth shall flee away from the face of the Judge of all! This bliss
shall be the portion of everyone who depends solely on the grace of God
in Christ Jesus, and in that sacred might wages continual war with
all sin.
I
look forward to seeing you in heaven one day dear friend. Heaven was
emptied that you might be filled. All the powers of heaven are
waiting to cooperate with you.
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