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ELDER d. H. OLIPHANT,
.
OF CRAWFORD8VtLLE, InD.
The salvation of God’s people would not be sure if it were made to depend on the obedience of men. The immutable will and choice of God is the only true ground of the Christian’s hope. It is contrary to the goodness and mercy of God to found our hope on an uncer¬ tain basis,'. God’s love to his people is not : founded on anv worth or merit in men, nor on j
~ 7 a
3
any foreseen virtue ; for there is no virtue in j men to foresee, only as it is the result of] Grace. If obedience w*ere the cause of his j love to us, then the continuance of his love | would depend on our continued obedience, and 1 this view would make the whole scheme of J
•c ■> . • 'j/5* . rp’ Tiffs
salvation to depend on so feeble a foundation! as human faithfulness.
Tbe salvation of men can not rest on any* act or good quality in man, for men do no« possess any good quality, nor are they capabfl of any spiritually good action.
Our salvation is of grace, and if so, it casB not be of works, nor of merit ; it can not bfl dependent on man. Where grace begin® works must end, they belong to different coveBI nants. If the ark stays in, Dagon must faljH
THE DOCTRINE
OF THE
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
\ ()(•:
STATED AND DEFENDED BY
Elder J. H. OLIPHANT,
of Crawfordsville, Ind.
FRANK H. SMITH, Printer and Binder, Indianapolis. 1891.
MMf/r,',', ;wm
0 ( : -Jeered according to Act of Congress, by JAMES H. OLIPHANT, the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington,
1878.
D.C
INDEX
8
17
26
PREFACE . PAGE*
CHAPTER I— . v
A*Gd— Drawn from the Nature of Christ’s
CHAPTER II— . 1
CHAPTER I^H— °BJECT °F CHRIST’S Death — Continued
The Nature of the New Birth
-CHAPTER IV— .
Of the Love of God .
CHAPTER V— .
The Purpose and Foreknowledge of God
CHAPTER VI— 33
We are Heirs of God, and Heaven is an Inheri¬ tance. Quotation from Gadsby CHAPTER VII—
CHRtoTuTLL Certainly be Praised, -His Union
CHAPTER VIII— .
Nature of Faith . '
CHAPTER IX— .
Thoughts on Romans xi ...
CHAPTER X— .
The Lost Sheep, the Ten Pieces
4
40
55
62
68
thePr°o™’lTSHon.„EN FIECES °F SlLVER’ and
w CHAPTER XI— .
Of King Saul, Israel in the Wilderness- Ezek. xvni .
'' CHAPTER XII— .
^ About Judas .
w CHAPTER XIII—
About Infants .
CHAPTER XIV—
About Adam — Hebrews vi : 4-6
■CHAPTER XV—
About the Ten Virgins ...
' CHAPTER XVI—
Methodist Articles of Religion
CHAPTER XVII— .
A General Objection Answered
CHAPTER XVIII— .
Extract from Elder Lampton’s Scrap Book.
74
79
86
93
106
112
ci9
!32
145
3STOTICE3.
The books below will be mailed post-paid to any address, on receipt of the prices ; and stamps will be taken for orders of not more than 50 cents:
“Final Perseverance of the Saints,” - - - 25 cts.
“Regeneration;” A refutation of Gospel-
quickening, ----- - - - - 25 cts.
“The Baptist Hymnal,” 350 choice hymns, - 25 cts.
“Mercy Deering ; or, Faith Against Infidelity,” 85 cts.
Address,
Elder J. H. Oliphant,
Crawfordsville, Ind.
Or, Elder D. Bartley,
Indianapolis, Ind.
4
PREFACE.
I am not so vain as to think that I have, in this little work, introduced anything new in the way of argument on the subject ; but I hope it will be found to contain no sentiment contrary to truth. Neither do I feel that our aged brethren, who have been investigators through life, will be benefited materi¬ ally by reading these pages; but our young brethren, sisters and friends, who have never fairly and can¬ didly considered the subject, it is to be hoped, will derive real benefit by reading this work. I have, for some years, believed that the practical effects of preaching the possibility of apostasy were bad; that its tendency is to^degrade religion, to discourage the real lovers and servants of God, and lead them to misplace their trust; to fill them with false notions about the atonement of Christ, as to its nature and design, and to give them poor and imperfect views of the nature of the new birth ; to leave them all their lives to the greatest uncertainty about their final end; for no matter how clear their evidence of acceptance with God may be now, there can be
no certainty about how it would be in the end — for saints are not ignorant of the devices of Satan, and
know not when, through the weakness of the flesh, they may be overcome. In view of their foes, both without and within, they can not, they dare not trust themselves. And as long as they are taught to believe in apostasy, they can not think that God will keep them ; therefore nothing sure and steadfast can be enjoyed by them in this life.
VI
Preface.
I know, too, that it necessarily discourages the mourner, who is humbly seeking after God, to tell him that, if he should find him, there is no telling whether in the end it would do him any good ; that thousands have found him precious to their souls, and afterwards sunk down in hell; and that, after they have found him, all their hope for final deliverance is in their own faithfulness. I say such a sentiment is every way calculated to wither the feelings of every heart-broken sinner, to cast over the mind of every lover of God a cloud of gloomy forebodings. What we want — what we pant after, is something sure and steadfast ; some sure Gibraltar that can not be moved; some friend who can supply all our wants and keep us to the end, and I know that the god of falling from grace is not that rock, or friend. The careless and unconcerned sinner can not have so high an appreciation of religion, while he is told that they who have it are likely to lose it ; that among the early Christians, who left Pharoah’s dominion, out of six hundred thousand, only two went to Heaven ; that Moses, the meekest man, was in that number that fell. I say, even sinners can not look with great admiration on that Savior that suffers sin and temptation to rob him of his little ones ; and certainly infidels would consider this doctrine as one of the greatest arguments against the truth of religion.
The very thought that Jesus, the Son of God, who has infinite wisdom, gave himself up to death for us, and yet will not give us all things else per¬ taining to life and glory, is an outrage upon every principle of common sense. Certainly the devil himself would rejoice to know that the doctrine is true; that Jesus has left his flock so unguarded tha
Preface.
Vll
he has access to them ; that his tender lambs are left so that he yet has a chance at them. If it is true, there is no absolute certainty in Heaven’s plan of salvation. It has been my object in these pages to show that every Heaven-born child of God will cer¬ tainly and infallibly be saved. How well I have succeeded, I leave for tne honest reader to deter¬ mine. I am aware that the style, so far as the liter¬ ary features of the work are concerned, will not bear the closest scrutiny and criticism, but I only hope it is right in “theology.” I have quoted some of the last sayings of some men who spent their lives in de¬ fending this doctrine. I have in my possession the last words of a number of men who died in the firm belief of this doctrine, and who also died in abiding faith, and on their deathbeds recommended it to others.
I could have much enlarged this little work, by quoting the words of those dying servants of God, all bearing testimony to the sovereignty of God’s grace in the salvation of ruined sinners; acknowl¬ edging that, after all their labor in his service, they had nothing to hope in but the grace of God ; dis¬ carding everything they had done, as a cause why they should go to Heaven, and trusting their eternal all in the hands of God. What shall we think of that doctrine that so fully sustains its lovers in death, and gives them such triumphant victory in the close of life ?
I now offer it to the public, with the simple desire that it may be a blessing in some little degree to some anxious inquirers after truth. I hope I have written in a Christian spirit, and that the reader will peruse these pages in a like spirit ; not to criticise, but to see “if these things be so.”
Vlll
Preface.
Hoping that God Almighty will bless and build up truth in the hearts of the people, and lead his little ones in the straight and narrow way, I sub¬ scribe myself yours, dear reader, to serve in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
Jas. H. Oliphant.
“Christ has done the mighty work ;
Nothing left for us to do,
But to enter on his toil —
Enter on his triumph, too.
His the labor, ouis the rest;
His the death, and ours the life ;
Ours the fruits of victory,
His the agony and strife.”
“Blessed be God, our God,
Who gave for us his well beloved Son ;
His gift of gifts ; all other gifts in one . Blessed be God, our God;
He spared not his Son.
’Tis that silences each rising fear,
’Tis that bids the hard thought disappear ; He spared not his Son.”
“Faith is not what we feel or s«e ;
It is a simple trusty In what the God of love has said Of Jesus, as the just;
It tells me I am counted dead,
By God in his own word;
It tells me I am born again In Christ, my risen Lord.
If he is free, them I am free,
From all unrighteousness;
If he is just, then I am just —
He is my righteousness.”
CHAPTER I.
ARGUMENTS DRAWN FROM THE NATURE OF CHRIST’S DEATH.
The security of the people of God is a subject of the first importance to every Christian.
We may enquire with deep solicitude, Is my final salvation in Heaven certain ? or are there yet uncertainties about it, although I have been horn again and “ passed from death unto life ? ” Is there anything in the nature of the atonement, or in the work of regeneration, or the character of God that may justly lead me to believe that, where a person has once been cleansed by the blood of Christ, he shall he infallibly saved? It is my object in these pages to show, that the scriptures teach that every one who has ever been born again and passed from death unto life shall not come into con¬ demnation. If this is bible teaching, it is certainly as well calculated to com¬ fort the people of God as any truth revealed therein. Christians of all de¬ nominations ought to be acquainted with this truth, and enjoy the comforts that the firm belief of it imparts.
2
The Doctrine of the
It can not be denied that we all sin and forget God and do wrong, some more and some less, and if God marks onr sins against ns we would fall to be sure, but if God does not impute sin to us we can not fall. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” We here have it that God’s way of saving from sin is by not charging or imputing sin to those saved. Again it is said, “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember against them no more.” Rom. iv : 8. “Blessed is the man to whom God will not impute sin ; ” vi : 2, “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth right¬ eousness without works.” David also taught that if God should mark sin against us that none of us should be able to stand.
I have referred to these passages for the purpose of showing that God’s way of saving sinners is by not charging sin against them.
The blessed man to whom he does not impute sin is evidently the Chris¬ tian, and if God does not impute sin to the Christian, he can not “fall from grace.” This is the only principle upon which sinners can hope to be saved. Satisfaction must be rendered for every sin, and certainly our obedience can not
Final Perseverance of the Saints%
3
satisfy a broken law. It requires death; and Christ’s death is that which hushes the claims of law. Now, if all our sins were borne by Jesus and by him satisfied for, the claims of law by him fully met in its very jots and tittles , then the ground of our hope is in what Jesus done, and nothing else. Our deeds may be mixed with sin, and we often go astray, but these shall not overthrow us; because the death of Christ is our only hope. “ There is no remission without the shedding of blood.” “ And the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” So there never was nor ever will be a sin¬ gle sin forgiven on earth, only as its re¬ mission is procured by the blood of Christ. From the foregoing we see that works are no part of the cause of our salvation ; that God does not impute sin to his people ; that the only ground of forgiveness is in the blood of Christ. All these things being true, apostasy is impossible.
We should neither write nor say any¬ thing that would license saints to live carelessly and neglectfully. Neither should we teach that the best of works when done tend to procure eternal life; for certain it is that eternal life can not be wholly the eflect of the Savior’s death, and yet in any degree the eflect of good works. Many good men, lest they should
4
The Doctrine of the
license men to live in sin, have intruded on the blood of Jesus, and ascribed to good works what the bible ascribes to the cross.
I daily feel the importance of obeying God, and with sadness see many profess¬ ors fall far short of duty; yet there are good, solid grounds upon which to exhort each other to love, and good works, with¬ out making them to he the cause in any degree of our being saved.
We will notice some scripture fur¬ ther: Eph. i:7, “In whom we have redemption through his blood the for¬ giveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.” In this our forgiveness as well as redemption are ascribed to his blood and rich grace. His blood and rich grace are the cause, and redemption and forgiveness of sins are the effect. Also, i : 5, “Who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” His dying for us is the cause, and he would be disappointed if we do not, both before and after death, live to him. So that the certainty of our final delivery grows not out of our faith¬ fulness, but out of the very nature of Christ’s death. For he would be disap¬ pointed in his death if there should be a failure in a single instance of salvation to those who are interested in his death. Again, “Who gave himself for our sins,
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
5
that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” From this it is evident that God intended, first, to deliver us from this evil world, and that he, sec¬ ondly, gave himself for that end — not to make that end possible, but certain. Matthew, xxvi : 28, “For this is my blood of the new testament, which was shed for many for the remission of sins.” This text shows that the blood was shed to certainly procure the remission of sins. Thus, to my mind, there is an unfrustra- ble relation between Christ’s death and our eternal salvation. For further proof see Heb. ix:14, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” It is the blood of Christ applied to us that makes us serve God, and not our service that applies the blood to us. Hence Paul says, Pom. v:ll, “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Hence, God applies the atonement, and the suc¬ cess or extent of the atonement depends not on man’s will or works, but on God’s appointment. The certain relation be¬ tween the death of Christ and our salva¬ tion is seen in Eph. v:25 and 26, “And
6
The Doctrine of the
gave himself for it (the church) that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church/’ etc. Also, Rom. viii : 32, “He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things ?” The clear reasoning here is, that the gift of Christ for us is a certain pledge that God will never leave off doing good for us till we can say, blessed be God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. “For I am persuaded that he that hath begun a good work in us will perform it till the day of Christ.”
From the above it is clear that every Christian will be saved ; and who is not glad that God’s love to his saints is so strong that all our imperfections can not overcome it? Isaiah liii : 10, “When thou sh alt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be sat¬ isfied.” “And he bare the sin of many and made intercession for the trans¬ gressors.” So that Christ, in his death, had no uncertain or doubtful end in view, but certainly saw the object of his death accomplished, and this is the joy that was set before him, for which he endured the cross, despised the shame, etc.
Oft have I thought of his suffering
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
7
in the garden, before Pilate, and on the cross. I doubt not but that he was allowed to see the end and object of his suffering, and this is why he was so firm, calm, serene and unshaken; why he could with such patience endure his afflictions and death.
Isaiah xxxv : 10, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads ; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” xxxv: 9, “No lion shall he there nor any ravenous beast, hut the redeemed shall walk there.’* This lan¬ guage will not admit the possibility of failure. “Shall return,” is God’s word. Who dare say they may not return? Isaiah xlii : 43, “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, 0 Israel, fear not; for I have redeemed thee.” Why fear not ? Because God has redeemed thee. And, I do say, O Christian Israel , Jacob, fear not. “I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” Therefore, Christian, fear not. Are not these sentiments precious to all who feel that sin is mixed with all they do ? All our sins borne forever away by the Lamb of God, and the word of God for it, that he does not impute sin to us, and that all his ransomed ones shall return , and come to
8
The Doctrine of the
Zion ; that they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall See away. May God open all our eyes, to see the real riches that lie in this soul- cheering sentiment. I hope to pursue this subject in harmony with truth. May I be prepared to write in the fear of God, and you stripped of prejudices, and willing to accept truth, although that truth may be contrary to your previous opinions. How important that we all should know the truth ; for we can not praise Jesus for keeping us, unless we believe he does keep us ; and if he does not kee'p us to the end, how foolish we are in singing,
“ ’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.”
CHAPTER II.
NATURE AND OBJECT OF CHRIST’S DEATH.
I urged in my first that there is a cer¬ tain connection between the crucifixion of Christ and the final salvation of all his people; that is, that the death of Jesus will certainly result in a definite amount of good. Isaiah xxxv : 20, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion, with songs and everlast-
Final Perseverance of the Saints,
9
ing joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away/’
In this, doubtless, the returning ones are those ransomed. Also, Isaiah xlii : 16, “But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, 0 Israel, fear not ; for I have redeemed thee.” The reason here assigned why Israel shall fear not is, “I have redeemed thee.” And. if there is not a certain connection between redemp¬ tion and salvation, how could the prophet say, “Fear not; for Ihave redeemed thee?” He also goes on, in this same connection, saying : “I have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine; when thou passest through the waters I will he with thee, and through the rivers, they shall uot over¬ flow thee; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not he burned, neither shall the flames kindle upon thee; I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel.”
All these consoling words are said on the grounds that, “I have redeemed thee.” The prophet continues: “I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Keep not hack ; bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even every one that is called by my name. For I have created him for 2
10
The Doctrine of the
my glory ; l iiave iormed him, yea, I have made him.” In all candor, what stronger language could be employed to set forth God’s determination to save his people, north, south, east and west ? “All that are called by his name” This is true, and being true, apostasy can not possibly be true.
“He shall feed his flock like a shep¬ herd ; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” Why all this care? Because he, as a “good shepherd, giveth his life for the sheep.” Therefore, “they shall not be tempted above that they are able to bear.” “Neither shall any weapon formed against them prosper.” “Nor shall any ravenous or destructive beast be in their way.” “He will give power to the faint among them, and to them that have no might he will increase strength.” Every class is considered. The weak and fainting, the little lambs and those that are with young — all are named. He is a fit 'person to guide his flock through this desert: 1. Because “he gave his life for the sheep.” 2. He knows all their foes, both within and without; “for in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom.” 3. “He has all power in Heaven and in earth in his hands.” 4. He himself has passed all the
Final Perseverance of the Saints .
11
way before them, and it is written of him, “He shall save his people from their sins.” Mark the words; “ He shall save his people” And who dare say he may fail in any instance? In view ot this David could say, “The Lord is my sheperd ; I shall not want. He restoreth my soul; yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over; surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23.
The very ground on which this was said was, “He is my shepherd.” As such lie died for me, therefore I will fear no evil. Pie died for me; poor, unworthy me. “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for¬ ever.” All this, because he is my shep¬ herd. Blessed shepherd is this who has the care of saints. “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.”, “He that keep- eth thee will not slumber. Behold ! he that keepeth Israel will not slumber nor sleep.” Oh, Christian ! thou for whom Jesus gave his very life ; thou, also, who art passing through tribulation, tempted, tried, fainting, weak, often exclaiming: “When I would do good, evil is present with me ; ” oft crying : “Oh ! wretched
12
The Doctrine of the
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death ? ” Don’t forget it ; God, your keeper, never sleeps nor slumbers.
“The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand and upon thy left.” I repeat my proposition, “There is as certain and unfrustrable a relation between the sufferings of Christ and the deliverance of his people, as there is between the payment of the price and the delivery of the property thus paid for. “ Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,” etc. Not that we might become clear of it if we could, hut that “ He might deliver us.” Every experi¬ mental Christian believes that God does seek, find, turn and save his people, and waits not for them to turn, or even do anything else, but saves sovereignly. It would have been unlawful to deliver us without first redeeming us ; therefore the apostle keeps this order in view. Again, “By one offering he hath forever per¬ fected them that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness unto us” — i. e., the Holy Ghost testifies in us and to us of Christ’s vicarious death, and shows us how that our cruel sins received their due in the sufferings of Christ ; how that God is satisfied; how that the law is honored, justice fully met with all its
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
13
claims, as much so as it you had suffered eternally in hell; how that it was for you and in your stead that Jesus died, and how all this is true, and we poor, guilty sinners are saved. This was Paul's mind when he exclaimed with triumph - ant joy, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect ? ” “It is God that justifieth ; who is he that condemneth ?"
The Eternal Judge solemnly and in all truth and verity (in view of the death of. Christ), says of us, “ Just." He says this not for anything in or of us, or done by us, but because of what Christ has done for us. How, he continues, “Who is he that condemneth?" W^ere is a power that can unsay what God has said ? Where is the court of appeals? Who can say guilty of those whom God justi¬ fies ? How, if there is no power above God, and none can set aside his decision, then the final salvation of every one so justified is certain, unless God reverses his own judgment, and this he will not do; for he “is without variableness or shadow of turning;" and besides, he knows who and what he justifies, and there can no evil conduct come from one that he justifies that was not by him foreseen, neither can any evil influence beset them that was not also of him fore¬ seen. Therefore, those whom God justi¬ fies are securely “sealed unto the day of
14
The Doctrine of the
redemption.” To say otherwise is to say, that God has taken to'himself as a bride, and an heir, and a child, one that he knows will desert him and prove unwor¬ thy of the relation in the end, or to say he knew not what or whom he is thus loving. Now, just so sure as God is free from such monstrous imperfections , so sure is the doctrine of the possibility of falling from grace a libel on the charac¬ ter of God.
Paul also assigns the very reason why he justifies, saying, “It is Christ that died; yea, rather that is risen again.’’ Un¬ doubtedly, he understood that Christ’s death was the whole ground of our hope, and that in view of his death God could justify; but after showing that Christ has died, thus turning our eyes to the cross, where our elder brother and Savior was crucified, he leads us on to his resurrec¬ tion, as though we were destined to enjoy the same glorious mercy ; and that his rising is a pledge to us that our bodies shall participate in the whole of his glory. Then, the apostle makes another glorious revelation, saying, “Who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Thus showing that Christ, after his death, resurrection, and ascension, is still intently interested for us — “Who also maketh intercession for us ;” as though it gives
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
15
additional strength to our hope. In all, showing that the heart of Jesus is set for us, to die for us, to rise even to heaven for us, and there before God, like a mighty advocate, to plead for us. All this because we are such poor, erring, sinful beings, so forgetful, so unmindful, that no part of our salvation dare be left for us to make sure. Upon this Paul says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall tribulation, or dis¬ tress, or persecution, or famine, or naked¬ ness, or peril, or sword ? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Not through our own strength or doings, hut through him that loved us. What a blessed faith he had here — no faith in nor mention of self, or obedience, or anything, but Jesus; yet a happy, triumphant faith in Jesus, one that hushes all fears. He is our hiding place from every wind and covert from every tempest. David could say, “I will praise thee, 0 Lord, my strength.” “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” He then asks, “Whom shall I fear?” “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” Oh, Christian ! Christian ! If God is thy light, life and strength ; if he is thy covert from the tempest and every storm, what can harm thee? Danger and deep trouble may be and are before thee. But
16
The Doctrine of the
oh ! look, do iook, “To the hills from which thy help cometh,” and at the mighty bulwarks around thee and sweet¬ ly and safely sing praises to God. Christ, as our advocate, has securely guarded every point. To pay our fearful debt of sin, the dagger of Justice he received into his own heart, poured out his own blood, not to make anything possible , but with his eye fixed on one object, i. e ., our sal¬ vation. He suffered himself reared up on the cross, and there, as a true and faithful shepherd, died. Language fails to express the deep intensity of his love to us. Our own imaginations are too weak to mount up to it, and when he arose from the dead he still remembered the object of his death, and now at the right hand of God he prays for us — makes intercessions for us. So, if apos¬ tasy or falling from grace is possible, it is also possible that Christ’s blood is thrown away ; it is possible that the pur¬ chased of his blood will remain forever in hell ; possible that his Father will not hear and answer his prayers, for he inter¬ cedes for us, and prays for every believer ; possible that Jesus, after all his pains, and after all that has been said of the virtue of his blood, and his power to save, and after all that we have hoped or believed of his influence and power in winning the hearts of sinners — yet after
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
17
all this he may be sadly disappointed; heaven’s expected guests dragged down to hell ; seats in heaven unoccupied; God’s will not done (which was, that “of all thon hast given me I should lose noth¬ ing”); the devil a victor (at least to some extent.) We know that such fearful events as these can not occur as long as God is the God of heaven and earth, and therefore we know that apos¬ tasy can not be possible.
CHAPTER III.
THE NATURE OF THE NEW BIRTH.
In pursuing the subject further, I shall insist that where the conscience is once purged from sins, it can never again be contaminated with sins. Proof : “He bore our sins in his own body*’; not part, but all of our sins. “He put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself.” Also. “His blood cleanseth us from all sin.” Certainly we are to learn from such passages that each and every sin of all his people were “borne” and “put away” by him; and, if put away by him, salvation to his people is the in¬ evitable result; for what is there to con¬ demn us when all sin is put away? To say
18
The Doctrine of the
all our sin is not put away, is to deny the bible; and to say that we can be lost, is to say we can be condemned when we are without sin. This great truth is set forth in type by the scape-goat, Leviticus xvi : 20, “And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, he shall bring the live goat and confess over him all of the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited.” Hone, I suppose, can doubt this being a type of our Savior, and in it we see every sin and transgression, by this ceremony, put away. Then may we not reasonably suppose that every sin of ours, great and small, in word, thought, or action ; yea, every transgression of ours, over which the law has cognizance, were all laid upon the head of our Redeemer, and by him forever borne away ? This thought, though poorly stated, is full of sweetness to every Christian.
If you can feel that Jesus bore all our sins, past, present and future, and made complete satisfaction for them, how can you despair ; and what surer basis could our hope have, and what could so fill us with love to Christ, and so inspire us
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
19
with obedience? No thought so en¬ couraging as that, “ Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe.” Again, Hebrews x: 2, “For then would they not have ceased to he offered? For the worshipers, once purged, should have had no more conscience of sin”; Bet us inquire of Paul about the text. If one’s conscience is purged from sins, then what? “They have no more conscience of sins”; thus showing that whatever is washed by the blood of Christ remains clean eternally. Again, “For, by one offering, he hath forever perfected them that are sancti¬ fied.” Certainly the sanctified ones re¬ ferred to in the text are the saints. Query: By what are they perfected? Answer: By the one offering. Query: How long shall this perfection last ? Answer: Forever. The word “forever” may be used in a limited sense, in some places, hut evidently, in this, it is used in its most extended sense. The Savior gives us the same thought in the sixth of John: “This is the bread which cometh down from Heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die”; “If any man eat of this bread he shall live for¬ ever.” “Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”; with many more such sayings. Now let us ask, what is the state of those that eat
20
The Doctrine of the
Ins ilesli and drink his blood? They “have eternal life ; ” “They shall never perish;” “They shall live forever;” “I will raise him up at the last day.” If one of them could he lost, would the Savior’s words he true, when he says, “I will raise him up at the last day ? ” or, “He shall never die ? ” Or, could Paul’s words be true, “They have no more con¬ science of sins ? ” Or, is it true that the “one offering” does “forever perfect ? ” And this is what the Holy Ghost testifies in every saint ; and would the Holy Ghost testify correctly, if he should breathe the sweet words in our heart that the offering of Jesus “has obtained eternal redemption for us ? ” Is that eternal redemption that is liable to be overturned, or reversed, any day? Can we eat the ffesh of our Savior to-day, and drink his blood, and to-morrow die and be lost? Is this what our Savior calls living forever ? Is this eternal’ . life? Hay, verily, such was not in his mind when he uttered these words ; but he saw and well knew the safety of all who “taste that God is gracious ; ” and he spoke these words for their com¬ fort. First John v: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.” “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not ; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
21
one toucheth him not.” The Savior tells Hicodemus that he must he horn again, and that without it he could neither see nor enter the kingdom of God. I can not speak at length of the new birth, but I will venture a few things about it. It is not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but it is of God. It is of the Spirit; it elevates one to be a son of God. He can say, Abba, Father! He is an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ. Do not forget it; he is a joint heir with Christ. He is a partaker of the divine nature. The eternal God is his keeper; and more, he keeps him as the apple of his eye, and “that wicked one toucheth him not.” “He overcometh the world, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.”
Oh, for the evidence from day to day, that we are interested in this wonderful and secure plan of salvation — to feel that the strong arm of Jehovah is around me as a tender husband, and that I am a plant of his own planting, that shall never be rooted up. If such thoughts as these would not encourage and comfort his poor, tried ones of earth, then I con¬ fess I am a stranger to all the sweets of the gospel. David, in his affliction, would say, “Show me thy loving kind¬ ness, 0 thou that savest by thy right hand them that put their trust in thee.”
22
The Doctrine oj the
“Keep me as the apple of thine eye.” “Hide me under the shadow of thy wing.” If David needed such a Savior, can we do with less than this? If he felt his need of being kept, do not we need also to be kept “by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time ? v It is marvelous loving kindness in our God to be so intent in saving us. Perhaps some objector would say, it is unsafe to set up the safety of saints in such strong terms ; you will encourage them to be careless in their lives. Now, dear reader, if you feel that you are licensed to sin by the security that God has throwti around you, you have not been rightly taught.
Bom. vi : “What shall we' say, then ? shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ? ” Here, we have this objection named in the scriptures, showing that this objection was brought against the apostles ; that their doctrines tended to carelessness and living in sin. The very fact that such an objection was brought against them, is evidence that there was something in their preaching that led many to think that they did not. believe in obedience to God. * But let us hear his reply : “How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein ; ” plainly showing that the Christian is dead to sin, and that this is the reason why he does and
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
23
should obey God. He lias lost his delight in sin — he is dead to it. Again he says, “Sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law, but under grace ;” you are far removed from the law with its curse, and you are under grace, and he asks, “Shall we sin because this is so ?” Again, “And not rather as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say, let us do evil that good may come.” Who can doubt from these passages that the apostles taught that salvation was wholly of grace, and not in any degree of works? We see now that those who teach salvation all of grace, are charged and slandered just as Paul was in his day. Also, see First Peter ii : 15, “For so is the will of God, that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men ; as free, and not using your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” These foolish men are those who say, “If I were saved as you describe, I would go my length in sin ; if my works can neither make nor keep me holy, I shall not care how I live.” But God’s will is, that his people shall silence such nonsense by a godly life ; showing to the world that we are the sons of God, and that it is our highest pleasure to obey him ; that we feel grateful to him for what he has done for us in the past ; yea,
24
The Doctrine of the
more, that sin has become exceeding sin¬ ful to us, so that we flee from and dread it as poison. We have found that all the misery that has ever been was brought by sin, and all our happiness is the hope of being delivered from sin. The scrip¬ ture exhortation is, “I exhort you by the mercy of Christ not by the fear of hell or apostasy, but by the mercies of Christ. Your greatest incentive to obedience is to think of Christ on the cross; his groans and death. If this will not prompt you, it is not worth while to threaten you with “falling from grace.”
When you review the whole history of the Savior in his life and death ; his nights of care and prayer ; his agonies in the garden; the fearful night he passed before his crucifixion ;< his despairing cry, “My God ! my God ! why hast thou forsaken me ! ” Think how faithful he was to you ; many nights alone in some / cold mountain he staid in solemn prayer to God — and all this for you. He suf¬ fered all this not for himself, but for you — you was ruined. It was for you he toiled all his life of care — it was your miserable sins that crushed him in the garden.
Oh, Christian ! Christian ! do not for¬ get that you are not your own, hut that you are bought with a price, and that price was the life of the Lord Jesus ;
Final Perseverance of the Saints. 25
therefore, glorify him in your body and spirit, which are his; fill your seats in his house ; tell your wants often to him in prayer, and when you are vexed with care, tried and distressed, cast all your care on him, for he cares for you. His all-seeing eye is always upon you, and he never will leave nor forsake you. He feeds the sparrows that have neither barn nor store house. There is not a living thing but that he keeps it, and why should we fear that he will not keep us ? The very hairs of your head are num¬ bered.
Again, we have been created in Christ unto good works, and these, good works God has before ordained that we should walk in them. Hear reader, I am sure we should love God all the more and serve him all the better, when we feel that he is a fire around us, and that he is engaged to save us, in spite of all our foes without or within. There is gratitude even in a dog, when you give him no more than a bone. Then let us think that we were poor, starved, rebellious dogs, who have been fed on the very flesh and blood of Christ, who has stooped to bind and heal all our wounds ; and when we were lost, poor, starving and friendless, he hunted us from every place where we had wandered, took away all our grief and made our eyes overflow with tears of 3
26
The Doctrine of the
joy, astonished ns with tokens of his wonderful love, forgiving, sweetly for¬ giving all our sins, and last of all, pointed our feet the way he would have us go. Yea, more, he showed us by example the way. Dear reader, have you forsaken him, or left off following him ? Are you tired of his service or company ? Do let me exhort you, and may I sufter the same word of exhortation. Chris¬ tians should never murmur ; why should they, who are servants, murmur, when the Master murmurs not, though his suf¬ fering be greater than all the suffering of all his servants ? Let us learn patience by looking at the sufferings of Christ. Houseless, homeless, often fatigued and wearied, and yet not a murmur escapes his lips — these are the best thoughts to stir us up to duty, and not the fear of apostasy.
CHAPTER IV.
OF THE LOVE OF GOD.
The scriptures teach that God pos¬ sesses the attribute of love : “God is love.” Also, that salvation's plan, in all its parts , is the fruit of that love. God did not give his Son to die for us, that he might love us; hut he loved us , and
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
27
for that love his Son was sacrificed for us. _ “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us;” so that his love oward us, even when, we were sinners was sufficiently intense to effect the put- . ln& death of J esus. W e are not told just when this love began to exist, but it is said: “He is in one mind, and changes not”; “Without variaffieness, or the shadow of turn.” Therefore, God who “is love,” has loved ws as long as he has been what he is now; but, if he is unchangeable, we can not say he ever began to love us. Therefore the gift of Jesus, and the salvation that is insep¬ arably joined to that gift, are the fruits of God s everlasting love. But not only is it true that God’s love underlies the giving of Christ as a Redeemer, but it also produc&rand underlies our deliverv from sin. “But God, who is rich in mercy , for his great love, wherewith he loved us; even when we were dead in sin hath quickened us together with Christ • by grace are ye saved.” We are not quickened and saved, and therefore loved,
3ut loved, and therefore quickened and* fcaved.
'^enl0Ve because he first loved God’s love to us has “causative
is.
lower, and produces love to God in us ‘Love (in us) is of God,” and “He that
28
The Doctrine of the
loveth is born of God.” We can not comprehend any one of God’s attributes. The thought that God loved us before the world began is incomprehensible to us ; yet we have seen that the gift of Jesus is a fruit of that love; and as grace was given to us in Christ before the world began, so we know that God loved us before the world began ; hence there is nothing older than God’s love to us. Thousands of years have fled away and gone, and yet it exists and bears the most precious fruit. No saint can say that he loved God and obeyed him, and that God loved him as a consequence; but certainly God loved us, and our loving him and obeying him is a fruit of that love. You can not believe that God’s love is directed by perfect wisdom, and yet believe that it will ever be taken off anyyg bject. For instance ; He loves you to-day ; his per¬ fect wisdom comprehends not only what you are now , but what you ever will be ; therefore he is not disappointed in what he loves. You never can become worse than he knows you will be; and, in fact, he loved you while you were dead in sin, and certainly you can never be worse than dead in sin. Therefore, to say that God will cease to love you is to impeach his wisdom, and charge him
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
29
with misplacing his love, and attribute changeableness to him.
But, if it is argued that God loves character , and that he loves persons only as they produce that character, we would answer, that every grace of the Chris¬ tian is produced in him by the Lord; and it is simple nonsense to say that God clothes his people with every benefit of the cross, and then loves them for that dress. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, . long-suffering, gentleness’ goodness, faith, etc. .Adso, it is given to God’s people to believe on him, and their love to him is a fruit of his love to them. Hence, he loves none of us for our good character, but our good char¬ acter grows out of his love to us ; if he had not loved us, and given his Son to die for us, and also loved us and quick¬ ened us, and wrought in us all that makes up the difference between our present selves and former selves, we had never had a good character. You can not conceive of an immutable God, with mutable, changeable love, affection¬ ately embracing an object to-day, and to-morrow casting that object down to hell; to-day calling one an heir of Heaven, beholding his name written in the book of life, and to-morrow erasing that name and disinheriting that heir. The bible gives no account of such
30
The Doctrine of the
a God ; neither do we, poor, sinful, erring beings, need such a God. Reader, have you never thought of the tender¬ ness of a parent’s love toward a prodigal son or daughter? Though that child goes away in sin and disgrace, until others have forsaken and cast it out of their hearts, yet that good father loves him still, and that mother wets her pillow with tears, as she thinks, in the stillness of the night, of her erring child; and they both lift their petitions to God, to save the wanderer. Few children know how much parents love them, till the parents are cold in death; so, few Christians know how much God loves them, and how carefully he watches them. We admire pure, disinterested love in parents; loVe that floods can not drown, or turn away ; that will follow their offspring as long as life lasts; love unchangeable, unalterable, constant. Is this the highest and noblest perfection of men, and yet God destitute of it? Shall we measure the perfection of creature love by this standard, and throw it aside as too glo¬ rious to measure God’s love? If God’s love to his children he fickle, changeable, dependent on changing circumstances, alternately given and taken away, then, to my mind, the case is made out ; God’s love is imperfect, and he is imperfect. But if God loves those whom he loves
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
31
at all eternally, infinitely and perfectly, then is his love directed in wisdom, and he is perfect; and one sweet thought here is, that the evidence that he loves me now, or ever did love me, is a certain, unalterable , irreversible title to Heaven.
The Savior prays, John xvii : “That the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.” He desires the world to know a great truth here, to-wit, that as God loves the Son, so he loves his children. And a little further he says : “Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.’’ So, if God loves us as he loves his Son, and loved his Son before the foundation of the world, then he loved us before the foundation of the world; and as the Son lives by the Father, even so he that eateth of the Son shall live by the Son.
God has said : “I will visit their transgressions with a rod, and their iniquities with stripes; hut my loving kindness I will not take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.” Again : “I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember against them no more. If any one is without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, he is a bastard, and not a son. The chastening rod is in the hand of a Father, and shall yield the peaceable
32
The Doctrine of the
fruits of righteousness.” It is for our profit that we are chastened, and not for our destruction.' How delightful the thought that God never changes, and that, though we are prone to wander, God never forgets nor forsakes us. Our own experience will bear out this thought. We have left undone the things we should have done, and done many things we should not have done ; yet God has not turned his hack upon us, and we can sing,—
“Oh, Lord, thou never changest ;
It is because I stray;
Lord, guide me by thy Spirit,
And keep me in the way.” '*■
The Christian may apply the follow¬ ing lines to himself :
“So nigh, so very nigh to God,
I can not nearer be ;
For, in tie person of his Son,
I am as near as he.
So dear, so very dear to God,
Mere dear I can not be ;
Tee love wherewith he loves his Son,
Such is his love for me.
Why should I ever careful be,
Since Such a God is mine ?
He watches o’er me night and day,
And tells me, ‘Mine is thine.’”
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
33
CHAPTER V.
THE PURPOSE AND FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
God is known in the bible as the God of purpose, as working .all things after the counsel of bis own will. Hence, what we see produced by the hand of God, is not the product of chance or accident, but the fulfillment of bis pur¬ pose. All this universe, sun, moon and stars, the earth and its fullness, are now as God, before their creation, proposed they should be ; and as he had no pattern to work by, they are an exhibition of his wisdom , as well as power.
It is said of him, “The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” Isaiah xiv : 24. Reader, did God ever think he would save any one, and yet that one fail of salvation ? 27th verse : “For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out and who shall turn it back?”
If God’s hand is stretched out to save his people, is it not wicked to contend that his hand can be turned back? “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning.” .Acts xv : 18. “We are his workmanship, created in
34
The Doctrine of the
Christ Jesus unto good works.” The work, then, of conversion is God’s work, and not the work of chance or accident; it is one of the works which he does according to his purpose. “Having pre¬ destinated us unto the adoption of child¬ ren.” So that our being children is the result, not of chance, or human appoint¬ ment or agency, but of the predestination of God.
Our regeneration is an inheritance, which we have , not for our works, but as the end of God’s purpose. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the pur¬ pose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Here our being born again is the result of our being predestinated; hence we were pre¬ destinated to this end, by “him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Therefore, our being made to possess this inheritance was in the mind of God long before, and just according to that mind we are blessed.
How, I ask, Will those be saved whom God has appointed to salvation, and who, in harmony with that appoint¬ ment, have obtained their inheritance? In Eph. iii : 11, “According to the eter¬ nal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Here then, let us ask, What that eternal purpose is ? “And this
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
35
is the will of him that sent me, that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing.” So this eternal purpose, coun¬ sel, will is, that all given to Christ shall be saved. “ Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.” Will he fail? Will God’s eternal purpose be defeated, and his will unexecuted?
Falling from grace, argues that he may fail ; and if he may fail to save all given him, all his people, he also may fail in his blood, and the cross may be a failure. God’s purposes, counsel and will may he a failure, and the Holy Spirit may fail ; and there might well be a song of triumph in hell ; and all Heaven might be clothed in sack-cloth and mourning ; and Christ might be mocked, thus: “This man began to build, and wTas not able to finish.” Luke xiv: 28.
We also learn that God possesses fore¬ knowledge in the highest conceivable perfection; hence all his works are in perfect harmony with perfect wisdom, love and power ; and where he has begun a good work he will perform it until the day of Christ. I would argue the truth of the final perseverance af every saint, upon the ground of the covenant of grace. Psalms lxxxix : 18, “For the Lord is our defense, and the Holy One of Israel is our King. Then thou spakest
36
The Doctrine of the
in vision to thy Holy One, and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.” And of this chosen one he says : “Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.” Isaiah also says, liii : 5, “And with his stripes we are healed.” 6, “All we, like sheep, have gone* astray ; we have turned every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of uj3 all.” 8, “For he was cut off out of the land of the living ; for the transgress¬ ions of my people was he stricken.” “When thou shalt make his soul an offer¬ ing for sin, he shall see his seed ; he shall prolong his day, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” 11, “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall he satisfied : by his knowl¬ edge shall my righteous servant justify many ; for he shall bear their iniqities.”
The many justified are the many whose sins are borne ; the hearing of sin results in justification. These two things are tied together so inseparably in each of these passages, that any one willing to see truth can see it. While his soul is being offered, he shall see the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. The end and object of his death shall be seen by him, and he he satisfied; and what would satisfy him hut the ultimate salvation of
Final Perseverance of the Saints,
37
all his people ? It is the stripes that heal, or we are healed because of his stripes. In all these passages, we are presented as one with Christ in the covenant ; so that our release from suffering is a nec¬ essary consequence of his suffering.
Psalms lxxxix : 27, “Also I will make him my first born, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.”
Acts xiii : 34, Paul calls Christ the sure mercies of David ; and this cove¬ nant was confirmed before of God in Christ, which the law could not disannul, or make the promise of none effect. How, if the children of this covenant “forsake my law, and walk not in my judgment; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments” — shall they fall from grace and he lost ? No. “Then I will visit their transgressions with a rod, and their iniquities with stripes. Nevertheless” (mark this), “my loving kindness I will not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.”
How, does God’s faithfulness to his Son demand that his children (redeemed by his blood) shall he saved ? Unques¬ tionably it does, and his word for it,
38
The Doctrine of the
he will not suffer it to fail ; and he will not utterly take his loving kindness from him. “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holi¬ ness, that I will not lie unto David (Christ). His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me.” Paul refers to the same when he says, “But God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the im¬ mutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath ; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us ; which hope we have as an anchor, both sure and steadfast.”
How, I ask, Is this covenant mutable, changeable ? or is it immutable ? Can it be altered or changed ? Ho ; it is secured by the oath of God, and all is confirmed in Christ. Hence, the blood of Christ is called “the blood of the everlasting covenant;” and this covenant is called the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Titus i : 2. God, who can not lie, promised eternal life before the world began ; and also, grace was given us in Christ before the world began, and we were chosen in him before the foundation of the world. All of which prove the existence of an
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
39
everlasting covenant, which related not only to the crucifixion of J esus, hut to the eternal salvation of all his children ; and not only is the death of Jesus a subject of appointment in this covenant, hut also the result of his death. So David could say, “It is ordered in all things and sure.” Everything appertaining to that death, as to its time, and manner, and object — nothing left to uncertainty. So all “Israel shall he saved in the Lord ; ye shall not he ashamed nor confounded world without end.” Isaiah xlv:17. Here is salvation certain, that shall reach even to eternity. “Can a woman forget the child she bear, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? ” Think what a forcible figure is here used. “Yes, she may forget ; yet will I not forget thee. Behold ! I have graven thee on the palms of my hands ; thy walls are continually before me.” Do these words look as if fading from grace is possible ? Ho, not till God is foresworn, nor till the everlasting cove¬ nant is disannulled, nor till Christ, who is one in covenant with us, is dragged down from his throne of power, and hurled into hell. “Christ is made a high priest for¬ ever, after the order of Melchisedec ; ” also, “Over the house of God;” and, “After the power of an endless life.” As a priest of this order, and over this house,
40
The Doctrine of the
he procures endless life. He is the captain, to bring many sons to glory ; and for this work he is made perfect through suffer¬ ing. He is the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption of all his people, and he will be to them a God, and they shall be to him a people. From what we have seen, the salvation of God’s people depends on the success of Christ as the surety of the better testament ; and as he can not fail, the salvation of all his people is certain.
CHAPTER VI.
WE ARE HEIRS OF GOD, AND HEAVEN IS AN INHERITANCE.
We will see that we are God’s chil¬ dren, “born of God;” also, born of his Spirit ; and, “Born again, not of corrupt¬ ible seed, but of incorruptible.” First Peter i: 23. First John iii : 9, “Whoso¬ ever is born of God doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him, and he can not sin, because he is born of God.” Rom. viii: 17, “Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” So that saints are born of incorruptible seed. If it is incor¬ ruptible, who can corrupt it? Falling from grace involves the absurity of cor-
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
41
rupting that which God’s word says is incorruptible. Also, his word says he can not sin. Falling from grace says he can, and go to hell, too. God’s word says he is a joint heir with Christ, and I ask, How can Christ be brought into the inheritance, and those who are joint with him be cast down to hell? From the above we find who are the heirs, and find them to be incorruptible. How, let us look after the inheritance. First Peter i : 4-5, “Who hath begotten us again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to he revealed in the last time.”
All the expressions in this text show that, as the heirs are incorruptible, so is the inheritance. It is reserved for you , and you are kept by the power of God. It is not simply possible that you may reach the inheritance, but God has become your keeper, and keeps you by his power ; and if God’s power can keep a saint, my case is made out. And he keeps you ready , keady to be revealed in the last time. If he keeps you ready , then there is no moment in which you are not ready. It is not left to your faithfulness, nor to the vigilance of 4
42
The Doctrine of the
angels; but God takes an interest, and himself becomes our keeper, and secures the inheritance to us, and us to the inher¬ itance. These two, the heirs and inher¬ itance, must be brought together, despite the opposition of the world, the flesh and the devil. And in order thereto, the heirs are born of an incorruptible seed; and the inheritance is also incorruptible, and can not fade away; and these heirs have an earnest of this inheritance, and are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption. Our earthly estates "sometimes take wings and fly away, or are consumed by theives, or in some way we lose them. But not so with the children of God ; their inherit¬ ance is kept far, far above this world, and above the most distant possibility of destruction. And the unseen hand of God is certainly conducting each heir to that inheritance.
We have found both the inheritance and heirs are incorruptible. In Gal. iv : 7, they are declared to be heirs through Christ; not only adopted in a legal man¬ ner, but “begotten of him ;” “made par¬ takers of the divine nature.” Is this proceeding in court legal? Is this will a good one, that secures the estate to each heir? Is it immutable? or can it be broken? I know that lawyers do some¬ times break the wills of men, and turn
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
43
away penniless some of the heirs named in the will. But, he it remembered, that here Jesus himself is executor of the will, and he knows the spirit of the will, and all the heirs in the will; and it is simply slander on Christ, to charge that some of the heirs will miss their inherit¬ ance and go to hell. Disobedience in a child does not destroy its relation to its father, nor make void the legality of a will. Paul says of all the heirs of God, Col. ni: 3-4, “ For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” “ Shall ye also.” Christ shall no more certainly appear in glory than that all his heirs shall appear there. Christ’s destiny and theirs is the same.
If he shall appear in glory, so shall they also appear with him. His glory as the Savior would be eclipsed with¬ out them; his glory as the Captain would be dimmed, if any one of his mighty army should he found missing. When the great book of life is opened, and the roll called, all will and must be there, if the great name of J esus as a deliv¬ erer is preserved. But Paul assures us that Jesus will say, “Here am I and the children thou hast given me.” “ For we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is.”
44
The Doctrine of the
First John iii : 2. Again, “ Because I live, ye shall live also.” Why ? “ Your life is hid with Christ in God.” Then, let Satan go and climb np to the throne of God, dethrone the Almighty, tear out his heart, paralyze his arm, capture and destroy Jesus Christ; for this he must do before he can get their life ; for it “is hid with Christ in God”
T propose now to plant an argument, for the final perseverance of saints, on the virtue and efficacy of the Savior’s prayer. I know it cannot be refuted, and I know it cannot be attacked , without giving the lie to the Savior himself.
The Savior says to the Father, “ I thank thee that thou hast heard me, and I know that thou hearest me always.’* Mark the words, “ I know that thou hearest me always.” Again, he says, John xvii : “ I pray not for the world;” and then, after praying for his disciples, he adds, “Neither pray I for these alone, hut for them also which shall believe on me through their word;” and again, he prays that they may be with him where lie is, that they may behold his glory. Again he prays, “ That the love where¬ with thou hast loved me may he in them, and I in them.” In Rom. viii, Paul tells us, “He also maketh intercession for us.” From all this, it cannot, without impiety, he doubted that Jesus prays for
45
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
every believer, and prays that they may be one with him, and be with him ; and we know this prayer can not be answered, and. falling from grace be true; and Christ tells us, that his Father always hears him pray. The final perseverance of saints, then, is made out from this standpoint.
We will now invite you to Mat. xx : 20, “ Then came to him the mother of Zebe- dee’s children with her sons, and desiring a certain thing of him, and he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these, my two sons, may sit the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left in thy kingdom.’7 This king¬ dom is endless ; for in Luke, i : 33 he says, “ Of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Again Jesus said, “ To sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.” To whom shall it be given ? To them for whom it is prepared. See also, Mark x : 37, “ They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand in thy glory.” Verse 40, “But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand, is not mine to give ; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.”
When was this kingdom prepared for those persons f The Savior tells ns, Mat-
46
The Doctrine of the
thew xxv : 34, “Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father ; inherit the king¬ dom prepared for yon from the founda¬ tion of the world.” (Cosmos.) This kingdom can not mean the church, and can not be given on account of works or character, but must be given to them for whom it is 'prepared , and for whom it was prepared before the foundation of the world. (Cosmos.) Falling from, grace melts away before these passages, like snow before the hot sun of mid-summer. Again, the Savior says, John x: 14. “I know my sheep.” Again, “ I know whom I have chosen.” John xiii : 18. Again, 2 Timothy ii : 19, “ Nevertheless
the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.” This is true to-day ; he knows all his sheep, and all that have this seal , and all that he hath chosen.. But in the last day he will say to the wicked, Matthew vii : 23, “ Depart from me, ye that work iniquity ; I never knew you.”
Now, if these two sayings of our Savior are true, to-wit : 1, “I know my sheep ; ” “I know whom I have chosen;” “ The Lord knoweth them that are his ; ” and 2, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity ; I never knew you ; ” I say if these are true, then, among those who are finally lost and turned into hell, there
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
47
will not be one who ever was a sheep, or chosen, or sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption.
Consequently, if any do fall from grace they are not among those who are finally lost ; hut by reference to Hebrews vi : 4, it is seen that, if it were possible for one to fall, he could not be renewed. Put all these together, and it is manifest that falling from grace is impossible.
Reader, can you think that there will be some there, in the last day, who have lost their grace, that could turn upon Christ and say, You did know me once , for I was once your sheep ? I was once a believer, and you said of such, “They shall never die.” I ate the flesh and drank the blood of Christ, and it was said I should live forever. I was once sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption. I was once an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ; and it was said I was kept by the power of God to salvation ; the kingdom was prepared for me before the foundation of the world ; I was once born of an incorruptible seed, even of the word of God, which li veth and abideth forever ; I was born of God, and it was said of me, “He cannot sin ; for he is born of God.” I was also once one of Christ’s people; and Gabriel said, “He shall save his people from their sins;” but now I
48
The Doctrine of the
must sink down to hell.” Notwithstand¬ ing all this, falling from grace of one of God’s children makes all this list of false¬ hoods true.
I propose now to introduce a few plain passages on this subject. God’s word is a stubborn truth, that can not he gain¬ said. Where we have a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” reason and philosophy must give way. Mark xiii : 22, “Lor false christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” Doubtless, all believers are the elect. And this text affirms it to he impossible to de¬ ceive the elect. Job xvii : 9, “The right¬ eous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall he stronger and stronger.”
Here is ultimate salvation, unquestion¬ ably. Rom. viii : 33, Paul asks the ques¬ tion, “Who shall lay anything- to the charge of God’s elect ? ” Why not God’s elect be charged? Answer — “It is God that justifieth ; ” that is, his elect, exclu¬ sive of all others. “Who is he that con- demneth ; ” that is, God’s elect? “It is Christ that died ; ” that is, for God’s elect, exclusive of all others. The plain reason¬ ing here is, that those whom God justi¬ fies, and for whom Christ died, (justifi¬ cation and redemption being exactly equal in extent), can not be condemned .
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
49
The eternal justice of God forbids it, and these blessings and privileges are here, by the apostle, confined to the believer. In the same connection it is asked, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,” (the elect) “how shall he not also with him freely give us all things ? ” Here we learn that all spirit¬ ual blessings — faith, repentance, sanctifi¬ cation and salvation — are involved in the gift of Christ, and bestowed freely for his sake. If God has delivered up liis Son for them, much more will he bestow all things else necessary to their eternal salva¬ tion. The gift of Christ for us (the elect) is a certain pledge that all things also will be given to us, for whom Christ was given.
Again it is said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out,” They were given to Christ before they came to him, and God said of them, “They shall come to me.” The end and object of giving was, that they should come. All who are thus given to Christ by the Father shall come to him, or believe upon him ; these phrases are con¬ stantly used interchangeably. See verses 39, 40. Those who thus come, he will in nowise cast out ; they will then all be saved; for he adds, “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me; and this is the
50
The Doctrine of the
will of him that sent me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life ; and I will raise him up at the last day.” The whole doctrine of this passage is, that God, in the covenant before mentioned, did give the people of his choice to Christ, and it is the will of God that not one thus given shall be lost; but that all of them (the elect) should be raised up at the last day. The great Savior came into the world to carry out that will of God ; and all thus given him shall come to him, believe on him, and obtain eternal life.
With this view the Savior, in the 17th of John, prays, “As thou hast given him (Jesus) power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him,” — no more, no less.
All these passages look to one object, to-wit : the certain and infallible salvation of all the elect of God. And now, as God is omnipotent, there can be no fail¬ ure in this matter. Once more : John x : 14, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep ; and I lay dowm my life for the sheep,” (ante, in the room of.) “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,” (not ever). If this text is true, falling from grace is absolutely false. Heb. ix : 11, “But Christ being
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
51
come, a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, neither by the blood of goats or calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
Will eternal redemption save a sinner ? Certainly ; if not, what kind of redemp¬ tion will ? I would be willing to rest the whole argument here on this one text ; for I feel sure that a redemption that is eternal is long enough to save to the last extent. Do not forget this point.
Again, Rom. v : 8, 9, “But God com- mendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” If we have been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath. We have God’s word plainly for this ; and let God be true, but every man a liar that denies it. We will now call your attention to Acts xiii : 48, “And when the Gentiles heard this they were glad, and glorified God, and as many as were ordained {Tasso) to eternal life, believed.” In this case, no more, nor no less, than were ordained to eternal life, believed. This is a passage that can not be tortured to sustain any human system ; there is only one way for the advocate of apostasy
52
The Doctrine of the
to get along with it, and that is, just to say it is false. He can not say it is trans¬ lated wrong ; and hence has just one way to escape ; that is, to deny God’s word. But we have seen numbers of places where scripture, just as plainly as lang¬ uage can he, affirms the salvation of every one who is ever born of God.
I will close this chapter by an extract from Wm. Gadsby : “Does salvation de¬ pend upon the unspeakable gift of Christ Jesus? For, ‘herein is love : not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ First John iv : 10. And if it de¬ pends on the unspeakable gift of grace, upon what part of this gift does it de¬ pend ? Does it depend upon the work of Christ, or upon the character he hears, or the offices he fills, or the fullness that in him dwells, or the union and relation¬ ship that subsists between him and his church ? Does salvation depend upon these things jointly, or separately? or may not a sinner be interested in the whole of this grace, and be lost at last? But to make the matter as clear as pos- ible, I ask, May not a sinner be inter¬ ested in the work of Christ, that is, in his active and passive obedience on earth, and his intercession in Heaven ; and may he not build upon Christ, as a founda¬ tion ; shelter in him, as a hiding place
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
53
from the wind ; rest upon him, as a rest¬ ing place; bathe in him, as the fountain opened to the house ot David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness; enter into the sheep fold by him, as the door and straight gate; trust in him, as the Lord, his rock, and fortress, and deliverer, and strength, and buckler, and as the horn of his salvation, and his high tower; may he not receive him as a prophet, priest and king, as the cap¬ tain of his salvation, his days-man, his surety, advocate and mediator; may not a sinner live upon him, as the bread of Heaven, the water of life, and the wine of- the kingdom ; may he not be inter¬ ested in him, as the everlasting Lather, and the Elder Brother — yea, a friend that sticketh closer than a brother; and may he not be united to him as a husband, and a living head; may not his life be hid with Christ in God, and he be life of his life, body of his body, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh; in a word, may not .a sinner receive Christ, as the Lord, his righteousness and strength, his portion and his all; be blessed with repentance unto life, and have Christ in him the hope of glory; be born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever ; blessed with the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, long-sufler-
54
The Doctrine of the
ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance — and, after all this, be brought into condemnation ? And if a poor sinner be interested in all this grace, and be lost at last, then for the Lord’s and truth’s sake, and for the sake of poor perishing sinners, inform us upon what salvation does absolutely depend.
“I presume it is impossible to pro¬ pose to you, or any other person, a sub¬ ject of greater importance; and there¬ fore hope you will use all diligence to make the matter as clear as possible ; and if, on due consideration, you conclude that no sinner can be interested in the whole of this grace, and be damned at last, you will then, without the least reserve, inform us, what part of it a sin¬ ner may be interested in, and miss of Heaven ; that we may be able to form some just views of our real state, and be left no longer at an uncertainty about the grounds upon which salvation depends.
“We also earnestly wish you to inform us, whether the will of man became com¬ pletely perverse, by the introduction of sin, or whether it was slightly injured, or whether it was injured at all ; and if the former, what you and your brethren mean by 4 Free agency,’ and 4 Free will,’ and if the latter, and salvation depends upon the free will, what you mean by praying that God will have mercy upon
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
55
all men, and save them with an everlast¬ ing salvation, and then telling the con¬ gregation that God has done all he can to save them, and the matter now rests with them, whether they will he saved or not. Surely such vain jangling can never he acceptable to God, however much it may feed the carnal mind of man; for if God has done all he can, why pray him to do more? and if he has not done all that he can, why tell the people he has? Strange as such contradictions may seem to a sensible mind, they are frequently produced in the course of one hour, by an Arminian preacher, blow, sir, depend upon it, the credit of your favorite sys¬ tem depends much upon these things being made to appear clear; nor can the experimental child of God he satisfied with a shuffling put ofi.”
For the want of time and space, I will copy no more from this interesting work.
CHAPTER VII.
CHRIST WILL CERTAINLY BE PRAISED— HIS UNION TO US
If there is a possibility for a portion of the saints to be lost, is there not also a possibility for all of them to he lost?
56
The Doctrine of the
Or is it true that there is a portion of them infallibly secure, and a portion not so ? If it is not possible that all can fall, what per cent, or portion of them is secure ? Where is the line ? Certainly there is not a difference in the degree of security that God has given his children ; if one is infallibly secure, all are — or if one is in jeopardy, all are. Therefore, if it is possible for one to be lost, it is also possible for all to be lost. — Is it infallibly certain that Jesus shall be praised eternally by his saints, whom he has redeemed out of all kindreds? or is it uncertain whether he will be praised at all or not? Is it possible that his death shall avail nothing? that all that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have done shall avail nothing? Or, can you view the work or enterprise of salvation on the part of God as a mere experiment, without any definite or fixed end in view? Would you invest a million (all you had) in an enterprise, if there was the least possibility of a complete fail¬ ure ? or would you prefer that there be a certain and fixed end in view ? Can you think that, when Jesus died, it was not certain that some one should love and praise him in Heaven for that death ? Or can you think there was the remotest possibility for the whole plan to be a complete failure? You must
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
57
certainly conclude that the death of J esus was attended with no uncertainties. It is said, “ He shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied/7 Would he be satisfied, were his death to avail nothing? Would he be satisfied for half of his ransomed ones to go to hell, or any of them to perish?
How, if you can get the idea that Jesus will receive unceasing praise, you must also see that it is absolutely certain that a part of his people will be saved, and if a part then all ; for we have seen that it is either certain that all of them will be saved, or possible that all of them will be lost ; and we can not believe it is possible that all of them will be lost ; for then it would be possible for Heaven to be empty — possible for Christ to lose all his honor — possible for his blood, pains and sufferings to be wasted. Therefore, it is certain that all of them will be saved. It is made certain, either by the appointment of God, or the will of nien ; and if the will or wills of men make :t certain, or its certainty is at all depend¬ ent upon the will of men, then the whole scheme of redemption is left, as to its success or failure, to the will of men. But is it true, that so momentous a matter is left to so imperfect a thing as the will of men ? Is the simple turn of the will of men to decide whether Heaven is to be 5
58
The Doctrine of the
occupied, or hell overflowed — whether Jesus’ name, is to he praised, or blas¬ phemed ? Certainly, matters of such vast importance are governed by Divine ap¬ pointment. Therefore, the appointment of God has a fixed end in view, and that end is the certain and infallible salvation of all his people. In the very beginning of his work — “Call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins,” was proclaimed by the angel who gave notice of his near approach. Allowing this text to be true, there is no need of any comment upon the subject.
In coming into the world, he cast his lot with them. “In all their afflictions, he was afflicted.” The prophet said:
“ He is numbered with the transgressors.” Therefore he came to endure the fate of a transgressor — to he so united to his people that, with them all, he will either rise or fall; joined to them, as a head is joined to the members. “For both he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanc¬ tified, are all of one ; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” All one party in the covenant, as the principle and security are one party ; so that the fate or destiny of one, is the common fate or destiny of all. For we are j “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” The inheritance will as cer¬ tainly fall to us as to Christ. He becomes
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
59
the very life of his people, so that he himself must he destroyed before they can he.
Though he was sinless, yet he became so joined to his people as that their very sins were made his, and when they were demanded to satisfy the claims of a broken law, he made bare his own breast, and received the dagger of Justice into his own heart. This he did as surety ; for he was so related to them, that Justice was as well satisfied (and even better,) when Jesus was left pulseless and dead on the cross, as it would be if you and I were to be in torment forever. It was right and proper for him to die, because he was one with us ; bound in the same bond, under the same covenant. For, as a wife is one with her husband, so Christ became one with his people ; for he loved his people, as a husband loves his wife, and gave himself for them. Suppose a poor, penniless woman, under disgrace and debt to the amount of millions, ex¬ posed to prison-life for her debt and crimes, knowing herself to be justly un¬ der the control of her creditors, and ex¬ posed to the censure of all the world ; and some rich millionaire, of the highest poss¬ ible credit and standing, clad in garments becoming his wealth and honor, comes to her in her poverty, rags, and disgrace, and offers her his hand. She is aston-
60
The Doctrine of the
ished, that a person of so vast wealth and honor and beauty should offer his hand to her, so uncomely and unworthy. She tells him of her debts. He assures her that her debts can be paid without so much as visibly affecting his wealth. She then speaks of her rags, her guilt and disgrace, and scans his noble person¬ age again, and mutters within herself that, “It cannot be that one so vile as I can be the wife of this lord/’ But he fully explains all, and she casts herself into his arms, with all her rags, debts and disgrace.
Her name is now lost, and she assumes his ; he is now between her and all her creditors ; he clothes her in his own righteousness, and tells her, “I’ll never leave or forsake thee.” This our Savior did for us; he stooped to become one with us, and make us his bride, and it cost him his blood, his life, his all ; but he arose from the dead (for he could not be holden of death,) as a certain pledge that th£ whole troop of his people should come from the dark and dreary abodes of death, and participate with him in the vast ocean of bliss above. Hence it is said, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, traveling in the greatness of his strength ? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” The hosts of Heaven believe him
Final Perseverance of the Saints .
61
to be a mighty Savior; and they have not a doubt but that the last day will witness him approach the burning throne of God, and exclaim in melting notes, “Here am I and the children thou hast given me.” Heb. ii : 15.
His entire body will be there, not a member left behind. Header, is not' this a friend that sticketh closer than a brother ? Hoes not this look to you more like the work of God, and that Jonah was right when he said, “Salvation is of the Lord?” Ho wonder Toplady could sing, —
“ Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee;
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling.”
Ho wonder that the great multitude which John saw, that could not be num¬ bered, of all kindreds and people and tongues, “Stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palms” (of victory) “in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Sal¬ vation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders, and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying : Amen, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiv¬ ing, and honor, and power, and might be
62
The Doctrine of the
unto our God forever and ever — Amen.” God Almighty will have all the praise in the world to come; therefore everything that contributes to make the salvation of his people certain originates in him. Reader, ponder well, before you condemn this.
CHAPTER VIII.
NATURE OF FAITH.
I propose to close this part of this work by insisting that the firm, unshaken be¬ lief of the sentiments contained in the foregoing chapters have a good tendency. It humbles our pride, destroys all confi¬ dence in self, and fixes all our confidence in God; while the opposite view neces¬ sarily inclines men to trust themselves, or their works. Nothing is clearer than that men would be inclined to trust themselves, by being continually taught that their eternal salvation depends upon their works ; and this is one serious ob¬ jection I urge against that doctrine. It is, in its very nature, inclined to take men’s confidence away from Christ. Also, the Christian who is conscious of indwelling sin, and is taught to believe that his being saved depends upon his own rectitude, is necessarily filled with
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
63
trouble and distress, as to his own state, when the truth on the subject would re¬ lieve him. If he were taught that men are saved simply for Christ’s sake; that Christ’s blood cleanses from all sin ; that Christ saves sinners, as sinners, and that God does not expect us to furnish the grounds of justification; if he were taught that justification is not obtained by sanctification, but freely by God’s grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, he would look out of self, and up to God, for what he needs. But, as long as men are taught that sanctifi¬ cation is the root of justification, they can not, they dare not, trust in J esus Christ, crucified; for by this their justification depends, not on Jesus and his blood, but on their own inward state. What a pity ! that so large a number of professors, in¬ stead of trusting Christ, are trusting their own faith ; or their faith seems to be their own faith; while it is the busi¬ ness of faith to look for nothing good in us, but to lay hold on Christ; not to trust itself, or plead itself, as a condition of salvation, but to discard every thing in self, and in the world, and trust simply in Jesus.
How fearfully ignorant thousands are of the nature of faith, even claiming that faith is the condition upon which our salvation rests. I tell you that faith re-
64
The Doctrine of the
jects everything as a condition — even it¬ self is rejected, and it anchors in Jesus. Ask the man of faith, why he is saved ; he answers, “Jesus, and Jesus only.” Faith does not create truths, and then believe them, but it embraces existing truths. It does not create its Savior, and then embrace him, but embraces the eter¬ nal truth — “Jesus is my Savior.” It never claims to be worthy of Heaven, but knows and acknowledges itself to be unworthy of Heaven’s notice. How many dear ones to-day are waiting for some sanctification within, who now verily believe that Jesus alone saves, for his own name’s sake, and who, if they know what they love, do love God and his children. Let me say to such, the grounds of your acceptance are not your outward reformation, or your inward sanctification, but Jesus, and Jesus only; and just so long as you are thinking that your justification depends on something in or about you, just so long you are looking to the wrong place. If you realize that you are poor in spirit — that you are destitute of every good thing or quality — this argues nothing against you. Oh, how simple is the gos¬ pel ! it is so free and simple that none can understand it, until they are made willing to drop confidence in everything, but Christ; to look on reformation, and sanctification, and all kinds of obedience
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
65
and works of every kind, as being worth¬ less in the great matter of justification. When the vilest sinner that ever breathed gets this view of Jesus, it gladdens his heart. The poor thief on the cross, doubtless, had this view of Christ. He could not, he dare not trust in himself, or think of anything done by him, as a condition upon which he was to get to Heaven ; but by faith he looked to Jesus ! Oh, what a work it is to look to Jesus 1 I said, a work ; it is not a work, it is a ceasing from works of every kind, and giving all up to Jesus. “How, to him that worketh not, but believeth.”
The greatest objection men ever urged to the gospel is, it is free, simply free ; and men are so proud, they do not want Heaven, unless they perform the condi¬ tions necessary to get it ; and when they are told that they must have it freely, or not at all, they turn away saying, “It is a hard doctrine.” As long as men expect Heaven upon conditions to be performed by them, they can not rely wholly and solely on Christ. And as long as men be¬ lieve in the possibility of apostasy, just so long their confidence can not be un- dividedly in Christ. It is right to trust in Christ,— “Blessed is the man whose hope the Lord is.” It is safe and right for every poor, broken-hearted sinner, who feels poor and needy, to trust in
66
The Doctrine of the
Christ — not to make him your Savior, hut because he is your Savior; not to cause him to save you, but because he will save you. To say your trusting him as your Savior makes him your Savior, is mere foolishness, and even worse. Neither should men trust him to make him faithful to keep us to the end, but because he is faithful, and never will leave or forsake you. This is the business of faith; and one of the greatest obstacles to-day in the way of God’s children receiving Christ as their Savior, and honoring him as such, is the foolish idea, that some condition must be performed on our part, to entitle us to what those idealists call free. Some tell us that one thing, and some another, is the condi¬ tion, while real, true faith discards, every¬ thing as conditions.
Christian, think back over your life, when you most sensibly felt that Jesus was your Savior, had you performed any condition in order to obtain that salva¬ tion ? No, you will say, and can truly sing,—
“Why was I made to hear his voice,
And enter while there was room,
While thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come ?
’Twas the same hand that spread the feast, That sweetly forced me in,
Else I had still refused to taste,
And perished in my sin.”
Final Perseverance of the Saints .
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Samuel Medley was a strong advocate of the sentiments contained in this little work. On his death-bed, he is said to have uttered the following, to a clergy¬ man : “Farewell ; G-od bless you. Re¬ member, I die no Arminian, Arian, or Socinian. I die, a poor sinner, saved by sovereign, rich and free mercy.” Again, he said : “I am now a poor, shattered hark, just about to gain the blissful har¬ bor; and, oh, how sweet will be the port, after storm.” Again, “Sweet Jesus, thou art my strength, my support, my salva¬ tion. Tell my dear friends, I am going to Jesus, and he is with me. I am not at all dejected ; I am full of comfort and consolation ; able yet to recollect God’s precious word. I never saw so much of my own unworthiness, nor so much of the excellency, glory and suitableness of Christ, as an all sufficient Savior. As to my sentiments, I am no ways altered. The doctrines I have preached, I am fully persuaded are truth. They are now the support and consolation of my mind.”
These are some of the dying words of a man who believed and preached per¬ sonal election, and special redemption, and spiritual revelation, and final perse¬ verance of the saints. Header, I only hope you may go as happy as he.
68 The Doctrine of the
CHAPTER IX.
THOUGHTS ON ROMANS, CHAPTER XI.
The next argument we shall consider is in Rom., eleventh chapter. Here we have some of the natural branches broken off from the olive tree, and that which is wild by nature grafted in among the natural branches, with the words, “Be¬ cause of unbelief, they were broken off.” Also, “If God spared not the natural branches, take heed, lest he also spare not thee.” From which we are told, that those broken off were persons who had been born of the Spirit; and their being broken off is falling from grace ; and that the words, “take heed, lest he also spare not thee,” teach that those grafted in may also be broken off, or fall from grace. I propose to show, certainly, that such is not the meaning of the above scripture.
In the 23d verse, we learn that God is able to graft them in again. We also learn from Hebrews vi, that it is impossi¬ ble to renew such to repentance as have fallen from grace. The apostle is there showing the impossibility of falling from grace, and mentions, as one reason why men can not fall, that it would be impos¬ sible to renew them. Therefore, if this
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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breaking off were falling from grace, it could not be said, “God is able to graft them in again.” Hence, the text teaches something else. Again, it is sai(J by the apostle, “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, .nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us,” etc.
But an objector says, God can and does separate us. I answer, it is said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no¬ wise cast out.” Hence, God will, under no circumstance, cast out one that comes to him. Objector — We can cast our¬ selves out. Answer — But these branhes did not cast themselves out, or break themselves off; and besides, it is not pos¬ sible that one who is a saint, and has been born of the Spirit, and has the divine nature, can change that nature. The leopard can not change his spots; neither can the Ethiopian change his skin. The stony-hearted sinner can not change his heart to one of flesh, and vice versa. Therefore, let this chapter teach what it may, it does not and can not be tortured to teach apostasy.
The olive tree is the witness of God .in the world. The Jewish nation had been this witness for hundreds of years ; and although many of the servants in and about the temple were wicked men
70 The Doctrine of the
for those hundreds of years, yet their service perpetually testified of Christ. But now there is to be a change of the ser¬ vice as to the form of it, and as to the servants themselves ; for all are to know God, and worship in spirit and in truth. And although it is the same olive tree, or witness, yet it is spiritual Israel, spir¬ itual service and servants, and from this service or olive tree, all unbelieving Jews, that is, those who never knew God, are broken and separated, not to be as witnesses in any sense, unless they should become believers ; in which event they may again be united in the service of God, not as they were before broken off, for that was ceremonial, but in the spir¬ itual service of God, of which they never knew anything. John, in Revelation, calls the two witnesses the two olive trees, referring to Zechariah, fourth chapter. Hence, I think it safe to speak of this olive tree as a witness.
It can not be doubted that, there is a sense in which we may view the entire revelation of God as a complete whole. Under this view David spake of the beauty of Zion, her strength, towers, and bulwarks. He saw the spirituality of the service, although many that served did not see to the end of that service. In this sense the church to day answers to the ancient house of Israel; and although
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we learn in Heb. viii, “Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away,” yet the true essence of that service is retained, and it is the cere¬ monial part, with the mere ceremonial servants and service, that is to be rejected, and all true saints among the J ews are retained. Jesus, the end of all ceremo¬ nies, is come, and these believe on him. Many Gentiles also believe on him, and they are taken (grafted) into the service, as witnesses of God. The evidence that these rejected Jews ever were believ¬ ers is entirely wanting. The believing Gentiles, including you and me, are a part to-day of the real Israel of God. “For he is not a Jew which is one out¬ wardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly ; ” therefore, in the 26th verse, it is said, “And so all Israel shall be saved.” All Israel is every believer, and all Israel shall be saved. How can this text teach apostasy? And this is the final conclusion of the chapter ; “All Israel shall be saved.” In the name of truth, how can any text teach apostasy, if this text be true ?
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down : for the Lord uphold- eth him with his hand.” Psalms xxxvii: 23, 24. So good men may fall, and not
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The Doctrine of the
be lost. “Let him that thinketh he stand- eth take heed lest he fall.” Also, Paul commanded certain ones to be delivered to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. From all of which we may learn that God’s people may be cast out of the visible service, or broken off* from being witnesses of God, and yet the “spirit be saved,” and not “utterly cast down.” Also, our light before the world is sometimes dim, or even hidden, so that we cease practically to be wit¬ nesses for God and Christ, and under these circumstances, sometimes are deliv¬ ered to Satan, not to be lost eternally, but for correction, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. In this breaking off, then, there is not the shadow of evidence that they may be lost eternally. To escape these misfortunes, and save the cause of Christ from re¬ proach, we are exhorted to give diligence to make our calling and election sure — sure to ourselves, sure to our brethren, and sure to the enemies of the church.
If we do these things, we shall be saved from the rod of our Father; for he chasteneth every one he receiveth, not for destruction, but for correction.
We are also exhorted to add to our faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge, temperance, Godli-
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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ness, brotherly kindness, etc., for these shall make you that you shall he neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of God. So, disobedience leads to bar¬ renness and unfruitfulness, and too often are Christians barren and unfruitful, resembling the wicked in their lives and business. This is lamentable. How sel¬ dom do men talk to each other about the goodness of God to themselves or to the world ? When you are among strangers, you can scarce discern between professors and those who are not so — all too much barren and unfruitful. All forget that they were purged from their old sins. How much it adds to the credit of professors, to see them intent upon living out their profession ; willing to talk of that subject when they meet each other in the common business of life. All who sincerely love God, desire this to be the general practice everywhere. Careful observers, and those who *are acquainted with the world’s history, know this to be a day "wherein religion is far below what it was in former days. The songs, sermons, prayers and exorta- tions, are all too much spoiled with for¬ mality in this day.
6
74
The Doctrine of the
CHAPTER X.
THE LOST SHEEP, THE TEN PIECES OF SILVER, AND THE
PRODIGAL SON.
In our last we saw that the saints do fall, become barren aud unfruitful, and yet are not utterly cast down ; also, we saw that “They are delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may he saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” So saints go so far astray as to he delivered to Satan, and yet the spirit is saved. We are told that Jonah “cried out of the belly of hell,” and yet he was not lost; so men may fall so low as to he in the power of Satan, and even in hell, and yet not be finally lost. In Luke xv, we have three parables showing the care our Savior has for us. The first is that of the lost sheep. In a flock of one hun¬ dred, one goes astray; Christ is the shep¬ herd ; he does not wait for it to return, or leave it to perish, but pursues it, and brings it upon his shoulders to his flock again ; then there is joy among his friends, when they see the wanderer deliv¬ ered from his lost estate. He was his sheep while wandering, and although he was lost, yet the shepherd’s eye was upon him. And thus God watches you, dear Christian, and will not suffer you to wander beyond his grace and care.
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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The next is that ot the ten pieces of silver, which a woman had. She lost one of them; she lighted a candle and swept her house, and sought diligently till she found it. Now, consider it was silver all the while, both before and after it was lost, and had it remained among the diit eternally, it would still have been silver, and this is true of God’s children; they are horn of incorruptible seed, and hence can not be corrupted ; they are par¬ takers . of the divine nature, and Christ has said, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” Thus showing that the life of Christ and his people is equallv secure ; for they are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, J esus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, in whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth to an holy temple in the Lord. They are not only built on Christ, hut in him, and if built in him they are equally secure wfith him.
The next is the parable of the prodi¬ gal son, who, by riotous living, wasted all his substance. He left his father’s house and went into a far country, and there experienced a grievous famine; he be¬ came sore pinched with hunger and would have eaten with the swine, but no man gave unto him. But, when he came to himself, he spoke of the abundance at his father’s house, and to spare, and of his
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The Doctrine of the
perishing with hunger. He still remem¬ bered father, his house and plenty, and said, “I’ll arise and go to him; I’ll tell him how I have sinned, and confess all to my father.” When he was a great way off his father saw him, loved him, ran to him and kissed him. How, let us consider some things about this parable. He was the son while in the strange land ; and if a son, then an heir — heir of God, and joint heir with Christ.
He said, “My father,” while in this strange land, and when his father saw him a great way off* he said, “My son.” The relation of the father and son was not destroyed. Though the son had done very badly and wandered far away into a strange land, he was yet the son. He was received as a son. If he had fallen from grace, that relation would have been destroyed ; but we know that it is im¬ possible to destroy the relation of parent and child, even in nature;. your son may disobey you, go astray, and even be hung ; yet he is your son, and yet you will love him. So with our Savior ; he will visit their transgressions with a rod, and their iniquities with stripes, yet he will not take his loving kindness from his child¬ ren, or suffer his faithfulness to fail ; having loved his own which were in the world, he will love them to the end. There is no thought more cheering than
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that our Savior will never leave or forsake us. When you are sad, dejected and cast down, just ask one question, “Was God ever precious to me; is their one spot in my life where I did' love God ? If so, I know that all things will work for good to me ; for this I know, that if he ever loved me as a child, he does yet, and always will. Though his countenance is hid now, and every sense of his love is clean gone, and I am left as a chattering sparrow on the house-top, a pelican in the wilderness, or a wrecked sailor on a dark and stormy sea ; yet I can in the dim distance remember when he was my friend, and when I did love him and sweetly sing his praise; I remember when first my sins were forgiven, and felt I knew he was mine.” Well, he is yours yet ; though you may have forgot¬ ten and lost sight of him, yet he remem¬ bers you, and the eye that keeps you never slumbers nor sleeps.
Oh, how desirable is that religion that binds us to our Savior, with an anchor sure and steadfast. How much better than that that is ready to lose its hold at any resistance. How valuable that in¬ heritance that is secured to us in a way that nothing can take it from us. How precious is that Savior and his love, that nothing in earth or hell, or even in our own poor sinful selves, can turn from us.
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The Doctrine of the
Dear reader, is such a Savior yours ? If so, reverence, oh, reverence him.
Consider, that the saints are the work¬ manship of God ; their hearts all fash¬ ioned alike ; trees of his own planting, plants set by his own hand, that shall never be rooted up — their names written in Heaven, not to he erased ; even written in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world — saved and called with an holy calling, not accord¬ ing to their works, but according to his purpose and grace given them in Christ before the foundation of the world; chosen in him before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before him in love; have received an inheritance, being predesti¬ nated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will; sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of re¬ demption. If all this provision will not infallibly save us, then tell us what will. Every attribute of God employed, and his unchangeableness pledged to that end ; all this being true, apostasy can not be true.
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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CHAPTER XL
OF KING SAUL, ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS, AND EZEKIEL XVIII.
We will now consider the case of King Saul. On the ground that he did a great deal of evil, it is said he fell from grace and was lost. First, I grant that Saul did many, very many things that were wrong, and had he been dealt with ac¬ cording to his life, he would have been lost. But if our sins were marked against us, we would all be lost. If Saul ever had been born of the Spirit, which I will not deny, then, notwithstanding his life had many things connected with it that were evil, yet in God’s account these evil things were not imputed to him. See First John iii : 9, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him ; and he can not sin, because he is horn of God.”
Have you or I the right to say that King Saul was not interested in this text ? Romans vii : 20, “How if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.,J This text explains the other one, and I ask, who has a right to say that King Saul shall he excluded from the benefit of this text ? Paul claimed it, and Saul needed it as much as Paul. But I deny that any man
80
The Doctrine of the'
has a right to say that Saul had no inter¬ est in these passages. But I know that if he was born of God, he eould not sin. To say he could, is to flatly deny God’s word ; and how could he fall if he could not sin ?
“Blessed is the man unto whom God will not impute sin.” Who knows that Saul was not such a man ? and if God did not impute sin to him, how could he fall ? If God should mark but one sin, and that the least of all our sins, none of us could be saved. So the reason why any one is saved, Saul or any one else, is, that God does not impute sin to him. W e are told that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” Here we see that God’s way of reconcil¬ ing is by not imputing sin to those whom he reconciles. How, if Saul was one that God ever reconciled, he was one that sin was not imputed to, and if sin was not imputed to him, you can decide what went with him. The sin against the Holy Ghost is the only unpardonable sin, and I am certain that there is no evi¬ dence that Saul had committed that sin. There is not a single passage that proves Saul was lost. There were marks of re¬ pentance in Saul at different times ; and an evil spirit troubled him from God, and if you will take pains to examine
Final Perseverance of theFainls.
81
the whole history of Haul, you will be convinced that no man living has a right to say that the plan of salvation would not embrace him. He was rejected from being king over Israel, and truly this was a sore punishment, both to him and his posterity, but who has the hardihood to say that God not only thus afflicted him, but that he also sent him to hell ? Suppose Saul did, in the heat of battle (seeing himself about to be delivered into the hands of his enemies,) prefer death at his own hands ; shall he for this be called a murderer in the sense that excludes him from Heaven ? Let no man say that Saul’s sins were not all washed away in the blood of Christ, unless lie has some evidence of that fact. Again, when Samuel arose from the dead and communed with Saul, he said, “To-mor¬ row shalt thou and thy sons be with me ; ” so that if Saul went to hell, Samuel must have been in hell; also Jonathan, the man whom David so greatly loved. If there is nothing better than the case of Saul to sustain apostasy, it will have to fail.
It is urged that the Israelites, who died in the wilderness, all fell from grace and went to hell. Question : What evi¬ dence have we that they were all Chris¬ tians, or that they all went to hell? Where is Miriam, the sweet singer,
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The Doctrine of the
who led in praise to God on the banks of the Red Sea? and Moses, the mighty man of God, who appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with our Savior, and many other devoted servants of God that might be named? They all must have went to hell, to make this argument good.
Where men resort to such arguments as this to support a cause, it is proof that the cause is sinking, and I say, let it sink.
Again, “When a righteous man turn- eth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them ; for his iniquity that he hath done he shall die.” Ezekiel xviii : 26. Also read the entire chapter. It is urged that this chapter teaches the possibility of apostasy.
If the subject of eternal salvation was the one in hand, this would be an argu¬ ment.
I do not deny that many of the Israel¬ ites did die, as a penalty of law, from the time Moses went up into Sinai, and amid smoke and fire received the law. All bible readers know that the law, or first covenant, did not require men to keep its conditions in order to live naturally, and that death was a penalty attached to the violation of that law. Not eternal death, but natural. There never was a law given to men that could give eternal life.
Final Perseverance of the Saints,
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“For if there had been a law given that could give life, verily righteousness would have been by the law.”
Once more, there is no place in all the old scriptures, where eternal life is prom¬ ised to those who keep the law of Moses, or eternal death to those who violate it. That you may see what is promised to the obedient, and also to the disobedient, see Deut. xxviii. Here we have the obedient blessed in the city, field, the fruit of his body, his kine, sheep, store and basket; his enemies shall be smitten and all people shall fear him. Hot one promise of eternal life, but every solitary blessing there named is of a natural kind. Why ? Because, men never did nor ever will go to Heaven for their works of any kind. We also see in that chapter that the wicked is cursed in city, field, basket, store, and the fruit of his body, etc. “The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation and rebuke in all that thou set- test thine hand to, till thou he destroyed and until thou perish quickly,” etc. Hot one word about being lost. Compare this entire chapter with Ezek. xviii, and you will see that it is plain that the prophet is setting forth God’s purpose revealed to Moses. Heither of these chapters men¬ tions eternal life, or eternal death, in con¬ nection with obedience or disobedience. How I appeal to you, dear reader, to
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The Doctrine of the
carefully compare these two chapters, (Ezek. xviii, and Deut. xxviii), and I am sure you will not find either of them re¬ ferring to the religion of Christ.
Besides, we have the plain words of scripture, setting all this aside. Heb. viii, we learn that God’s people are not under the old covenant of works, but under one of grace, — a new one. Bom. vi : 14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” The bible says sin shall not have dominion over you ; apos¬ tasy says it may. Beader, which do you believe? In the next verse he refers to the reasoning of apostasy, saying, “What then ? shall we continue in sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?” Apostasy and its friends say, “Yes, go your length in sin, if you are to be saved freely by grace.” But true piety says, “How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein ? ”
Thus we have shown this argument to be a plain, straightforward misapplica¬ tion of God’s word, as you will find every other argument brought in favor of apostasy to be.
The next argument we will notice is, Second Peter ii : 22, “But it is happened unto them, according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wal-
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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lowing in the mire.” That you may see clearly that this has no reference to fall¬ ing from grace, consider the following things : 1. The whole chapter shows that these are mere external professors ; “spots they are, and blemishes ; ” “having eyes full of adultery ; ” “hearts exercised with covetous practices;” “cursed children; ” “they themselves are servants of corrup¬ tion.' ” 2. “It is a true proverb ; ” that
is, it is a proverb that never fails ; there¬ fore, all such as are referred to in this chapter will certainly go hack into open sin. 3. They are compared to the dog that vomited up his foul contents ; hut he yet has the stomach of a dog, and con¬ sequently goes hack to the old mess. The sow likewise, being only washed on the outside, retains her swinish nature.
One more thought : this is a true pro¬ verb, i. e., one that never fails, and hence if it even proves that God’s children can fall, it proves that all will certainly fall. We have seen enough in this to see that the advocates of apostasy are ready to catch at anything to brace up their system. I would not knowingly falsely comfort God’s children; but certainly we are kept by the power of God, and are in his hand, and none can take us from him, for he is greater than all ; he keeps us as the apple of his eye. A woman
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The Doctrine of the
may forget her babe, but God will not forget us. Ho weapon shall prosper against us. He that hath begun a good work in us, shall perform it till the last.
Oh, let us praise God for his faithful¬ ness. In the last day Jesus will say, “Behold I and the children which God hath given me.” All will he there — none left behind. Praise the Lord, all his saints !
“Thy works, not mine, oh Christ,
Speak gladness to this heart,
They tell me all is done ;
They bid my fear depart.
To whom, save thee —
Who can alone For sin atone —
Lord, shall I flee ?
“ Thy pain, not mine, oh Christ,
Upon the shameful tree,
Have paid the law’s full price,
And purchased peace for me.
To whom save thee —
Who can alone For sin atone —
Lord, shall I flee?”
CHAPTER XII.
ABOUT JUDAS.
We will now consider the case of Judas. It is argued that he was a saint,
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an apostle, a Christian to all intents and purposes ; and that he fell from grace and went to hell. There are two classes of wicked men spoken of in the scrip¬ tures. One of these classes is called sin¬ ners. “Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear ?” The other is called in scripture, “hypocrite,” “Pharisee,” “false teachers,” “false prophets,” “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” They are the tares that grow among the wheat. They have a form of godliness, but Jsnow not the power of it; if possible, they would deceive the elect. Simon Magus was among the saints, and yet he was in the gall of bitterness and bond of sin. The magicians in Moses’ day did very much like Moses ; when they cast their rods down they became serpents, and many other wonders they wrought, and yet they knew not God. Piety has been counterfeited, and every feature of religion has been abused in this way since the world began. We learn from First Cor. xiii., that men may speak with the tongues of men and angels, have the gift of prophecy, under¬ stand all mysteries and knowledge, and have all faith so that they could remove mountains, and after all this be nothing.
Charity seems to be the needed thing to give real value or importance to the other gifts or graces. There is no evi-
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The Doctrine of the
dence that Judas ever had this charity. No doubt Judas was chosen to the office! of an apostle, and took part of the min- istry, and was numbered with the twelve.) He may have had all the qualifications! spoken of in First Corinthians xiii, and yet without charity. It is claimed that when Satan entered into him, John xiii: 27, he fell from grace; but if you will notice John xii : 6, you will see he made complaint when the ointment was poured on our Savior, saying it should have been sold and given to the poor. He said this, not that he cared for the poor, but because he carried the bag. So he cared not for the poor long before the sop.
By examining Matthew xxvi : 14 to last, you will see that Judas made sale of J esus before this sop and Satan’s entering into him. It would seem that Satan entered him, not to give him the will to do the deed, but to nerve him ; for he had before this sought to betray him. Long before this was said of him, “He cared' not for the poor;” so that if he was a Christian until the sop, he was one that cared not for the poor, and he was one that had sought opportunity to betray the Lord. In John vi, last two verses, Christ says, “Have I not chosen youi twelve, and one of you is a devil”? He spoke of Judas, that should betray him,
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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being one of the twelve. Here Christ calls him a devil, at least from seven to nine days before the sop, for it was he that should betray him. Then how can any candid man say he was a Christian ? Acts iv : 27, 28, “For of a truth, against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast annointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and counsel de¬ termined before to be done.
Here the whole work of the crucifix¬ ion was a subject of divine appointment; not to be done by Christian hands, but by “wicked hands.” The part Judas took was an important one : it was a part that more became a devil than a meek and lowly follower of Christ; hence Judas, “a devil,” was the man “that should betray him.” This same Judas was seen and known by the Lord hun¬ dreds of years before, and pointed out as the traitor ; and he then said of him, “Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein.” He is also §aid to have fallen, that he might go — where ? — to his own place ; therefore if he went to hell, hell was his own place, and his own place before he fell. Our Savior needed not that any should testify to him of what was in man, for he knew without it; for he, knew all things; he therefore 7
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The Doctrine of the
knew that Judas would betray him; for God had pointed him out as the betrayer long ago. To say Christ did not know this, is to trample upon his perfections. Once more; to say he loved and trusted Judas as a Christian, is to say that he loved the man he knew would betray him ; and that he loved a poor, covetous wretch, that he knew cared not for the poor. Yea, more, and if possible worse, it is to say he loved as a Christian one that he himself calls a devil.
Let me ask you in candor, could you love as a wife, one you knew would be¬ tray and forsake you ? Certainly not. But when you say Judas was a Christian, you say Christ does that which every principle of your nature revolts at. You can not say that Christ did not know he would betray him, for that would make him ignorant, not only of what was in man, but of the scriptures; for Judas had been pointed out by the prophets. His being visibly a servant of God is no j proof that he was a good man ; and even now one’s being a professed minister of Christ is no evidence that he is a good man. Bad men always were, and always will he, in the church. It is not my bus¬ iness to show why they are there, but we all know that had men always have been allowed to be in the church. If our Savior must needs have been betrayed by
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one in his church, there was at least a necessity that there should be one “son of perdition” in the church, and Judas was that one. God always has fulfilled his purpose with wicked men. Pharoah filled an important place in the world’s history. Haman, Herod, Pontius Pilate, Judas, and the wicked rabble, who, like so many jackals, were thirsting after the blood of Christ, were but making manifest the will of God in the salvation of sinners; and yet there is no proof that any of them were saints. Like Joseph’s brethren, they all meant it for evil, but God Almighty meant it for good. The rage of the multitude, the criminality of Judas, the timidity of Pilate, and heartlessness of Herod, all in their place, were but unfolding the pur- pose of God, as ,his hand and counsel had determined. “Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowl¬ edge of God ; how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out !” So that in this case, falling from grace loses everything and gains nothing.
John tells of certain ones who “Went out from us, because they were not of us ; for if they had been of us they would, no doubt, have continued with us ; but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” How, what conclusion are we forced to
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The Doctrine of the
about this text ? He says, “if they had been of us, they would, no doubt , have continued with us.” We can not doubt that J ohn believed that every real child of God would persevere to the last.
Dear reader, the sentiment of final j perseverance is interwoven with every principle of religion. To deny it, is to strike at the very vitals of religion. It j is a fearful thrust at the whole plan of salvation through the death of Christ. It substantially predicates the whole sue- cess of heaven’s plan of salvation upon j the puny arm of man. Poor, fallen, sin¬ ful, corrupt man, is to determine the greatest question ever thought of. It is for him to say whether the blood of Jesus is to be a failure; whether all the good designs of God are to be accom¬ plished ; whether the Spirit’s work shall I be a failure. Those who have realized the power of the Spirit know that it con- 1 trols our hearts, and brings us into love and affection for Christ. Oh, how fully our confidence is destroyed in self andj lifted up in the Lord; and I certainly think that every Christian feels that it is; the mere goodness of God that keeps him. Christian reader, if your continu¬ ance in religion was left for you to make sure, you would certainly fail.
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“Jesus, has my poor heart e’er felt The power of reigning grace;
Been cleansed from sin and shame and guilt, And felt a heavenly peace?
Surely I once was much relieved From deep distress and gloom,
When first my heart thy love received,
And felt my burden gone.
My tender heart’s grown hard and cold,
My prayers seem insincere ;
I’m filled with doubt and gloom and shame, And vanity, I fear.
Cold, dead and lifeless now I am,
My joys have passed away;
I feel that sin has a strong hold Within this house of clay.
Oh, Jesus! claim me for thine own,
Restrain my wandering feet;
Come, dwell with me, who am alone ;
Thy company’s most sweet.
Give me once more those happy hours,
Of sweet and heavenly peace ;
When first I felt the wondrous power,
Of thy redeeming grace.”
CHAPTER XIII.
ABOUT INFANTS.
The next argument I propose to answer is made up in the following way : First, infants in their birth are fitted for Heaven; hut as they grow up they become involved in sin and death in it, so that
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The Doctrine of the
they really fall from grace ; and thus it is claimed that every person who crosses the supposed “line of accountability,” falls from grace. I will not contend that infants are ever lost, neither will I admit that infants or adults are saved without being horn again. The Ephesians “were, by nature, children of wrath, even as others not only so by practice, but by nature; so that the nature must be changed. David was cenceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity. A clean thing can not be brought out of an unclean ; that which is born of women is unclean. See Job. Again : “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” Ps. lviii, 13. “The thoughts of man’s heart are only evil continually.” Gen. vi : 5. These references are sufficient to prove that infants are not holy by birth. If they are by nature children of wrath, then, by nature, they are unfit for Heaven. Our Savior taught that none can see or enter the kingdom of God, except they be born again.
Hence the natural birth does not fit infants for Heaven. An objector asks, “Can not infants be saved by virtue of the atonement?” Answer: Hot with¬ out being born again ; for if adults are saved by being born again, and infants without it, then we have two ways of
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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salvation — one for infants and one for adults — while the hible speaks of hut one way, Christ. The great reason why adults must be horn again is, that their nature may be changed. It is not the change of conduct that lies at the bottom, of the whole plan, but the change of nature. Certainly, infants, as to nature, are like the parents, and hence need as great a change of nature as the parents. Christ came to save sinners, and if infants are saved they are sinners. “He shall save his people from their sins; ” and if infants are a part of his people, they have sins , else he could not “save them from their sins.” If, then, they have sins and are sinners, they need to be “cleansed from all sin,” as much as you or I. As to anything we can see about them, they are innocent, hut they are “by nature children of wrath, even as others,” — “conceived in sin,” and “un¬ clean.” “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all, for that all have sinned.” Here we learn death to be a fruit of sin, and as infants are sub¬ jects of death, evidently they are sinners, and as such need “washing,” “cleansing,” “purifying,” “being horn again,” “of in¬ corruptible seed,” just as all others do who shall be saved. Therefore, if you can learn how any one person is saved,
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The Doctrine of the
of Adam’s race, and become acquainted with God’s manner in saving one, you have his way of saving all that are saved. This being true, infants in Heaven love God for the same reason that others do — appreciate what he has done for them, as others ; for they in this world were in the common wreck of ruin with all mankind. They were in the mass and of the mass in all particulars, and the only difference between them and adults is, they were not developed. If you could impart to an infant your strength, you would see its nature was evil, as fully so as your own. The ten¬ der, smooth sprout of the thorn only needs age to manifest its nature. So with children ; age does not give them nature, but develops the nature they have. I hope I have now said enough to show that infants are not, by natural birth, fitted for Heaven. Therefore, they need a spiritual birth. I know this birth is effected by virtue of the atonement. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” This church is no doubt com¬ posed of saints everywhere, of all orders, sects and countries. Why did he give himself for it ? That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. So the whole church needs cleansing and washing. Titus iii : 5,
Final Perseverance of the Saints .
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“The washing of regeneration and re¬ newing^ of the Holy Ghost, is the great operation through which we all must pass that get to Heaven.
If there is any other way for the vir¬ tue of the atonement to reach us, I have not learned that way. God is as able, in view of the virtue of the atonement, to prepare infants for his service as adults. John the Baptist praised God before birth, and certainly this is evidence, that the Spirit is able to subdue even infants to love God. “He that loveth is born of God.” As we have before seen, it is by being born of God that the church is prepared to love and serve Him. How, if all infants are not born of God, then all infants are not fit for Heaven. This is not saying that any die and are lost; but my first point is, that God’s way of saving is by being born again. If Hicodemus needed to be born again, and had been born again, in infancy, then he needed the third birth; and who ever read of such a thing as a third . birth ? If all infants were born again, in infancy and afterward fall from grace, then it follows that every adult person who experiences the new birth is born the third time. The idea of a third birth is nowhere hinted in the bible; neither is there the shadow of testimony that all infants are born of the Spirit. Hence the claim that
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The Doctrine of the
infants fall from grace, as they grow up to manhood, is simply without any testi¬ mony to support it.
Again, if infants fall from grace, we have seen, in Heb. vi, that such can not be renewed to repentance; therefore uni¬ versal adult damnation is the legitimate fruit of the doctrine. This is a conclu¬ sion from which there is no escape. Let us consider the following things : Saints are spiritual, having been born of the Spirit. Have we any evidence that infants are so? He that loveth God is horn of him. Saints do this ; have we any evidence that infants do ? “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Saints do this ; and there is no evidene that infants do. The case of John the Baptist is recorded, not as an ordinary one, but as an extra¬ ordinary one, and therefore is no evi¬ dence that God deals so with all infants. But I may properly ask, Did John fall from grace? Ho evidence of it. And if all infants, as John was, are born of the Spirit, then universal salvation is the consequence; for that which is born of God, is born of incorruptible seed; therefore can not be corrupted. The whole notion of infant fitness for Heaven is planted on the opinion that God has two methods of saving — one for adults, and one for infants.
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There is no foundation for such an opinion in the bible. “One Lord, one faith, one baptism one way, and Christ that way. Regeneration and a spiritual birth are in that way. The result of this is, that in Heaven all are to see and be like Christ. Christ is the pattern after which all are to be formed. Isaiah, lxv : 20, “There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days.” The helplessness of infancy will not be felt there, nor the weakness nor childishness of old age. Eternal vigor of every faculty ; no decay or waste; all sustained and maintained by the Spirit of the Eternal One. Ho dis¬ cord in the hymns of Heaven ; no two or three classes, who reached there by as many ways or plans; no degrees of per¬ fection there, but all justified by the same righteousness, that of Christ — clothed in the same robe; all the host of saved sinners in one uniform. One vast assembly, with harps tuned for eternal praise, exalting the great name of Jesus, saying, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us by thy blood, out of every nation, and kin¬ dred, and tongue, and people.” Rev. v : 9. Let it be remembered, that the atonement, and the receiving of it, are two things. Romans v:ll, “And not
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The Doctrine of the
only so, but we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” This is spoken with reference to our conversion, and says, “Now received;” thus showing,
1. That it is one thing for there to he an atonement, and another to receive it.
2. That they had not received it before. If they had received it in infancy, this could not have been said, but the words would have been, “ again received.” Apostasy and its advocates are hard pressed, when they attempt to sustain their system by such arguments as this. They boldly claim that every man and woman fell from grace, in passing from infancy to manhood, without one solitary passage that teaches us that infants are spiritual, or that they know God, or that they have been born again, or that they are believers; and in contra¬ diction to many scriptures, that substan¬ tially tell us, that they are unfit for Heaven ; and in contradiction to the Savior, who taught that all, who see or enter the kingdom, must be born again.
“Apostasy draws its web on every side,
And sows forboding far and wide ;
Would place ourselves first in the train,
And by our own merit, Heaven gain ;
Would crown the devil with all power,
And draw bright saints from Heaven’s bower.”
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The doctrine is calculated to discour¬ age God’s children ; to wither every ten¬ der emotion in the mourner; to fill the wicked with contempt for religion, and to feed and encourage rank infidelity. It is introduced and contended for as a sort of necessary appendage to the churches who are only anxious for num¬ bers, and to receive every . one that offers, with or without evidence of Christianity. A large per cent, returns to the world, out of which they had never been taken by grace, and it is mod¬ estly admitted, “they have fallen from grace.” And, perhaps, the next winter, they are horn again, and again, and so on.
We will now invite your attention to Matthew xxv : 14, “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants unto him. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one.” They that received the five and the two talents improved them, and he that received one hid his, and he was cast out. This they tell us, is an instance of falling from grace.
The first that I see about it is, that if the talents are grace, or religion, then some have five times as much as otheis, and there is no evidence that God con¬ verts some of his people five times as much as others. Justification will not admit of degrees. If a man is justified,
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The Doctrine of the
%
he could not be more so, nor any less so, and be justified at all, hence these talents can not be grace, religion, or justifica¬ tion.
Let us inquire what is meant by this parable. It is used to define something about the kingdom of heaven, the church. And, by a little thought, you will observe that they were his servants, without these talents ; for, “He called his own servants to him and delivered to them his goods.” Then, if they were his servants before they received the talents, they were not the servants of the wicked one ; consequently these talents were some gifts or graces he bestowed, not to make them his servants, or according to their needs, but “according to their sev¬ eral ability.”
A talent is a sum of money amounting to nearly twelve hundred dollars, and these talents were left with the servants, as they were competent to use money. Owners of slaves, no doubt, did in this way in that age. One servant could use five to advantage, another two, and another one. It is so to-day in the king¬ dom of heaven (the church); five times as much is required of some as others, and each of us is required to serve according to his ability ; and if he that has one tal¬ ent becomes disobedient and complains, because he is not advanced up higher in
Final Perseverance of the Saints .
103
influence and usefulness in the church, and4conceals what he has in the way of a gift, even that gift shall be taken from him and he. ultimately, cast out of the church, and even “delivered over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may he saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” It is in this self same sense we are to understand Rev., last chapter, fourteenth verse : “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city.” This city is no more nor less than the church, and it is “doing the commandments” that entitles us to live in this city or church. And by hiding our talent or gift, and putting our light under a bushel, we will ultimately be cast out of this city, where there are “dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idola¬ ters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” This is a dark place for a Chris¬ tian, but correct discipline requires the disobedient to be so dealt with.. How desirable that each of us should just fill his place in the church, without mur¬ muring, or envying the gift or place of another. Many men have spoiled their own peace and that of others, and even involved the church in distress, by being unwilling to be content with such gifts as God has given them.
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The Doctrine of the
Some of the last words of Mr. Fuller were in harmony with the doc¬ trine of salvation by grace alone. One expression was, “I am a great sinner, and if I am saved, it must be by great and sovereign grace/’ “I am a poor, guilty creature, but Jesus is an al¬ mighty Savior. I have no other hope of salvation than what arises from mere sovereign grace, through the atonement of my Lord and Savior. With this hope, I can go into eternity with composure.”
ISTo mention made here of anything done by himself, or any one but Jesus, and yet he says he can go into eternity with composure. He also states, in a let¬ ter a few days before his death, “I have preached and written much against the abuse of the doctrine of grace, hut the doctrine is all my salvation and all my desire.”
Mr. Toplady spent his ministerial life mainly in defending the doctrine of election by grace, and kindred princi¬ ples. Just before his death he said, on being told that his pulse was weaker, “Why that is a good sign that my death is fast approaching, and blessed be God ! I can add that my heart beats every day stronger and stronger for glory.” On being asked if he doubted the truth of his principles so long contended for, he answered :
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
105
“Doubt! doubt, sir? Pray use not that word when speaking of me ; I can not endure the term, at least while God continues to shine upon my soul in the gracious manner he does now; not but that I am sensible that while in the body, if left of him, I am capable, through the power of temptation, of calling in ques¬ tion every truth of the gospel ; but that is so far from being the case, that the com¬ forts and manifestations of his love are so abundant as to render my state and condition the most desirable in the world; and with respect to my principles, those blessed principles which I have been ena¬ bled in my poor measure to maintain, appear to me more than ever most glori¬ ously indubitable. My own existence is not, to my own apprehension, a greater certainty.”
Again, he said, “My dear friend, those great and glorious truths, which the Lord, in rich mercy hath given me to believe, and which he hath enabled me (though feebly) to stand forth in the defense of, are not (as those who believe not or oppose them say) dry doctrines, or mere speculative points ; no, but being brought into practical and heart-felt ex¬ perience, they are the very joy and sup¬ port of my soul, and the consolations flowing from them carry me far above
things of time and sense.”
©
8
106
The Doctrine of the
CHAPTER XIV.
ABOUT ADAM.
The next argument we will conisder is based on the following : Adam was at first good, and very good — all the law required him to he. But he fell in sin, and became involved in death. Hence | this, at least, is one instance of apostasy. My objections are as follows : -
1. Although Adam was good, he was hut a natural man. First Cor. xv:46, “Howbeit that was not first which is spir- ' tual, but that which is natural, and after¬ ward that which is spiritual? The first man is of the earth, earthy. So, Adam was but a natural man; but saints are! spiritual. First Cor. ii : 15, “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, while “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit.” Here is a plain difference between Adam and the saints.
2. Adam was under the law, while saints are not under the law, but under grace, and sin shall not have dominion.
over them. Bom. vi : 14.
3. God does not impute sin to saints. First Cor. v: 19. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.” Bom. iv : 6—7, “Even as David also de-
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
107
scribeth the blessedness of the man nnto whom God imputeth righteousness with¬ out works.” “Blessed is the man unto i whom God will not impute sin.” So he does not impute sin to his people ; and he did impute sin to Adam. Here there is another point of difference.
4. Christ dwells in his saints, but he did not dwell in Adam. Proof, “Ye have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” First John iv:4; also Pom. viii. “If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you.” “And if Christ be in you.” There are many passages showing that Christ dwells in his people ; and there is no evidence that he did dwell in Adam, for prior to the fall there was not even the need of a Christ.
5; Saints do not stand justified for their own righteousness, while Adam’s only hope was in his own rectitude and keeping the law. First Cor. i : 30, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteous¬ ness, sanctification and redemption.” So that Christ is the righteousness of saints. Again, Isa. liv : 17, “Ho weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall arise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn ; this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
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The Doctrine of the
and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” |
Now, if Adam’s righteousness had been of the Lord, and if Christ had been his righteousness, he would not have fallen ; but such was not the case with him, and therefore he fell ; yet such is the | case with saints, and therefore they will -not fall.
6. Saints are inclined to keep the law, or to do the will of God ; for God works in them both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Phil, ii : 13. If God had worked in Adam to do his pleasure, the result would have been different. The whole of the matter is, the saints are made equal to the demands of the law, and are then kept up to that stan¬ dard by God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in them ; they are fenced, so that the wicked one toucheth them not. Christ is the strong tower into which the right¬ eous run and are safe. He is the rock of ages, and is to them a high rock in a weary land. Salvation God hath ap¬ pointed for walls and bulwarks around them. I will say here, I never have heard or saw an argument made in favor of apostasy, but what its very mudsill was laid in a false position, to-wit: that salvation is by works, while the bible abounds with square contradictions of this position.
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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Reader, have you ever heard any man contend for the doctrine of apostasy, but what he also urged that it is by works we become saints, and by works we con¬ tinue to be saints, admitting at the same time that there is no merit in works, and that all the merit is in Christ ? Yet Christ’s blood is to be of no avail, and the whole plan of salvation a failure. Heaven empty, and hell full of the pur¬ chase of the Savior’s blood, unless works, which have no merit, are forthcoming, no matter how often or how positively God’s word says it is not of works ; yet in spite of all this, it is invariably declared to be of works by the advocates of apos¬ tasy.
How shocking the thought that a man may miss Heaven, though he has been redeemed by the blood of Christ. Born of the Spirit, and of incorruptible seed, even of God; and has in him the very Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead. Yea, has Christ himself within him ; also his life hid with Christ in God. Though he has eaten the Savior’s flesh and drank his blood, and has drank of the water of life, been built upon Christ as a sure foundation, yea, been fitly framed in him and joined to him as a wife to a hus¬ band; though he has rejoiced in the thought that the God of the whole earth is his shepherd, and that he shall not
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The Doctrine of the
want ; and though he hath said with joy, The Lord is my rock and my fortress, my deliverer and my God, my strength in whom I trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower ; ” yet, notwithstanding all this, he may fall from grace and go to hell forever and ever. How discouraging such an idea would he to those who are weak and feeble, who are saying, “When I would do good, evil is present with me. Oh, wretched man that I am ! who shall de¬ liver me from this body of death ? ” If there is a doctrine calculated to starve the weak and feeble, to discourage mourn¬ ers in Zion, to fill the wicked with care¬ lessness on this subject, this is the doc¬ trine. For who could or would with courage seek for a blessing, when there are a thousand chances to lose it to one to save it ?
We will now call your mind to Heb. vi : 4-6, “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 of 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.” This text is supposed to teach apostasy, because
Final Perseverance of the Faints.
Ill
the word if is in it — “if they shall fall
away.” . J « ,
In considering this text let ns first
consider the word if, as it stands here. Does it follow that there is a possibility to fall, because this word occurs ? Turn to First Cor. xv : 14, “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” Here the word occurs again. Does it teach that possi¬ bly Christ is not risen ? If it must be understood to teach the possibility of apostasy, it must also teach that possibly Christ is not risen. But it is apparent to all that Paul is arguing to show that Christ is risen. He tells that if it is true that Christ is not risen, that certain other things are also true — our preaching would be vain, your faith would be vain, you would still be in your sins, and there would be no resurrection. So that these fearful absurdities would be true, if it be true that Christ is not risen. So also, it these fall away there are certain glaring absurdities that must also be true. I e first is, it would be impossible tor Hod to renew them again unto repentance. So that, if this text proves that they can fall, it also proves that there is at least one moral impossibility with God.
2. It proves that Christ is crucified afresh ; for he says, “Because I live, ye shall live also ; ” and any argument that
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The Doctrine of the
holds that one saint may cease to have eternal life, also holds that Christ may be destroyed.
3. It proves that Christ is “put to an open shame; ” for evidently he would he shamed as a shepherd, if one of his lambs were taken from him. He would be ashamed, and all his foes would triumph, if he were to lose a single one of his people. The angel who said, “Call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his people from their sins,” would he ashamed of him. It would startle the inhabitants of the glory-world to learn that one heir was disinherited ; that one poor saint on earth had sunk into despair ; one sheep plucked from the hand of God. Such an event would fill all the enemies of God with joy, his friends with sorrow, his people with despair; therefore it can not occur.
CHAPTER XV.
ABOUT THE TEN VIRGINS.
The next argument we will notice is based on the twenty-fifth chapter of Mat¬ thew, commencing with the first verse : “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins. * * * Five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them ; but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps'. * * * Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” This text is sup¬ posed to teach falling from grace. Let us now carefully consider it. They tell us the the virgins are saints, the lamps are the hearts of God’s people, and the oil is the grace of God ; and when the lamps of the foolish virgins went out they fell from grace. The first objection I will urge to this interpretation is, that the text says, “They took no oil with them ; ” and if the oil is grace, they had no grace, to fall from. The foolish virgins said their lamps were gone out; so that if this text teaches apostasy, it is the testimony of the foolish virgins against the bible that makes the point. They say their lamps •are gone out; the text says they had no oil. Certainly, their lamps were never rightly lighted, if they had no oil. I do not deny that men who have no grace (oil) will he lost; and these had no oil. A lamp without oil will not burn long ; so a. profession without grace will not last long.
No doubt these foolish virgins thought their lamps were burning, and felt secure and ready for the approach of the bride-
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The Doctrine of the
- -
groom. “ Let him that thinketh he standeth take, heed lest he fall.’7 First Cor. x : 12. Doubtless these thought they were standing complete in him, and felt that all was well, but when the cry was heard, they found, to their astonishment and grief, that they were unprepared. All their hopes had been built on the sand. These foolish virgins more fitly represent the professor who is only a pro¬ fessor. They were among the virgins, so carnal professors are in the church ; they thought their lamps were burning, so carnal professors have a form of God¬ liness, but are strangers to its power; they were sadly disapointed in the end, so all mere professors will he filled with astonishment, when they shall hear it said, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Mat. xxv: 41. By reading further, you will see that these people -thought they had been doing all that was necessary. Ho doubt they had lived un¬ der the impression that salvation was by works, and thought they had kept their lamps burning ; but now, to their astonishment, in the presence of the assembled world God himself will say, “Depart; I never knew you.” All your profession was without a real knowlege of him; you flattered yourselves that you were earning Heaven, and his approval
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by your works, while your works were at best but fifthly rags. The righteousness of the best of men will not bear the test here ; the righteousness of God is all that will pass ; you were professors, but not clothed in Christ’s righteousness, which is the “wedding garment;” you have ever trusted in your works, while nothing but grace will save sinners.
Again, if these ten virgins represent the church, and all of them were Christians, it appears to me the visible church would be composed entirely of Christians ; but since a large part of the professed fol¬ lowers of Jesus are utter strangers, even to the great need of a Savior — have never been broken in heart for sin, or brought low at the feet of Jesus; nor been true mourners, or truly contrite in heart ; yet seem to have more assurance than those who have felt what is it to be sinners. — How many professors are there nowa¬ days, who are even leaders in their churches, and yet not safe in the common business of life, whose words can not be relied on by our merchants, nor any one else, when there is anything at stake ! It does seem more fitting that these wise and foolish virgins should represent the whole church. The foolish virgins are so foolish as to be content with no oil ; so thousands in the church are so foolish as to be content, though they have not
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The Doctrine of the
even tasted that God is gracious — never were laboring or heavy laden souls, nor saw themselves as guilty, condemned sinners before God.
Oh, how foolish are thousands and tens of thousands of our young men and women, who are to-day at ease in Zion ! who never have from their hearts said, with their hands on their sinful breasts,
• 7 B '
“God be merciful to me a sinner,” nor knew what it was to cry out with broken hearts, “Lord save, I perish ! ” Many of our churches are flooded with this class of professors every winter, who seem to out-shine the very best members in the body ; yet when the excitement that brought them there is over, their lamps of profession are gone out. “Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out dev¬ ils, and in in thy name done many won¬ derful works? And then will I profess un¬ to them, I never knew you ; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Mat. vii : 22.
It does seem from this that many poor, deluded souls will believe to the very last that their lamps are burning, and that they are every way ready to meet God, and shall learn that all their hopes were vain. What a disapointment ! to fully believe that many wonderful works will save you, and in the end, when you need
I
Final Perseverance of the Saints.
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everything, to find yon have nothing. "What a pity that so many of onr preach¬ ers, instead of preaching the plain, sim¬ ple gospel of Christ in its experimental power, are declaring that salvation is by works, and in this way turning the minds of the people from Christ, and fixing their confidence in a round of duties. Let each of us ask ourselves the question. Have I the real grace of God, or am I a mere letter servant ? Have I real hope, and can I give a reason for that hope? Is all my hope stayed on God? Ho I trust him for every grace?
Once more : These five virgins were foolish. It is said, Prov. i : 7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” If these virgins were foolish, they were not wise, and if the first principle of wisdom is to fear God, these foolish vir¬ gins did not fear him, and hence were not real Christians. I fully believe that all who do not fear God are unconverted, and I am not arguing that unconverted ones can not he lost. Thus we have seen that this chapter does not, and can not he made to teach apostasy. I propose now, in the close of this chapter, to introduce a few plain, unambiguous passages that plainly and positively teach the perseverance of every Christian. John x:26, “My sheep hear my voice, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never
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The Doctrine of the
perish.” “My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
Can you believe these words, “They shall neveFperish,” and yet believe in fall¬ ing from grace? John vi : 38, “For I came down from Heaven, not to do mine own will, hut the will of him that sent me And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” Can you believe this, and yet believe that any saint will be lost? John iii . 15, “That whoso¬ ever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John xi:26, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this ?”
Header, answer. “Whosoever heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation , but is passed from death unto life.” “He that believ¬ eth and is baptized, shall be saved.” “Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.” Can all or any of these passages be true, and falling from grace be true ? “Blessed is the man to whom God will not impute sin.” Can such a man be lost? Cer¬ tainly not for sin is not imputed to him. Let me give you two statements, and then decide which you will believe : “He that
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believeth and is baptized, shall be saved. “He that believeth and is baptized, may be damned ” Decide for yourself, and this will settle the whole question.
CHAPTER XVI.
METHODIST ARTICLES OF RELIGION.
I will employ this chapter in examining the articles of religion of the Methodist church. They can be found in the Disci¬ pline. I copy them from Delcher s Re¬ ligious Denominations, pages 569 and _ 570. I do this to show that although they, as a people, do teach the possibility of apostasy, yet their published confes¬ sion of faith completely destroys the doctrine. M^e will only copy such of their articles as relate to the subject in hand.
Article 7. “Original sm standeth not in the following of Adam, as the Pela¬ gians do vainly talk, but it is the cor¬ ruption of the nature of every man that naturally is engendered in the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to do evil, and that continually.”
Look closely at these words. “His very
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The Doctrine of the
nature is involved in sin, and by reason of the corruption of his nature he is in¬ clined to sin continually. Here is total depravity, undeniably. He is not partially inclined to sin, but he is continually so ; no intermission. As the water is contin¬ ually rushing down the channel of the Ohio, so his nature is unceasingly rush¬ ing him headlong in sin, and if left to himself he is certain of destruction. Outside influence must interpose ; grace must arrest him ; unconditional election by grace only will reach his case, and Chris¬ tian Methodists, according to this article, can consistently sing,
“Election! ’tis a word divine ;
For, Lord, I plainly see,
Had not thy choice prevented mine,
I ne’er had chosen thee.”
Article 8. “The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, that he can not turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works to faith and calling on God. Wherefore, we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable unto God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will.”
Who ever heard the utter helplessness of man more fully set forth than it is here ? “Can not turn and prepare himself by his own strength and good works?”
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If he can not turn himself, and he is ever turned, what will turn him ? Is it true that God must turn him, and yet can not keep him turned? How does this article say he is turned ? “The grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will.” Then he can not have a good will only as grace gives it to him. This tells the truth ; “It is God that work- eth in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Phil, ii: 13. But this article not only tells us that God must work in the sinner a good will, but “work with him when he has that good will.” How can one fall from grace when God works in him a good will, and works with him while he has that good will? Surely, if he ever should lose that good will, it would be while God was working with him. Paul was persuaded that where God had begun a good work he would perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. This was Paul’s opinion — reader, is it yours? “Ho man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” John vi: 44. Again, “Ho man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.” Man, then, can not have this will, unless it is produced in him of God. He never will be inclined to God ; never truly repent of sin ; never love God, nor his cause ; never hate sin and long for holiness, unless God
9
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The Doctrine of the
Almighty works in him the will. I ask in all candor, How can there he a falling from grace, if God works in him while he has the will ? If the working of God gave the will, can not the working of God keep the will ? If I take the city, can I not keep it ? Can the man become worse than he was before he received the will? God gave him the will without any merit or good works, and now will God forsake, desert and leave him be¬ cause he still sees no merit in him? This article, fairly examined, is as purely Cal- vinistic as any Baptist would desire.
Article 9. Is of the same kind, and is as follows : “We are accounted right- \ eous before God, only for the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not for our own works or deservings; wherefore, that we are j ustified by faith only, is a most whole¬ some doctrine and very full of comfort.” .
This article can not harmonize with conditional salvation, or apostasy either. It says we are counted righteous, “ only for the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ .” If this be the only ground of justification, where is the room for conditions or fall¬ ing from grace either? This article sets forth the only hope of poor sinners — the righteousness of Jesus. It points every sin-ruined, sin-condemned sinner to Jesus and tells him that though sin has ruined him, and all his works are evil, and