But if life is eternal, if nothing can take the believer out of His hand, what is the meaning of “Let us therefore fear lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should, seem to come short of it"? and of “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest lest any man fail after the same"?
If Christ was glorified by it, then Paul would glory in it. By accepting the thorn as disciplinary means for keeping the flesh down, and trusting to the promised sufficiency of the grace of Christ, Paul obtained a moral victory over the thorn and consequently a greater blessing than if it had been removed. This was the path of grace, yea the path of honor; it was the only way to win the fight, to obtain the crown. This is a notable instance of the way in which God works in us first to will and then to do. Paul shrank from the conflict. The Lord speaks to him. “Oh” says Paul, “if Thou art glorified, I will endure, yea boast of it.” It was according to God's working, and he bore the thorn, and carried it about with him, thus “doing” of God's good pleasure. Thus it is the fruitful branch brings forth more fruit.
This abounding fruit can only be where there is life. There is in some a latent thought that we obtain life by fruit-bearing. Not so, we have fruit because we have life. It is quite consistent with the deepest reverence for God to say that the Spirit must first communicate life before any fruit can be borne for God. And to remember this is of the utmost importance; for it gives the soul rest as to personal acceptance, and by assuring the victory from the first strengthens us against the flesh and its coadjutors, the world and the devil.
Temptations may be presented apart from fleshly activities, they never injure the believer unless yielded to. Often indeed the flesh is so indulged as to invite temptation; but in its most passive condition it is always ready to receive and yield to the suggestions of the enemy. In moments of depression we are peculiarly liable to doubt our salvation. “Oh, you cannot be a Christian” says the insidious tempter; and we are in danger of forgetting that God has given to us eternal life. If Satan said “You are not walking as a Christian!” he would often tell the truth, for alas! such is too frequently the case. But his aim is to discredit God's truth; he began with that in the garden. He is a liar from the beginning.
But does not Paul say (1 Cor. 9:2727But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Corinthians 9:27)) that he kept his body under lest he should be a castaway, that is, lest he should be lost? At first this scripture may seem to imply that eternal life might be lost. But those who maintain this only show their ignorance of the true teaching of these words. I do not in the least seek to tone down the meaning of the word “castaway.” The same word occurs in Rom. 1:2828And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (Romans 1:28), “God gave them over to a reprobate mind.” In 2 Corinthians 13:5-75Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 6But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. 7Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. (2 Corinthians 13:5‑7), “Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates, &c.” In Titus 1:1616They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. (Titus 1:16), “unto every good work reprobate,” and in Heb. vi. 8, “but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.” In all these it is the same word as in 1 Cor. ix. 27, and Paul uses it with the same meaning. He brought his body in subjection, lest after preaching to others he himself should give evidence that he never was converted, never received eternal life, and so became a castaway. If he had never kept the body under, if he had been proved to be a reprobate, would it have proved that he was not an apostle? Nay, Balaam was inspired, no prophecy more sublime than his. A man might be all these, and yet a castaway. like those in Heb. 6 who, with all their privileges and endowments, fell away and could not be renewed. What would have been plainly manifested if Paul had become castaway? That he never had eternal life; those who have NEVER PERISH. “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”
But Paul never doubted that he had eternal life. He intimates here the means by which God teaches practical holiness to those whom He has saved. He calls us to glory through a path-way of self-denial and holy obedience, and these warnings and exhortations are the moral means by which He keeps us in the path. They are as thick edges on each side of the road to prevent our breaking through and leaving the right track. Even if a saint through not judging down the flesh does break, grace must bring him back, for it is impossible that one having eternal life should perish. The wolf may scatter the flock, may catch and tear one of the sheep, but the roaring lion shall never devour him. Our gracious Lord put a thick edge around Peter when He warned him of his denial. Peter broke through by not giving heed to the warning; he had not yet learned to judge his flesh. But he had eternal life, and so the Lord Jesus restored him. At the last supper Judas was warned, but he paid no heed. The Master would have put a hedge around him, but He who knows all hearts and who knows His own sheep said to him, “That thou doest do quickly.” Judas had no life and went to his own place. Paul learned what the flesh was and gave heed to the danger, not that he doubted his salvation, but he gave proof of it by judging all, that was contrary to holiness and true service. All this is written for our learning that we may have the same confidence, the same jealous fear of the flesh, the same diligence in keeping the body in subjection. And doing all by the power of Him works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
The Psalmist says “By the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.” And the word of God is still the means by which we walk in holiest paths. The natural man, whether he makes profession or not, never applies the word to himself, never suspects that there may be a lie in his right hand. Among professors there are those who obey the word, others show by their habitual disobedience that there is no life in them. The action of the word of God upon a mixed company of professors may be compared to a powerful magnet passing through a mass of metal filings. Some are of gold, silver, and copper, but none cleave to the magnet but the steel. Of course it need scarcely be said that this cannot possibly be a figure of the gospel preached to the lost; for when all are lost, there are no “steel filings” which naturally obey the word. I am looking at a company of professors who take the stand of being Christians, and I say, the word tries them whether their profession be true or false. The word is the grand public test of every one bearing the name of Christ. If his faith be a living faith, he may fear and tremble at the enemy's power arrayed against him, and at the solemn word, “let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall;” but the effect will be to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure. If there be no living faith, sooner or later, he is made manifest; in one form or another he shows that there is no life in him. It is this life from God which makes such a difference in the effect of the word upon the soul. The word does not profit if unmixed with faith; but where there is, it leads to increased prayer and watchfulness, and we are led on by the Holy Spirit, and guarded by the power of God. It is not led like a horse or a mule “which have no understanding;” but “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” Gracious care, perfect love on God's part towards us, the intelligence of faith and responsive love on our parts; and so God keeps us right in the middle of the path. How wonderful, but how blessed, the interworking of almighty grace with the believer's responsibility, how wise the process which gives each its proper place Every moral feeling is wrought upon by the Spirit, all the affections of the new nature. He draws our love by manifesting God's love, and our heart's, respond: “we love Him because He first loved us.” He raises our desires and imparts the assurance of hope, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. He brings into view “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” and we press forward to the mark, we follow after to apprehend that for which we are apprehended of Christ Jesus; that is God's grace first, and Christian energy afterward. Fear, desire, love, hatred, hope, every motive power in us, God takes up and uses to produce holiness. For Christ Himself is before us, to be with Him and behold His glory, to be conformed to His image; for when we see Him we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is, and all the energy of the new nature strains after it. This is the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, for whom all things are counted but loss. It is thus that we are led on by His eye, these are the moral processes by which saints are now led on to glory. What a difference between being thus led on in the constant sunshine of His face in uninterrupted fellowship with the Father and with the Son, the being chastened with His rod under a deep sense of unfaithfulness! But both the light of His countenance and His chastenings are moral means, the divine and blessed way for accomplishing His purposes for, and in us. But the manner of His working is in accordance with our behavior.
Therefore when the word bids us beware lest we fall after the same manner of unbelief, it does not mean that there is a possibility of the believer being lost, for this would be taking him out of Christ's hand; but, it being addressed to the whole professing body, they are warned that, though they might be apostles, if they walk not in the paths of holiness, and live without bringing the body into subjection, they show that they have no life and become castaway. A true believer, one truly born of God, can never become a castaway.
“Let no man take thy crown” was once used by the writer of a tract to prove that a believer might be in heaven without a crown. What will a crown-less saint do when the twenty-four elders cast their crowns before the Lamb! For the elders are the representatives of all the redeemed up to the coming of the Lord. There would be discord in heaven! Where would be the perfect happiness of a saint in glory with the consciousness of having lost his crown? It is a lowering of the grace and power of God, and of the infinite worth of the precious blood of Christ. The Divine Almighty Potter took us up, an inert mass of clay, and fashioned us according to His own will. If we are not what He intended us to be, then He had not power over the clay. If God purposed to have a saint in glory without a crown, then there is no loss to the saint. But there will be no member of Christ's body without a crown. The question is not what place we deserve, but the fullest glory of Him who has saved us and glorified God. Indeed if it were a question solely of our desert, should we be in heaven at all? I do not forget the believer's responsibility, nor that we all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive for the things done in the body whether good or bad; but when our whole course here will be brought into the light, we shall be like Him, and our unfaithful ways will magnify the riches of grace, will be to the praise of Him who, notwithstanding unfaithfulness, has brought us as conquerors through all. And whatever He may blame as having been of faith will sure be to the praise of His grace; and—still grace—the blessed Master will commend us for those things wherein we were kept by His power. Our ways truly. will be investigated, and they will appear to us as now they appear to the Lord, and we shall repeat His judgment upon our own short-comings, and join in the commendation and the full reward to each according to his sphere of service, and according to the several ability of each. There is no word of loss but to the one who was cast into outer darkness. Also in the parable of the pounds the only one who suffered loss was the wicked servant, as in the former the unprofitable servant. In each the loss was eternal condemnation.
Therefore neither parable gives room for the idea that saints will have no crown or a broken one. There is only one place where a believer is said to suffer loss (1 Cor. 4:1515For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:15)). Loss of what? His own work, the wood, hay, and stubble that he had been building upon the only foundation. All that is burnt up in the day when every man's work shall be tried by fire. As there had been no true work done, there could be no reward. But this is very different from a believer losing his crown, or of occupying a place in glory other than the one appointed before the world was made.
God has appointed a place for each saint. The Lord Jesus told the disciples before He left them that He was going to prepare the place for them. All that remains now is the short distance between our present abode and our eternal home. Paul speaks of this little interval as of running a race. In a human race, men in order to obtain a corruptible crown are temperate in all things. How much more should we be who run a race when the prize is an incorruptible crown! “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” Paul was striving, therefore he was temperate. So he can say with the absolute certainty of obtaining the mastery, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly. If no uncertainty why strive? The prize is sure to the one who strives, though his striving be ever so feeble; but the one who does not strive at all is a castaway. Again in a human race only one can win, only one receives the prize. In the heavenly race every runner, every one who strives, wins. Yea, sovereign grace says he shall surely win. Let us therefore so run that we may obtain. The word of God, the Cross, the Resurrection, the Coming, the promised Glory, are all pledges to our winning. But he who in his heart is most assured of winning is most deeply conscious of almighty and sovereign grace.
Ever since the Fall, faith is the one grand principle given of God to withstand the evil of sin, and to raise the believer morally above it. The first glimpse was seen in Abel who brought his lamb as an offering to God, by it confessing that his own life was forfeited. God accepted it and gave it a value far beyond Abel's intelligence, but he obtained witness that he was righteous. But all the power of faith, and the blessings joined to it was not known at first. It was a series of lessons, teaching step by step how effectually the believer is brought into communion with God—all its subjective power seen in the life of Abraham—and gain victory over the world. In the Passover and the Red Sea there is atonement and deliverance from the bondage of the world. In Abel's lamb we have substitution, in the Paschal lamb there is more than substitution, for God said “I will pass over.” Then there must be Atonement, else God could not pass over the sinner without judging. Full and complete Redemption necessarily follows perfect Atonement, and God dwelling among His people follows full redemption.
God dwelling among the people, (may we not say?) necessitates the presentation of the object of faith, as the One who gives vitality to faith, and the reality of relationship to God. At first it was only by type and encased in ordinances, for there were other necessary truths as to the evil nature of man and the utter impossibility of pleasing God except by faith, which man had to learn before the due time came when Christ the object of faith was revealed in person. When He came and was rejected, crucified, and was ascended to the glory whence He came, but now as the Risen Man having accomplished eternal redemption for us, then faith rises to a higher aspect and its subjective powers increase in the soul the more He becomes known as the object, not only of faith but of love.
Now we have the life of faith in separative power from the world, a faith that lifts the believer above surrounding circumstances. Impossible for faith to have a larger sphere than during this present age. There is now such a demand upon it, that God alone can supply the needed strength. For God Himself now acts—as far as all outward interposition on behalf of His suffering saints, as if a man should sow seed, and then leave it to grow he knoweth not how. But this is the highest honor ever put upon faith, and God has attached to it the highest reward.
So from the first example of faith in Abel to the last brightest exhibition of its power, Paul glorying in infirmities if Christ were glorified thereby, how minute and careful God's teaching, how assiduous and untiring, and notwithstanding the perversity of the flesh how patient and persevering His, grace, how determinate His counsel to save, and how glorious His victory in us over all the power of sin and over him who held the world in captivity, when the church rises to meet the Lord in the air! Yea, victory everywhere, every trace of sin obliterated when the new heavens and the new earth are created. Though this be yet future for the created world, by faith we enter into it now, and anticipate its joys and glories. For “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”