I WANT to have a few serious words with you, on one of the most serious of all subjects; namely, the condition of your soul before God.
I have some reason to think that this subject is not too acceptable with you, because you are not quite certain what your exact relation with God is.
I have had a great many conversations with pious people, and I have been able to find very few indeed who could say in all sincerity that their souls were at rest and peace in the presence of God. They have hopes (some strong hopes), that it may be right with them at the last, if they persevere; but there are few indeed, if any, that have such a distinct certainty that they can say, without fear of presumption, they are saved.
On the contrary, there is the greatest doubt and hesitancy as to the fact of salvation. Nay, some seem to glory in it as part of their religion, that they cannot be sure, and ought not to be sure.
Now, I want to show you from the word of God that you neither do Him nor yourself justice in such a view of things. You would not like your own child to be in a perpetual doubt whether ‘he were your child or not. It would be no credit to you if he harbored such thoughts; neither would it help his obedience to you for him to entertain such doubts. Nothing would be more likely to estrange him from you. "Love begets love." Confidence begets confidence. God wants your love and confidence.
I shall first look at salvation from God's side. Then I will look at it from your side. First I will show you what He says to you; and afterward I will show you what He looks for you to say to Him.
First, What has God got to say to you?
I shall take one of the simplest of gospel texts to set it forth: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).) JON 3:16
Now you see the first thing is God's love, then God's gift, then God's purpose. God's love to me, God's gift of His Son for me, God's desire that I should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God need not have told me all this. If He had not meant it, He could easily have kept such statements to Himself. But He did mean it; and He stated it clearly; and He meant me to know it; and He thought I should be glad to hear it; and so He recorded it in black and white in His Holy Word.
You will observe that in this statement there is not one single condition. It is all as free as the air I breathe, or the well by the road-side. God delights in the fact that His gift is free.
Man cannot afford to give things away for nothing. If I want meat, or bread, or vegetables, I must buy them, or work for them, or give something in exchange for them. All that is all right with man; but not so with God. No; God is a giver, not a seller. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." "If thou knewest the gift of God." “The gift of God is eternal life." (John 4:1010Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10); Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23).) JOH 4:1010Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10) ROM 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
You see I have not said much about God's love.
You must take that for granted. "God is love.”
I cannot explain it, I cannot put it on your mind. I can only tell you that God can love those that hate Him. It is only God can do this, and those who are born of Him.
But I must now tell you something of His purpose.
You are a perishing sinner. God does not want you to perish. God sees you going down to destruction. God does not want you to go to destruction. God invites you to be saved. (Isa. 45:2222Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22).) ISA 45:2222Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22) God has said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezek. 18:44Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4).) EZE 18:44Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4) God has said, " The wages of sin is death." (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23).) ROM 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
But God would have no pleasure in that, and so that you should not perish, God constituted a way by which He might give you life, eternal life; mind that, eternal life. Not a life that could be stopped (that would not be eternal); not a life that you could lose (that would not be eternal); not a life that would depend upon you (for you could not keep it for five minutes); but an eternal life that should be hid up safe in CHRIST, so that it could never be lost. No, not if you did naughty things after having got it, though of course you ought not: God's government will deal with you as to that.
God's grace and God's government are two distinct things which must never be confounded. God's grace makes me His child; God's government deals with me as His child. His grace never sets aside His government; neither does His government set aside His grace.
The judgment of sin, in the sinless person of Christ on the cross, enabled God to show His grace to me, and make me His child, His government will correct all that is amiss in me as His child while passing through this world, and manifest me before the judgment seat of Christ, where I shall receive the things done in the body. (2 Cor. 5:1010For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10).) COR 5:10 But I never cease to be His child.
Thus I have shown you what salvation is from God's side; I have shown you what He says to you. Now let us see what He looks for you to say to Him.
I will take another very simple text: “He that beareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come unto condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that 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. (John 5:24).) JOH 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that 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. (John 5:24)
Here we have three things: a hearer, a believer, a possessor.
God's Son is the speaker of this wonderful statement.
Who is the hearer?
“He that heareth My word.”
Who is the believer?
He that "believeth on Him that sent Me.”
Who is the possessor?
The one who "has eternal life"; the one that never comes into condemnation; the one that has “passed from death unto life.”
You see that hearing comes first; then believing; then possessing. And let me say, God does not trouble you with any thoughts as to who is elect or not. It is "he that heareth," no matter who. If you hear God's word, you are the “he that heareth.”
Of course, hearing alone is not all; there is the believing. “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me." If you hear Christ's word, and believe on God who sent Him, you prove what you are by the way you treat God's messenger and His message. God pledges Himself that if you Are a hearer and a believer, you are also a possessor; for He says "hath," not “shall have.”
Three things are stated to be true of the possessor. First, he has eternal life; second, he shall not come into condemnation; third, he is passed from death unto life.
You see that these words leave no room for, doubt. There is no condition but hearing and believing. There is nothing said about doing, or trying, or hoping, or persevering, but only of possessing. I possess eternal life. I possess a guarantee that I shall never come into condemnation. I possess the assurance that I am passed from death unto life. God gives His word that these things are true of a hearer and believer.
If I believe them not, I make God a liar.
I have now shown you what God looks for from me; namely, to hear and believe, and to possess.
Recollect that what I possess is eternal, never ending. And the reason of it all is not that I work to get it, not that I work to keep it, but that it is God who pleases to give it me, and pleases to give it me, not for any goodness, or any fitness, or anything whatever He sees in me, but because He is so satisfied with what CHRIST has done on the cross, so glorified in His putting away of sin, so delighted with the obedience of His dearly beloved Son, that He can turn to me, a poor, guilty, hell-deserving sinner, and make me the free offer of "eternal life.”
Dear friends, God thus gets all the glory and all the credit of what He has done, and He intends It should be so. He will not give His glory to another.
When you take your salvation depend in any way upon yourself; whether for the getting or the keeping of it, you assume to do what God only can do.
Ponder this, I pray you. Take what His word tells, you. God will thus be honored, and your soul shall rest in peace.