Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews
chapter 5 and verse 9. Verse 9. And being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey. Him. Hebrews 5 verse 9. I wonder how many of us, if we
hadn't got the whole verse here, would actually be able to finish
the text that we have read. If we were to read, and being
made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all
them, what would we put after it? What would we put after it? Would we put what is in the text?
and to all them that obey Him. The word, of course, is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ as our great High Priest. The word perfect
in this context is complete or a finished work. We read in verse 8, that the
Lord Jesus Christ, though He were a Son, the eternal Son of
God, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered,
or that He experienced obedience, He learned it in that way. While
upon earth, in all that He did, obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him, given him a name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow. And that implies in bowing,
obeying, following. The Apostle Paul says, be ye
followers of me, as I also am of Christ. And so we have a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ's obedience and the obedience of those that
he is the author of eternal salvation. Now we must make it very clear
that Those who are given eternal salvation, it is not because
of their obedience. That obedience is a fruit and
by which they are known and made known as to who the Lord Jesus
Christ died for, who he became the author of eternal salvation
for, It is those evidences of the work of God. When Christ
saves a soul, when he gives them eternal salvation, it has an
effect. It doesn't leave them as they
were. And the effect that is set before
us here is that they obey him. The Lord while on earth, he said
to the Jews, he called me Lord and master, and he say well for
so I am, but he do not the things that I say. And really as an
illustration of the text of the word, is the situation when our
Lord was on the earth, Because we have those of the Jews that
did not receive the teaching of our Lord. They didn't receive
Him as the true Christ. They rejected His counsel, His
teaching. They did not obey the gospel. When they heard the gospel, when
they heard the Lord's teaching, they rebelled against it. They
didn't obey it. But then there were those, like
the man that was born blind, and others, the woman at the
well of Samaria, that when they heard, then they received that
word, they humbled themselves under it, they were blessed through
that word. And then in the early church,
when the word was preached, some believed the word spoken, and
some believe not. And the Lord has always joined
when he sends forth the commission to his servants, go ye into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature he that believeth
and is baptized. And he's joined together the
believing to obedience and obeying the gospel, the teaching of the
gospel the revealed will of God, the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, if ye love me, keep
my commandments, or obey me. So our text says, and being made
perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all
them that obey him. So on to look with the Lord's
Towel, first what Christ has done, and being made perfect. And then secondly, what He has
become the author of, that is, eternal salvation. And being
made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation. Thirdly then, how we know Who
has eternal salvation begun in them? And it is by their obedience
unto the Lord. Let us look firstly then at what
Christ has done and being made perfect or completing that work
that he had given him of his father. I have finished the work
that thou gavest me to do and the crying upon the cross that
it is finished. We have at 12 years of age in
the temple our Lord saying to Mary and Joseph, wish ye not
that I must be about my father's business. He gave me a commandment,
what I should say and what I should speak. And that commandment and
that work, He fulfilled on this earth in time here below. And in doing that work, that
work was pronounced and is pronounced here as being perfect. He couldn't have had anything
added to it. Nothing was wrong with it. He
fulfilled everything his father gave him to do. Those two, or
maybe you might say, three works that he was given to do, the
miracles that he did were to testify of who he was. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they are they which testify of me." The world and the Jews
especially were to have no excuse and say, well, we didn't know
that this was the Christ, that this was the Messiah, because
the very works that he did testify to that. The Jews, when they
sought to send man to trip him up, they came back and they said,
never man spake as this man. The man that was born blind,
he says, has it ever been heard from the beginning of the world
that one was able to open the eyes of the blind? There was
never one that was able to do the miracles that the Lord did
and performed, and we only have a few of them mentioned really
in the scriptures. John is very clear of this, that
if all the works that the Lord did were written, the whole world
wouldn't contain the books that should be written. Those in Christ's
day had abundant evidence of who he was. But John said, but
these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
and that in believing ye might have life through his name. So
one of the works that he came to do was to testify of his father,
of himself, who he was, and to make it very clear that he was
the Christ. The Jews, they said that if a
man bear witness of himself, then his witness was not true. But the Lord said that he was
not one that bore witness of himself, but my Father which
sent me hath borne witness of me. And so though we not alive
in the time of Christ, yet we have the record and we have the
testimony of it as well, and what is written is sufficient. sufficient under God to convince
us also that the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, is the Son
of God. And we only need to think of
the eunuch who, after our Lord had risen and ascended up into
heaven and reading the Old Testament, he was brought through Philip's
preaching and through that passage to believe and to have that testimony
that I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And that work the Lord did perform
here upon this earth. The other work that he had to
do was to work out a righteousness for his people, his people that
have none. When Adam and Eve sinned in the
garden, then they sought to hide themselves from the presence
of God. They sought to cover themselves
with fig leaves, which even though they had done that, they still
could not stand unashamed before God when He came and walked in
the cool of the day in the garden. But God provided them with skins
that clothed them, and they were atoned. of the righteousness
of Christ. When Christ died, we read that
they parted his garments, but for his vesture they cast lots,
as it was foretold. They cast lots for my vesture. They said, let us not rend it,
it did not have a seam. The hymn writer beautifully takes
it up and he says, without a seam, this garment's woe bequeath in
everlasting love, ordain to be a royal robe to cover thee. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ is his perfect life of obedience, and that is to
be imputed or put on the account of those that believe. We need
a righteousness to stand before God's throne. We cannot stand
there and only have to present our own life with all its sins,
even with the obedience after we have been saved, that is not
a sufficient righteousness to stand before God's throne. Never
is a saved sinner going to stand before God and point to works
of righteousness that they have done As soon as someone, if you're
talking with them, and they say they're a Christian, or they
say that they have a hope of heaven, and as soon as they start
to say, this is what I've done, I've helped the poor, I've done
charity works, and I haven't done anything bad, and they start
to reel these things off, And I think you might as well be
saying, I am not a Christian, I have not obeyed the gospel,
I am still in nature's darkness, I've rejected Christ's righteousness,
I'm cleaving to my own. If we truly know what the value
of Christ's righteousness is, we need it, then we will never
bring forth our own. The scriptures are very clear
that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. So that perfect
work, that work that the Father gave our Lord to do was to prepare
that to give, freely give, to those that believe. And the third
work was that he should put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Christ's righteousness does not
hide sin. It was never designed to do that. It is not designed to put away
sin in any way. It is blood that puts away the
sin. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. And the Lord Jesus Christ did
that at Calvary. The sins laid upon him, he bore
them away. The obedience unto death was
that he should be made a curse for us who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And his sacrifice
was a propitiation for sin, a wrath-ending sacrifice. And that he did. And the empty tomb proves that
that sacrifice was accepted. The Lord says, I lay down my
life for the sheep, He says to those that were not hearing him,
not obeying him, rejecting his counsel, his teaching, ye are
not of my sheep, therefore ye hear not my word. And those that heard his word,
my sheep, they hear my voice and they follow me. They don't
go the other way. But the work of our Lord is a
particular redemption a particular shedding of his blood for those
that were given him by the Father to redeem. A number that is an
innumerable number of every nation, kindred and tongue. Again, he
says in John 10, other sheep I have which are not of this
fold, them also I must bring. That is, the Gentiles, us, as
well as the Jews. And that work that the Lord did,
he perfected, he completed it, he put away the sin of his people,
he wrought out a righteousness, he testified clearly who he was. And so our text reads, and being
made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all
them. that obey Him. And all that Christ
did, He did in obedience to His Father, He did fulfilling His
Father's will, fulfilling the Scriptures, that the Scriptures
might not be broken. You might say our Lord never
requires or asks of His people what Himself does not know something
about. But whereas our obedience is
not perfect, sin is mixed with it, Christ was perfect and no
sin with it. And that work is a complete work
and the gospel, it points to Christ's complete work as being
sufficient. without adding any help from
the creature, anything of man joined with it at all. In the
law it was forbidden to have an unequal yoke, to yoke up an
oxen with an ass, an oxen much stronger than an ass, it had
to be that which should pull together, and the thought that
God should ever make a plan of salvation, that Jesus does his
part and his people do their part, but rather we have the
word, thou only has wrought all our works in us. It is the fruit of Christ's work
that is wrought in us. But in our first point then,
what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, and we have to look on
that, and that is what is to be preached, and I, if I be lifted
up above the earth, will draw all men unto me, drawn to what
he has done, drawn to his finished work, drawn to his person, drawn
to he that God hath exalted and given a name too which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Well secondly, we have what he
has become, the author of eternal salvation. And being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation, unto all them that
obey him, the author of eternal salvation. This is one of those
texts or parts of the word that each word is so important. If we took out that word eternal,
we could read it, he became the author of salvation. unto all
them that obey him. And he is the author of salvation. But eternal salvation, when did
salvation start? Do we just go forward from now? Or do we go back? Because we are told that We are
chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world. Our Lord says of his people and
his father, thine they were and thou gavest them me, before time. Jeremiah, we read in Jeremiah
31 verse three, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love
And therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Eternity is outside of time and
yet encompasses time, with our Lord coming into time. But one
day it shall be said, time shall be no more. But we cannot find
a time, if we measure eternity in that way, where the Lord did
not. love his people. And there will
not be a time when he ceases to love his people. And that
salvation then begins in God. It begins in the eternal love
of God and the choice of his people and undertaking to be
their surety and their high priest. the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. And we can go back, because how
was Adam, how was Abel, how was those Old Testament saints saved? When the blood of Christ was
not yet shed, when he had not yet wrought out that obedience
on earth, but in the promises and purposes
of God. When God promises, he will perform. He cannot but perform. And the
scriptures must be fulfilled. In the garden, the Lord said,
when they had the swords, put up thy sword within its sheath.
The cup that my father hath given me to drink, shall I not drink
it? Thinkest thou not that I could
pray my father who presently give me five legion, or six legion
of angels, but how then should the scriptures be fulfilled?
And it must be so, and it was so, because Hebrews 11 shows
of all those that died in faith, though they didn't see Christ
literally come, they saw him afar off, and they embraced those
promises, and they died in the hope and the true knowledge that
Christ would come. at the set time. When Christ
did come and suffer, then the accuser of the brethren was cast
down, which accused them day and night, as if, why are you,
Abraham and Jacob and Joseph, in heaven? Christ has not died,
he has not come. But when Christ did come, then
that accuser was cast out. But in God's account, when he
promises And when it was done on earth,
then again, it is made known and it is vital. It cannot just
remain on a promise. You cannot just say, well, if
Abel, Abraham was saved on a promise, then it can be put off indefinitely
and Christ never needs to come. He does need to come. He must
come. It must be so. He must obey. There must be a
time, the fullness of time. The Son of Man must be made flesh
and dwell among us. And He must work out these things. He must be obedient unto death. And when He has done that, then
it is spoken of He became the author of eternal salvation. And yet in the promise and expectation
of it, he already was for all of those saints that had gone
before. But it all hangs upon him actually
coming and suffering and rising again from the dead to eternal
salvation. Salvation is a saving from hell
and a saving to heaven. It is a complete deliverance. It is not just saving one from
danger or from certain death, pulling them out, say, of a river
and leaving them on the riverbank, but it is clothing them. It's
not like the good Samaritan, as if he'd have saved the man
from the robbers, and then just left him as it were, pulled him
out of the pit, but he provided everything for him and with the
promise that if anything else was needed, he would supply that. And so the salvation of God provides
everything that a poor sinner needs, both for time and eternity. It is eternal salvation, not
just for time. Paul speaks when he writes to
the Corinthians, if in this life only we have hope in Christ,
with all men most miserable. I said before about if someone
professed Christ or belief, and they are starting to say all
of their good works, they might as well declare that they are
not really a believer and do not know themselves or Christ.
But also, if we have one that is filled with this world, that
just casts the name of Christ in the scale and just acts as
if this world was their home. In Hebrews 11, it is very clear
that those that are saved, eternally saved, those that have true faith,
that died in faith. We read in Hebrews 11, 13, these
all died in faith, not having received the promises, that is,
they didn't see Christ come in the flesh, but having seen them
afar off, they saw it afar off in the tides and shadows, and
were persuaded of them and embraced them, And then this, and confess
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. I fear
that many, many that will name the name of Christ in their lives,
in their language, in how they live, are not confessing that
they are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They're living
as if this is their rest, as if their only hope. They're not
looking beyond the grave. What is one of the things that
our Lord says is absolutely essential with his people, that they through
much tribulation enter the kingdom and that they are chosen in the
furnace of affliction. The Lord has said his people
shall not have a smooth path to heaven. They shall prove that
this world is not a friend to those that will obey the Lord. The Lord says in John 17, I have
given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. They are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And we know
very clearly what the world did to our Lord. Even the Jews crucify
him, crucify him. So that salvation that The Lord
gives, it will give those that are the subjects of it an eternal
hope of heaven. It begins in the new birth. It begins with the gift of eternal
life from the Lord. And that's why we have the word
here, author, author, the beginner of it. If we were to look at
a book and a book has an author, one that has written that, or
one that is the beginner of that. We read in Hebrews 12 that the
Lord is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the one that
gives us faith, the one that imparts that at the new birth
and at death, that faith is turned to sight. And the Lord Jesus
Christ He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto
the day of Jesus Christ. And there we have an author,
he which hath begun, and unto the day of Jesus Christ we have
eternal salvation. Nothing short of this shall truly
save a soul. For to be saved from our sins
here, his name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins, and we shall be saved from the wrath
of God due to those sins at the judgment day. We shall be saved
from the path and way of sinners. Come ye out from among them,
be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive
you. Ye shall be my sons and my daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty." He became the author of eternal
salvation. What a beautiful title and really
pointing to who it is that works and begins that salvation, not
begun by man, it's begun by God. This is the work of God, that
ye believe in him who God has sent. the Lord Jesus Christ. The hymn writer says, "'Tis Christ
makes a believer and gives him his crown." The author of eternal
salvation. If you and I feel our need of
salvation, this verse points us to the author of it. And I venture to say that those
who feel their need, feel it because God has already begun
with them. Already they are feeling, already
they are seeing things that they didn't see before, already they
have a feeling heart, already their ears are open unto the
Word of God. we are to magnify the work of
God. And here it is very clear that
that beginning of that work is not of man but is of God. It comes to mind the beautiful
way the Gospel according to John begins. how that it speaks of those that
received him. He came unto his own, his own
received him not. There's a gospel according to
John chapter one, verse 10. In verse 11, he came, in verse
12, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God." Not of blood. Those who are believers
can't say, well, our children, they've got believers' blood
in them. That's why they're saved. Or we can't say as parents, well,
by our will, we'll make sure that you're a son of God. I remember
Years ago over in Tasmania where my parents were alive and I'd
gone over to visit them and one of the men, a pea man I used
to call him, he dealt with the contract peas on my father's
farm. He came to the door and my father
wasn't there and I answered the door and he said to me, he said,
are you a Christian? And at that time, well I said
to him, I hope, I trust, I am. Now, I don't think at that time
I was baptised. But he said, and your mother,
and your brothers, and your sister, are they a Christian? Are they
believed? And I said, well, no, they haven't. They're not baptised. They're
not believers. Well, then my father came, and
this man launched into him. He said, what kind of a Christian
are you? What kind of a father are you? You have not made sure
that your wife and your children are saved. And he really went
at him, implying that it was completely in my father's power
to make us all believers, as if in this case here in John,
that they could be born by the will of the flesh and by the
will of man. We could ensure that it was so.
but we cannot impart life. That is the work of God, the
authorship, and you can be sure if man is persuaded and persuaded
against his will, he is of the same opinion still. But to be
made willing in the day of his power and to be of those who
were unwilling and rebellious and yet be softened and turned. That is the work of God. That
which is impossible with man is not impossible with God. And
it is impossible for man to convert another man, for a man to change
another man's heart. That does not mean that God does
not use means. It does not mean that a minister
or a father or a parent use all in their power to bring their
loved ones to a knowledge of Christ and to teach them and
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Of
course, if one values a soul, one will do all in their power
to do so. But what power we have is to
set these things before them. In the preaching of the gospel,
it is the authority of declaration of the will of God and of what
the Lord has done. And when that gospel is preached
as it was in the early church, some believe the word spoken
and some believe not, or as in another place, as many as were
ordained unto life believed. And so the Lord, the crown is
upon his head, and to each one that is in concern, that they
are to look to this author because where he begins, he will continue
on. It is a great encouragement to
any sinner that is concerned, any sinner that's seeking the
Lord, any that desires eternal life. Those things, they don't
come from a natural heart, and if there is that gradual opening
and gradual teaching, open heart. The Lord does that and where
he has begun, he will continue that on. There's a lot of encouragement
in prayer here. Remember, the office of our Lord
is a great high priest. He is to appear in the presence
of God for us. He is to speak for us. And we have such an encouragement
in the end of chapter four. Let us therefore It is because
we have such a high priest, let us therefore come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. So I want to look now at how
we know who has eternal salvation. In one sense, we've already touched
upon this in saying of those that have an appetite, a hearing
ear, a desire, a concern, that already there are those signs
of life. But the way it is set before
us here, it is unto all them that obey him. Now we're not going to take the
gospel and virtually make it the law but
give it another name. That's not the gospel. But the obedience of the gospel
is a very different obedience to that of the law. Because the obedience of the
law, it says to the sinner, do and live. Your works, if they
are perfect enough, will save you. But the Gospel says, and
it upholds the law in this, Christ magnified the law, he so offendeth
in one point, is guilty of all. By the deeds of the law shall
no man living be justified. If we obey the Lord, then we
obey in that way as not looking for salvation from the law. That is what the Jews, they could
not let go. They would not let go. And we
have in Romans 10, the Apostle Paul, his desire and prayer to
God for Israel is that they might be saved, that they might have
this eternal salvation. And he even gives them the credit
that they had a zeal of God. But just any zeal is not good
enough. It's not just to say, well, this
person is such a diligent Christian, but what are they diligent in?
What is their zeal in? He says, but not according to
knowledge. They, being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
They were not obedient to the gospel because they were still
trying to be obedient to the law. And the gospel points to
Christ. Here is Christ saying, I have
fulfilled the law. But here are sinners saying,
we don't want that. That's not enough. We're going
to try and fulfill it ourselves. We do our best. And if we fail
a bit, then we'll come to thee for thine. No, those that obey
the gospel They are very clear in this, that in me, that is
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. The Hemrider says, if
ever my poor soul be saved, his Christ must be the way. And in that, their obedience
is shown in letting go, letting go of our own supposed righteousness
and goodness and good deeds. and embracing that which the
Lord sets before us as the only name given among men whereby
we must be saved. The obedience of the gospel is
the teaching of that gospel. It is the setting forth of what
Christ has done of a debt that is fulfilled of the righteousness
of God that is provided, of the wrath of God that is appeased,
of the provisions in the gospel for sinners. Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. All the while we've
got a might our own. And we're not so heavy laden,
we can bear it ourselves. Are you going to obey that? Are
you going to come unto Christ? No, you have no need of him.
But a poor, broken hearted sinner, one that bowed down, one like
in Psalm 107, they fell down, there was none to help. Then
they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them.
He saved them out of their distresses. The Lord brings down in that
way, so that those beautiful invitations of the Gospel to
those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, that they
are obeyed in that way. When we read in this verse we
read before, coming boldly unto the throne of grace, when we
get a clear sight of the Lord, then that gives that boldness
to cry unto the Lord, And the Spirit maketh intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered even. And in every aspect of the Gospel,
our Lord speaks of the love to him and love to his people and
obeying the truth in all parts of the truth of God. We have
the Lord speaking of the parable of the one that built his house
upon the sand and one on the rock. And it was all to illustrate,
be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves. We mentioned before of John 10,
and of the Lord as the good shepherd and his sheep hearing his voice.
They hear it, they know it, they obey him. They walk in his ways. We had in the young people's
last night concerning Ruth and how much there was in her way
that she walked that was a teachable spirit, obedient to Naomi, obedient
to Boaz, And in all humility and lowliness, she is brought
to walk in that way. As it were, Himmleiter says,
sweet to lie passive in his hands, and know no will but thine. He shall teach in the way that
he shall choose. But if you've ever tried to teach
someone that is full of their own knowledge and importance
and unteachable or rebellious. And we have a good teacher, he
is so difficult. But when the Lord would teach
his people, then it would be like the saying to Philip, whom
speaketh the prophet this man? Of himself or some other man?
Come up, evade him, come up into the chariots. you know, a ready
text and a ready listener, ready here, mine ear hath thou opened. Is it not surprising we have
with all the letters in the Revelation, he that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And what the Spirit
saith is a setting forth of the finished salvation of our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We have in the Acts of the Apostles,
speaking of obedience, there are several passages that speak
of it and the blessings that follow that are joined with that
hymn. Hath God exalted, this is Peter
speaking, this is in Acts 5, exalted with his right hand to
be a prince and a saviour for to give repentance to Israel
and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these
things. And so is also the Holy Ghost,
whom God has given to them that obey him. And again, it's a mark. Obedience is a mark of the work
of God, of the eternal life that is being imparted. And if we
go on to Romans, again, we read much of obedience in that way. We have the counter, the opposite
as well. Those that, in Chapter 2, those
that by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and
honour and immortality, they are given eternal life. But unto
them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish
upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also
of the Gentile. But glory, honour and peace to
every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to
the Gentile." The true work of God is to change the heart, renew
the will, and turn the feet to Zion's hill. Romans 6, where
the apostle is set forth, salvation by grace. He says, shall we continue
in sin that grace might abound? He said, God forbid. But then
he says, but God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin,
but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, which
was the whole teaching and plan of
salvation is obeyed in that way. We have in Romans 15 and verse
18, For I will not dare to speak
of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me,
to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed. Through mighty signs and wonders
by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and
round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of
Christ. The preaching of the gospel is
set forth so that those that hear, they obey that gospel. It affects, it moves their heart. It affects their lives. They
hear in it the plan of salvation. They hear of God's purposes. Paul, when he writes to the Corinthians,
he says, every thought is to be brought in obedience of Christ. And then Peter, he speaks in
obeying the truth through the Spirit and to unfade love. of the brethren, and it is the
obedience in all of the fruits of the gospel and all of the
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. By grace, ye are saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God. Or in our text, it is given by
the author of eternal salvation, and the mark of it, the evidence
of it, is not by some miraculous way the Lord showing and saying,
that one has got salvation, or that's elect and that's elect.
No. Where are those that are obeying
the Lord? Where are those that are walking
in His ways? Where are the roots? They are
those that have eternal salvation. By their fruits ye shall know
them. From me is thy fruit found, and
may it is I be that the Lord were in us, to will and to do
of his good pleasure, that we might think as he'd have us to
think, and act as he'd have us to act, and speak as he'd have
us to speak, or as in Romans 10, with the heart man believeth,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. and is
sealed in a very open way. This is the people that declare
plainly with Joshua, I, as for me and my house, we will serve
the Lord. We will obey him and walk in
his ways and in his steps. And when he puts forth his sheep,
he goeth before them. What do they do? They follow
him in obedience. So this is a beautiful word,
a full word, and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him. Thou only has wrought
all our works in us and that will be to the praise and the
glory and honour of God and not of ourselves. May the Lord add
his blessing. Amen.