Now when we read the Old Testament,
often it can be quite hard work, can't it? We find that there's
so much doom and gloom, it just seems to go on and on, and very
often it can be a struggle. But do you know why it appears
like that? It's because it's underlining
the sinfulness of sin. That's what it's doing. It's
underlining the sinfulness of sin. You look at a book like
the book of Job, There's a powerful message there but you know the
primary purpose of the book of Job is to show us really what
sin is. We start out in Job chapter 1
and we see a man there whom God has said in the eyes of you and
everybody else he is the best man that ever lived and we know
by the end of the book that the true state of things is that
Job is just a sinner. He is a sinner who needs the
grace of God. He is a sinner who can only find
acceptance with God because he knows that his Redeemer lives
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. That's
why there's so much apparent judgment and doom and gloom in
the Old Testament. It's underlining the sinfulness
of sin. It's highlighting the holy character
of God. God in his being, in his nature,
in his character, is utterly intolerant of iniquity. He's
got to be. He's not unreasonable. He's got
to be. He's got to be utterly intolerant
of iniquity. Do you know that nothing remotely
sinful, shall enter into his heaven. Don't think, ah well,
it's not like it used to be, he lets us in now as we are.
No, no, he lets you in if he's cleansed you. He lets you in
if he's cleansed you. You know, you children, you love
playing in muddy environments, don't you? If you can get covered
in mud, that's absolutely fine and you've got your Wellington
boots on and you're covered in mud and your trousers are covered
and your hands and your faces, like when they play rugby on
a muddy day, you know, they get covered. Right? What would mum
say if you came into the house and tried to walk all over the
new living room carpet? And try to sit down on those
nice new sofas? What would mum say if you came
in covered in mud? Wow, would you hear about it,
wouldn't you? Oh boy, the boys are laughing. They know they'd
get what we call a rocket from mum or dad. No mud allowed in
the sitting room. Well, that's a very, very small
picture of how God views sin. Nothing that defiles shall enter
into his heaven. And in the flesh, all of us,
as we are, the very best of us, even Job, is a sinner. That's all we are. We remain
sin. What will cleanse us sufficiently
to attain to God's heaven. Do you not want to go to heaven
when you die? Oh, surely, surely. If you know
anything of the truth of God and the horror of hell, you don't
want to go there. You want to be in heaven. But
you must be clean. You must be cleansed from your
sin. You must be as clean and as righteous as God himself.
What will cleanse us sufficiently to attain to God's heaven? Answer,
the answer of the scriptures, the answer of this book from
page to page, only the ransom paid by God's beloved Son. Nothing other than the blood
of Jesus. Nothing, nothing else. You can
be as good as you like, it counts for nothing. It's fake currency. It will buy you no more goods
than Monopoly money will buy you goods in the shops. It's
worthless, it's worthless. Only the doing and dying of the
Son of God, because He paid the ransom. The efforts of the best
of men are futile, as Psalm 49 tells us. None of them, no man,
can by any means redeem his brother. Are you going to get somebody
else to redeem you? To pay to God the price? No,
none of them can by any means do it, nor give to God a ransom
for him. But Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
God who became man for the purpose of in the flesh dying for sin
and shedding blood to pay the penalty for sin that the justice
of God might be satisfied. Christ is able to save to the
uttermost. Do you believe in God? Do you? All you out there, do you believe
in God? In a creator? In a sustainer? In a life giver? In a designer? If you let your
conscience truly speak to you, of course you do. Only the fool
says in his heart, there is no God, no God for me. Only a fool,
professing themselves to be wise, all these deniers of the living
God, these evolutionists these days, these who say that it all
happened by itself without a designer all of them they profess themselves
to be so wise and yet the scriptures call them fools, professing themselves
to be wise they became fools, the fool has said in his heart
there is no God but there is a God you look at yourself you
look at how complex you are you look how tiny things make you
feel unwell and you think what a wonderful working whole you
are when it's all working together and you say with the psalmist
I am fearfully and wonderfully made and we're accountable to
a holy God who is perfect in righteousness and justice and
he has said it is appointed to man to die once and then the
judgment Oh well it's not going to happen to me for a long time.
Three young men yesterday in West London just walking along
a pavement, a sidewalk in the west of London and a car came
tearing up the road and came out of control and mounted the
pavement and those three young men, 16 and 17 years old, they're
dead today, they're dead. It's appointed to man to die
once and then the judgment. How will it be for you? What
will you plead that God will be able to accept? The only way
we know is by God's word and what that shows us. And that
only when the Holy Spirit comes and opens our eyes and gives
us a new birth, a new life, a new spirit, gives us spiritual life. Beware of the error that says
this. I know that it says in the scripture, Christ saves to
the uttermost. but beware of the error of thinking
that salvation, and by that I mean salvation from condemnation,
from judgment to hell, into the bliss of heaven, that salvation
is easy. Beware of that error of thinking
it's easy. Jesus himself said this in Luke
13, 24. He said to those hearing him,
he said, strive to enter in, or agonize to enter in to heaven,
to eternal life. at the straight gate, at the
narrow gate. Strive to enter in, he says, I say unto you,
many will seek to enter in and shall not be able. No, it's not
easy. You hear the simple gospel call,
Whosoever believeth on him, on the Lord Jesus Christ, shall
be saved. Whoever believeth on him shall
not perish, but have everlasting life. Whosoever believeth on
the Son of God shall not perish, but have everlasting life. What
must I do to be saved? said the Philippian jailer to
Paul and Silas. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. And anybody else in your household,
So why are there not many? If it's such a blessed thing
to be saved, if it's such a blessed thing to be in the eternal favour
of the God of the universe, and it's such an easy thing to believe,
why don't more believe? Isaiah said this, Isaiah 53 and
verse 1. Who has believed our report? Who has believed our doctrine,
is what it means. Who's believed our message of
salvation? And the answer, the implication
is, not many. Not, not many. Jesus said in
Luke 18, again he said, when the Son of Man comes, when he
returns, as he's going to do, shall he find faith on earth?
In other words, the implication is, it's going to be a rare thing.
When he comes, shall he find faith? It will be a rare thing.
Now Peter's message in this second half of 1 Peter chapter 4 from
verse 8 down to verse 19 is that this Christian life, if you believe,
the Christian life is not easy. The Christian life is a struggle. The Christian life is filled
with difficulties. It's a struggle. Jesus said,
count the cost before you embark on it, because there is for sure,
there is a cost. And it is a serious cost. It's
a struggle with fleshly sin. Look in verse 8, there towards
the end. Charity shall cover a multitude
of sins. We have a multitude of sins. As believers in the flesh, we
have a multitude of sins. It's a life that isn't your own. Paul tells believers that they're
not their own, they're bought with a price. What's the price?
The price of the blood of the Son of God is what has bought
his people for eternity. He says in verse 9, use hospitality
to one another without grudging. If you've got a gift, minister
that gift as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. He
says, if any man speaks, speak as the oracles of God. If any
man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God gives
that God in all things may be glorified through Christ Jesus
it's a life of service the Christian life is a life of service oh
don't sit back and take your ease because you're in heaven
now as good as as good as done no it's a life of service to
serve and not to count the cost to follow him that's that's it
It's a life of service, not easy. Verse 12, beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial. Believer, are you prepared? At some stage in this life, a
fiery trial is coming your way, maybe more than one, a fiery
trial. I know of brethren who in recent
years have gone through severe fiery trials. Job went through
terrible trials, but God brought him through them. a fiery trial
which is to try you, to test you, to prove you. Don't think
it's strange. Don't think, it's a bed of roses,
why is this happening to me? Not at all. Don't think it's
strange. You're going to have trials.
Rejoice inasmuch that ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings.
Sufferings, a life of suffering, you've got to share in the sufferings
of Christ, as it were, as the body of Christ on earth, as he
is the head and we are the body, and as he suffered in this world,
so we suffer in this world. Things are not easy as we would
have them, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be
glad also with exceeding joy. You're going to be scorned by
the world, you're going to be ridiculed by the world, you're
going to be counted strange by the world. If ye be reproached
for the name of Christ by those who know nothing of him, happy
are ye. Oh what an honourable name to
be reproached for, to bear scorn for his name. For the spirit
of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part, those that
do the scorning and the reproaching, he is evil spoken of, is he not?
Is Christ not evil spoken of on every side? But on your part,
he is glorified. live righteously, let none of
you suffer as a murderer, as a thief, or as an evildoer. The
people of God do not do these open, we sin all the time, but
we do not do these open external things that bring disgrace on
the person and on the body of Christ. If any man suffer as
a Christian, let him not be ashamed, let him glorify God. And we're
all under the all-seeing eye of God all the time. Yes, He's
our Heavenly Father. He's our Abba Father. We are
His children and joint heirs with His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are counted the children of God, yet nevertheless, whilst
we're in this life and in this flesh, judgment is upon us judgment
of chastisement because he chastises his children the children whom
he loves he chastises every one of them the time has come that
judgment must begin at the house of God and if it first begin
at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel
of God we're under the all-seeing eye of God so it's not without
cost salvation is not without cost count the cost he says The
righteous, at the end of verse 18, sorry, start of verse 18,
the righteous are scarcely saved. The righteous are scarcely saved.
It's not an easy thing. Job said, I am escaped by the
skin of my teeth. You know that expression, you
don't hear it much these days, you used to hear it a lot. I'm
escaped by the skin of my teeth. If you count yourself among those
that God has saved from sin, and in whom he has planted a
solid hope and a confidence of attaining heaven, what does Peter
mean when he writes that you and me and all believers are
scarcely saved? What does he mean? That's what
I want to think about. First of all, it means this. It means that we're saved with
great difficulty. That it isn't an easy thing to
save a sinner. It doesn't mean that there's
any shortfall in the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God
by him. But it's not easy. Do not think
it's easy. Saved with great difficulty.
I've already referred to Psalm 49. The ransom that was too costly
for any sinner to procure and to pay the debt. Think what it
cost God to make satisfaction to his own offended justice in
order to save the people of his choice. What did it cost? In Job 33 and verse 24, we read
this, Elihu, the young preacher that comes to those comforters
of Job and to Job himself. And in a nutshell, he preaches
the gospel. In just a few verses in the middle
of chapter 33, and in verse 24, he says this about the salvation
that is in Christ. He says, Deliver him, the sinner. God says deliver him, the sinner,
from going down to the pit, the pit of hell and condemnation.
Deliver him. Why? How, God, can you be just
and yet deliver a sinner from what he truly deserves? How can
you do that, God? This is the question. Deliver
him from going down to the pit for I have found a ransom. I have found a ransom. What is
the ransom? that the God of all glory and
of all holiness and of all justice, what is the ransom that he's
found? The ransom is his own dear son, his own self come in
human flesh. to die in the place of his people,
to bear their sins on the cursed tree, to be made a curse for
them that they might be removed or have that curse removed from
them. It took the humiliation of his son, he who dwelt in eternal
glory with the Father, he who dwelt in perfect fellowship and
union with the Father. It took his humiliation. It took
his death. Can you credit that? We say it
so glibly, the death of Christ. Can you imagine that God came
and died? And yet God in heaven didn't
die, he always lives. But God came and died to make
satisfaction to the offended law, for his justice. He suffered
infinite wrath because of the sins of His people. Whose sins? The sins of His people. Whose
sins? His sins, because He made them
His sins. God made Him who knew no sin
to be sin. What sin did He make Him? The
sins of His people. Why? That His people might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. What a glorious message
that is. It took the separation of father
and son. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? Do you see? We're not saved easily. It's with great difficulty. That
ransom is a colossal ransom. And why is it so large? Because
of the strictness of divine rule. You see, we tend to think of
God just like we do, like we are. Psalm 50 verse 21, God says
through the Psalmist, He says, you, speaking to all of us, He
says, you thought that I was altogether such and one as thyself. Is that not the mistake that
we make? We think of God as having the same reasoning and reckoning
as we do. How wrong could we be? God is
holy. The sinless angels who've never
known sin, they hide their faces in his presence, crying, holy,
holy, holy is the Lord. He dwells in unapproachable light. I've got some light shining in
my face, though it doesn't seem to be doing a great deal for
the picture at the moment, but nevertheless, these lights are
very distracting to either side. They're very, very bright lights.
God dwells in unapproachable light. Unapproachable light.
Were it not for the Lord Jesus Christ, he is unknowable by man. we only know God through the
Lord Jesus Christ there is no other way he is the way the truth
and the life and this judgment of God that goes on throughout
life and into eternity, this judgment begins at home. The
time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God, verse
17, in his church, among his people. What sort of judgment
is it? It's not judgment resulting in condemnation, because that
can never be. But, listen to Psalm 89, verses
30 to 33. If his children, that's believers,
forsake his law, and walk not in his judgments if they break
his statutes and keep not his commandments then says God I
will visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity
with stripes nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly
take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail oh yes he'll save his
people from their sins but in this life God will chastise his
people for their sin. God requires, God expects his
believing people to be constantly striving to put off the deeds
of the old man and constantly striving to put on the deeds
of the new man who is renewed in righteousness in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Gospel salvation is not license
to sin with impunity. I'd be lying if I told you otherwise.
It isn't. If you've got that message from
this gospel of free and sovereign grace, you've got the wrong message.
True gospel salvation is free. We are free from the law. We
are free from condemnation. But, but, but, it is not a license
to live as we wish and to sin as we wish. And God throughout
this life, if you're truly his child, he will refine you. He
will purify you. Malachi 3 verse 3, He, God, is
like a refiner's fire. Do you know what a refiner's
fire is? If you've ever seen a jeweler
trying to purify the gold or the silver to make some jewelry,
and it's got some impurities in it, well, they heat it up
in a crucible. And they heat it up with a fiercely hot blue
flame. Fiercely hot. And they boil out
and burn off the impurities, the dross. the scum, the gunge
that floats to the top, so that the metal gets more and more
pure. And God says dealing with his people in this life he is
like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, renowned for its
cleansing abilities. And he shall sit as a refiner
and purifier of silver. and he shall, now it's not metal
he's purifying but his people, the sons of Levi which is a term
for the people of God, he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge
them, purge the dirt and the dross and the impurity out of
them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness. John the Baptist spoke of it
this way, in Matthew 3 and verse 12. Speaking of Christ coming,
he said, Christ's fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly
purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but he
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. The picture is this. You
know, nowadays it's all done by machinery, but in those days
the grain was, you know, the wheat would be cut, and the grain
would be shaken off the stems, and it would be gathered into
the garner, into the barn, and it would have a smooth floor.
And they would beat it with thrashing rods to separate the grain, which
is the core that you want, from the husk, which is the bit that
you don't want. It's just the loose protection.
And they would beat it. And then when it had been beaten,
so that the chaff, as it were, the skin, the paper tissue-like
skin around the grain, that that was separated from the grain,
then they would get a great big fan, and they'd make a breeze
with the fan, and the breeze would blow the light chaff away. That's the picture that we have
there. It says that he, Christ, will
do that with his people. He's trying to get us to pure
grain. Oh yes, I'm not talking about progressive sanctification,
I'm not talking about achieving a state of purity in this life,
but I am talking about this, that our God constantly purges
his people. Our God constantly deals with
his people. If he loves his people, it says,
if he doesn't, you're not his child. He deals with his people,
he disciplines his people, to purge out of them that chaff,
that dross, that impurity. If we profess to be God's set-apart
people, hoping for heaven, longing for that state of sinless perfection,
we should expect our God to burn up the combustible material of
sin in our flesh. That's what he does with his
people while we're here. Like the muddy child, he won't
have the dirt of the farmyard worldly sinfulness trampled through
the farm sitting room which is his church you know it's a difficult
thing is what it's saying saved with great difficulty it's not
an easy thing he saves to the uttermost but don't think for
one moment it's easy you know you see programs about impressive
surgery medical surgery these days. I was watching a program
a couple of weeks ago and absolutely remarkable there's this woman
that was seriously seriously ill and they discovered that
she had a tumor and it showed the operation I don't know if
any of you saw it, but the size of the tumour that they took
out was absolutely enormous. You cannot believe that that
woman lived with such a tumour in her. She was saved, her life
was saved by that operation. But you would say she was scarcely
saved. She was saved by the skin of
her teeth. She was saved with great difficulty. It took immense
skill on the part of those surgeons to save that woman's life in
removing that enormous tumour from her. Do you see the picture
is something similar here? What does it cost to save a sinful
soul? It costs the lifeblood of God
in human flesh. Is that not an enormous price?
Is there anything? Do the crown jewels come close?
They're worth less than dirt compared with that. The price
of salvation. What has to be purged out of
believers while we live in this life? worldly sins. I know all sin, but worldly sins,
temper, lust. Remember, I'm not talking about
progressive sanctification. I'm not talking about the things
that we do to make us more favorable to God. No, I'm talking about
him disciplining his children to purge out of us worldly sins,
temper, lust, greed, selfishness, unbelief. Even, even Exodus 28
verse 38 talks about this. God talks through Moses to the
people about the iniquity of the holy things. The iniquity
of the holy things. Do you know even when we think
that we're trying to do that which is absolutely right and
holy and pure in the eyes of God, the pride of sin of self-satisfaction
is there with us the iniquity of the holy things everything
what does Paul say in Romans 7 the things that I would do
I do not the flesh doesn't do them The things that I would
like not to do, those are the things I keep finding myself
doing. It's a struggle. The Christian life is a struggle.
And Pilgrim's Progress tells us, hill difficulty. It's as
if this Christian life is hill difficulty all the way to heaven.
It's a narrow way all the way to heaven. It's a lonely way. It's a difficult way. Don't expect
that the crowds will go with you. Don't expect that you will
have lots of human support. You'll have infinite divine support,
but don't suspect. Don't expect that you will have
lots of human support. They'll go away, will others.
And Jesus will say to you, will you also go away? And if you're
truly his, you'll reply like Peter. To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life, there's nobody else. I don't care if everybody leaves.
There's not many of us here tomorrow. Do you know, the true child of
God, the true child of God will say this, even if you all leave,
He will keep me and I will go on. To whom shall we go? He has
the words of eternal life. But, be in no doubt, I've sounded
possibly a bit gloomy, but that's what I believe the message of
that verse is. Those whose trust is in Christ alone are saved
to the uttermost. Be in no doubt, they are saved
to the uttermost, and they are kept through this life, and they
are brought safe to heaven. Scarcely saved, saved with great
difficulty. But there's an implication of
that. And it's there in those two verses. What shall be the end of them
that obey not the gospel? Where shall the ungodly and the
sinner appear? If it's hard work saving a sinner,
those that have no thought for God, where will they be? If you
are outside of the only lifeboat, this is the message, then remember
this. It might be difficult to be saved,
scarcely saved, but you can be lost so easily. If you're outside
the only lifeboat, which is the ark, which is Christ in the judgment
to come, if you're outside of that, as those found who are
outside of Noah's ark, nothing is able to save. If the wheat
is sifted so carefully to get the pure grain, how thoroughly
will the chaff be burned up? If the pure gold must pass through
the fire to purify it, surely the dross must be vaporized. Listen to what God says. Now
consider this, ye that forget God. Let me remind you what Job
says, is the saying of those that forget God. They say unto
God, depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
You go up and down the street outside now, anybody you meet,
do you believe in God? What's your thought of God? And
if they're truthful, this is what the vast majority will say,
they say unto God, depart from us, we desire not the knowledge
of thy ways. What is the Almighty that we
should serve him? And what profit should we have
if we pray unto him? We don't acknowledge any God,
we don't want anything to do with God, but God says this,
now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces. Oh, what about gentle Jesus,
meek and mild? God says, lest I tear you in
pieces and there be none to deliver. Think about it. Psalm 2 verse
12, kiss the son, kiss him. make peace with the Lord Jesus
Christ come before him lest he be angry and ye perish from the
way when his wrath is kindled but a little because blessed
are all they that put their trust in him. Even the Apostle Paul
acknowledged that he was saved with great difficulty. In 1 Corinthians
9 27 he mentioned this that he who had done so much having preached
would finally be cast away if he was not sincere and honest
with God. If that's the case with such
as the Apostle Paul, what about you that forget God? If that's
the case with the true people of God who are saved with great
difficulty, scarcely saved as it puts it here, how easily lost
are the majority? But there's another implication.
It's very comforting to know that Christ saves to the uttermost
those who come to God by him. And it's very clear to know that
those who have no thought for God will be so lost when it comes
to the judgment. But this is what you have to
beware of. Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you believe you
are a child of God, beware. I need to beware that I am not
deceiving myself. Though Jesus called his followers
little flock, he called his followers a little flock. Around us there
are many, many, many, and I don't just mean outside. Around us
there are apparently thriving churches in these days, several
close to us here. They're called evangelical. They're
called modern. They're called lively. You can
go to them. I could take you half a mile
from here, and you'll find hundreds of people whooping and hollering
and waving arms in the air and dancing in the aisles and gospel
choirs on the stage and rock bands playing the music for them.
And you think, oh, aren't they having a wonderful time serving
God? And there are others who are so straight in their grasp
of the truth as they see it reformed and they're like the Laodiceans
they say we are rich and have need of nothing and they don't
realize how poverty stricken they are says God to them. See
most of it is just external show and I would ask them is there
any true work of God's spirit within any of them? Is there
any? these who seem to be so successful,
is there any true work of God's Spirit within? Has the Spirit
of God come and taken the word of his truth and applied it in
their hearts and minds? Has the Spirit of God come and
broken them, and broken them, like Job was broken from his
self-righteous pride, as he was broken and caused to see what
he is before God? All of them are on the broad
way that leads to destruction. Oh, it's so easy to be deceived. Beware of being deceived. Examine
me, Lord, whether there be any false way in me. Examine me whether
I am false and show me the truth of what I really am and bring
me to the certain knowledge of truth and faith in Christ. You see Spurgeon said this, and
I thought this was very apt, he said, a dead fish easily floats
downstream, but only a living fish swims against the current.
In the summer we go down to Stanborough Lakes and we like to take the
boys, all sorts of boys with us. even the very little one,
and we love to stand on the bridge by the lake where the river flows
underneath it. And do you remember, boys, the
fish? Loads of trout. Big, big trout. Now I'm going to do a fisherman
story here. You know, big trout like this. And you look down
on them, and you can just stand there watching, because although
the current is flowing at four, five, six knots underneath, the
fish are still. Do you know why? They're alive,
they're swimming upstream, they're swimming against that that would
sweep them downstream. But you can spot a dead one straight
away, because it's on the surface and it's floating at the speed
of the water down the stream. Ask yourself, you who presume
to be destined for heaven, if you have no battles with sin
and the world, is it because you're really its friend? Are
you deceived? Do you have a false hope? Is
your spiritual currency really spiritual bankruptcy? Beware
of being deceived. But if you're tried, and this
is the final point, if you're tried, be encouraged. Be encouraged
if you're tried. Trials, you should be encouraged
as a child of God. Do you know, if you go down my
garden and you pick something up and you go, ouch! And you've
picked up a thorn and it's stuck in your finger, do you know what
it shows you above all else? You're alive. You're alive. The thorns of this world prickle
you and they hurt, don't they? They hurt. They prickle. If the
thorns of this life, it's sins. If they prickle you and hurt
you, it's because you are spiritually alive. If the sins and the things
of this world in the flesh, you're very comfortable with them, could
it be that there's no spiritual life there? If you have no struggles
with sin and unbelief and temptation, If you have none of those, maybe
it's that you're not spiritually alive. But if you are, it's evidence
that Satan is seeking to pull you back from the belief of the
truth into his error. Remember in Revelation 12, the
serpent casting out of his mouth of water as a flood after the
woman who is the church, that he might cause her to be carried
away, swept away, back into conformance with the world. No. If you're
trying to be encouraged, be encouraged. It's because you really are alive.
Listen what it says in verse 19. Wherefore let them that suffer
according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls
to him in well-doing as unto a faithful creator because we
cannot keep ourselves. He will keep his people. None
shall pluck his true people out of their father's hand. So that
Paul could say to Timothy, I know whom I have believed. I know.
Not just think, I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded,
utterly convinced that he is able to keep that which I've
committed unto him against that day. What is it that I've committed
unto him? I've committed my eternal soul and it's safekeeping in
glory against that day. What day? The day of judgment.
Do I fear that day? No. It'll be a day of glory for
the children of God. Scarcely saved? Oh yes, be in
no doubt, with great difficulty. Easily lost? Yes. Easily deceived? Beware of that. But if you're
tried, it's a sign that there's true spiritual life. Scarcely
saved? Yes. But oh, if saved, saved
to the uttermost. Amen.