Danger. Safety. Gratitude.

Danger. Safety. Gratitude.

(No. 3074)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1908,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY
8, 1874.

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you
faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the
only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever. Amen." Jude 1:24,25.

WE may derive much evil or much good from the falls of others. We may
derive much evil from their falls if we follow their bad example, or if
our pride suggests to us that we are better than they are. It is an
evil thing for a man to look upon his fallen brother and then to say,
in the spirit of the Pharisee, "God, I thank You that I am not such a
sinner as that man is." This kind of spirit would make it very probable
that we should yet become even worse than the poor fallen one.

But, on the other hand, much good may come to us through the falls of
others if the moment we see or hear of the falling of our brethren, we
reflect that we would have done the same if we had not been upheld by
God–that all the evil that has come out of them might also have come
out of us, for it is in every one of us by nature. Unless God's
restraining hand shall prevent its being displayed, it will be
displayed in our life as well as in theirs! Every wreck ought to be a
beacon. One man's fall should be another's warning. Do you see your
brother's foot trip against a stone? Then take care how you go along
that way. Do you see him yield to temptation? Then mind that your ears
are closed against that which fascinated him and turned him aside from
the right path. Wherein you see that he failed in anything, set a
double guard upon yourselfjust there–and ask God to give you Grace to
keep you with special keeping in that particular point which was his
weakness and which may, unknown to yourself, be also your own!

I am led to make these remarks because the Epistle of Jude describes
certain gross offenders. The Apostle says a good deal about persons who
were in the Church, but were evidently not of it and who, therefore,
were the Church's weakness and dishonor–spots in her solemn feasts,
clouds without water, trees without fruit–"raging waves of the sea,
foaming out their own shame." Now, if the reflection from that
description should be, in the case of any of us, "We are superior
persons to them and are not at all likely to fall into such a condition
as this," the consideration of their condition would have had a very
unhappy influence upon ourselves. But if we use this Epistle in the
right way, as Jude means us to do, and begin to look at our own
weakness and to dread our own failure–and then close all, as he does,
with a doxology to Him who is able to keep us from falling where others
have fallen, and to present us faultless when others will be condemned,
and to bring us to exceeding joy while they will be banished to the
place where they will have to endure exceeding misery–surely we ought
to give honor, praise and glory "to the only wise God our Savior." And
this will be a blessed way of extracting good out of the failings and
falls of others.

This is my objective in speaking to you upon this text. And I am going
to talk to you very simply upon three things–first, our danger.
Secondly, our safety. And, thirdly, our gratitude.

I. The first thing we are to consider is OUR DANGER. We are in danger
of falling–not only some of us, but all of us! Not merely the weak,
but also the strong. Not the young only, but the old and the
middle-aged. All are in danger of falling into sin and so bringing
dishonor upon our profession, sorrow to our souls and disgrace upon the
name of Christ, whom we profess to love and serve!

That we are in danger should strike us very clearly because we have
seen others fall into sin. I scarcely dare to recall all that I have
seen during my observation of the professing Church of Christ. Though I
think I have been peculiarly favored as a pastor, there are sore places
in my soul–bleeding wounds that will never be healed this side of
Heaven that have been caused by the backsliding of men with whom I took
sweet counsel and in whose company I used to walk to the House of God.
I have known some who have preached the Gospel, and preached it with
power, live to depart from it altogether. I have known others who have
served at the Lord's Table who have discharged the duties of the
deaconship or the eldership with considerable diligence, who have
afterwards given way to their evil passions. I have thought some of
them to be among the holiest of men. While they have been praying, I
have been lifted up in devotion to the very gates of Heaven! And if
anyone had said to me that they would one day fall into gross sin, I
could not have believed it. I would sooner have believed it to be
possible of myself. When I have heard of their fall, it has struck me
with a sharp pang and when it has been my sad duty to enquire into the
matter–and I have been compelled to be convinced of the truthfulness
of the accusation brought against them–I have been staggered to think
how far a man may go in profession and yet not possess the Grace of God
in truth and how like a Christian a man may be–and yet not really be a
child of God. And how he may have many resemblances to the Grace of God
and yet may not have that Grace in his soul indeed and of a truth.

"Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen," is a cry that may still be
heard! Those who seemed stronger than we are have fallen, so why may
not we? No, shall we not fall unless Sovereign Grace shall prevent that
dread calamity? Our Lord's disciples, who sat at the table with Him,
when they were told that one of them would betray their Master, each
one enquired, "Lord, is it I?" That was a very proper question. There
was not one who asked, "Lord, is it Judas?" Probably no one of them
even suspected him–and it may be that the worst hypocrite in this
assembly is the one upon whom there does not rest at this moment a
single shade of suspicion! He has learned to play his part so well that
his true character has not yet been discovered. One of these days the
30 pieces of silver will prove too attractive to him–and then he will
sell his Master. Will that traitor be you, dear Friend, or will it be
me? Surely, if this has been the case with others, it must be a matter
for our own serious consideration, seeing that we also are as liable to
be tempted as they were–and as liable to yield to the temptation. John
Newton was right when he wrote–

" When any turn from Zion's way

(Alas, what numbers do)!

I think I hear my Savior say,

' Will you forsake Me too?

Ah, Lord! With such a heart as mine,

Unless You hold me fast,

I feel I must, I shall decline,

And prove like they at last"

Beside that, not only have others fallen, but we ourselves, although in
a great measure kept by Divine Grace, have not been faultless. If all
men knew all about us that might be known, we would hardly be able to
look them in the face! Someone is said to have once wished that he had
a window in his heart so that everybody could look in and see all that
was there. But if he had such a window, he would need to have blinds on
it and he would probably keep them down for the most part, for who
would like his neighbor to read the thoughts of his heart even for a
single hour? Have there not been times with you, my Brothers, honorable
men, Christians of good standing in the Church, when your feet had
almost gone, your steps had well near slipped? And Sisters in Christ,
preserved as you have been in the faith of Jesus and enabled to
honorably maintain your Christian character, have there not been times
when temptation has been very strong upon you and when you have half
consented to the sin that has been suggested to you? I know if you are
flesh and blood like the rest of us, you must confess that it has been
so with you.

So, then, we have this double warning–what we have seen in others and
what we have felt in ourselves. Besides, dear Brothers and Sisters in
Christ, ought we not to realize the danger of our falling when we
consider the world we live in, the flesh we live in and the tempter who
is continually tempting us?The road we have to tread is often so
slippery that we have need not only to watch our feet, but also to
pray, "O Lord, hold me up and I shall be safe." There are also many who
watch for our halting–and some who do more than that, for they set
traps for us. And if they could but catch us in them, how rejoiced they
would be! If we do not fall, it is not because they have not tried to
make us fall, but because God has upheld us by His Grace. If we know
ourselves at all, we must have come to the conclusion that apart from
the Grace

of God, we are a mass of sin and corruption–and capable of anything
that is evil. I do not wonder that John Bradford said, as he saw men
taken to be hanged at Tyburn, "There goes John Bradford but for the
Grace of God." There is powder enough in all our hearts to blow our
character to pieces if God does not keep the devil's sparks away, or
quench them in a mighty stream of Grace before they can do us mischief!
Utter weakness are you, O Man, and many and mighty foes are seeking
your destruction! You need an infinite Friend to keep you in safety
against all the machinations of your adversaries!

We constantly need to cry to God to keep us from falling, remembering
what a dreadful thing it would be for us to fall. We know that a true
child of God cannot fall fatally or finally, but we also know that some
who profess to be the people of God, do fall foully, fatally and
finally–and that others who are really the people of God have fallen
to their own great grief and to their Lord's dishonor. O my dear
Sister, what sorrow there would be in the hearts of those who know you
if you were to turn aside! And how the enemy would blaspheme and how
would those who are weak in the faith be staggered if you were to be
permitted to disgrace your Christian profession! And my dear Brother,
you who are of venerable years, looked up to and respected by
many–what grief would fill your own heart when the Lord brought you to
penitence for your guilt–if you were allowed to fall into sin and,
meanwhile, how much mischief you would have done to the Church of God
and to souls seeking the Savior! Pray very specially for those of us
who stand in prominent positions, for it is not easy to keep a clear
head when one is upon the top of a pinnacle. And when you have prayed
for us, pray also for yourselves. God can keep men in safety on the
tops of pinnacles if He puts them there. But the men in the valley will
fall if they think they can securely keep themselves.

I remember talking once to a lady who assured me again and again that
she prayed daily for me that I might be kept humble. I told her that I
would pray the same prayer for her. And when she said, "Oh, I am never
tempted to be proud," I replied, "Well, dear Friend–I am afraid you
are already very far gone in that direction, or else you would not talk
as you do." We can easily perceive the danger in which others are–and
if we do, we ought to pray for them–but let us not forget our own
peril, for the greatest danger does not lie in the position we are
called to occupy, but in our relying upon our own strength–and not
upon our God–

"Lord, through the desert drear and wide,

Our erring footsteps need a Guide.

Keep us, oh keep us near Your side.

Let us not fall. Let us not fall!

We have no fear that You should lose

One whom eternal love could choose,

But we would never this Grace abuse.

Let us not fall. Let us not fall!

Lord, we are blind, and halt, and lame,

We have no stronghold but Your name–

Great is our fear to bring it shame.

Let us not fall. Let us not fall!

Lord, evermore Your face we seek–

Tempted we are, and poor, and weak.

Keep us with lowly hearts, and meek.

Let us not fall. Let us not fall!

All Your good work in us complete,

And seat us daily at Your feet.

Your love, Your words, your name, how sweet!

Let us not fill. Let us not fall!" There are dangers that are peculiar
to every position. To those who live a very quiet life, there is the
danger of the rust and the moth. And to those who live an active life,
there is the danger of being cumbered with much service. You who are
young are certainly in danger from impetuous companions, and yet it is
remarkable that among the offenders, even against morality, mentioned
in Scripture, we do not read of many who were young! David falls not
into such foul sin until he is advanced in years, as if to show us that
it is not age that gives strength to resist evil. Age brings
experience,

but unless Grace comes with the experience, it gets to be like the
manna in the wilderness which bred worms and stank when men tried to
feed upon it after its proper time. We are all safe while we are in
God's hands, but we are, none of us, safe in our own keeping! And every
position that we may occupy has its own peculiar perils. Do not be in
haste to get away from a job in which you are tempted, for you will be
tempted in every job and, possibly, the temptation which assails you in
your present circumstances may be less powerful for evil than the one
to which you would be exposed if you were to change your place. Many a
man of God has leaped out of the frying pan into the fire. I have even
known some who have thought that they were going to get into a port
where they would never again suffer from storms–and they have gone out
of their proper course in order to get into that port. And there the
most dreadful hurricane they ever knew has come upon them! Always be
afraid of not being afraid–and be always in fear when you feel that
you are perfectly safe. When you realize your danger and fly to the
Lord to guard you, then you are safe. But when you begin to think, "All
is right with me, nothing will make me fall now," you are not very far
off a bad fall in which you may suffer serious hurt. May God keep you,
my dear Brothers and Sisters. May He preserve each one of us till we
see His face in Glory at the last!

Did you notice that the text indicates what a joy it will be to be kept
from falling? Jude says, "Christ is able to keep you from falling, and
to present you faultless before the presence of His Glory with
exceeding joy'" It will indeed be exceeding joy to be kept from falling
and to be presented faultless at the end. I have often prayed that I
might be able to say what George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, said
just before he died. His words were these, "I am clear. I am clear. I
am clear." He felt that he had faithfully discharged his ministry and
spoken all that the Spirit of God had taught him. And if I may say what
he did–that I am clear of the blood of all men when I lay down my body
and my charge–I will not ask anything more. And if each professing
Christian here shall be clear at the last, and be able to say, with
Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have
kept the faith," you will have exceeding joy! I do not think so much of
the harps of gold and the streets that shine with dazzling splendor,
and the other descriptions of the glories of Heaven, as of this–

"May I but safely reach my Home, My God, my Heaven, my All.!'

May I get where I shall never again sin and where I shall not even be
tempted to sin! May I get where flesh and sense shall no more destroy
the sacred pleasures of my soul! It will be exceeding joy, even to
dancing and leaping of spirit, as the Greek has it, if we may but be
presented faultless at the last, having been kept by Sovereign Grace
even to the end! This must suffice concerning our danger.

II. Now secondly, I am to speak upon OUR SAFETY. "Now unto Him that is
able to keep you from falling…to the only wise God our Savior." Our
safety lies in our Savior–"God our Savior." Just think of that great
Truth of God for a moment. When we first came to Christ, we rejoiced
that He was a Savior–a sinner's Savior. All our hope and comfort lay
in the fact that God had appointed Him to be our Savior. Well now,
Beloved, in looking forward to the temptations that will assail you in
your future life, keep your eye on your Savior! You did not have Him to
be a Savior for a time, to cleanse you from sin and then to leave you
to fall back into sin! When you took Him to be your Savior, I hope you
took Him for all your life and for eternity. That is how He took
you–He espoused you unto Himself in an everlasting wedlock and,
therefore, He would have you depend as much upon Him for sanctification
as for justification–rely as much upon Him to keep you from sin as to
keep you from Hell! And trust as much to Him to enable you to overcome
your present temptation as you trusted to Him at the first to overcome
your fear of condemnation. Christ is your Savior from beginning to end,
so always regard Him in that light. And as your Savior, let it be very
comforting to you to reflect that He is Divine–"The only wise God our
Savior." He who has undertaken to save you is no mere man and no
angel– He is nothing less than the Omnipotent, Omnipresent and
Omniscient God! Your peril can be averted by His Omnipotent might. The
hidden dangers in your pathway all lie unveiled to His all-seeing eyes.
You are safe, not because you can see and avoid the dangers that beset
you, nor yet because you are strong and can conquer your adversaries,
but because your Savior is God and, therefore, you shall be saved,
continuously saved, perfectly saved and presented as a saved one at the
last!

Observe how Jude puts this precious Truth–"Unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling." Why does the Apostle lay such stress upon the
ability of Christ? You know that our faith sometimes fails us
concerning Christ's ability

and sometimes concerning His willingness to save us. One came to Christ
and said, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean." And another said
to Him "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
Now, in this matter to which Jude is referring, I suppose that we
should not have had any doubt about God's willingness because it must
be the will of the thrice-holy God to keep His people from falling! If
any question did arise, it would be concerning God's power–not
concerning His willingness.

And here let me remark that this is a very wonderful power. The power
to create a world, the power to divide the rocks, the power to shake
the mountains or set them on a blaze is a very inferior power compared
with that which is able to keep us from falling because God has been
pleased to make us free agents–and He never deprives us of our free
agency. Yet, without the destruction of a quality which is necessary to
our responsible manhood, God is nevertheless able to keep us from
falling. Of course He could keep us from falling into certain sins by
shutting us up in a prison, or by depriving us in some other way of the
power to commit those sins. But He does not keep us in that way. He
leaves us as free agents with every faculty and propensity that we had
before. Yet, by some mysterious, Omnipotent working of His Holy
Spirit–which we can no more understand than we can the blowing of the
wind–He does keep His people from falling. If He turned them at once
into angels, so that they never had a desire to sin again, that would
be a simple process. But He lets them remain men and, as I know from my
own experience, men with the same passions as before and with the same
possibilities of sinning as before! And yet, by a Divine working which
is nothing less than a continuous miracle, He keeps them from falling
again into the sins in which they once indulged! And everyone who knows
by experience the power of God to keep a child of His from falling,
must and will magnify the name of the Lord, even as Jude does in this
doxology!

Observe, too, that the Apostle puts God's wisdom side by side with His
ability–"to the only wise God our Savior." You know that it needs
great wisdom in a parent to keep his child from evil, but it needs far
greater wisdom for God to keep men and women, whom He treats as men and
women, and not as logs, or bricks, or stones, from falling into sin.
And, oh, what Divine Wisdom there is in the dispositions of Providence
and in the manifold workings of the Holy Spirit in using saints to
protect saints, and even in using sinners to warn saints, in using holy
pleasures to allure saints to good and using evils to drive saints from
evil! What you and I owe to God's rod we shall never know till we get
to Heaven! The love there is in every twig of it and in every smart and
bruise that it makes, we shall never fully estimate until our faculties
are enlarged beyond the narrow bounds of this finite state. It is the
tender mercy of God that keeps some of you poor–and makes others of
you so frequently depressed in spirit. It is God's loving kindness
which prevents you from prospering in your endeavors and which makes
you cry out in the bitterness of your spirit, "All these things are
against me." God wounds us that He may heal us! He kills us that He may
quicken us! He lays us low and digs out our very foundations that He
may build us up to be fair temples in which He may abide forever!

So our safety is assured by the fact that we have a God who is able and
is as wise as He is able to keep us from falling.

And then we have something more than mere safety, for the text adds,
"and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with
exceeding joy." We have this word, "present," several times in the New
Testament. Paul wrote to the saints in Rome, "I beseech you, therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service." He also wrote to the Christians in Corinth concerning his
desire to present them "as a chaste virgin to Christ." To the Ephesians
he wrote that "Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for
it…that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." And here Jude writes concerning
Christ presenting His people "faultless before the presence of His
glory"–not presenting them unfallen, but "faultless." I suppose there
are some Brothers and Sisters who have grown so familiar with the idea
of their own perfection that they can quite understand what it is to
feel perfect. But I am so familiar with the sense of my own
imperfections that it takes me a long while to grasp the fact that I
shall one day be "without fault before the Throne of God." I can sit
down, sometimes, with an aching head and believe that it will wear a
crown, by-and-by. I can look at these hands and believe that I shall
one day wave a palm-branch of victory. I can and do fully expect to
wear the white robe and to sing the everlasting song in Glory. But it
will be more than all this to be absolutely perfect–with never a risk
of a hasty temper rising, or the fear of men checking one's lips from
saying what is right! There will be no undue haste and, at the same
time, there will be no sloth! There will be no preponderance of any

Grace so as to cause it to grow into a fault and no deficiency in any
point of character. To be faultless before men is a great thing. To be
faultless before the devil so that even he cannot find any fault in us,
is greatly to be desired. But the most wonderful thing of all must be
to be presented by Christ "faultless before the presence of His glory."
That is where the light is brightest and no speck of sin is to be seen!
The saints shall be so perfectly purified by the Omnipotent Grace of
God the Holy Spirit that even the Lord, Himself, in whose sight the
heavens are not pure and who charges His angels with folly, shall look
upon His redeemed people and declare that they are faultless, holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in His sight! Oh, blessed portion,
glorious hope! This is something that is worth struggling for!

So, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let us fight more valiantly than
ever against our sins and corruptions! Armed with the two-edged sword
of the Spirit, we shall win the day! He who is able to keep us from
falling will not be satisfied with acting on the defensive for us and
protecting us from our enemies, but He will enable us to carry the war
into the enemy's country and we shall be "more than conquerors through
Him that loved us"! And we shall have this resplendent character at
last, that we shall be "without fault before the Throne of God."

III. The last thing upon which I have to speak is OUR GRATITUDE. I must
speak upon it briefly, but I hope you will think and act upon it at
great length. Yes, throughout your whole lives, and I shall do the
same. The Apostle says, "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from
falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be Glory and
majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever."

So, then, the text winds up with the thought that to God must be all
the praise. It is well to know on whose head we are to put the crown.
If we could save ourselves, we might praise ourselves. But I trust that
we are, none of us, so foolish as to imaging that we can do anything to
save ourselves! I have heard of a vessel that was once in a storm–not
a very severe one–but a gentleman on board thought it was and went
about among the sailors and passengers finding fault with the captain's
management of the vessel and saying that he was sure the ship would go
to pieces, and that all on board would go to the bottom of the sea. He
did so much mischief by his foolish talking that, at last, the captain
said to him, "We must rely upon every man doing his duty. Will you go
and hold that rope over there?" He went at once and there he stood like
a martyr and held the rope until the storm had abated–and then he
began congratulating himself upon the eminent part that he had played
in saving the ship in that terrible storm! When he got too proud, the
captain said to him, "I only gave you that bit of rope to hold, to keep
you quiet. Your holding it was of no other use whatever."

Then the gentleman saw what a fool he had been! And when a man thinks
he has done something towards his own salvation, if he could only know
the truth of the matter, he would soon see what a fool he is. He was a
far more sensible man who said that he was saved because Christ did His
part and he did all the rest. Somebody asked him, "But what was 'the
rest' that you did?" and he replied, "Why, Christ did it all and I only
stood in His way and hindered Him all I could." That is about all that
we shall ever do in the matter of our soul's salvation. It must rest
with Christ alone, and our wisdom is to commit ourselves to Him who is
able to meet all the necessities of our case and to conduct us safely
to our journey's end. But since, from the first to the last, salvation
is of the Lord–

"Then give all the Glory to His holy name,

For to Him all the Glory belongs." Whenever you hear anybody praising
some good minister whom God has blessed to him, join in his praises as
one Brother should do concerning another, but then add, "We have had
enough of that strain, dear Friend! "So now unto Him that is able to
keep us from falling, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both
now and ever." And if anybody should ever praise you for any spiritual
help you may have given, always pass on the praise to Him that is able
to keep you from falling, for He deserves it all. Give to Him, in the
very highest degree that is possible, glory and majesty, dominion and
power–the highest praise of which your thankful heart is capable and
the deepest devotion to which your grateful spirit can attain! How much
better we will praise God one day than we can ever do while we are in
this body! Good old John Berridge, speaking of the saints above singing
in Heaven, says–

"O happy saints, who dwell in light,

And walk with Jesus, clothed in white!

Safe landed on that peaceful shore,

Where pilgrims meet to part no more.

Released from sin, and toil, and grief

Death was their gate to endless life!

An opened cage to let them fly

And build their happy nest on high!

And now they range the heavenly plains,

And sing their hymns in melting strains.

And now their souls begin to prove

The heights and depths of Jesus' love.

Ah, Lord! With tardy steps I creep,

And sometimes sing, and sometimes weep.

Yet strip me of this house of clay,

And I will sing as loud as they!" And so it shall be with us, yet we
shall always feel as if our loftiest praises could not rise to the
height of His great love wherewith He has loved us. I remember saying
in a sermon, one night, "When I get to Heaven, I will sing more loudly
than anybody else, for I shall owe the most to Sovereign Grace." At the
close of the service, a good old Sister said to me, "You made a mistake
in your sermon tonight." "What was that?" I asked. "Why, you said that
you would sing the loudest in Heaven, but you will not, for I shall,
for I shall owe more to Grace than you will." I soon found that all the
30 other Christians there were of the same opinion as that dear old
soul–that each one of them would owe more to the Grace of God than all
the rest! And surely, that will be the only contention among the birds
of paradise–who shall sing the most sweetly to the praise of their
adorable Lord!

But the text seems to me to say that while we are to give God the
praise, and to give Him, only, the praise, and to give Him the best
praise that we can, we are to give that praise to Him now. Jude says,
"Nowand ever." What? Are we to praise the Lord now for keeping us to
the end? Will it not do if we praise Him when the end comes and we have
been kept to the end? Will it not do if we praise Him when we are
presented faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding
joy? But can you not believe God's promise that He will keep you to the
end–and bless His name for it even now? Many a time you have expressed
your gratitude to a friend when he has said, "I will do so-and-so for
you." You were sure that he would do what he said–his promise was
enough for you! And as the Lord has promised to keep you from falling
and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with
exceeding joy, surely you can say–

"And a 'new song' is in my mouth,

To long-loved music set!

Glory to You for all the Grace

I have not tasted yet!

I have a heritage of joy,

That yet I must not see–

The hand that bled to make it mine,

Is keeping it for me."

Now I close by saying that this praise is to be perpetual—"both now
and ever. Amen." We may begin now, but we must always keep on, as long
as we live, praising Him who is able to keep us from falling. What?
Keep on praising Him? Yes, even when the deep waters are all around
you, still praise Him. And if they grow deeper, yet still praise Him.
Let this be your soul's resolve–

"Ill praise my Maker with my breath, And when my voice is lost in
death, Praise shall employ my nobler powers: My days of praise shall
never be past, While life and thought and being last, Or immortality
endures."

If I can send the children of God away from this service praising Him,
good will have been done. But I wish that those who are not God's
people would feel a great longing after these good things! Some of you
young people are just now starting in life. You have an excellent
character and you hope you may be enabled to preserve it to the end.
Let me just tell you of something that was a great help in bringing me
to Christ. I knew a young man, a little older than myself, who was
often held up to me as model. And he certainly was a model in many
respects. But I saw him go wrong, sadly wrong. And then I thought
within myself, "I may do just as he has done." And when I heard it said
that the Lord would keep His people right to the end–that Christ had
said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any pluck them out of My hand," I must confess that the Doctrine
of the Final Preservation of the Saints was a bait that my soul could
not resist! I thought it was a sort of life insurance–an insurance of
my character, an insurance of my soul, an insurance of my eternal
destiny. I knew that I could not keep myself, but if Christ promised to
keep me, then I would be safe forever–and I longed and prayed to find
Christ because I knew that if I found Him, He would not give me a
temporary and trumpery salvation, such as some preach, but eternal life
which could never be lost–the living and incorruptible Seed which
lives and abides forever, for no one and nothing "shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Dear young people, do you not feel the same kind of drawing that I felt
then? Do you not wish that you were Christ's, that you might be kept
through life honorable and consistent? May His gracious Spirit lead you
to trust yourself to Jesus this very moment! Then you willbe safe and
saved forever! Yes, and you old people, too, and all of you, whatever
your age may be, rely upon Jesus! Make Him your sole confidence and
then He will keep you to the end! When my dear old grandfather was
dying, one of my uncles said to him, "Dr. Watts said–

"Firm as the earth Your Gospel stands,

My Lord, my hope, my trust,'"– but the aged saint said, "That won't do
for me now. 'Firm as the earth.' Why, the earth is slipping away from
me! I need something firmer than the earth now. I like the doctor best,
my boy, when he says–

"'Firm as His Throne, His promise stands,

And He can well secure

What T ve committed to His hands,

Till the decisive hour.'"

"Sovereign Grace," he said, "is my trust now! God's promise standing
firm as God's Throne, and my faith linked to it. There is the safety of
my spirit." And so he passed away. It is a grand thing to feel that
God's Throne might sooner fail than that a saint can perish, for His
Throne, itself, is established in righteousness! And He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness–faithful and just, not merely merciful and gracious!
And His very faithfulness and justice require that He should keep the
soul that has obeyed His will and committed itself to the Redeemer's
hands. May the Lord thus save us all, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.