PERSEVERANCE WITHOUT PRESUMPTION – Charles Spurgeon

Perseverance Without Presumption

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” John 10:28

Those of you who were present last Thursday evening will remember that I spoke then upon the necessity of “holding fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end,” and I showed you that it is only by continuing in the faith with which we began that we are proven to be partakers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let us speak as plainly as we may, for we are always liable to be misunderstood. The most eager hearer may easily confuse his thoughts with our words, and thus attribute notions to us that spring up spontaneously in his own mind.

Thus, I met this week with an earnest, anxious inquirer who thought I had meant that though a man should be a Believer in Jesus Christ, yet after all he might perish. I dare say some expressions I used led him to think so. Had he been long a hearer here, he could not have imagined that I could give utterance to such a statement; for all of you who hear me continually know that, if there is one Doctrine I have preached more than any other, it is the Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints even to the end. What I intended to say, and I do not wonder that he did not quite understand me, was this: that the Believer must always be a Believer; having begun in that confidence, he must continue in that confidence; the alternative would be that he draws back unto perdition, in which case he would perish as an unbeliever; and then the inference would be that the faith he seemed to have was a fiction, that the confidence he seemed to enjoy was a bubble, and that he really never did believe to the saving of his soul.

This is a fair argument based on the operation of the Spirit of God; it is in no sense a condition dependent on the good behavior of men. The one way by which a soul is saved is by that soul’s abiding in Christ; if it did not abide in Christ, it would be cast forth as a branch and be withered. But, then, we know that they who are grafted into Christ will abide in Christ. We reason in the manner of the Apostle Paul, who, when he had spoken of the danger that some were in—that, having begun well, they should end badly—after being enlightened and tasting the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come, they should turn aside, he adds, “But Beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.”

The question, however, having been raised, it occurs to me that it may not be unprofitable if I state briefly—not by way of controversy, but simply for the sake of instruction—the Doctrine of the Security of the Believer in Christ, the certainty of the Believer’s perseverance even to the end, and of his entrance into eternal rest. This Text at once suggests itself to me: “I give unto My sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand.” The three clauses of this sentence represent to us three gracious securities. Here is a Divine Gift—“I give unto them eternal life”; here is a Divine Promise, far-reaching and wide—“they shall never perish”; and here is a Divine Holdfast—“neither shall any pluck them out of My hand.”

I. The Divine Gift: “I give unto them eternal life”

First, then, observe THE DIVINE GIFT—“I give unto them eternal life.” Eternal life comes to every man who has it as a matter of gift. He did not possess it when he first entered into the world; he was born of the first Adam and born to die; he did not draw it out, or evolve it from himself by some mysterious processes; it is not a homegrown, a product of the soil of humanity—it is a gift! Nor is eternal life bestowed as a reward for service done; it could not be—for it is a prerequisite to the doing of service! The term “gift” shuts out all idea of debt; if it is a gift, or of Divine Grace, then it is no more of debt or of reward. Wherever eternal life is implanted in any person’s soul, it is the free gift of the Lord Jesus Christ—not deserved, but bestowed on the unworthy.

Therefore we see no reason why it should be revoked from the person who has received it, for, suppose there are certain disqualifications in the man who has participated in the gift, yet they cannot operate to his prejudice in enjoying the gift any more than they would have operated to his ever receiving it if they had been taken into account at all! The gift does not come to him because of any worthiness in him, but comes as a gift; there is no reason why it should not continue since it has come into existence, or why the present tense, as we have it here, should not always be a present fact.

“I give”—I continue to give—“to them eternal life,” and that cannot be affected by any unworthiness subsequently discovered because God knows the end from the beginning. When He bestowed eternal life upon the man who has it, He knew right well every imperfection and failing that would occur in that man; these demerits, had they been reasons at all, would have been a cause for the not giving, rather than for giving, and then taking away again! It is inconsistent with the gifts of God for them ever to be annulled; we have it laid down as a rule of the Kingdom of which there is no violation, that, “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” He does not rescind what He has conferred of His own goodwill.

It is not according to the royal Nature of the Lord our God to bestow a gift of Grace upon a soul and then afterwards withdraw it—to lift up a man from his natural degradation and set him among princes by endowing him with eternal life, and then to cast him down from his high estate by depriving him of all the infinite benefits He has conferred. The very language I am using is contradictory enough of itself to refute the suggestion! To give eternal life is to give a life beyond the contingencies of this present mortal existence; “forever” is stamped on the charter!

To take it away is not consistent with the royal bounty of the King of kings, even if it were possible that such a thing could be. “I give unto them eternal life.” If He gives, then He gives with the Sovereignty and generosity of a king! He gives permanently, on an enduring tenure! He gives so that He will not revoke the grant! He gives, and it is theirs—it shall be theirs by Divine Charter forever and ever!

We may infer the certain safety of the Believer not only from the fact that this life is an absolute gift and will not, therefore, be withdrawn, but from the nature of the gift, it being eternal life. “I give unto My sheep eternal life.” “Yes, but,” says somebody, “they may lose it.” Then they cannot have had eternal life! It is a mistake in terms to say that a man has eternal life, and yet perishes. Can death befall the immortal, or changes affect the immutable, or decay corrode the imperishable? How can life be eternal if it comes to an end?

How can it be possible that one shall have eternal life, and yet die with sudden shock, or drop as feeble nature fails of all her functions? No! Eternity is not to be measured by weeks or months or years! When Christ says eternal, He means eternal, and if I have received the gift of eternal life, it is not possible for me to sin so as to lose that spiritual life by any means whatever. “It is eternal life!” We may reasonably expect the Believer to hold on to the end because the life which God has implanted within him is of that nature that it must continue to exist, must conquer all difficulties, must ripen, must perfect, must cast out sin from him, and must bring him to eternal Glory!

II. The Divine Promise: “They shall never perish”

Now, secondly, we have added to this A DIVINE PROMISE—“They shall never perish.” I am very thankful for this Word because there have been some who have tried to do away with the force of the entire passage—“Neither shall any pluck them out of My hand.” “No,” they have said, “but they may slip between His fingers, and though they cannot be plucked out, yet they may go out on their own accord.”

But here is a short sentence that puts all such thoughts out of the question—“They shall never perish”—in His hands or out of His hands, under any supposition whatever—“They shall never perish!” Observe that there is no restriction here—it includes all time. “They shall never perish.”

Are they young Believers? Are their passions strong? Are their judgments weak?

Have they little knowledge, small experience, and tender faith? May they not die while yet they are lambs, and perish while they are so feeble? “They shall never perish.” But, in middle life, when men too often lose the freshness of early Grace; when the love of their espousals may, perhaps, have lost its power, may they not get worldly? May they not, somehow or other, then be led aside? “They shall never perish.” “They shall never perish.” Perish they would, could worldliness destroy them! Perish they would, could evil utterly and entirely get the mastery of Grace—but it shall not! “They shall never perish!” But, may they not grow older, and yet not wiser? May they not be surprised by temptation, as so many have been in times when they have become carnally secure, because they thought their experience had made them strong? “They shall never perish”—neither if they are beginners, nor if they have all but finished their course. “They shall never perish.” It shuts out all time—all reference to time—by taking the whole range of possible periods into the one word, “never.” “They shall never perish.” No less does the sweep of the sentence include all contingencies. “They shall never perish.” What? Not if they are severely tempted? “They shall never perish.” Not if they backslide? They shall be restored again. “They shall never perish.” But, what if they continue in backsliding, and die so? Ah, that they shall not do—“They shall never perish.” You must not suppose that which can never occur. “They shall never perish.” They shall never get into such a condition that they shall be utterly without Divine Grace—they shall never be in such a state of heart that sin shall have dominion over them—utter and entire dominion. It may come in; it may seem for a time to get the mastery, but sin shall never have dominion over them that they shall perish before the Lord. “They shall never perish.” It takes in all the flock. “They shall never perish”—that is, not one of His sheep. This is not the distinctive privilege of a few, but the common mercy of them all! None of them—not one of them—shall ever perish! If you, a Believer in Christ, are the most obscure of all the family, you shall never perish! If you have, indeed, received the Inner Life, and true Grace is in your soul, though no one knows your name, and no one lends you a helping hand; though as a solitary pilgrim you should walk the heavenly road all alone, weak and feeble, and trembling all the way—yet you shall never perish! The Promise is not to some, but to all the believing sheep of Christ! “They shall never perish.”

And, Beloved, it may greatly strengthen our faith, and sweetly revive our spirits if we consider how this Doctrine harmonizes with other Doctrines which are most surely believed among us. Christ’s sheep were of old chosen of God unto Salvation, but if they perished, the Election of God would be frustrated! From the foundation of the world He appointed them that they should bring forth fruit unto Holiness, even unto the end, and if they do not, how can His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven? They were a people set apart unto Himself, that they might honor Him by good works; if they failed of this; if they fell from their blest estate; if they did utterly perish, the Father’s Counsel would be foiled—and that cannot be! The purpose of God secures their final perseverance. “They shall never perish.” We may rest assured that they shall be preserved because of the effectual Redemption which Christ has worked out for them.

We believe, Beloved, in this place, (though the Doctrine is very much disparaged nowadays), in an actual and literal Substitutionary Sacrifice. We believe that Jesus died for His people, and— “Bore, that they might never bear The Father’s righteous ire.”

Now, if He paid their debts, they have no debts to discharge! If He has borne their punishment, they have no penalty to suffer! If He stood in their place, Justice as well as Grace—Justice and Grace together demand that they should be saved! Jesus Christ has offered for them Atonement—and, “Who is he that condemns?” “It is Christ that died, yes, rather that has risen again.” “If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

If He died to bear our guilt, much more, the Atonement being completed, shall we enter into the fullness of rest! If He would not lose us, viewing us as unredeemed, but came and paid the price, much less will He lose us now that He has redeemed us unto God by His blood, out of every nation and people, and kindred, and tongue. He laid down His life for His sheep; He loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might present it unto Himself a glorious Church—and He will effect the purpose for which He has already ventured so much; He will surely claim, and as surely receive at the hand of Justice the Salvation of those for whom He was a vicarious Victim.

Furthermore, dear Friends, he who believes in Christ is justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the Law of Moses. Is it according to the manner of man, first to justify, and afterwards to condemn? Certainly not! But if it were, it is not according to the supreme equity of the Most High God! Has He pronounced a man just? That man is just! When He has declared the man’s transgressions forgiven, shall they be again reckoned to him? Again laid to his door? Is it not said that He has put away our sins like a cloud, and will He gather the cloud of yesterday again? Has He not said He has cast our sins into the depths of the sea? Shall that which Jehovah Himself has consigned to the oblivious ocean, be washed up again as though He had only committed it to the shallows?

As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us! Our East and West are wide enough apart—but what must God’s East and West be when He looks through infinite space? He has removed those sins so far from us that the swiftest-footed devil could not bring them back again though he had a whole eternity to perform the feat? He has put them away forever! Yes, hear what is said of the Messiah—“He has finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting Righteousness.” If it is finished, it is finished, and if He has made an end of it, where is it? Where is it? “If it is searched for, it shall not be found”—yes, it shall not be, says the Lord.

O Beloved, how, then, shall the man who believes in Christ be condemned—condemned for sin that has been pardoned? How shall he be cast into Hell? For what? For offenses that have been borne by the Savior? How shall he be condemned whom God has justified? Give no countenance to the thought! Let no fear nor fancy induce you to lend an ear to the suggestion! The sentence of remission once passed upon a man stands irrevocable. “It is God that justifies; who is he that condemns?”

In the Believer, moreover, there is a work of God begun which He has engaged to complete. It has never been said of God that He began to build, and was not able to finish. “We are persuaded that He which has begun a good work in you will carry it on, and perfect it to the Day of Christ.” It has not been according to Jehovah’s habit to leave unfinished His works—why should He leave them unfinished? Is there a lack of power? Inconceivable! Is there a need of will? We cannot imagine it—for if His will has changed, there must be some reason for the change, and if it is so, is God wiser than He was? Has he altered His plan because He has discovered some error in it? If not, if Infinite Wisdom led Him to put His hand to it, Infinite Wisdom will keep His hand to the work—“The work which Wisdom undertakes, Eternal Mercy ne’er forsakes.”

O Beloved, the very beginning of the work from God foretells that the work will be fully carried out! The Doctrine of Adoption supplies us with yet another argument for our safety. Every man who is saved, justified, forgiven, is also adopted into the family of God. And do you think that God shifts and changes His children who are called by His own name? Do you imagine such a thing credible? Does it sound like a fact? Are you your Father’s child today and somebody else’s child tomorrow? Is not the absurdity too obvious to need refutation?

No—I know not where could have come so whimsical a thought as that we should be children of God today, and by-and-by children of the devil—changing, thus, the blessed Paternity which God Himself claims as to all His people. “But, we may play the prodigal,” says one. Yes, I answer, and we may be brought back again after we have gone astray as the prodigal was! Besides, the prodigal was still a son—even when at the swine trough, and when he had wasted all his substance in riotous living, he was still beloved of the father.

And because he was a son, he came back again with weeping and bitterness of spirit, and found peace and pardon! Had he been no son, he might, like others, have spent his living with harlots, and there had been no saying, “I will arise and go unto my father.” But Grace operated on his heart; he was mysteriously quickened, and he said—“I must leave this life of poverty and sin, and go back to my father’s house.”

And, if God’s child shall go astray, as it is possible, (only God grant you and I never may), yet there is a Voice that says, “Return, return you backsliding Israel! I am married unto you, says the Lord.” Adoption is surely a grand proof that the Lord’s people shall be kept and preserved—that there shall be an unbroken family of God in Heaven! He shall not have to lament that His own dear sons and daughters, begotten by His Grace, have utterly perished. Jesus shall say, “Here am I, and the children You have given Me.”

III. The Divine Holdfast: “None shall pluck them out of My hand.”

And now, the last point is THE DIVINE HOLDFAST—“None shall pluck them out of My hand.” Then all the saints are in Jesus’ hands!

They are not only in His heart, but in His hands—just as the high priests wore the names of the 12 tribes on the breastplates, and wore them on the shoulders, too. The power, as well as the affection of Christ shall preserve the people of God. They are in His hands. “All Your saints are in Your hands.” What a blessed place for us to be—in the hands of Christ—always there!

But does not our Lord intimate, as if to forewarn us, that a great many attempts would be made to pluck us out of those hands? Satan would do it; our own base lusts would do it; the ungodly would do it. The very air is full of tempters who would, if they could, pluck us away from Christ! We have, therefore, cause for great watchfulness, deep humility, but also for much thankfulness that we are placed where the tempters cannot reach us, for the Promise assures us that none is able to pluck us out of Christ’s hand!

There is not power enough in legions of fallen spirits, if they were marshaled in battle array against one poor weak Christian, to snatch him away from Christ! Yes, should they besiege him without intermission like a vast herd of lions seeking to devour one lamb, the defense were so much stronger than the invasion, that they could not pluck even that one out of Christ’s hands!

The Destroyer has never yet celebrated a triumph over the Redeemer! He is not able to hold up a single jewel of the Redeemer’s crown and say, “Aha! Aha! I stole it from Your diadem! You could not keep it!” He has no single sheep there to which he can point and say, “Ah, Shepherd of the sheep, You could not keep them all! The strong were safe enough; they helped themselves, but this poor weakling could not help itself, and You could not help it. Lo! I have borne it away from You! Your flock, which is Your pride, is not complete! You Yourself, as Shepherd, have a spot upon Your name, for You have lost at least this one that Your Father gave You, and whom You have purchased with Your blood!”

It cannot be! It shall not be! The powers of darkness have conspired for this, and struggled for this, but they have not yet prevailed, nor shall they! “None shall pluck them out of My hand.” Oh, rest in the hands of Christ; rest quietly, for now that you are there, you are secure, neither shall any pluck you away!

As if He would make assurance doubly sure, and give us a very strong consolation, He added, “My Father which gave them Me is greater than all, and none shall pluck them out of My Father’s hand.” You can interpret the figure. There was Christ’s hand, and His people in it, and He shall shut it fast to hold them. But that hand was pierced once, and so to make it doubly sure, the Father clasps it with His hand, and so within a double encircling, the Elect of God are held and embraced! There is the pierced hand of Jesus, and there is the Father’s almighty hand—so there are two hands to protect and defend them! Well may they, now, cheerfully defy all power—terrestrial or infernal—to ever destroy them! They must, they shall forever rest in perfect security beneath the guardian care of the Man Mediator, Christ the Lord, and God the Everlasting and ever blessed Father, who also takes them into His sacred keeping!

Do I hear anyone object, saying, “Well, but if this is true, then may not a man live as he likes?” Sir, how can you ask that question? What do you mean by it? Do you mean, “May a man live in sin?” I have been trying to show that if a man is one of Christ’s sheep, he cannot perish, by which I mean, he cannot live in sin—for that is to perish! When I maintain that he cannot live in sin as he did, and cease to be a gracious man—do you ask me whether he will not, therefore, sin willfully because he is saved from his sins?

You must surely misunderstand me! “But, may not a man fall? Now I have these checks taken from me, I may grow wanton.” What checks? What checks? If I lay it down that a man who is enlisted as a soldier is always a soldier, how can you tell me I have taken away some checks? I see not how that can be! I have rather implied a great many strong incentives to virtue, than offered a single pretext for vice.

Certainly, he is not to lay down his commission because he is enlisted for life in the service of his Lord! If he ever did lay it down, he never could take it up again. Could these fail away, it were impossible, again, to renew them to repentance. If God’s work did fail; if Christ’s atoning blood did fall short of its aim, there would remain no hope for them! The ground on which the dew that moistens the flowers descends—when it yields nothing but thorns and briars—is given up as worthless.

Were a man in some fit of enthusiasm to profess that he believed the Gospel, and then take a fit of liberty, and plunge into dissipation, you would all know what to think of his sincerity! When the guilt of sin is removed, the love of sin is purged out of the heart—and when the Spirit of Holiness is given, the love of Holiness is infused into the heart. The man who truly believes, begins a life of Holiness, and from that life of Holiness he will never utterly depart.

I grant you he may be overtaken in a fault; he may be surprised with a temptation; he may stumble through weakness, or through lack of watchfulness—but he will be led back again into repentance—he shall not be allowed to perish! The life that is in him is immortal—a Holy incorruptible seed—and it will continue to develop in spite of sultry heat or biting frost, blight or mildew, till it blooms in the perfection of life above.

Says one, “Ah, Sir, I hold no argument about your Doctrine. My fear is for myself—I do not think I would live as I now do if I were not afraid of falling away.” Is not that a suitable fear for the child of the bondwoman—“Unless I do so-and-so, I shall be sent into the wilderness with my mother Hagar.” Very likely you will! But I know this; I am the child of the free woman, that is Sarah, and I know my Father will never send His child into the wilderness!

What then? Shall His attachment provoke my alienation? Shall I act shamefully because He appoints me to honor? No, no, but because He loves me so, I will love Him in return! I pray Him to forgive my offenses, but I will seek to do all that is possible to show that I realize the greatness of His Love, and desire to make some poor return for it as best I can.

Final Thoughts

“Grace shall preserve your following years, And make your virtues strong.”

I do not preach to you, tonight, a sandy foundation that will give way under your feet, but a Rock to which you may continually retreat; in which you may always dwell secure. I do not present to you a Salvation that may fail you under some stress of temptation, but a Salvation that is strong, having in it, “the sure mercies of David.” He that believes and is baptized shall be saved—saved from sinning, from the guilt as well as the punishment of sin, and brought to Heaven Holy and meet for the inheritance of the saints. God grant you to be Believers in Christ. Amen, and amen!

Charles Spurgeon