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\f0\fs32 \cf0 I want you to notice the security which Paul confidently expected for all the
saints. He says\'97\'93 \i Who shall confirm you unto the end, that
ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ
\i0 .\'94 This is the kind of confirmation which is above all things to be desired. You
see it supposes that the persons are right, and it proposes to confirm them in the right.
It would be an awful thing to confirm a man in ways of sin and error. Think of a confirmed
drunkard, or a confirmed thief, or a confirmed liar. It would be a deplorable thing for a
man to be confirmed in unbelief and ungodliness. Divine confirmation can only be enjoyed by
those to whom the grace of God has been already manifested. It is the work of the Holy Ghost.
He who gives faith strengthens and establishes it: He who kindles love in us preserves it
and increases its flame. What He makes us to know by His first teaching, the good Spirit
causes us to know with greater clearness and certainty by still further instruction. Holy
acts are confirmed till they become habits, and holy feelings are confirmed till they
become abiding conditions. Experience and practice confirm our beliefs and our resolutions.
Both our joys and our sorrows, our successes and our failures, are sanctified to the selfsame
end: even as the tree is helped to root itself both by the soft showers and the rough winds.
The mind is instructed, and in its growing knowledge it gathers reasons for persevering
in the good way: the heart is comforted, and so it is made to cling more closely to the
consoling truth. The grip grows tighter, and the tread grows firmer, and the man himself
becomes more solid and substantial. \f1 \
\f0 This is not a merely natural growth, but is as distinct a work of the Spirit as conversion.
\i The Lord will surely give it to those who are relying upon Him for eternal life
\i0 . By His inward working He will deliver us from being \'93unstable as water,\'94 and
cause us to be rooted and grounded. It is a part of the method by which He saves us\'97this
building us up into Christ Jesus and causing us to abide in Him. Dear reader, you may daily
look for this; and you shall not be disappointed. He whom you trust will make you to be as a
tree planted by the rivers of waters, so preserved that even your leaf shall not wither.
\f1 \
\f0 What a strength to a church is a confirmed Christian! He is a comfort to the sorrowful,
and a help to the weak. Would you not like to be such? Confirmed believers are pillars
in the house of our God. These are not carried away by every wind of doctrine, nor overthrown
by sudden temptation. They are a great stay to others, and act as anchors in the time
of church trouble. You who are beginning the holy life hardly dare to hope that you will
become like them. But you need not fear; the good Lord will work in you as well as in them.
One of these days you who are now a \'93babe\'94 in Christ shall be a \'93father\'94 in the
church. Hope for this great thing; but hope for it as a gift of grace, and not as the
wages of work, or as the product of your own energy.
\f1 \
\f0 The inspired apostle Paul speaks of these people as to be confirmed
\i unto the end \i0 . He expected the grace of God to preserve
them personally to the end of their lives, or till the Lord Jesus should come. Indeed,
he expected that the whole church of God in every place and in all time would be kept
to the end of the dispensation, till the Lord Jesus as the Bridegroom should come to celebrate
the wedding-feast with his perfected Bride. All who are in Christ will be confirmed in
Him till that illustrious day. Has He not said, \'93Because I live ye shall live also\'94?
He also said, \'93I give unto my sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand.\'94 He that hath begun a good work in you will
confirm it unto the day of Christ. The work of grace in the soul is not a superficial
reformation; the life implanted as the new birth comes of a living and incorruptible
seed, which liveth and abideth for ever; and the promises of God made to believers are
not of a transient character, but involve for their fulfilment the believer\'92s holding
on his way till he comes to endless glory. We are kept by the power of God, through faith
unto salvation. \'93The righteous shall hold on his way.\'94 Not as the result of our own
merit or strength, but as a gift of free and undeserved favor those who believe are \'93preserved
in Christ Jesus.\'94 Of the sheep of His fold Jesus will lose none; no member of His Body
shall die; no gem of His treasure shall be missing in the day when He makes up His jewels.
Dear reader, the salvation which is received by faith is not a thing of months and years;
for our Lord Jesus hath \'93obtained \i eternal
\i0 salvation for us,\'94 and that which is eternal cannot come to an end.
\f1 \
\f0 Paul also declares his expectation that the Corinthian saints would be \'93Confirmed
to the end \i blameless
\i0 .\'94 This blamelessness is a precious part of our keeping. To be kept holy is better
than merely to be kept safe. It is a dreadful thing when you see religious people blundering
out of one dishonor into another; they have not believed in the power of our Lord to make
them blameless. The lives of some professing Christians are a series of stumbles; they
are never quite down, and yet they are seldom on their feet. This is not a fit thing for
a believer; he is invited to walk with God, and
\i by faith he can attain to steady perseverance in holiness; and he ought to do so
\i0 . The Lord is able, not only to save us from hell, but to keep us from falling. We
need not yield to temptation. Is it not written, \'93Sin shall not have dominion over you?\'94
The Lord is able to keep the feet of His saints; and He will do it if we will trust Him to
do so. We need not defile our garments, we may by His grace keep them unspotted from
the world; we are bound to do this, \'93for without holiness no man shall see the Lord.\'94
\f1 \
\f0 The apostle prophesied for these believers, that which he would have us seek after\'97that
we may be preserved, \'93blameless unto the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.\'94 The revised
version has \'93unreproveable,\'94 instead of \'93blameless.\'94 Possibly a better rendering
would be \'93unimpeachable.\'94 God grant that in that last great day we may stand free
from all charge, that none in the whole universe may dare to challenge our claim to be the
redeemed of the Lord. We have sins and infirmities to mourn over, but these are not the kind
of faults which would prove us to be out of Christ; we shall be clear of hypocrisy, deceit,
hatred, and delight in sin; for these things would be fatal charges. Despite our failings,
the Holy Spirit can work in us a character spotless before men; so that, like Daniel,
we shall furnish no occasion for accusing tongues, except in the matter of our religion.
Multitudes of godly men and women have exhibited lives so transparent, so consistent throughout,
that none could gainsay them. The Lord will be able to say of many a believer, as he did
of Job, when Satan stood before Him, \'93Hast thou considered my servant, a perfect and
an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil?\'94 This is what my reader must look
for at the Lord\'92s hands. This is the triumph of the saints\'97to continue to follow the
Lamb whithersoever He goeth, maintaining our integrity as before the living God. May we
never turn aside into crooked ways, and give cause to the adversary to blaspheme. Of the
true believer it is written, \'93He keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him
not.\'94 May it be so written concerning us! \f1 \
\f0 Friend just beginning in the divine life, the Lord can give you an irreproachable character.
Even though in your past life you may have gone far into sin, the Lord can altogether
deliver you from the power of former habits, and make you an example of virtue. He can
not only make you moral, but He can make you abhor every false way and follow after all
that is saintly. Do not doubt it. The chief of sinners need not be a whit behind the purest
of the saints. Believe for this, and according to your faith shall it be unto you.
\f1 \
\f0 Oh, what a joy it will be to be found blameless in the day of judgment! We sing
not amiss, when we join in that charming hymn: \f1 \
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\f0 \cf0 Bold shall I stand in that great day,
\f1 \ \pard\pardeftab720\li1220\fi-140\ql\qnatural
\f0 \cf0 For who aught to my charge shall lay;
\f1 \ \pard\pardeftab720\li860\fi-140\ql\qnatural
\f0 \cf0 While through Thy blood absolved I am,
\f1 \ \pard\pardeftab720\li1220\fi-140\ql\qnatural
\f0 \cf0 From sin\'92s tremendous curse and shame?
\f1 \ \pard\pardeftab720\fi360\ql\qnatural
\f0 \cf0 What bliss it will be to enjoy that dauntless courage, when heaven and earth shall
flee away from the face of the Judge of all! This bliss shall be the portion of everyone
who looks alone to the grace of God in Christ Jesus, and in that sacred might wages continual
war with all sin.}