X.

THE FOUNDATION OF GOD STANDING SURE; OR, THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”—2 Tıм. ii. 19.

In the verses immediately preceding our text, the apostle refers to two persons, Hymeneus and Philetus, who, it appears, were at one time professing Christians, but had fallen into error altogether subversive of Christianity, and had not only apostatised from the faith themselves, but had been the means of leading others to do so likewise. Ver. 17, "And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymeneus and Philetus: who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some." It is out of this reference (as is proved by the term "nevertheless," with which the text opens) that the statement before us flows.

Having mentioned the case of Hymeneus and Philetus, Paul naturally anticipates an unhappy inference, which some might be disposed to draw from it. Apostasy! Can such a thing be? Can those who have really been apprehended by Christ, and made members of his kingdom, be sepa

rated from him and be lost? Is it possible for an individual to obtain a footing on the Rock of Ages, and to stand there in safety for a period, but to be swept away by waves of temptation, and perish at last? Hymeneus and Philetus: miserable examples! Were they believers, and have they ceased to be so? Were they once sheep in the flock of the good Shepherd, and do we see them now withdrawn from his care? Were they once planets, revolving in their places around the Sun of Righteousness, in harmonious association with other members of the Christian system, receiving the warmth, and joyfully reflecting the light, of the central luminary; and is the bond of attraction which bound them to Christ now broken? Have they been dissevered from the system, and become wandering stars, to which is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever? Then who is safe? May I, too, lapse into apostasy? Though the Spirit be now witnessing with my spirit that I am a child of God, may I hereafter lose every character of a child of God; and, instead of attaining to that crown of glory which I expect, be a castaway?

Feelings of this kind, which ill-informed Christians might possibly entertain, are met by the statement of our text. The apostle denies that such an inference from the case of Hymeneus and Philetus, as has been mentioned, was just, and on this implied ground, that they were not believers. "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." They were professors of Christianity, but that was all. They called Christ, Lord, Lord, but their connection with him was only nominal. They were reckoned Christians, perhaps, by their fellow-men, who necessarily judge from outward appearances; but God, who looks upon the heart, knew the case to be otherwise. Mere professors of Christianity,

even those whose profession is loudest and most clamorous of notice, may apostatise, their zeal being of the earth, earthy: real Christians cannot, their religion being kindled from above, just as a bonfire quickly blazes out, while the lamps of heaven shine on with a steady and enduring light. There will be, in every age, parties who, after maintaining a connection with the church for a longer or shorter time, and of a more or less plausible kind, will prove themselves to have been insincere, by casting off the appearance of godliness; but the church itself, in its genuine members, will remain entire. "Nevertheless," notwithstanding of any cases of apostasy among professing Christians, "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

While there is no room for doubt as to the truth which the apostle means to announce in the text-that truth being the perseverance of the saints-a difference of opinion may exist as to the form of his conception; I mean, as to the precise outward image which he has in his mind when he speaks of a foundation and its seal. The essential truth of the text apart, what is the picture under which that truth is conceived? Are we to fancy to ourselves the foundation-stone of a building, with an engraving upon it? I apprehend not. The question is not indeed of vital consequence, where the essential truth of the text is not mistaken; still it is as well to have our ideas, even on such a matter, definite and correct. I regard the expression, the foundation of God, as equivalent to the building of God. It is an instance of that figure of speech where a part is used for the whole. The church is often represented as a building rising upon Christ as its basis;* he

* In the passage before us, the true church, the church invisible, consisting of real Christians, is so represented. See also 1 Peter ii. 4-8.

being the stone, elect, precious, which was laid in Zion, "in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord;" and when "the foundation" is spoken of here, I interpret it as put for the entire structure. The foundation of God means the edifice of the church, into which each believer is built as a living stone, an edifice which comprehends the body of believers universally, and none else. With reference again to the seal which the text mentions, it must not be conceived as affixed to the foundation-stone of the building, but to the building itself. It was a custom with the ancients, as in fact it is with ourselves, to engrave upon the front, or other conspicuous part, of important buildings, aphorisms suited to their peculiar character. Keeping this practice in view, I conclude that the apostle wishes, in the verse before us, to depict an edifice the edifice of the church—with two significant sentences inscribed above its portals, either together, or, if you please, on its opposite faces :-THE LORD KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE HIS; and, LET EVERY ONE THAT NAMETH THE NAME OF CHRIST DEPART FROM INIQUITY,— sentences which, while they mark the fact that every stone in the edifice on which they are engraved, every member of the church, is secured against falling away, are at the same time beautifully suggestive of the ground and manner of the fact; the former exhibiting the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints on what may be called its celestial, and the latter on what may be termed its terrestrial side; the one connecting perseverance with the special concern which Christ has in his people; the other with the sincere and strenuous endeavours of saints themselves to continue in the paths of holy obedience.

But sometimes the same figure is employed to represent the visible church, consisting of professing Christians. See the Sermon in this volume on 1 Cor. iii, 12-15, entitled, 66 Gold, silver, precious stones-wood, hay, stubble."

With these prefatory remarks, which I have made for the purpose of fully clearing the text, I proceed, in dependence on divine grace, to consider a little the subject of the perseverance of the saints, according to the twofold scheme that has been mentioned, viz., first, on its celestial side, as connected with the special concern which Christ has in his people; and next, on its terrestrial side, as connected with the endeavours of saints themselves to continue in the path of obedience.

I. I begin by considering THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE

SAINTS as CONNECTED WITH THE SPECIAL INTEREST WHICH

CHRIST HAS IN HIS PEOPLE. "The Lord knoweth them that are his." 1. And my first observation is, that Christ knows true saints as chosen from eternity to everlasting life by his Father.

In the Epistle to the Ephesians, after the opening salutation, the apostle Paul thus addresses the converts to whom he was writing:-" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love : having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself." Here the saving benefits which had been conferred upon the Ephesians, are traced up to the eternal election of God as their source. God had blessed the converted members of that church with all spiritual blessings in Christ—" according as he had chosen them in Christ before the foundation of the world." They were walking before God in a spirit of love, as his children, in some good measure at least, holy and blameless. But why had this come to pass? Because God had "predestinated them unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself."