QUEST. I.—WHAT IS IT TO BE SAVED?
1. That all the power and policy, malice and rage, of the devils and hell itself are against us. Any man who understands this will conclude that to be saved is no small thing. The devil is called a god, a prince, a lion, a roaring lion; it is said that he hath death and the power of it, &c. But what can a poor creature, whose habitation is in the flesh, do against a god, a prince, a roaring lion, and the power of death itself? Our perseverance, therefore, lies in the power of God; "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
2. All the world is against him that shall be saved. But what is one poor creature to all the world, especially if you consider that with the world is terror, fear, power, majesty, laws, jails, gibbets, hangings, burnings, drownings, starving, banishments, and a thousand kinds of deaths? (1 John 5:4,5; John 16:33).
3. Add to this that all the corruptions that dwell in our flesh are against us and that not only in their nature and being, but they lust against us and war against us to "bring us into captivity to the law of sin and death" (Gal 5:17; 1 Peter 2:11; Rom 7:23).
4. All the delusions in the world are against them that shall be saved, many of which are so cunningly woven, so plausibly handled, so rarely5 polished with Scripture and reason, that it is ten thousand wonders that the elect are not swallowed up with them; and swallowed up they would be, were they not elect, and was not God himself engaged, either by power to keep them from falling, or by grace to pardon if they fall, and to lift them up again (Matt 24:24; Eph 4:14; Rom 3:12).
5. Every fall of the saved is against the salvation of his soul, but a Christian has once fallen rise not but as helped by Omnipotent power—"O Israel, thou hast fallen by thine iniquity," "but in me is thy help," says God (Hosea 13:9; 14:1; Psa 37:23).
Christians were you awake, there would be a matter of wonder to you to see a man assaulted with all the power of hell and yet to come off a conqueror! Is it not a wonder to see a poor creature, weaker than the moth, stand against and overcome all devils, all the world, all his lusts, and corruptions? (Job 4:19). Or if he falls, is it not a wonder to see him, when devils and guilt are upon him, to rise again, stand upon his feet again, walk with God again, and persevere after all this in the faith and holiness of the gospel? He that knows himself wonders; he that knows temptation wonders; he that knows what falls and guilt mean wonders; indeed, perseverance is a wonderful thing and is managed by the power of God, for he only "can keep you from falling, and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). Those of the children of Israel who went from Egypt and entered the land of Canaan, how came they thither? Why, the text says, that "as an eagle spread abroad her wings, so the Lord alone did lead them." And again, "he bore them, and carried them all the days of old" (Deu 32:11,12; Isa 63:9). David also tells us that mercy and goodness should follow him all the days of his life, and so he should dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psa 23:6). Fifth. To be saved calls for more than all this; he that is saved must, when this world can hold him no longer, have safe conduct to heaven, for that is the place where they that are saved must to the full enjoy their salvation. This heaven is called "the end of our faith" because it is that which faith looks at; as Peter says, "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." And again, "But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul" (1 Peter 1:9; Heb 10:39). For, as I said, heaven is the place for the saved to enjoy their salvation in, with that perfect gladness that is not attainable here. Here, we are saved by faith and hope of glory, but we who are saved shall enjoy the end of our faith and hope, even the salvation of our souls. There is "Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the general assembly and church of the firstborn;" there is the "innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect;" there is "God the judge of all, and Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant;" there shall our soul have as much of heaven as it is capable of enjoying, and that without intermission; wherefore, when we come there we shall be saved indeed! But now, for a poor creature to be brought hither, this is the life of the point. But how shall I come hither? There are heights and depths to hinder (Rom 8:38,39).
Suppose the poor Christian is now upon a sick-bed, beset with a thousand fears, and ten thousand at the end of that; sick-bed fears! And they are sometimes dreadful ones; fears that are begotten by the review of the sin, perhaps, of forty years' profession; fears that are begotten by dreadful and fearful suggestions of the devil, the sight of death, and the grave, and it may be of hell itself; fears that are begotten by the withdrawing and silence of God and Christ, and by, it may be, the appearance of the devil himself; some of these made David cry, "O spare me" a little, "that I may recover strength before I go hence, and be no more" (Psa 39:13). "The sorrows of death," said he, "compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me; I found trouble and sorrow" (Psa 116:3). These things, in another place, he calls the bands that the godly have in their death, and the plagues that others are not aware of. "They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men" (Psa 73:9). But now, out of all these, the Lord will save his people; not one sin, nor fear, nor devil shall hinder; nor the grave nor hell disappoint thee. But how must this be? Why, thou must have a safe conduct to heaven? 6 What conduct? Conduct of angels: "Are they, not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Heb 1:14).
