02.06. SALVATION TO THE UTTERMOST
SERMON SIX -
SALVATION TO THE UTTERMOST
"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto GOD by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
WHEN in the writings of Paul you find the word "wherefore," you may know that it is a legitimate conclusion. Paul had a logical mind and he never drew a great conclusion from insufficient premises. The "wherefore" of this text brings before us the resurrection of JESUS.
Human priests fill their offices for a while, and then die and pass their duties over to another, but JESUS rose from the dead and continues to live. The resurrection is the key stone in the arch of salvation; remove that and everything is wrecked.
In the battle of Waterloo there was a stone house which Napoleon Bonaparte declared was the key to the situation. Time and again he threw the weight of his forces against that point, but they were repulsed with loss. If that stone house could have been taken, Waterloo might have meant victory for the French. If Satan and his infidel forces could disprove the resurrection of JESUS, it would mean victory for the powers of darkness.
But the resurrection stands out as a fact, like the sun in the heavens. Because He rose from the dead, He lives, and His life is our assurance of salvation.
Every word in this text is weighty, and if we emphasize one word at a time, the fulness of its meaning will appear. Wherefore HE is able. Write HE in capital letters. It means a personal Saviour. No it, however big or important, can save a soul.
- The Church has its place, but it is not a Saviour.
- Morality has its place, but it cannot save.
- Prayer has its place, but of itself it is not a saving power.
HE is able, and He needs no help. Let weakness lie limp upon His shoulder, and He will carry it safely home. JESUS is our personal friend.
- He has a mind that thinks for us,
- He has a heart that throbs with love for us,
- He has a hand that is ready to help us.
This personal relation draws and wins.
A woman missionary in a city prison declares that she had been preaching to the convicts for years without seeing a convert. She stood before them and proclaimed the Word, leaving it to GOD to bless. Though she saw no result, she continued this public proclamation.
While she went on a visit to Europe, another woman took her place. She was a timid, modest, shrinking little body, who felt that she had no ability for public speaking, but she asked the Warden for the privilege of visiting the criminals in their cells. The privilege was granted, and within a few weeks she had won three of the worst characters to CHRIST and a better life. It was done by personal contact.
JESUS did not remain in Heaven and simply send down a public proclamation of salvation. He came to earth, put Himself in touch with suffering humanity, wept with those that wept and rejoiced with those that rejoiced. "The Word was made flesh," and people can understand the Word made flesh better than when it is simply uttered in abstract sentences.
Wherefore He IS able. There is here an everlasting present. GOD was in creation and history; He will be in future judgment and glory, but we believe "that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." We have not to go back to history or into the future to find Him. He is "Emmanuel, GOD with us."
He is always in speaking distance.
- In the silent solitude of an African forest Henry M. Stanley prayed, and GOD heard and helped.
- When Livingstone was alone dying upon his knees, in the African hut, GOD was present to comfort.
- When John G. Paton was surrounded by howling savages, some of them pointing their guns at his breast, he looked up to this ever-present GOD, and found protection.
- Roger Williams, wandering through the forests of New England, was guided by his Father’s hand.
There is no place, nor time, nor condition from which GOD can be banished.
Wherefore He is ABLE. Who can measure the ability of CHRIST?
- He touches, and leprosy departs;
- He touches again, and sight is restored;
- He speaks, and the deaf hear;
- He speaks again, and the dead are raised.
At the marriage feast
"The conscious water saw its Lord and blushed."
He says, "Peace be still," and the storm ceases. At His word devils surrender. Rebuked by the majesty of His presence the mob recoils. Truly He is able. Our weakness, therefore, is the argument for trusting Him. His ability shines out through our inability.
While Private Darby, a Confederate soldier, was lying on the battlefield at Sharpsburg, he handed his Bible to a tall man who came along, and asked him to please send it to his mother, whose address he would find on the fly-leaf.
"No," said the tall man, "my dear boy, we will nurse you into health, and you shall take the Bible to your mother yourself." That tall man was Abraham Lincoln, who had the authority to order others to give the best attention to the wounded soldier, and in due time he was well enough to travel home. Private Darby had given himself up to die, but Abraham Lincoln secured his recovery. And every sinner who gives himself up to die may be cured by the Great Physician if he is willing to commit his case completely into His hands.
Sin has many phases, but no phase of it can prevail against the ability of CHRIST, if the sinner is willing that this ability should be exercised in GOD’s way.
Wherefore He is able to SAVE.
Others may instruct and reform: only JESUS can save. His personality, His presence, His ability, are all pledged for our salvation. The word "save" implies sin.
- It has wrecked us, and we need to be saved from the wreck.
- It has polluted us, and we need to be saved from the pollution.
- It has afflicted us, and we must be saved from its malady.
- It has brought us into condemnation, and we must be saved from its guilt.
There is special encouragement for the sinner to confess that he is guilty, polluted, diseased.
- The confession of disease ensures the cure, for then the Great Physician will undertake.
- The confession of defilement ensures cleansing, for then the Blood will be applied.
- The confession of guilt ensures pardon, for it is written, "if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive."
I have read of a man who was on trial for his life. The king sent him a pardon; which he kept in his pocket while the trial proceeded. Witnesses were examined, lawyers made their pleas, and the man was found guilty. Judge and jury were surprised at his calm demeanour during the trial. He looked as if he were indifferent to the whole proceeding. His calmness was explained when, after the verdict of guilty, he drew from his pocket a pardon from the king. He could afford to be calm when he had the pardon in his pocket.
"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the UTTERMOST." There is no case too bad for Him to reach. There is no stain so fixed that He cannot wash it out. There is no life so wrecked that He cannot reconstruct it.
- John B. Gough, the drunken sot, is saved to the uttermost, and becomes a channel of salvation to thousands.
- Jerry Macauley, the river pirate, is saved to the uttermost, and by a consecrated life wins others to life.
- Saul of Tarsus, cruel in spirit but feeling that he is doing right in killing Christians, is saved to the uttermost.
- John Newton, the slave trader, is saved to the uttermost
- John Bunyan, the swearing tinker, is saved to the uttermost.
"He is able also to save THEM to the uttermost THAT COME UNTO GOD."
"Them... that come unto God" suggests a definition of salvation. Salvation means coming to GOD. While Agnosticism stands at the gate and shouts, "you cannot know God," the Christian presses his way into the very presence of GOD. He sees the light of His countenance, he hears His words of promise, he feels the touch of His loving sympathy, he receives from GOD the grace to help in every time of need.
THROUGH HIM gives the way of approach to GOD. No sinner needs an introduction to JESUS. He is always approachable. We come to Him just as we are, and He presents us as we ought to be before the Father.
It is said that the Prince of Wales met a little girl in front of the palace, crying, and on asking what was the matter, she said she wanted to see the Queen. The Prince kindly took her by the hand, and led her past the guards into the presence of the Queen. Through him she was introduced to royalty, and, if anyone really desires to see GOD, JESUS will lead him into His presence.
GOD did not need to become a man in order that He might sympathize with us, but He did need to become a man in order that we might know that He sympathizes with us.
- He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
- He was tempted as we are tempted,
- He suffered as we suffer, and that in our consciousness brings Him closer to us.
The reason for His ability to save to the uttermost is clearly given in the words, "Seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them."
CHRIST died, but He is not dead, and the image of a dead CHRIST is not a true object of worship. No dead CHRIST now exists. He lives, and the purpose of His life is to make intercession for His people.
"Five bleeding wounds He bears,
Received on Calvary,
They pour effectual prayers,
And strongly plead for me,
Forgive him, O forgive, they cry,
Nor let the ransomed sinner die."
JESUS lives to see that the purpose of His death shall be carried out.
A man in Auburn prison, New York, was ministered to daily by his daughter, who lived near the prison just for the purpose of waiting on her unfortunate father. She supplied him with food and everything that the prison authorities would allow. So JESUS, our living intercessor, is always ready to help us if we will gratefully receive His loving ministry.
To cut ourselves off by unbelief from the intercession of CHRIST is soul suicide.
An Italian nobleman, it is reported, buried one of his enemies alive by building a brick wall around him and over him, shutting out all air and light. Horrible, you say. Yes, truly, but not so horrible as to see a man burying himself alive by building up day after day a wall of sin and indifference around himself until the sunlight of truth and the air of grace have been forever shut out from his soul. Such suicide is inexcusable!
I beg of you cease to lay another brick upon this wall of indifference and sin about you. Come to GOD through CHRIST, link yourself with the living Saviour, and He will then be responsible for your salvation.
In a remote part of Scotland there is a stone bridge across a mountain stream. On the arch of the bridge are written the words, "GOD and me." The traveller very naturally asks what that means, and he is told that years ago a young lady, in crossing this stream, came very nearly being drowned. In her danger she vowed that if GOD spared her life she would build a bridge across that stream, and she had written on the arch the words, "GOD and me." It was her monument to GOD’s care and power. She simply linked herself with GOD. So friend, link yourself with GOD through CHRIST, and your life will be a monument to His glory.