2.03.05. The latter end is peace
V. THE LATTER END IS PEACE.
Unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” — 1 Peter 1:5.
UNTO what end are Christians kept? “ Unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time/* The word is expressly spoken to Christians. The Lord tenderly regards them, and sends them messages of love to cheer them in the house of their pilgrimage.
1. They are kept unto salvation, not to perdition. It is the fortress of their King in which they are enclosed today; and when at length they are led forth from it, they are led to the palace of the King, that they may be princes there for ever. There are many dark pages of this world’s history connected with those who have been long kept in a stronghold, and led forth at length, — led forth to execution. The bridge across the narrow canal in Venice, between the duke’s palace and the prison, consisting of a secret path for leading the prisoners to and fro, is called the Bridge of Sighs; and the sight of its solemn gray mass spanning the narrow opening aloft upon the sky, makes the spectator stand and sigh to-day, if he knows some points of its awful history. Many a death procession marched across that gloomy bridge in those gloomy tunes. Often the great and noble were kept long in those strongholds — kept unto a cruel death at last.
Christ keeps his people not in a prison. If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed. He keeps unto salvation. O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Our Lord does not desire that we should pass a life of terror, as prisoners held over for execution. The express design of his sacrifice was “ to deliver them who through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:15). He offers us deliverance from the bondage of fear. He offers us blessed hope; he commands us to rejoice in the Lord. When one of Christ’s disciples is led away, it is to life eternal. It is to depart and to be with Christ. And many of those who have been by wicked men kept in prison, and led forth to die, have. gone forth with glad songs, knowing that they would soon be with their Lord.
Argyle’s sleep on the night before his execution was sweeter than that of his persecutors. The hope and joy of the martyrs in the immediate prospect of complete deliverance have usually been brighter and stronger than other believers enjoyed, on the principle of compensation which may be seen running through both the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of grace.
2. Salvation is ready. Salvation has two sides, and both are ready. One of its sides is in heaven, and the other is in a believing soul. The kingdom of heaven is at God’s right hand for evermore; and the kingdom of heaven is also within you. On both sides it is ready for any sudden call. On high, Christ’s work is perfect; his covenant is sure; his sacrifice has been accepted; his people have already been accepted in his righteousness, and their names are recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. They shall not come into condemnation — into judgment — because they have believed in the only-begotten Son of God. They shall not be tried and judged for life at all. That trial is past. They have, in Christ their Substitute already stood before that tribunal and been approved. The place is ready, the mansions of the Father’s house, to receive his children. The company is ready — ten thousand, times ten thousand, — all the unfallen, and all the fallen who have been redeemed and taken to glory. Here, on earth, too, the salvation is ready. There is a Christ in the midst of the throne, and a Christ in each Christian indwelling. The salvation is ready within the saved: they have passed from death unto life; there is now to them no longer any condemnation. They have been sprinkled from an evil conscience, and reconciled to God.
3. The salvation is ready to be revealed. Mark this well. It is now concealed. On neither of its two sides is it exposed to the view of men. The finished work of Christ, the prepared home in heaven and the peace of God within a believer’s heart — these are both and both alike hidden, secret things. But these things are, although they are not seen. They are all ready underneath the covering veil; and when that veil is removed, every eye shall see them. When the Lord shall come again, his coming will be like the morning. As the daylight reveals the green herbs and growing flowers, which the veil of night had concealed, the coming of the Lord will expose to view a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. The flowers and forests, the hills and streams, were all there in the night, though they were not seen. They needed not to be made in the morning. They were ready to be revealed. Suppose a creature with the intelligence of a man, but with the term of life allotted to some of the insects — a day. Suppose that creature’s life begins after sunset. At midnight and in the early morning watches he looks around, but sees nothing. He reasons, and loses himself in dark speculation. A voice from the abyss above reaches his ear, and tells him that a beautiful, furnished world is ready to be revealed, and will be revealed in the morning. He believes, and waits: the promise is fulfilled. The glory of the world when the sun is up surpasses all his expectation.
Such a creature is redeemed man. All is ready. The inheritance needs only to be unveiled. The unveiling only remains for the last time. Now is the time for seeking and obtaining it: then, it only remains that it should be fully displayed.