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The Fear of Final Falling | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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You're listening to Reformed Thinking, a show dedicated to
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looking into core doctrines and their real world implications.
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Welcome to the deep dive. This is where we try to unpack
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some significant truths, really digging into insightful writings
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to help you gain clarity. And today we're diving into some
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material that centers on something pretty vital for,
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well, for anyone walking a path of faith.
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It's that apprehension that worry about not continuing, not
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making it to the very end. Right, that nagging question
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will I persevere? Exactly, And our sources for
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this deep dive are from Charles Spurgeon, specifically his
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thoughts on what he called the fear of final falling.
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He gives, I think, a really refreshing view on this, helping
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us see where the actual strength for perseverance comes from.
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It's not maybe where people initially think to look.
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No. So our mission today really is
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to uncover that bedrock of faith, the thing that allows for
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genuine peace even when life gets tough.
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So settle in because this is where we really get into it, OK?
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So many people when they start on a spiritual path, they run
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into this, this specific apprehension.
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It's a worry. Yeah, the the sources we're
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looking at describe it as a a dark fear, something that
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settles in the mind. A dark fear settling in the
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minds of those coming to, you know, a saving belief.
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And a fear is what specifically? It's the concern that, OK,
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you've placed your reliance on Christ, you've started this
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thing, but you might, after all, draw back into perdition.
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Right perdition, meaning, you know, ultimate ruin being lost.
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Yeah. So for you listening, it means
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that chilling thought that maybe despite your initial commitment,
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you could ultimately lose your faith, fall away completely, end
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up separated from God. And it's not just a quick
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thought that passes, is it? No, The source suggests it's
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tangible, A recurring worry. It can really cast a shadow and
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you might find yourself kind of wrestling internally, right?
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You might think, well I've had good feelings before now.
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I've felt spiritually passionate before.
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I've been zealous. But those feelings have died
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away. You remember past times when
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your spiritual energy felt really strong.
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Maybe like Spurgeon uses the image the morning cloud and as
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the early dew. Vivid image promises a lot but
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disappears quickly. Right.
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It promised growth. Stability seems solid for a
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season, but then like that mist, it vanished away.
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And that past experience, that pattern of fervor fading, that's
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what fuels the worry about the present faith.
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Yeah, exactly. It makes you worry that your
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current spiritual life might also be temporary.
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You look at the past and project it forward.
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It's a very, you know, human thing to do.
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It is, and it's quite striking how this apprehension, this fear
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often stems directly from those specific past experiences of
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inconsistency. You might recall times, yeah,
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when your own spiritual excitement and felt, well,
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temporary. It was vibrant for a while,
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compelling, and then maybe you couldn't even put your finger on
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why it just dissipated. And seeing that pattern in your
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own life, it naturally leads to this genuine concern that your
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present faith might also be just as fleeting.
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So it raises a big question then.
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Yeah, it does. Is this apprehension, this fear
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of falling away, is it just a sign of a flaw in your faith?
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Or maybe, maybe does it point us toward a much deeper truth about
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where our actual strength, our ability to keep going, truly
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comes from? That's interesting.
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It's not just an emotion. It points somewhere.
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And Spurgeon goes a step further.
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He puts forward a rather challenging idea.
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He says this fear is often the father of the fact.
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Whoa, the fear is the father of the fact.
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What does that mean? Well, think about it.
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If someone lives with this constant, nagging, unresolved
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fear that their faith is only temporary if they hold back, if
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they're hesitant to fully trust Christ for all time and for all
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eternity, then their faith might actually remain temporary
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because they haven't fully committed their whole future
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reliance on to Him. So the fear itself prevents the
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full reliance that would actually secure them.
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That seems to be the idea. It highlights this critical
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link, how you view your future in faith.
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Whether you believe you will persevere or not, that belief
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can directly influence how you live right now.
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If you're always expecting to fail, you're probably less
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likely to fully lean into the very strength, the divine
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strength that actually ensures you won't fail.
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Huh. It's like a self fulfilling
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prophecy almost born out of fear.
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In a way, yeah, The act of fearing a temporary faith can
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contribute to it becoming just that, because it stops you from
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placing your whole hope unreservedly onto Christ for the
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long haul. It shapes your reliance, or
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maybe your lack of it. OK, so this fear isn't just
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unpleasant, it can actually be damaging.
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And Spurgeon says a big part of why people feel this and why
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they might fail comes down to a basic mistake.
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Right? Trying to keep their faith going
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through their own steam, their own efforts.
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Let's really dig into why that's presented as so dangerous.
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Yeah, the sources are really clear on this.
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A main reason people stumble spiritually is when they quote
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set out trusting to Jesus in a measure.
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In a measure like partially. Partially, yeah, but then they
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look to themselves for continuance and perseverance in
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the heavenward way, and Spurgeon labels that approach faultily.
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Faultily. OK, So what does that faulty
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start look like day-to-day? It's not like they're rejecting
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Christ outright. No, not usually.
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It's more subtle. It can even be unconscious.
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It's like this division of Labor you set up in your mind.
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You trust Jesus for the beginning part, the forgiveness,
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getting saved, getting you in the door, you might say.
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Right, the initial rescue. But then for the actual living
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of it, the day-to-day grind, staying holy, fighting,
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temptation, just hanging on When things are hard, you turn
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inward. You look to yourself, you.
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Look to your own willpower, your own discipline, your ability to
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keep yourself on track spiritually.
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You rely on your own spiritual muscles, thinking you're the one
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responsible for keeping the momentum going.
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And the consequence of that faulty start?
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Source says pretty starkly it's turning back before long.
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Wow, doesn't pull any punches, no.
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And Spurgeon states it directly. If we trust to ourselves for a
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holding on, we shall not hold on.
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Not a suggestion then. No.
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It's presented almost like a law of spiritual gravity.
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A certain outcome, an inevitable result.
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It means any attempt you make to carry the weight of your own
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spiritual progress, even after you've initially trusted Christ,
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is basically doomed to fail. So the very act of looking to
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yourself for that ongoing strength is where the failure
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starts. That's precisely the point he's
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making. The failure is baked in from the
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moment you shift your reliance for continuance onto yourself.
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OK, let's extend that. So even just a little bit of
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self-reliance, that can be the fatal.
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Flaw. That's exactly how Spurgeon
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presents it. He uses that powerful analogy.
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No chain is stronger than its weakest link.
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Right, we all know that one. So if Christ is your hope, your
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source for everything except one thing, that one area where you
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think, OK, I've got this part, or God helps those who help
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themselves in this specific way, Spurgeon says.
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You shall utterly fail. Utterly fail because of that one
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thing, Yeah. That one point of self-reliance,
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that single aspect where you introduce your own supposed
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strength or control, that becomes the weak link, and when
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pressure comes, the whole chain breaks right there.
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That really speaks to a core idea in well, in reformed
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understanding doesn't. It it absolutely does.
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It underlines the principle that salvation from the very first
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moment you believe all the way to when you finally arrive in
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glory. It's not a team effort between
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you and God. Not 5050.
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Not even 991. It's God's operation, His work
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alone from beginning to end. Spurgeon uses another image too,
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right? Something about building?
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Yeah, the image of untempered mortar, it's vivid, he says.
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When we mix even a little of self with the mortar with which
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you build. OK, so the mortar is what holds
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the spiritual building together? Right.
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Imagine you're building your life of faith, your character,
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trying to build something that lasts.
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But instead of using pure, strong cement provided by God,
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God, his grace, his strength, you mix in some faulty material
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from your own efforts, maybe some sand, some dirty water.
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Represents your own willpower, your pride, your
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self-sufficiency. OK.
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So you're weakening the mix. Exactly.
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And this compromised mix is untempered mortar.
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It causes the spiritual stones. Your experiences, your growth,
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your commitments, it causes them not to hold together properly.
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So the building looks OK for a while maybe?
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Yeah, it might seem sound from the outside, perhaps even
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impressive for a time, but put it under pressure.
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A trial, a temptation? Right.
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Or even just the slow wear and tear of time, spiritual dryness.
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The whole structure starts to crumble.
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It's not the stones, it's the stuff holding them together.
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Precisely. It illustrates that even a tiny
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bit of self-reliance, that seemingly small addition of
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human effort in the wrong place, can undermine the entire
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spiritual structure God wants to build in you.
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It leads to a painful collapse eventually.
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That's quite a picture, that untempered mortar idea.
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It suggests even a little bit of looking to self is potentially
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disastrous. But OK, for someone listening
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who's genuinely trying, you know, they feel like they should
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be putting an effort. There should be discipline.
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How do they tell the difference between healthy spiritual
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disciplines and this faulty reliance on self?
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It feels like it could be a really fine line.
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That's a really good question, and yeah, it gets to attention.
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People often feel the key distinction isn't about doing
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nothing. Faith isn't passive in that
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sense, it's about the source of the strength for the doing.
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Where does the power original? OK, source, not effort itself.
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Right. And Spurgeon's source gives this
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direct warning that really helps clarify it.
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He says if you look to Christ for your beginnings, beware of
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looking to yourself for your endings.
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Beginnings. End endings.
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Yeah, he continues. He is alpha.
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See to it that you make him Omega also.
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Alpha and Omega beginning and end.
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It's not just a nice turn of phrase, it's about maintaining A
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consistent dependence on Christ all the way through, from the
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very start to the very finish. So like the Apostle Paul warned
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the Galatians. Exactly the idea of starting in
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the Spirit, meaning your faith was born by God's grace,
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initiated by the Holy Spirit, but then hoping to be made
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perfect by the flesh. Relying on your own human
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effort, your rule, keeping your discipline.
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To complete the job, to reach spiritual maturity or final
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perseverance. Spurgeon presents that as a
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fundamental mistake, a core error that actually stops true
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perseverance from happening. It's like saying thanks God for
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getting me started. I'll take it from here.
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Pretty much. It's like trying to run a divine
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race using only human muscles after God gave you the starting
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push. It just won't work.
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So this calls for a constant holistic kind of dependence on
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God, recognizing that the same divine power that regenerated
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you, that gave you new life, must also be the power that
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sustains you, grows you, and ultimately brings you home.
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So your effort then becomes what?
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Your effort, your discipline, your choices, they become a
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response to God's empowering grace working in you, not a
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substitute for it. You work because He works in
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you, not so that He will work in you, if that makes sense.
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OK, I think I see. The engine is His Grace.
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Our actions are the wheels turning because the engine is
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running. That's a decent analogy, yeah.
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The power source is crucial. So if we begin by God's grace,
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his unearned favor, can we really think that our
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completion, our perseverance to the end, comes from anything
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else, from our own effort? The answer from these writings
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is a clear, resounding NO. It really pushes us to see that
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genuine strength for continuing, for holding on, must come solely
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from the Lord through the Holy Spirit.
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And this fits with the broader biblical picture, right?
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God starting the work and finishing it.
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Absolutely, Philippians 1.6 He who began a good work in you
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will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
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That's the promise. And the very fact that Spurgeon
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and Paul before him talk so much about God's provision for
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keeping us well, it highlights how much we actually need it.
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Definitely, it points to our deep need.
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Which leads us right into the next point.
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The great provision God does offer our source points us
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straight to Paul's words to the Corinthians.
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This is First Corinthians 1 verses 8 and 9.
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Paul writes about our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm
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you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord
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Jesus Christ. Then he adds, God is faithful by
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whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus
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Christ our Lord. Powerful verses confirm you unto
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the end. Yeah, and Spurgeon points out
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that this promise, this declaration, it actually kind of
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silently admits a huge need on our part.
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How so? Well, the word confirm here
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isn't just like a nod of approval.
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It means to make firm, to establish, to strengthen.
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It ensures continuance, final perseverance, preservation to
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the end. So the fact that God promises to
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do this confirming implies we need confirming.
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We aren't naturally firm or established on our own.
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Exactly. It's a divine guarantee because
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we are prone to waver, to struggle, to fall.
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He promises to keep us secure precisely because we can't keep
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ourselves secure. And a really striking point
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Spurgeon makes here is about God's economy.
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You could say he argues that God makes absolutely no provision
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that isn't critically, precisely needed.
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No waste in God's plan. Right, the source says no.
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Superfluities encumber the covenant of grace.
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There's nothing extra, nothing just for show.
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Unlike maybe a human king who provides lavish things that
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aren't really necessary. Every promise, every provision
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God gives in His covenant is exactly what we require.
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So if he promises confirmation, it's because confirmation is
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essential. Absolutely essential.
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This divine upholding is keeping us to the end.
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It's identified as a great necessity.
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And here's the kicker. It's a great necessity even for
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the most advanced believers, like those specific people Paul
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was writing to in Corinth. The Corinthians, weren't they
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kind of gifted and knowledgeable?
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Extremely so, according to Paul. He speaks of them as believers
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of a high order people enriched with all utterance and with all
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knowledge. So they could speak well, knew
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their doctrine. Yeah, these weren't spiritual
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novices. They weren't timid beginners.
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They were in many ways seasoned followers of Christ, often
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gifted in speaking knowledgeable and spiritual truths, possessing
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significant spiritual experiences.
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And yet. They still needed this divine
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confirmation. Just as much as anyone else.
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That's the point they most assuredly feel.
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Spurgeon suggests that they have daily need of new grace if they
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are to hold on and hold out and come off conquerors at the last.
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Wow. So what does that tell us about
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spiritual maturity then? If even these highly gifted,
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knowledgeable, experienced believers needed constant divine
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help just to keep going, where does that leave the rest of us?
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It really challenges the idea that spiritual maturity means
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becoming independent of God, doesn't it?
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Yeah, it flips it. It suggests maybe maturity means
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becoming more aware of your dependence.
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I think that's right. The more mature you become,
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perhaps the more acutely aware you are of this ongoing daily
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need for God's sustaining operation in your life.
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It raises a big question about what spiritual life is
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fundamentally. It does, and the source gives
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this wonderful analogy that paints a really clear picture.
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It says the marble statue requires no food, but the living
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man hungers and thirsts. OK.
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A statue versus a living person. Your spiritual life's pretty
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insane isn't static. It's not like a cold, finished,
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unchanging marble statue that just needs dusting occasionally.
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It's a dynamic, living reality, a vibrant spiritual Organism
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that needs continuous sustenance, daily nourishment to
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stay alive and healthy. So we have spiritual hunger and
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thirst. Yes, our personal wants make it
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inevitable that he should daily draw from the great Source of
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all supplies, that source being God, His Grace, His Spirit.
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And without this consistent daily drawing from God, a
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believer would certainly faint, by the way.
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It's not a one time fill up at conversion that lasts a lifetime
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then. No, it's daily bread, it's
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moment by moment sustenance that keeps us going spiritually.
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And this need isn't lessened even if someone has amazing
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spiritual gifts or deep theological knowledge like the
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Corinthians. Not at all.
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That's a key point. The Corinthians remember.
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They had tongues of men and of angels, incredible spiritual
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communication gifts, and they had all experience in the things
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of God. They'd seen and done a lot,
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spiritually speaking. Sounds impressive?
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It does. But the source warns that
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without fresh grace, without that continuous supply from God,
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even those attainments, no matter how impressive they look,
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would actually prove their ruin. How could gifts prove your ruin?
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Well, imagine having all the gifts, all the knowledge, maybe
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leading to pride, self-reliance, thinking you've arrived.
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But without that fresh, daily dependence on God's preserving
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grace, it could lead to a catastrophic spiritual crash.
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Pride goes before a fall, right? Yeah.
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So we could not live a single day without the divine life
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flowing into us from our covenant head.
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Our covenant head being Christ. Yes, Christ, who represents us,
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guarantees our security and provides our sustenance through
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His perfect relationship with the Father.
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Life flows from Him to us. It makes it crystal clear that
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the One who began the good work in US must perform it unto the
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day of Christ or it will prove a painful failure.
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So salvation from start to finish is God's operation, not
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something we initiate and then just maintain with his
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occasional help. No, it's a constant living
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connection, a lifeline we depend on continuously.
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OK, so if we need this constant fresh supply of divine
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confirmation, this upholding grace, where does this huge need
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actually come from? Why are we so needy?
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Well, Spurgeon points us inward first.
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He explains that this necessity, this need for confirmation,
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comes very much from our own cells.
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From inside us. Yeah, that painful fear we
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talked about earlier, the fear of not persevering.
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It often stems from knowing ourselves, knowing our own
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fickleness. Fickleness.
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Like being changeable, unreliable.
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Exactly. It's an honest, sometimes
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painful self-assessment that leads to this worry.
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You know your own patterns. You know your own history.
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Maybe you're starting things with great enthusiasm and then
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fizzling out, or having a passionate interest in something
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that just fades over time. You look at yourself and think,
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am I really capable of sticking with this for the long?
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Haul that resonates. We see that in all areas of
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life, not just spiritual things. We do.
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And what's particularly striking here is Spurgeon's recognition
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of, well, human variability, even basic personality
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differences. He talks about how some
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individuals seem constitutionally unstable or
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naturally variable and volatile. He describes them almost like
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butterflies that flip from flower to flower and settle upon
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none of them. Butterflies.
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Yeah, they're everything by turns and nothing long.
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He's not necessarily condemning them here.
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It's more like a sober observation of a natural
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disposition some people have. And for people like that, this
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self-awareness, knowing their own tendency towards
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restlessness and change, it can naturally lead them to worry, to
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feel that 10:20, 30-40, perhaps 50 years of continuous religious
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watchfulness will be a great deal too much for them.
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They look at the long road ahead and their own nature and think,
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no way. Right.
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They understand their own inclination is towards
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instability, not steadfastness. So Spurgeon says these
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individuals have a double need to pray that they may be
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divinely confirmed. A double need because their own
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nature fights against perseverance even more.
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That seems to be the implication.
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They realized that without direct, powerful, ongoing divine
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intervention holding them steady, they simply will not
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make it. Their natural bent is away from
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endurance. That's quite a stark look at our
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natural inclinations and how temperament plays a role, but
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surely it's not just for those who see themselves as
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particularly fickle, right? Oh, absolutely not.
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It feels like this weakness is something deeper, something
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common to all of us. Maybe just express differently?
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That's right, Spurgeon makes that clear.
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Even if you don't see yourself as having a constitutionally
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unstable personality, he says that all of us must feel our own
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weakness if we're really quickened of God.
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If we're really spiritually alive.
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If we're really spiritually alive, truly regenerated by the
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Spirit, that awakening brings with it an unavoidable, acute
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awareness of our own inherent spiritual frailty.
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You see your weakness in a way you didn't before.
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So it's not that becoming a Christian makes you instantly
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strong and stable. No, in a way it makes you aware
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of how unstable you actually are apart from God's grace.
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Which brings us back to that question.
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Do we really get it? Do we really acknowledge our
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daily need for strength? Yeah, Spurgeon drives this home
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quite pointedly. He suggests that in anyone
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single day, just one ordinary day, you can find enough folly
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to make you stumble. Enough folly in one day.
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And enough folly to make you ashamed of yourselves.
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Even before the breakfast, things are cleared away from the
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table. Before breakfast.
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That's quick. It is.
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Think about it. Before the day has even really
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started, maybe, a careless word slips out.
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A flash of impatience at home, a moment of unkind judgement about
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someone, a selfish thought, and boom, our own internal weakness,
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our carelessness, causes us to falter.
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It's almost funny how easily we stumble if it weren't so
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serious. It was just sobering.
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And Spurgeon pushes this further, he says, even if you
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try to escape the world's influences, say, by isolating
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yourself in the lone cell of a hermit.
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Walking yourself away that wouldn't.
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Remove the incitements to sin. Why?
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Because they reside within our hearts.
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The problem isn't primarily out there, it's in here.
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That's his point. It's not mainly the external
21:46
environment creating the sin. It's our own internal
21:49
disposition, our fallen nature, our lingering corruption.
21:52
There's no geographical cure for that.
21:54
So you can't escape your own heart.
21:55
Basically you. Can't this internal
21:57
vulnerability, this ever present inner source of weakness and
22:00
potential failure, means that if he God, does not confirm us, we
22:04
are so weak that we shall stumble and fall?
22:07
And notice this. Not overturned by an enemy, but
22:10
by our own carelessness. Wow, we wouldn't even need Satan
22:14
or the world to knock us down. Left to ourselves, we just trip
22:17
over our own feet. Yeah.
22:19
Fall due to our own spiritual clumsiness, our inherent
22:22
weakness. It's a really sobering
22:24
recognition of just how deep seated our nod is for God's
22:28
sustaining strength to hold us up moment by moment.
22:31
We are our own worst enemy in many ways.
22:34
OK, so we've got our internal struggles, our own fickleness,
22:37
our inherent weakness, but that's not the whole picture, is
22:39
it? Our sources also talk about
22:41
challenges coming from outside us.
22:43
Right external factors that make the spiritual life demanding.
22:46
One thing mentioned is the weariness which comes of a long
22:49
life on the spiritual path. This isn't just about getting
22:52
physically older, though that can be part of it.
22:55
It's a deeper spiritual and emotional fatigue they can set
22:58
in after years and years of striving, battling sin, facing
23:02
trials, just trying to keep going.
23:04
Like running marathon versus a Sprint.
23:06
Exactly. And if we think about any long
23:09
journey, especially a difficult one, weariness is completely
23:12
natural. You get tired.
23:13
And the Christian life, according to Spurgeon, is
23:16
definitely portrayed as a difficult journey.
23:18
Oh yeah, he describes the road as rough, not a smooth, easy
23:23
highway. So what kind of rough terrain
23:25
are we talking about? What makes it so hard?
23:27
Well, the sources list some classic allegorical landmarks,
23:30
drawn perhaps from works like Pilgrims Progress.
23:33
Things like Hills of Difficulty. Those times when it feels like a
23:36
steep uphill climb spiritually. Right battles that test your
23:40
resolve, drain your strength, make every step feel like a
23:43
massive effort. And valleys of humiliation,
23:45
those. Periods where your pride gets
23:47
stripped away, maybe through failure or suffering, you're
23:50
brought low, forced to face your dependence, often painfully.
23:55
In a veil of death, shade sounds ominous.
23:57
Yeah, representing really dark, perilous times, maybe profound
24:01
loss, deep suffering times when God feels distant or even close
24:06
encounters with spiritual or physical danger where the light
24:10
seems to just disappear. Then there's Vanity Fair.
24:13
Yes, the world's allurements, right?
24:14
All the glittering distractions, the empty promises, the
24:17
temptations that pull your focus away from eternal things.
24:21
Then castles of despair. Places of deep hopelessness,
24:24
crushing doubt where pilgrims, believers have too often seen
24:28
the inside. Times when you feel trapped in
24:31
spiritual darkness. So all these things, the
24:33
difficulty, the humiliation, the darkness, the temptations, the
24:36
despair, they all add up. They absolutely contribute to
24:40
that weariness. They make continuing on the path
24:42
incredibly difficult, maybe even seem impossible sometimes
24:45
without that constant divine help.
24:47
Which is why the source says. It says those who hold out to
24:50
the end in the way of holiness will be men wondered at.
24:54
Wondered at, like it's astonishing that anyone actually
24:56
makes it. Yeah.
24:57
It highlights how remarkable almost genuine perseverance
25:01
really is. It suggests it's not the norm,
25:04
humanly speaking. It's not something naturally
25:06
achieved by just trying hard. And what's striking here, too,
25:09
is that it's not just these specific trials.
25:12
The world itself is presented as an enemy.
25:15
Precisely. Not just neutral ground with
25:17
occasional obstacles, but actively hostile territory.
25:21
It's portrayed as a howling wilderness to many of God's
25:24
people and an enemy's country where believers have to live.
25:29
And it's explicitly stated to be no friend to Grace.
25:33
No friend to grace meaning. Meaning the world's system, its
25:37
values, its priorities, its general atmosphere.
25:40
It doesn't nurture or support spiritual growth.
25:43
It actively opposes it. It tries to undermine your
25:46
faith, corrupt your thinking, pull you back into its ways.
25:49
And Spurgeon gives examples of this constant opposition.
25:52
Right, yeah, quite down to earth ones, he says.
25:54
You might be saluted with blasphemy soon after you finish
25:57
your morning prayers. You step outside and the first
25:59
thing you hear is irreverent or offensive language.
26:02
Or you might be vexed with filthy conversation like lot in
26:05
Sodom, just going about your day.
26:07
Right, constantly hearing coarse, impure, ungodly talk all
26:11
around you. Even the open streets can
26:13
assault your ears with foul language.
26:16
There's often no escaping. It so it's not just occasional
26:18
big trials, it's this continuous grinding exposure to
26:22
ungodliness. Yes, a pervasive atmosphere that
26:25
wears you down. It really does sound like a
26:27
constant battle. No breaks, nowhere to really let
26:30
your guard down. It is Spurgeon uses the image
26:33
that the world is full of robbers lurking in every Bush.
26:36
Hidden dangers. Hidden dangers, subtle
26:39
temptations, cunning traps everywhere, ready to trip you up
26:42
or pull you off course when you least expect it.
26:45
Which means. It means believers have to
26:47
contend for every inch of our way.
26:49
Contend for every inch. It requires constant spiritual
26:52
alertness, vigilance, active resistance.
26:56
It's not a relaxed stroll in the park.
26:58
It's a continuous fight for every piece of ground gained,
27:01
every right choice made, every thought brought into obedience.
27:05
So how do we travel this road? Then how do we contend?
27:08
The source suggests we have to travel with a drawn sword in our
27:11
hand, ready for battle, or at least with that other weapon
27:14
called all prayer constantly at our side, relying on God through
27:17
prayer at all times. All these external things, the
27:20
weariness from the long journey, the rough terrain, the hostile
27:23
world, the hidden dangers, they just pile on, don't.
27:25
They they pile onto our internal weaknesses.
27:27
Yeah. And they all under score that
27:29
great need for divine confirmation, for God's a
27:33
holding power. Because without that divine
27:35
backing, these pressures, internal and external, would
27:39
absolutely overwhelm us. We would fall, guaranteed.
27:41
OK, so when we put it all together, our own inner weakness
27:46
and fickleness, plus this long rough Rd. through a hostile
27:50
world full of traps, it paints a pretty challenging picture.
27:53
It does very realistic I. Think And this is where Spurgeon
27:56
brings it all together, right? He makes this central statement
27:59
that kind of sums up the whole situation for true faith.
28:03
Yes, he lands on this core affirmation.
28:05
True religion is supernatural at its beginning, supernatural in
28:09
its continuance, and supernatural in its clothes.
28:12
Supernatural all the way through.
28:14
All the way from the first arc of faith through the entire life
28:17
of falling Christ, right to the very end when we enter glory.
28:21
And what's striking is the clarity.
28:23
It is the work of God from first to last.
28:25
Not partly God, partly us. No, it means salvation, the
28:29
ongoing life of faith, and reaching the end.
28:32
None of it is a natural human achievement.
28:34
It's not something we can start or maintain or finish by our own
28:37
power. It's entirely dependent on God's
28:39
active, continuous operation in US and for us.
28:42
So if any part of your faith journey relied solely on your
28:46
own natural ability, your own grit, your own willpower,
28:49
Spurgeon would say that's not true religion.
28:52
In the sense he means it here, yes, because true, saving,
28:56
persevering religion is inherently a supernatural thing
28:59
sustained by God. And he uses some really strong
29:02
images to get this across, doesn't.
29:03
He he does very vivid ones to under score this supernatural
29:07
sustaining. He likens the spiritual life,
29:10
the believers perseverance to a flame burning on in the midst of
29:13
the sea. A.
29:14
Flame in the sea? That's impossible.
29:16
Exactly. Water extinguishes fire.
29:18
It's against nature. Or he compares it to a stone
29:22
that has remained suspended in the air.
29:24
Also impossible. Gravity pulls it down.
29:26
Right. Yet Spurgeon says, by God's
29:28
constant miraculous intervention, these impossible
29:31
things happen. The flame keeps burning.
29:33
The stone stays up. So our faith continuing is like
29:36
that against all natural odds. That's the vision.
29:38
It points to the seemingly improbable, frankly impossible
29:42
nature of our faith continuing day after day, year after year,
29:45
without God's constant, active divine intervention upholding
29:49
it. Wow, so connecting that to the
29:51
bigger picture, it really implies that our spiritual
29:54
existence just continuing to believe and follow Christ today
29:58
is actually an ongoing miracle, yes?
30:00
Not just the start was a miracle, but the continuance is
30:04
a miracle of God sustained action, moment by moment, day by
30:07
day. That really changes how you view
30:09
things it. Does.
30:10
And it raises that important query about how we view our
30:13
spiritual successes. You know, the times we do resist
30:16
temptation, times we do grow, the times we just keep going.
30:19
We tend to take credit, maybe subconsciously.
30:21
We do, but when we really grasp this idea that he who began the
30:26
good work in US must perform it under the day of Christ or it
30:29
will prove a painful failure. Failure.
30:32
It shifts our whole focus. It takes our attention off our
30:35
strength, our achievements, our efforts, and puts it squarely on
30:38
to God's faithfulness, His power, His grace.
30:41
So any spiritual progress, any perseverance, we see in
30:44
ourselves. It's not really a badge of our
30:46
own merit. It's not a trophy for our
30:47
self-discipline. It's actually evidence of God's
30:50
ongoing, active, unwavering operation in our lives.
30:53
It's his work being displayed. It's his operation, his
30:56
sustaining power, his faithfulness, not ours, that
31:00
truly guarantee tease. We will continue.
31:02
OK, so given all these challenges, we've laid out our
31:05
own deep weaknesses. The long hard Rd. the hostile
31:09
world always pushing back. Where does this leave us?
31:13
With that dark fear we started with?
31:15
That fear of not making it to the end.
31:18
Well, it sounds like if we were left to ourselves, we'd have
31:20
every single reason to be terrified.
31:22
Our failure would be certain. Right.
31:24
The prognosis based on us alone is bleak.
31:28
Bleak is a good word for it, but the ultimate message of hope,
31:31
the place where we find real solace, isn't in denying our
31:35
weaknesses or trying harder in our own strength.
31:37
Where is it then? It's found, paradoxically, in
31:40
fully acknowledging how much we need God in facing our great
31:44
needs squarely. The sources say that when you as
31:46
an individual truly feel the great need that the hand of the
31:50
Lord should be stretched out still for your preservation.
31:52
When you really get how dependent you.
31:54
Are then you will look for his own preservation to the Lord,
31:57
who alone is able to keep us from failing and glorify us with
32:00
His Son. So seeing the need drives you to
32:03
the only one who can meet the need.
32:05
Exactly. That's where the true spiritual
32:07
comfort is found. Not in mustering more personal
32:10
strength, which we don't have anyway, but in looking away from
32:13
ourselves, away from our shifting feelings, our past
32:16
failures, our future fears, and looking entirely solely to the
32:20
Lord. So recognizing our desperate
32:23
need becomes the path to peace. That seems backwards.
32:26
It does seem backwards to our usual way of thinking, but yes,
32:29
recognizing I can't do this, I will fail on my own is the first
32:32
step to casting yourself completely on the one who can
32:35
and will keep you. That dependence is where the
32:38
security lies. So what does this mean
32:40
practically for our personal perspective, living this out day
32:42
by day? How do we actually integrate
32:45
this kind of radical dependence into our daily lives?
32:48
Well, one natural result Spurgeon points to is a feeling
32:51
of grateful wonder. Grateful wonder.
32:53
Yeah, just the sheer fact that we are kept even for another
32:56
hour, another day, that we are sustained moment by moment
32:59
despite all these internal and external forces working against
33:03
us, that should fill us with profound ongoing gratitude.
33:06
Like, wow, I'm still standing. Spiritually speaking, that can
33:10
only be God. Exactly.
33:11
An ongoing astonishment at God's preserving kindness and power.
33:15
It stops being about our endurance and starts being about
33:18
His faithfulness. And there's a future hope tied
33:20
to this, too. Right.
33:21
Oh, absolutely. The glorious expectation, the
33:24
vision for the future, is that one day we shall tell to angels
33:28
and principalities and powers the unsearchable riches of
33:32
Christ which were spent upon us. We'll be telling the story of
33:34
His Grace. Telling the story of how his
33:37
immense resources were poured out just to keep us, to preserve
33:41
us, to bring us safely home. And this future vision includes
33:44
entering the Pearly Gate blameless in the day of our Lord
33:47
Jesus Christ. Not because we perfected
33:49
ourselves, but because He confirmed us.
33:51
He kept us. And that site us arriving
33:54
blameless because of his work. Spurgeon says it will amaze the
33:57
universe. Amaze the universe.
33:59
That's quite a thought. It is.
34:01
It's a gracious God glorifying vision of His steadfastness, His
34:05
faithfulness to His promises and His people.
34:08
And that grand culmination of His preserving work gives us
34:11
every reason to rest in His faithfulness right now, today,
34:15
with that grateful wonder filling our hearts.
34:17
As we wrap up this deep dive, then it really seems the truth
34:21
about perseverance is, well, it's challenging because it
34:25
shows us our true spiritual state, our weakness.
34:28
It definitely does that. But it's also incredibly freeing
34:31
because it highlights God's immense goodness, His
34:34
faithfulness, his active role in keeping his people.
34:37
Liberating is a good word. It takes the ultimate pressure
34:39
off us and puts it on to him where it belongs.
34:42
So for you listening, what does it mean for your daily walk to
34:45
truly rest in this truth moment by moment?
34:48
How might recognizing God as the sole source of your continuance,
34:52
your perseverance, change how you face spiritual challenges,
34:55
knowing that He is at operation from your very beginning all the
34:59
way to your final arrival? That's.
35:00
The thought to wrestle with? Let that settle with you this
35:02
week. Thanks for joining us on the
35:04
Deep Dive. Until next time, may you know
35:07
you are upheld by the Divine Hand.