Works of Arthur Pink: Pink, Arthur - Saint's Perseverance: 05 Its Springs

11. The love of Christ. Ah, what pen is capable of expatiating upon such a theme when even the chief of the Apostles was obliged to own that it “passeth knowledge” (Eph. 3:19). Such was His wondrous love that in order to save His people, the Son of God left Heaven for earth, laid aside the robes of His glory and took upon Him the form of a Servant. Such was His wondrous love that He voluntarily became the homeless Stranger here, having not where to lay His head. Such was His wondrous love that He shrank not from being despised and rejected of men, suffering Himself to be spat upon, buffeted and His hair plucked out. Yea, such was His wondrous love for His Church that He endured the Cross, where He was made a curse for her, where the wrath of a sin-hating God was poured upon Him, so that for a season He was actually abandoned by Him. Truly His love is “strong as death . . . many waters cannot quench it, neither can the floods drown it” (Song. 8:6, 7).

Mark how that love was tried and proved by the unkind response it met with from the most favoured of His disciples. So littlie did they lay to heart His solemn announcement that as He was about to be delivered into the hands of men and be slain by them, they “disputed among themselves who should be the greatest”’ (Mark 9:31, 34). When the awful cup of woe was presented to Him in Gethsemane and His agony was so intense that He sweat great drops of blood the Apostles were unable to watch with Him for a single hour. When His enemies, accompanied by a great rabble armed with swords and staves, came to arrest Him, “all the disciples forsook Him and fled” (Matt. 26:56)-and had writer and reader been in their place we had done the same. Did such base ingratitude freeze the Saviour’s affection for them and cause Him to abandon their cause? No indeed: “having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1)-to the end of their unworthiness and unappreciativeness.

Ah my reader, His people are the objects of Christ’s everlasting love. Before ever the earth was, His delights were with them (Prov. 8:31) and have continued ever since. As the Father has loved Christ Himself, so Christ loves His people (John 15:9)-with a love that is infinite, immutable, eternal. Nothing can separate us from it (Rom. 8:35). Those whom He loves are the special portion and inheritance given to Him by the Father and will He lose His portion when it is in His power to keep it? No, He will not: “they shall be Mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels” (Mal. 3:17). When they were given to Him by the Father it was with the express charge, “that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39), and therefore do we find Him saying to the Father, “those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost but (not “except”) the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12), and he was a devil from the beginning.

Consider well the various relations which believers sustain to Christ. They are the mystical Body of which He is the Head: “members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones” (Eph. 5:30). They are “the fullness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:23) and thus He would be incomplete, mutilated, if one of them perished. They are laid upon Him as a “foundation” that is “sure” (Isa. 28:16), built upon Him as a “rock” against which “the gates of Hell shall not prevail” (Matt. 16:18). They are His “redeemed,” bought with a price, purchased at the cost of His life’s blood-then how must He regard them! Consider well the terms of endearment used of them. Christians are “of the travail of His soul” (Isa. 53:11). They are His “brethren” (Rom. 8:29), His “fellows” (Psa. 45:7), His “wife” (Rev. 19:7). They are set as a seal upon His heart (Song. 8:6), engraved in the palms of His hands (Isa. 49:16). They are His “crown of glory” and “royal diadem” (Isa. 62:3). Since they are so precious in His sight He will not suffer one to perish.

12. The gift of the Holy Spirit. In contemplating the Person and work of the Spirit in the economy of redemption we must view Him in connection with the Everlasting Covenant and the mediation of Christ. The descent of the Spirit is inseparably related to what has been before us in the previous sections. When the Saviour ascended on high He “received gifts for men, ye, for the rebellious also” (Psa. 68:18), and as His exaltation was in reward for His triumphant undertaking, so also were those “gifts,” the chief of which was the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33). As Christ is the unspeakable gift of the Father unto us, so the Holy Spirit is the supreme gift of Christ to His people. Since Christ is Man as well as God, it is required of Him that He make request for whatever He receives at the hands of the Father: “Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen (the Gentiles) for Thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession” (Psa. 2:8). “I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16).

The redemptive work of Christ merited the Spirit for His people. The Spirit was given to Christ in consequence of His having so superlatively glorified God on the earth and in answer to His intercession. It is due to His praying that the Holy Spirit not only renews the regenerate day by day but that He first brought them from death unto life. This is intimated in the “for the rebellious also” of Psalm 68:18-even while they were in a state of alienation from God. The dispensing of the Spirit is in the hands of the exalted Christ, therefore is He spoken of as, “He that hath the seven Spirits of God” (Rev. 3:1)-the Holy Spirit in the fullness or plenitude of His gifts. To His immediate care is now committed the elect of God. As Christ preserved them during the day of His earthly sojourn (John 17:12), so the Spirit safeguards them while He is on high. This is clearly intimated in John 14:3 where the Lord Jesus declares, “I will come again and receive (not “take”) you unto Myself, that where I am there ye may be also”-they will be handed back to Him by the blessed Spirit.

13. The indwelling of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was purchased for His people by the oblation of Christ and is bestowed upon them through His intercession, to abide with them forever. The manner in which He abides with those on whom He is bestowed is by a gracious indwelling. “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons (that is, that we might have conferred upon us the legal status of sonship). And because ye are sons (by virtue of legal oneness with the Son), God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts” (Gal. 4:4-6). What a marvellous yet mysterious thing this is: that the third Person of the Trinity should take up His abode within fallen creatures! It is not merely that the influences or graces of the Spirit are communicated to us, but that He Himself dwells within us: not in our minds (though they are illumined by Him) but in our hearts-the center of our beings, from which are “the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23).

This was the grand promise of God in the Covenant: “I will put My Spirit within you.” (Ezek. 36:27 and cf. 37:14), the fulfillment of which our Surety obtained for us-“being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath shed forth this” (Acts 2:33), for the dispensing of Him is now in the hands of Christ as we have pointed out. Thus it is that the inhabitation of the Spirit is the distinguishing mark of the regenerate: “But ye are not in the flesh (as to your legal standing before God ) but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Rom. 8:9). It is the indwelling of the Spirit of God which identifies the Christian, and thus He is called “the Spirit of Christ” because He occupies the believer with Christ and conforms him to His image. The apprehension of this wondrous fact exerts a sobering influence upon the believer, causing him to “possess his vessel in sanctification and honour.” “What! Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” (1 Cor. 6:19).

Now the Spirit takes up His residence in the saints not for a season only but never to leave them. “This is My covenant with them, saith the LORD (unto the Redeemer, see v. 19), My Spirit that is upon Thee and My word which I have put in Thy mouth shall not depart out of Thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of Thy seed, nor out of the mouth of Thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever” (Isa. 59:21). That was a solemn promise of the Father unto the Mediator that the Spirit should continue forever with the Redeemer and the redeemed. The blessed Spirit comes not as a transient Visitor but as a permanent Guest of the soul: “And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). Since, then, the Spirit takes up His abode in the renewed soul forever, how certain it is that he will be preserved from apostasy. This will be the more evident from our next division, when it will appear that the Spirit is a powerful, active and sanctifying Agent within the Christian.

14. The operations of the Spirit. These are summed up in, “He which hath begun a good work in you will finish it” (Phil. 1:6). The reference is to our regeneration, completed in our sanctification, preservation and glorification. First He imparts spiritual life to one who is dead in trespasses and sins and then He sustains and maintains that life by nourishing it and calling it forth into exercise and act so that it becomes fruitful and abounds in good works. Every growth of spirituality is the work of the Holy Spirit: as the green blade was His so is the ripening corn. The increase of life, as much as the beginning thereof, must still come by the gracious power of the Spirit of God. We never have more life, or even know we need more or groan after it, except as He works in us to desire and agonize after it. Were the Spirit totally withdrawn from the Christian he would soon lapse back into spiritual death. But thank God there is no possibility of any such dire calamity: every born-again soul has the infallible guarantee, “the LORD will perfect that which concerneth me” (Psa. 138:8).

Let us now consider more particularly some eminent acts of the Spirit in the believer and effects of His grace exercised in them. He empowers and moves them unto obedience: “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and ye shall keep My judgments and do them” (Ezek. 36:27). The two things are inseparable: an indwelling Spirit and holy conduct from those indwelt. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). The Spirit guides into the paths of righteousness by a blessed combination of invincible power and gentle suasion: not forcing us against our wills but sweetly constraining us. He directs the activities of the Christian by enlightening his understanding, warming his affections, stimulating his holy inclinations and moving his will to do that which is pleasing unto God. In this way is that Divine promise fulfilled, “I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go” (Isa. 48:17), and thus is his prayer answered “Order my steps in Thy Word” (Psa. 119:133).

By His gracious indwelling the Spirit affords the saints support: “likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities” (Rom. 8:26). If the believer were left to himself he would never see (by faith) the all-wise hand of God in his afflictions, still less would his heart ever honestly say concerning them, “Thy will be done.” If left to himself the believer would never seek grace to patiently endure chastisement, still less cherish the hope that afterward it would “yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11). No, rather would he chafe and kick like “a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke” (Jer. 31:18) and yield to the vile temptation to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). If the believer were left to himself he would never have the assurance that his worse sufferings were among the all things which work together for his ultimate good, still less would he “glory in his infirmity that the power of Christ might rest upon him” (2 Cor. 12:9). No, such holy exercises of heart are not the products of fallen human nature: instead they are the immediate, gracious, lovely fruits of the Spirit, brought forth in such uncongenial soil.

By His gracious indwelling the Spirit energizes the believer: “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16). This is manifested in many directions. How often He exerts upon the believer a restraining influence, subduing the lusts of the flesh and holding him back from a course of folly by causing a solemn awe to fall upon him: “the fear of the Lord is to depart from evil,” and the Spirit is the Author of that holy fear. “That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us” (2 Tim. 1:14)-He is the one who oils the wheels of the saint’s obedience. “For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Gal. 5:5), otherwise the deferring of our hope would cause the soul to utterly pine away. Hence we find the Spouse praying to the Spirit for invigoration and fructification, “Awake O north wind, and come thou south; blow upon My garden that the spices thereof may flow out” (Song. 4:16).

The graces which the indwelling Spirit produces are durable and lasting, particularly the three cardinal ones: “now abideth faith, hope, love” (1 Cor. 13:13). Faith is that grace which is “much more precious than of gold that perisheth” (1 Peter 1:7)-it is its imperishability which constitutes its superior excellence. It is “of the operation of God” (Col. 2:12) and we know that whatsoever is of Him “it shall be forever” (Eccl. 3:14), Christ praying that it “fail not,” and therefore no matter how severely it shall be tested its possessor can declare, “though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15). The hope of the Christian is “as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast,” for it is cast on Christ the foundation, from whence it can never be removed (Heb. 6:18, 19). As to the believer’s love, though its initial ardour may be cooled yet it cannot be quenched, though first love may be “little” it cannot be lost. Under the darkest times Christ is still the object of his love, as the cases of the Church in Song of Solomon 3:1-3 and of Peter (John 21:17) evidence.

15. The relations which the Holy Spirit sustains to the Christian. In Ephesians 1:14 He is designated “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (cf. 2 Cor. 1:22). Now an “earnest” is part-payment assuring the full reward in due season: it is more than a pledge, being an actual portion and token of that which is promised. If the inheritance were precarious, suspended on conditions of uncertain performance, the Spirit could not in truth or propriety be termed the earnest thereof. If an “earnest” is a guaranty among men, much more so between God and His people. He is also “the firstfruits” of glorification unto the believer (Rom. 8:23), an antepast of Heaven, the initial beams of the rising sun of eternal bliss in the Christian’s soul. He is also the “anointing” which we have received from Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 1:21) and this “abideth” in us (1 John 2:17). Again, He is the believer’s seal: “grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30), that is, until their bodies are delivered from the grave. Among other purposes a “seal” is to secure: can then the treasure which the Spirit guards be lost? No: as Christ was “sealed” (John 6:27) and in consequence “upheld” by the Spirit so that He failed not (Isa. 42:1, 4), so is the believer. It is impossible for any saint to perish.

In an earlier article we dwelt upon the deep importance of this doctrine. Here we wish to show something of its great preciousness. Let us begin by pointing out the opposite. Suppose that the Gospel proclaimed only a forgiveness of all sins up to the moment of conversion and announced that believers must henceforth keep themselves from everything unworthy of this signal mercy. What if it declared that means are provided, motives supplied, and warnings given of the fatal consequences which would surely befall those who failed to make a good use of those means and diligently respond to those motives. And that whether or not he should ultimately reach Heaven is thus left entirely in the believer’s own hands Then what? We may well ask what would be the consequences of such a dismal outlook: what would be the thoughts begotten and the spirit engendered by such a Gospel? what effect would it produce upon those who really believe it? Answers to these questions should prepare us to more deeply appreciate the converse.

It hardly requires a profound theologian to reply to the above queries. They have only to be carefully pondered and the simplest Christian should be able to perceive for himself what would be the inevitable result. If the Christian’s entrance into Heaven turns entirely upon his own fidelity and his treading the path of righteousness unto the end of his course, then he is far worse off than was Adam in Eden, for when God placed him under the Covenant of Works he was not heavily handicapped from the beginning by indwelling sin. But each of his fallen descendants is born into this world with a carnal nature which remains unchanged up to the moment of death. Thus the believer would enter into the fight not only without any assurance of victory but face almost certain defeat. If such a Gospel were true then those who really believed it would be total strangers to peace and joy, for they must inevitably spend their days in a perpetual dread of Hell. Or the first time they were overcome by temptation and worsted by the Enemy, they would at once abandon the fight and give way to hopeless despair.

“I will not turn away from them, to do them good” (Jer. 32:40). “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5). “Nothing whatever can or shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39). “He will keep the feet of His saints” (1 Sam. 2:9). How immeasurable the difference between the vain imaginations of men and the sure declarations of God! It is the contrast of the darkness of a moonless and starless midnight from the radiance of the midday sun. “Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none” (John 18:9) affirmed the Redeemer. Is not that inexpressibly blessed! Everyone of the redeemed shall be brought safely to Heaven. The final apostasy of a believer is an utter impossibility, not in the nature of things but by the Divine constitution. No one who has once been received into the Divine favour can ever be cast out thereof. God has bestowed on each of His children a life that cannot die, He has brought him into a relationship which nothing can change or effect, He has wrought a work in him which lasts “forever” (Eccl. 3:14).

It is sadly true that multitudes of empty professors have “wrested” this truth to their destruction, just as many of our fellows have put to an ill use some of the most valuable of God’s temporal gifts. But because foolish gluttons destroy their health through intemperance is no reason why sane people should refuse to be nourished by wholesome food; and because the carnal pervert the doctrine of Divine Preservation is no valid argument for Christians being afraid to draw comfort from the same. Most certainly it is the design of God that His people should be strengthened and established by this grand article of the faith. Note how in John 17 Christ mentions again and again the words “keep” and “kept” ( vv. 6, 11, 12, 15). And His reason for so doing is clearly stated: “these things I speak in the world that they may have My joy fulfilled in them” (v. 13). He would not have them spend their days in the wretchedness of doubts about their ultimate bliss, uncertain as to the issue of their fight. It is His revealed will that they should go forward with a song in their hearts, praising Him for the certainty of ultimate victory.

But the joy which issues from a knowledge of our security is not obtained by a casual acquaintance with this Truth. Christ’s very repetition, “I kept them . . . those that Thou gavest Me I have kept” (John 17:12) intimates to us that we must meditate frequently upon this Divine preservation unto eternal life. It is to be laid hold of in no transient manner but should daily engage the Christian’s heart till he is warmed and influenced by it. A few sprinklings of water do not go to the roots of a tree but frequent and plentiful showers are needed. So it is not an occasional thought about Christ’s power to keep His people safe for Heaven which will deeply affect them but only a constant spiritual and believing pondering thereon. As Jacob said to the Angel, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me” (Gen. 32:26), so the believer should say to this truth, I will not turn from it until it has blessed me.

When our great High Priest prayed, “Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me” ( John 17:11) it was not (as the Arminians say) that He asked merely that they might be provided with adequate means by the use of which they must preserve themselves. No, my reader, it was for something more valuable and essential. The Saviour made request that faith should be continually wrought in them by the exceeding greatness of God’s power (Eph. 1:19) and where that is, there will be works of sincere (though imperfect) obedience and it will operate by responding to the holiness of the Law so that sins are mortified. The Father answers that prayer of the Redeemer’s by working in the redeemed “both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13), fulfilling in them “all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power” (2 Thess. 1:11) preserving them “through faith unto salvation” (1 Peter 1:5). He leaves them not to their feeble and fickle wills but renews them in the inner man “day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).

That Christ would have His redeemed draw comfort from their security is clear again from His words, “Rejoice because your names are written in Heaven” (Luke 10:20). To what purpose did the Lord Jesus thus address His disciples but to denote that infallible certainty of their final salvation by a contrast from those who perish: that is, whose names were written only “in the earth” (Jer. 17:13) or on the sands which may be defaced. Surely He had never spoken thus if there were the slightest possibility of their names being blotted out. “Rejoice because your names are written in Heaven”-is not the implication both necessary and clear as a sunbeam?-such rejoicing would be premature if there were any likelihood of final apostasy. This call to rejoice is not given at the moment of the believer’s death as he sees the angels about to convoy him to the realm of ineffable bliss but while he is still here on the battlefield. Those name are written by none other than the finger of God, indelibly inscribed in the Book of Life, and not one of them will ever be erased.

Take again His words in the parable of the lost sheep: “I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7). “Such exalted hosannas would not resound on these occasions among the inhabitants of the skies if the doctrine of final perseverance was untrue. Tell me, ye seraphs of light; tell me, ye spirits of elect men made perfect in glory why this exuberance of holy rapture on the real recovery of a sinner to God? Because ye know assuredly that every true conversion is (1) a certain proof that the person converted is one of the elect number and (2) that he shall be infallibly preserved and brought to that very region of blessedness into which ye yourselves are come. The contrary belief would silence your harps and chill your praises. If it be uncertain whether the person who is regenerated today may ultimately reign with you in Heaven or take up his eternal abode among apostate spirits in Hell, your rejoicings are too sanguine and your praises too presumptuous. You should suspend your songs until he actually arrives among you and not give thanks for his conversion until he has persevered unto glorification” (A. Toplady).

1. What encouragement is there here for the babe in Christ! Conscious of his weakness he is fearful that the flesh and the world and the Devil may prove too powerful for him. Aware of his ignorance, bewildered by the confusion of tongues in the religious realm, he dreads lest he be led astray by false prophets. Beholding many of his companions who made a similar profession of faith so quickly losing their fervour and going back again into the world, he trembles lest he make shipwreck of the faith. Stumbled by the inconsistencies of those called “the pillars of the church,” chilled by older Christians who tell him he must not be too extreme, he is alarmed and wonders how it can be expected that he shall hold on his way almost alone. But if these fears empty him of self-confidence and make him cling closer to Christ, they are blessings in disguise for he will then prove for himself that “underneath are the everlasting arms,” and those arms are all-mighty and all-sufficient.

The babe in Christ is as much a member of God’s family as is the mature “father” (1 John 2:13) and the former is as truly the object of Divine love and faithfulness as is the latter. Yea, the younger ones in His flock are more the subjects of the Shepherd’s care than are the full-grown sheep: “He shall gather the lambs with His arm and carry them in His bosom” (Isa. 40:11). The Lord does not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax (Matt. 12:20). He gave proof of this in the days of His flesh. He found some “smoking flax” in the nobleman who came to Him on behalf of his sick son: his faith was so weak that he supposed the Saviour must come down to his house and heal him ere he died-as though the Lord Jesus could not recover him while at a distance or after he had expired (John 4:49): nevertheless He cured him. So, too, after His ascension He took note of a “little strength” (Rev. 3:8) and opened a door which none can shut. The highest oak was once an acorn and God was the maintainer of its life.

When we affirm the final perseverance of every born-again soul we do not mean that saints are not in themselves prone to fall away, nor that at regeneration such a work is wrought in them once and for all that they now have sufficient strength of their own to overcome sin and Satan. Nor do we declare there is no likelihood of their spiritual life decaying. So far from it, we hesitate not to declare that the very principle of grace (or “new nature”) in the believer considered abstractedly in itself-apart from the renewing and sustaining power of God-would assuredly perish under the corruptions of the flesh and the assaults of the Devil. No, the preservation of the Christian’s faith and his continuance in the paths of obedience lies in something entirely external to himself or his state. Wherein lay the impossibility of any bone of Christ being broken? Not because they were in themselves incapable of being broken, for they were as liable to be broken as His flesh to be pierced but solely because of the unbreakable decree of God. So it is with the mystical Body of Christ: no member of His can perish because of the purpose, power and promise of God Himself.

How important it is, then, that the babe in Christ should be instructed in the foundation of Christian perseverance, that the ground on which his eternal security rests is nothing whatever in himself but wholly outside. The preservation of the believer depends not upon his continuing to love God, believe in Christ, tread the highway of holiness, or make diligent use of the means of grace, but on the Covenant-engagements entered into between the Father and the Son. That is the basic and grand Cause which produces as a necessary and infallible effect our continuing to love God, believe in Christ and perform sincere obedience. O what a sure foundation is that! What firm ground for the soul to rest upon! What unspeakable peace and joy issues from faith’s apprehension of the same! Though fickle in ourselves, the Covenant is immutable. Though weak and unstable as water we are, yet that is “ordered in all things and sure.” Though full of sin and unworthiness, yet the sacrifice of Christ is of infinite merit. Though often the spirit of prayer is quenched in us, yet our great High Priest ever lives to make intercession for us. Here, then, is the “anchor of the soul” and it is “both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19).

Ere concluding this subdivision it is necessary to point out in such days as these that it must not be inferred from the above that because the grace, the power and the faithfulness of God insures the preservation of the feeblest babe in Christ that henceforth he is relieved of all responsibility in the matter. Not so-such a blessed truth has not been revealed for the purpose of encouraging slothfulness but rather to provide an impetus to use the means of preservation which God has appointed. Though we must not anticipate too much what we purpose to bring before the reader under a later division of our subject when (D.V.) we shall consider at more length the safeguards which Divine wisdom has placed around this truth, yet a few words of warning, or rather explanation, should be given here to prevent a wrong conclusion being draw from the preceding paragraphs.

The babe in Christ is weak in himself, he is left in a hostile world, he is confronted with powerful temptations both from within and from without to apostatize. But strength is available unto faith, armour is provided against all enemies, deliverance from temptations is given in answer to prevailing prayer. But he must seek that strength, put on that armour, and resist those temptations. He must fight for his very life, and refuse to acknowledge defeat. Nor shall he fight in vain, for Another shall gird his arm and enable him to overcome. The blessedness of this doctrine is that he shall not be left to himself nor suffered to perish. The Holy Spirit shall renew him day by day, quicken his graces, move him to perseverance and make him “more than conqueror through Him that loved him.”

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Works of Arthur Pink: Pink, Arthur - Saint's Perseverance: 05 Its Springs