1992 issue 9 - sermons of benjamin palmer: the righteous scarcely saved - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1992 Issue 9 - Sermons of Benjamin Palmer: The Righteous Scarcely Saved - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Andi the Righteous scarcely

be saved,

where shall the

ungodly

and the sinner

appear?

The argument of Peter

in

the text is

presentedin he strongest fonn oflogic,

from

the

lesser

to the greater

probability. It is put interrogatively,

asa

direct appeal to themoral udgment

of

the

reader-carrying with it a

challenge

to

resist the conclusion, i f

t

be

possible. This is felt

by

the writer to

be

so irresistible,

that

the utterance

of

it may be

safely left with those to

whomtheargumentisaddressed: "For

the timeis come

that

udgment must

begin

at

the house

of

God;

and

i t irst

begin

at

us,

what

shall the

endbeaf hem

that

obey

not the

gospel

of

God?

Andi he righteous

scarcely be saved, where shall theungodly

and sinner appear?

It is necessary

just

here

to

intimate

a caution in the interpretation of the

text. Evidently

it

must

not

be

understood as implying any defect

in

the provisions

of

the gospel,

or

as

clouding with suspicion the cenainty

of

the

believer s

salvation. The

atonement for sin is perfect; the

Mediatorstanding between us and God

is

fully competent to the trust assumed;

the righteousness by which we are

justified, is commensurate with the

law we

had

broken: cenainly, there is

not ting wanting

in

this pan of the

Gospel

scheme. So,

when

this

redemption comes to be applied. The

agent is the Holy Spirit, equal with the

Fatherand the Sonin power and glory,

whose work must therefore be perfect.

All the

grace needed

in

our

sanctification is treasured

in

Christ,

that it may be dispensed-and the

Holy Spirit dwells within us, to make

the immediate application. When too

we come to the

final

stage of this

salvation, the glory into which the

saint shall be introduced is already

prepared for tim through

our

Lord's

ascension into heaven. (John 14:2-4 )

The certainty of this salvation cannot,

therefore, be impugued. It is secured

by the covenant of promise of Him

who is not a man that he should lie,

neither the son of man that

he should

repent: hat

He

said,

and

shall He

not

do

it? Or,

hath

He

spoken,

and

shall

He

not

makeitgood? (Numbers 23:19) This

assurance is made doubly sure, by the

close articulation of he gospel scheme,

in which all its pans are fitted the one

to the otherwith the nicest adjustment,

and the unity pervading the whole

displays the wisdom with w tich it was

desigued. Whilst the distribution

of

8 THE

COUNSEL

of Chalcedon October, 1992

offices amongst the persons of the

Godhead, is seen to be just what is

needful to give efficiency to the plan,

and

guarantees the accomplishment

of the end which is

proposed.

Whatever men may be intended by the

Apostle whenhespeaks of he righteous

as "scarcely saved," no distrust can be

entenained

as

to

the completeness

of

that salvation revealed

in

"glorious

gospel of the blessed God.

But there is a human side in this

salvation on w tich

man

is the actor, as

well as a divine side on which God is

the agent. The Scripture saith, work

out

your own salvation

with fear

and

trembling;Jar it

is

God which

worketh

in

you both

t

will

and

to do

of His

good

pleasure.

(Phil. 2:12,13). It is, I

conceive, upon this human side, where

the agency and the experience of the

Christian are brought

under

review,

we are

to

find the true interpretationof

the text. Howevercompletethescheme

of

divine mercy,

and

however cerrain

the salvation t provides for the sinner,

every believer finds mat, so far as his

own pan in the work is involved, he is

but "scarcely saved. Let us look into

this a little.

I

We

are made

to see that there

are

real obstacles to

be

overcome,

in

any plan of salvation which God

may devise. It is

not

proper to speak

of degrees of power

in

omnipotence,

and therefore all things

may be

regarded as alike

e sy

to God. But

there is a marked difference in the

Scriptural account of God's works,

when viewed as exhibitionsofphysical

or of moral power. We are presented

with the difficulties of the latter, that a

deeper impression may be made

of

he

power which subdues them. Thus the

work

of

creation, which lies so far

beyond the compass of reason that it

can

be

accepted only through faith,

(Heb.

11

:3) is yet presentedin5ctipture

as requiring only a word. In each of

the days, me creative act is described

thus, and

God said,

10r

He spake,


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and it was done He commanded, and t

stood fast.

n

(Psalm 33:9) But in

redemption there was counsel; as

though wisdom must be broughtin to

consider and

to

surmount embarrass

ments. It was a scheme gradually

unfolded through a period of four

thousand years, before its completion

in

the sufferings and death of Christ

upon the cross. Nay, a language must

be constructedin he types and symbols

of a figurate economy, through which

the methods of saving

grace

might be

revealed to the world. How wonderful

the contrast And God means the

Christian

to

understand the obstacles,

over which

the

great salvation is

brought to his door in the sweet offers

ofthe gospel.

Descending from this broad survey,

you

may

choose

to

enterinto the details

of

this amazing scheme. I warn

you

that difficulties will thicken upon every

step of the investigation until, it may

be, you will pause in alarm. When

justice, truth and holiness have united

in the decree, "the soul that sinneth, it

shall die, -how shall mercy and love

protest against it, without a schism in

the attributes of God which it would

be blasphemy to suggest? Do you fall

back

upon

the

idea

of

SUBSTITUTION?

Then explain the

embarrassment of expiatingthe sins of

the guilty by the sufferings of

an

innocent party. Would it not be

tyranny in the lawgiver

to

lay this

dreadful service upon any who should

be unwilling to assume it? And could

any creature lawfully propose it of his

own accord? Perhaps, if the law-giver

could himself achieve the task-if he

who has the deepest interest in

preserving the integrity of his own

administration could

endure

the

penalty-in that case, the repugnance

to justice would be lost in the

saClifice

which lays the suffering exactly upon

him.

But

do you not see that you have

risen now above the human plane to

the divine? You havefound the Son of

God, so far one with the Fatheras to be

identified with the Lawgiver; and yet

so

far

distinct from the Father, that He

may freely offer to take the sinner's

place.

But

then

ow shall the Wordbemade

flesh?"(john l:14) ForuntiltheDivine

is

lso

human, the substitute is not yet

found. Need I tell

you

that you have

just struck upon the deep mystery of

the Incarnation? PaSSing this by,

however, do you clearly see how this

substitute shall really

feel

the shame of

the sinsHe has assumed? Thesuffering

you may conceive s coming upon

Him from without; but the shame is

within. Here is the dilemma; how can

He, who was holy, harmless,

undefiled," encounter this strange

emotion of shame? And yet without it

how can He be said to put His soul in

our soul's stead, as a true substitute

must?

Without pressing further these

difficulties, which lie in the SCripture

facts ofincarnation, substitution, and

vicarious atonement.

turn your

thoughts a moment to theoffice which

the Holy Spirit discharges in

our

salvation. Evidently, His agency must

be omnipotent; for it is His function to

give life-to make the sinner a new

creature in Christ

Jesu5-to

raise him

from his death in sin, that he may

walk

in newness of

life.

" (Romans 6:4-

6)

Yet

in all this work of Almighty

power, He must not disturb the

autonomyofman'snature. The sinner

must be plucked from the jaws ofhell,

and a complete change be wrought in

his whole character; whilst not a pin of

the delicate machinery shall be jarred

from its place, in the spontaneity and

responsibility of the acts which he

shall

put

forth

underthe

impulse ofall

this grace.

I sweep over these points rapidly,

having no purpose beyond that of

passing them in review. They are but

illustrations

of

what must be

surmountedinanyplanofmercywhich

may be revealed to us; and

it

is in the

solution of these and kindred

difficulties, that the gospel of Christ

becomes

the

power of

God to

salvation

to

every

one

that believeth. They are so

brought home to us,

in

our Christian

experience, that we cannot suppress

the feeling of being "scarcely saved.

Indeed theysometimesso frown

upon

us with their rugged grandeur, that we

smile at the flippancy of the assaults

which infidelity has ever made upon

them. Dr. Payson used to say that he

could write from his own experience

against Christianity, ifhe chose

to

do

it, with a power that would put to

shame all

that infidels had

ever

dreamed. And it is true. The man,

who has drawn into his ownexperience

what Divine grace has achieved

in

order

to

secure his salvation, could

furnish the skeptic with difficulties

that would blanch his check with

terror. Yetthey have all beenconquered

in the gospel of he graceofGod, as the

believer with a blessedexperience fully

knows. It is is prerogative therefore

to say to the sinner who rejects this

gospel, these difficulties remain with

their eternal pressure against you. By

this gospel the Chlistian is only saved;

what then shall the

end

be

of hem that

do

11 t

obey it? The oppressive silence

which follows this interrogatory, is the

most solemn condemnation that can

be pronounced.

II. The righteous are scarcely

saved, in view of the struggle

with

which each

passed into the

Kingdom

of God. What a long period of apathy

and indifference, duting which God

was pleading for admission into the

heart that was barred against His

approach

What

resistance of motives

drawn from three worlds,

the

attractions of heaven, the tortures of

hell, and the emptiness

of

earth

against which three-fold battery the

human spirit has the power to hold

out in obstinate siege Over what a

October, 1992 THE COUNSEL

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Chalcedon

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9


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dreary waste memory travels, when t

brings up the years ofitnpenitence and

unbelief, during which we listened to

the denunciations of wrath and to the

pleadings of love, alike unmoved by

the pains of he one and by the pathos

of he other Then followed conviction

for sin, and the sense of guilt. Canwe

not

recall

the

unutterable

wretchedness,

when

we were first

overwhelmed by

the

shame and

disgrace ofall this? And wasitrelieved

when

we awoke to

an

equal sense

of

our

helplessness, and gloom settled

fora time into the blackness of despair?

Is it difficult to reproduce the agony of

those fruitless attempts to escape the

bondage of

sin

and the curse of the law

under which we groaned? What self

inflicted

tortures goading the

conscience to remorse,

in

the vain

hope that

remorse might transfoun

into a peace-giving repentance What

a strain

upon

the whole nature,

in

those spasms ofeffort to lay hold upon

the cross with the faith which would

make the Saviour oursl Truly then the

kingdom

of

heaven brol,e

in

upon us,

as one expresses it, with a mighty

movement

and

impulse," and

it

was

with a species

of

violence that we took

it

by

force. (Matt.

11

:12)

Can

the

hristian

recall these pangs of the

second birth,

when

he passed from

spiritual death

to

spiritual life, without

feeling

that

he was scarcely saved?"

And

he will read, in that experience,

the certain doom of those who have

never felt the anguish of this middle

passage from

sin to holiness.

ill. The righteous are scarcely

saved,

In

the severiry oj theconjlict

with indwelling sin, with the world

and with Satan.

It would cover the

whole personal history of he Christian,

to develop the

three points here

specified. Nothing can be

attempted

beyond

the

merest suggestion.

As

to

the first of the three, the new life is

infused by the Holy Spirit, and then is

left

to

its own aw ofgrowth: or to vary

the form of expression, the principle

of holiness is implanted, which by the

law of

expansion pervades the whole

nature and takes possession of every

faculty. Throughout life, until death

brings a blessed release, the antagonism

exists between what the Apostle calls

"the flesh" and "the spirit": jor

heflesh

lusted

against

the

spirit,

and

the

spirit

against

the flesh:

and

these

are

contrary

the

one

to the other, so

that

ye cannot do

the

things

thatyewould."(Gal.

v:

17). To

the

end of

his career

on

earth, the

believer

is

'

putting

off, concerning

the

Jonnerconversation,

the

old

man which is

corrupt according to the deceitful

lusts

and is putting on the new man, which

after God; Is

created in

righteousness

and

tnie holiness.

(Eph.

4: 22,24). The

Christian does

not

live, who cannot

enter into the sad complaint

of

Paul: I

see another

law

in my members warring

against the law ojmy mind, and

bringing

me

into captivity

to

the law

oj

sin which

is

in

my

members. Oh

wretched man that

I

am who shall ddivermeJrom the

body

oj

this death?" (Romans 7:14-25.)

The conflict with the world is severe

in two particulars. There is , for

example, it obtrusiveness (intrusion).

We are so much under the dontinion

of

sense, always unfavorable to

the

actingoffaith. Through the five senses,

this world of matter is ever rushing

in

upon the world ofspirit. In vain do we

seek to shut down the gates and

bar

outtheinvader. Withprofanerudeness

it

tramples upon

our

seasons of holy

meditationandsecretcommunion with

God-thrusting its trifles upon our

notice, and with boisterous

. positiveness asserting that to

be

real

which we have

sO

often found to be

empty as the shadow. In addition to

which there is the numbing influence

of

the world, so unfriendly to piety in

all its maxims, opinions, habits and

laws. Here we are-in the world, with

no power to separate ourselves from

i t ~ w i t .all the energies tasked in

resisting the snares by which we may,

10 I m COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon I October, 1992

at any moment, be entrapped.

And what shall I say

of

the Devil?

Most certainly not that which the

shallow skepticism of the day openly

pr

ocIaims---that he is a myth, a dark

superstition, a fantastiC specter

conjured

up

by fear

in ah

uncritical

age, the traditional legend ofa gloomy

and ascetic past. It was the lot

of

Him

whom we call our Master

and

Lord, to

enter into conflict with this most

personal of all foes: and there can be

no testimony more unimpeachable

than of the witness who declines, out

of the bosom of the dismal strife, that

Satan is

"the

prince of the

power

oj the

alr,

the spirit that

now

worketh

in

the

children

oj

disobedience. CEph.2:2;]ohn

12:31). With fearfulsigniticance

he

is

even styled "God

oj this

world," having

power to "blind the minds oj them that

believe not.

(2 Cor.

4:

4). The reality

of jurisdiction which this

feU

usurper .

has acquired over the forces ofnature,

is more than shadowed to us in the

temptation of our Redeemer himself;

when he

"took

Him

into

an exceeding

high mountain and

showed

Him

all the

kingdoms oj the world and the glory oj

them;

and saUl

unto

Him, all these things

willI

give thee,

i hou wilt

fall

down and

wo

rship

me.

" (Matt. 4:8,9). 1 have

no

speculations to offer as

to

the mode in

which this vision was accomplished.

The wonder is equally great,

and

eqoally attests the stretch of Satanic

power, whether we suppose

an

actual

spectacular display before the eye of

the

body-or

a mental conception

wrought through the imagination

alone .The point to be noticed is that,

in

either case, it

was

a

work

accomplished by the Devil: and it gives

the clue to much that is experienced

by the

Christian

who,

through

temptation, enters into the sorrow

of

his Lord. Who can describe the limit

of power granted him to inflame the

passiOns ofmen, to stimulate lust and

desire, to till the intagination with

pictures of sin, to enter into men's


4/6

dreams and to pass the most weird

apparitions before the eye closed in

sleep? Nay, when the arts ofsolicitation

have all beenexhausted, what resources

of

malice are displayed

in

harassing

those whom he cannot destroy What

horrible suggestions, full

of

filth or

full

of

blasphemy, are suddenly thrown

into the mind-which recoils from it

with

a degree of horror showing them

to be arrows from thebow of an enemy

withoutl But say-if a Christian can

come out of a life-long conflict with

this triple conspiracy of the world, the

flesh, and the devil, without the

conviction riveted upon

him of being "scarcely

saved?"

IV. That he is

scarcely saved, isproved

by the

severe

discipline

to which

he

is subject

during life. Trials

doubtless, areallotted to

all: forthe doublereason ....

that by

the interlacing of .

human

relations the

piousandthewickedare

bound

up

together

and because this Divine

providence operates

chiefly through natural

and

established laws,

under which all men live alike. But

there is this fundamental difference

between the sorrows

of

the righteous

and ofthe

wicked: that the fonner are

embraced within the covenant which

God has made with His people, and

fall therefore

under

the ministration

of

love. I scarcely know what should

excite a deeper gratitude, than the

tenderness and unction with which

this distinction is pressed upon us

in

the Word of God.

If

you

tum

to the

Old Testament, there is the testim

on

y

of

the Eighty-ninth Psalm:

if

hi

s

children forsake

my

law,

and

walk

not in

my

judgments;

if

they break my statutes,

and

keep

not my comntandments; Olen

will I

visit

their transgreSSion

with

the

rod,

and tl1eir

iniquity with stripes:

hearts,

without putting us

to

the

nevertl1eless

my loving-kindness

will Inot torture. What those suffer whom God

utterly

take from him, nor

suffer my

undertakes to purify, must remain a

faithfulness to fail-my

covenant will I

secret betwixt Him who inflicts and

not break, nor alter the thing that is gone them who endure. "Theheart knoweth

out

of my lips. (vv. 30-34). Uyou tum its

own

bitterness;" and can we come

to

the New Testament, there is the ever forth from the pressure of grief and

classicalpassage

in

Hebrews: 'jorwhom pain, without knowing that we are

the

Lord

loveth, He

chasteneth,

and "scarcely saved?" The teaching power

scourgeth every

son

whom He receiveth

.

there is

in

sorrow-


5/6

There is, too, a blessed sense

in

which

these works, follow the believer

into

heaven, there to receive a gradous

reward.

Our

Lord intimates

as mu

ch

in the

parable of the talents, when to

him who had

used well his trust

it

was

said: Well

done,

thou good

and faithful

servant; thou has been over

a ew things,

Iwill make thee ruler overmany things

enter thou into the

joy of hy Lord (Matt

25:21,23). And the voice,

whichjohn

heard from heaven, sweeps away the

last vestige of doubt: Write,

blessed

are

the

dead

which die in the Lord, from

henceforth:yea,

saith

the Spirit,

that

they

may

rest from their

labors;

and

their

works do follow

them.

(Rev. 14: 13)

But

whilst these

Christian

works

are

recognized

as

evidences

of

ourstate before God, and as

proofs of personal zeal in

the Divine service, they are

entirely disallowed as

forming any

part of

the

ground of our

acceptancein

the day of judgment. For

other foundation can no man

lay than that is laid, which

is

Jesus Christ.

Now i any

man

build

upon

this

foundation

gold,

silver,

precious

stones, wood, hay

stubble;

every

man's

work

shall

be made manifest-for

the day

shall declare it,

because it shall

be

revealed by

fire, and the fire shall t y

tveryman'sworkofwhatsortitis. Ifany

man's work abide which

he

hath built

thereupon, he shall

receive a

reward.

If

any

man's work shall be burned, he shall

suffer loss;

but

he himself shall be

saved,

yet so as

by

fire. I Cor. 3: 11-15).

How prophetic of this separation of

the believer from

the

imperfect works

he

has wrought,

is that solemn

disclaimer

of

hem whichhe himself s

constrained to

make

in the hour of

death

At no moment does the

redemption of our Lord jesus Christ

seem

so

precious, as when the curtain

is lifted

which

hides the realities of he

eternal world. The language of every

departing saint is, not

by

works

of

righteousness which we have done, but

according to His mercy He saved us by

the

washingofregeneration and renewing

of

the

Holy Ghost-which

he shed upon

us abundantly,

through Jesus

Otrist our

Saviour.

(Titus

3: 5,6).

What can this

repudiation of his own righteousness,

prophetic of a more public divorce at

the judgment, import-except that

salvation is purely of grace?

In no

uncertain

tone is the

testimony

delivered that, so far as his personal

agency is involved, every Christian is

compelled to feel that

he

is scarcely

saved.

In the application of this fact,

according to the Apostle's argument,

it

will e best to e pointed and brief. If

the righteous scarcely be saved, where

shall the ungodly and the

sinner

oppear?

Before this solemn question is

answered,let the advantages possessed

by '

the righteous be carefully

considered.

l.They

are scarcely saved, not

withstanding their union with Christ

from whom life is constantly derived.

The preceding exposition was intended

to free the gospel from the suspidon of

incompleteness. But 1am anxious that

you shall appredate its sufficiency in

all its partS.

What

a splendid gain it is

12

I

TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon

t

October, 1992

to

the

believer to befound in Otrist, not

having

his own

righteousness which

is

of

the law, but

that

which is through thefaith

of Christ,

the

righteousness which

is

of

Godbyfai.th? (Phil. 3:9.) What vantage

ground can be higher,

than to be

complete

in

Him who is the head of all

prinCipality

and power"-in

whom

dwelleth the fulness

of

the

Godhead

bodily? (Co\. 2: 9,10). Who can be

safe, if he be not-unto whom jesus

Christ has been made

ofGod

wisdom,

and

righteousness,

andsanctificatfon,

and

.

redemption

? I Cor. 1 30). Yet in the

face

of all this, the Christ ian confesses

with Peterthatheis scarcely

saved.

What

possible hope

can then be cherished by

those who

are

without

Christ,

being aliens

from the

commonwealth

of

Israel,

and

strangers from the

covenants

of promised,

having no hope,

andwidwutGodin rheworld?

(Eph. 2: 12). ' Is not the

argument well put by the

Apostle, and can its forcebe

evaded?

2. The righteous are

scarcely saved,

notwith

standing the indwelling of

the Holy Ghost to sanctify

and

glorify.

The Christian has, in this presence of

the Comforter, a double assurance of

his salvation. He is given as the seal

and pledge of this: in whom, says the

Apostle, after that ye believed, ye were

sealed with that holy

Spirit of

promise,

which

is

the earnest

of

our inheritance,

until the redemption of the purchased

possession, unto

the praise

ofHis glory.

(Eph. 1:13.) And we can see that

nature of he guarantee

in

the fact that

the Holy Spirit is

the

quickener, the

fountain of spiritual life to those

in

whom he abides. Yet

with

this perfect

assurance of salvation, in the actual

presence and official working of the

agent by whom salvation is applied, it

is still most solemnly true that the

righteous are scarcely saved. What


6/6

must the end be of hose who not only

"have done despite unto the SpiJit of

grace:

but

who (so far as they can

testify from any expeJience of His

power,) have

not so

much

as heard

whetherbe any Holy Spirit? (Acts 19:2)

f

they are "scarcely saved" in whom

there isawell-spJing oflife,how utterly

dead must they remain upon whom

the Holy Spirit ha th never breathed?

3. The righteous are scarcely saved,

notwithstanding the entire change

wrought

n

their character and desires,

at their conversion. God knows, my

brethren, that we are conscious of

gJievous imperfection in ourselves.

The harsh world can bring no

accusation against us, save that of

conscience. But with all

this,

we are

constrained to

proclaim

the

stupendous changewhich Divine grace

has wrought within us.

One

thing we

know whereas

we

were once

blind,

now

we see."Oohn 9:25) A new nature has

been implanted, with its own nstincts,

appetites, aspirations and desires; and

the tendency of these is to holiness,

detaching from sin and leading us

to

God. f then with this magnificent

advantage we are

but

"scarcely saved,"

what is their hope who are still under

the power

of

evil and in whom the

yoke of spiritual bondage has never

been broken?

4. The righteous are scarcelysaved,

notwithstanding the support drawn

from the and grace of God.

These recur

to

the saint

in

every season

of darkness and trial, affording the

nourishment by which his spiritual

strength is renewed. It is one of the

offices of he Comforterto "bring them

to

our remembrance: and through

these channels to pour upon the soul

the rich grace of God by which we are

saved. but if with this aid we are only

saved at the last,

how

melancholy the

forebodings of hose who cannot point

to

a single line in the word of God that

does not warn them against the day of

final ruin?

Let the unconverted themselves

answer the question of the

text:

ifwith

all these splendid opportunities

the

righteous are scarcely saved, where

shall

the

ungodly and

the

sinner

appear? Alas

there is

no

answer, but in a most

oppressive silence.

n

that deepening

silence, let the sinner indulge two

reflections. When heshallstand before

the barof udgment, his probation will

be ended: he has reached his destiny,

and that destiny he has deliberately

chosen. Upon what principle can be

expect the Almighty

to

reverse this

deCision, to contravene hischoice, and

to force upon him that which he has

persistently rejected? The grace by

which we are redeemed is as sovereign

in its application, as in its oJigin: but it

saves no being against his will.

On

the

contrary, it is written, the people shall

bewilllngin the day oj hy power,

(Psalm

110:3). f thy Judge shall render his

decision upon this just

and

necessary

principle, the destiny which the sinner

has chosen will be the destiny he will

experience. He has chosen death, and

death must be his portion.

Besides thiS, the

sinner

has

completed his education;

and it

is and

educationwhichunfits him for heaven.

f

placed amongst the glorified

by

arbitraryauthOlity, he could not share

their joys. He has

not

been rendered

"meet

for

the saint's inheritance

in

light." What, 0 sinner, if you yourself

should earnestly pray

to

be banished

from the glory ofthat presence, whose

dazzling splendor would prove a more

terrible torture than the darkness of

despair What picture can be drawn of

the sinner's doom more dreadful, than

that hell with its horrors

should be

coveted as

an

asylum

from

the

intolerable anguish of being in the

light of God's presence and holiness

forever? I have

not

the hean

to

say

anything afterthis. Oh, thatyou could

be persuaded to faith and repentance,

whilst change is

pOSsible

At least, let

the difficulty with which salvation is

accomplished by us, be a sufficient

plea foryour immediate entranceupon

the work.

May

God, in His mercy, set

home the truth of the text upon every

conscience herel May the echo of its

unanswered question linger upon the

ear, until the answer shall come back

from thesinnerkneelingat the Saviors

crossin

October, 1992 THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon 3

1992 issue 9 - sermons of benjamin palmer: the righteous scarcely saved - counsel of chalcedon

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