perseverance of the saints

John Flavel in The Fountain of Life:

The fatherly care and tender love of our Lord Jesus Christ was eminently revealed in this pleading prayer he poured out for his people at his parting with them. “Having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

What an evidence of his tenderness to you, that he should so intently plead your concerns with God at such a time as this. A world of sorrow encompassed him on every side; a cup of wrath was mixed and ready to be delivered into his hand; the clouds of wrath grew black. One would have thought all his care and thought would have been on his own sufferings. No, he does as it were forget his own sorrows, to mind our peace and comfort. O love unspeakable!

If Christ so eminently showed his care and love for his people in this his parting hour; then we conclude: the perseverance of the saints is unquestionable.

Do you hear how he pleads! how he begs! how he fills his mouth with arguments! how he chooses his words, and sets them in order, how he winds up his spirit to the very highest pitch of zeal and fervency? and can you doubt of success? Can such a Father deny the pleading of such a Son? Oh no, it can never be.

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