"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. (24) For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."
I detain the Reader again, at this blessed statement of the Lord Jesus, concerning the safety of the elect. No signs nor wonders shall deceive them, our God saith; that is, shall deceive them to their injury, so as to hurt them really so in the present life, (see Romans 8:28.) much less for the life to come, by any falling away. They may, and they will be frequently made the dupes of artifice, and the laughing stock of the world, and the drunkards' song. But this is no injury. And as they were chosen in Christ without respect to anything of merit in themselves, before the world began; so are they secured in Christ to grace and glory. But let them remember, and remember it with all thankfulness, that all their safety here, and happiness hereafter, is not the result of their faith in Christ; but the sole purpose of their being elected in Christ. And the very reason wherefore they are kept in safety is, because they are chosen in Christ: so that their faith, and love, and joy in the Lord, are the effects of their election, and not the cause. Oh! the preciousness of this truth, and the security of God's people! Read that sweet scripture, Isaiah 54:14 to the end.