know them, and they follow Me. And I give them life everlasting; and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of My hand. That which My Father hath given Me is greater than all, and no man can snatch them out of the hand of My Father."[1] If we fall wilfully out of that divine hand we destroy ourselves. No power can pluck us out of it against our will, so long as our will and God's will are one. "If God had a mind to kill us, He would not have received a holocaust and libations at our hands, neither would He have shown us all these things, nor have told us the things that are to come."[2] Every token of acceptance in our work, every light and grace, our perseverance year after year, day after day, are pledges of our salvation. "I will not now call you servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends, because all things whatsoever I have learned of the Father I have made known to you. You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, that you should go and should bring forth fruit."[3] To have been chosen by Him out of all the world is by itself a revelation of His purpose to save us. To call us out of His servants to be His friends: to admit us
