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"Your own salvation."—Philippians 2:12.
WE SELECT THE WORDS, "your
own salvation," as our text this morning, not out of any singularity, or
from the slightest wish that the brevity of the text should surprise you; but
because our subject will be the more clearly before you if only these three
words are announced. If I had nominally taken the whole verse I could not have
attempted to expound it without distracting your attention from the topic which
now weighs upon my heart. O that the divine Spirit may bring home to each one of
your minds the unspeakable importance of "your own salvation"!
We have heard it said
by hearers that they come to listen to us, and we talk to them upon subjects in
which they have no interest. You will not be able to make this complaint to-day,
for we shall speak only of "your own salvation;" and nothing can more concern
you. It has sometimes been said that preachers frequently select very
unpractical themes. No such objection can be raised to-day, for nothing can be
more practical than this; nothing more needful than to urge you to see to "your
own salvation." We have even heard it said that ministers delight in abstruse
subjects, paradoxical dogmas, and mysterious surpassing comprehension; but,
assuredly, we will keep to plain sailing this morning. No sublime doctrines, no
profound questions shall perplex you; you shall only be called on to consider
"your own salvation:" a very homely theme, and a very simple one, but for all
that, the most weighty that can be brought before you. I shall seek after simple
words also, and plain sentences, to suit the simplicity and plainness of the
subject, that there may be no thought whatever about the speaker's language, but
only concerning this one, sole, only topic, "your own salvation." I ask you all,
as reasonable men who would not injure or neglect yourselves, to lend me your
most serious attention. Chase away the swarming vanities which buzz around you,
and let each man think for himself upon his "own salvation." O may the Spirit of
God set each one of you apart in a mental solitude, and constrain you each one,
singly, to face the truth concerning his own state! Each man apart, each woman
apart; the father apart, and the child apart: may you now come before the Lord
in solemn thought, and may nothing occupy your attention but this: "your own
salvation."I. We will begin this morning's
meditation by noting THE MATTER UNDER CONSIDERATION—Salvation!Salvation! a great
word, not always understood, often narrowed down, and its very marrow
overlooked. Salvation! This concerns every one here present. We all fell in our
first parent; we have all sinned personally; we shall all perish unless we find
salvation. The word salvation contains within it deliverance from the guilt
of our past sins. We have broken God's law each one of us, more or less
flagrantly; we have all wandered the downward road, though each has chosen a
different way. Salvation brings to us the blotting out of the transgressions of
the past, acquital from criminality, purging from all guiltiness, that we may
stand accepted before the great Judge. What man in his sober senses will deny
that forgiveness is an unspeakably desirable blessing!But salvation means more than
that: it includes deliverance from the power of sin. Naturally we are all
fond of evil, and we run after it greedily; we are the bondslaves of iniquity,
and we love the bondage. This last is the worst feature of the case. But when
salvation comes it delivers the man from the power of sin. He learns that it is
evil, and he regards it as such, loathes it, repents that he has ever been in
love with it, turns his back upon it, becomes, through God's Spirit, the master
of his lusts, puts the flesh beneath his feet, and rises into the liberty of the
children of God. Alas! there are many who do not care for this: if this be
salvation they would not give a farthing for it. They love their sins; they
rejoice to follow the devices and imaginations of their own corrupt hearts. Yet
be assured, this emancipation from bad habits, unclean desires, and carnal
passions is the main point in salvation, and if it be not ours, salvation in its
other branches is not and cannot be enjoyed by us. Dear hearer, dost thou
possess salvation from sin? hast thou escaped the corruption which is in the
world through lust? If not, what hast thou to do with salvation? To any
right-minded man deliverance from unholy principles is regarded as the greatest
of all blessings. What thinkest thou of it?Salvation includes
deliverance from the present wrath of God which abides upon the unsaved
man every moment of his life. Every person who is unforgiven is the object of
divine wrath. "God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will
whet his sword." "Be that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." I frequently hear the
statement that this is a state of probation. This is a great mistake, for our
probation has long since passed. Sinners have been proved, and found to be
unworthy; they have been "weighed in the balances," and "found wanting." If you
have not believed in Jesus, condemnation already rests upon you: you are
reprieved awhile, but your condemnation is recorded. Salvation takes a man from
under the cloud of divine wrath, and reveals to him the divine love. Be can then
say, "O God, I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is
turned away, and thou comfortest me." Oh, it is not hell hereafter which is the
only thing a sinner has to fear, it is the wrath of God which rests upon him
now. To be unreconciled to God now is an awful thing: to have God's arrow
pointed at you as it is at this moment, even though it fly not from the string
as yet, is a terrible thing. It is enough to make you tremble from head to foot
when you learn that you are the target of Jehovah's wrath: "he hath bent his
bow, and made it ready." Every soul that is unreconciled to God by the blood of
his Son is in the gall of bitterness. Salvation at once sets us free from this
state of danger and alienation. We are no longer the "children of wrath, even as
others," but are made children of God and joint heirs with a Christ Jesus. What
can be conceived more precious than this?And then, we lastly receive that
part of salvation which ignorant persons put first, and make to be the whole of
salvation. In consequence of our being delivered from the guilt of sin, and from
the power of sin, and from the present wrath of God, we are delivered from
the future wrath of God. Unto the uttermost will that wrath descend upon the
souls of men when they leave the body and stand before their Maker's bar, if
they depart this life unsaved. To die without salvation is to enter into
damnation. Where death leaves us there judgment finds us; and where judgment
finds us eternity will hold Us forever and ever. "He which is filthy, let him be
filthy still," and he that is wretched as a punishment for being filthy, shall
be hopelessly wretched still. Salvation delivers the soul from going down into
the pit of hell. We, being justified, are no longer liable to punishment,
because we are no longer chargeable with guilt. Christ Jesus bore the wrath of
God that we might never bear it. He has made a full atonement to the justice of
God for the sins of all believers. Against him that believeth there remaineth no
record of guilt; his transgressions are blotted out, for a Christ Jesus hath
finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting
righteousness. What a comprehensive word then is this—"salvation"! It is a
triumphant deliverance from the guilt of sin, from the dominion of it, from the
curse of it, from the punishment of it, and ultimately from the very existence
of it. Salvation is the death of sin, its burial, its annihilation, yea, and the
very obliteration of its memory; for thus saith the Lord: "their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more."Beloved hearers, I am sure that
this is the weightiest theme I can bring before you and therefore I cannot be
content unless I see that it grasps you and holds you fast. I pray you give
earnest heed to this most pressing of all subjects. If my voice and words cannot
command your fullest attention, I could wish to be dumb, that some other pleader
might with wiser speech draw you to a close consideration of this matter.
Salvation appears to me to be of the first importance, when I think of what it
is in itself, and for this reason I have at the outset set it forth before your
eyes; but you may be helped to remember its value if you consider that God the
Father thinks highly of salvation. It was on his mind or ever the earth was. He
thinks salvation a lofty business, for he gave his Son that he might save
rebellious sinners. Jesus Christ, the only Begotten, thinks salvation most
important, for he bled, he died to accomplish it. Shall I bide with that which
cost him his life? If he came from heaven to earth, shall I be slow to look from
earth to heaven? Shall that which cost the Savior a life of zeal, and a death of
agony, be of small account with me? By the bloody sweat of Gethsemane, by the
wounds of Calvary, I beseech you, be assured that salvation must be worthy of
your highest and most anxious thoughts. It could not be that God the Father, and
God the Son, should thus make a common sacrifice: the one giving his Son and the
other giving himself for salvation, and yet salvation should be a light and
trivial thing. The Holy Ghost thinks it no trifle, for he condescends to work
continually in the new creation that he may bring about salvation. He is often
vexed and grieved, yet he continues still his abiding labors that he may bring
many sons unto glory. Despise not what the Holy Ghost esteems, lest thou despise
the Holy Ghost himself. The sacred Trinity think much of salvation; let us not
neglect it. I beseech you who have gone on trifling with salvation, to remember
that we who have to preach to you dare not trifle with it. The longer I live the
more I feel that if God do not make me faithful as a minister, it had been
better for me never to have been bow. What a thought that I am set as a watchman
to warn your souls, and if I warn you not aright, your blood will be laid at my
door! My own damnation will be terrible enough, but to have your blood upon my
skirts as well—! God save any one of his ministers from being found guilty of
the souls of men. Every preacher of the gospel may cry with David, "Deliver me
from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation."Bethink you, O careless hearers,
that God's church does not consider salvation to be a little matter? Earnest men
and women, by thousands, are praying day and night for the salvation of others,
and are laboring too, and making great sacrifices, and are willing to make many
more, if they may by any means bring some to Jesus and his salvation. Surely, if
gracious men, and wise men, think salvation to be so important, you who have
hitherto neglected it ought to change your minds upon the matter, and act with
greater care for your own interests.The angels think it a weighty
business. Bowing from their thrones, they watch for repenting sinners; and when
they hear that a sinner has returned to his God, they waken anew their golden
harps and pour forth fresh music before the throne, for "there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." It is certain
also that devils think salvation to be a great matter, for their arch-leader
goeth about seeking whom he may devour. They never tire in seeking men's
destruction. They know how much salvation glorifies God, and how terrible the
ruin of souls is; and therefore they compass sea and land, if they may destroy
the sons of men. Oh, I pray you, careless hearer, be wise enough to dread that
fate which your cruel enemy, the devil, would fain secure for you! Remember,
too, that lost souls think salvation important. The rich man, when he was in
this world, thought highly of nothing but his barns, and the housing of his
produce; but when he came into the place of torment, then he said: "Father
Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house: for I have five brethren; that he
may testify unto them, lest they also they come into this place of torment."
Lost souls see things in another light than that which dazzled them here below;
they value things at a different rate from what we do here, where sinful
pleasures and earthly treasures dim the mental eye. I pray you then, by the
blessed Trinity, by the tears and prayers of holy men, by the joy of angels and
glorified spirits, by the malice of devils and the despair of the lost, arouse
yourselves from slumber, and neglect not this great salvation!I shall not
depreciate anything that concerns your welfare, but I shall steadfastly assert
that nothing so much concerns any one of you as salvation. Your health by all
means. Let the physician be fetched if you be sick; care well for diet and
exercise, and all sanitary laws. Look wisely to your constitution and its
peculiarities; but what matters it, after all, to have possessed a healthy body,
if you have a perishing soul? Wealth, yes, if you must have it, though you shall
find it an empty thing if you set your heart upon it. Prosperity in this world,
earn it if you can do so fairly, but "what shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" A golden coffin will be a poor
compensation for a damned soul. To be cast away from God's presence, can that
misery be assuaged by mountains of treasure? Can the bitterness of the second
death be sweetened by the thought that the wretch was once a millionaire, and
that his wealth could affect the polities of nations? No, there is nothing in
health or wealth comparable to salvation. Nor can honor and reputation bear a
comparison therewith. Truly they are but baubles, and yet for all that they have
a strange fascination for the soul of men. Oh, sirs, if every harpstring in the
world should resound your glories, and every trumpet should proclaim your fame,
what would it matter if a louder voice should say, "Depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"? Salvation!
salvation! SALVATION! Nothing on earth can match it, for the merchandise
of it is better than silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. The possession
of the whole universe would be no equivalent to a lost soul for the awful damage
it has sustained and must sustain for ever. Pile up the worlds, and let them
fill the balance: ay, bring as many worlds as there are stars, and heap up the
scale on the one side; then in this other scale place a single soul endowed with
immortality, and it outweighs the whole. Salvation! nothing can be likened unto
it. May we feel its unutterable value, and therefore seek it till we possess it
in its fullness!II. But now we must advance to a
second point of consideration, and I pray God the Holy Spirit to press it upon
us, and that is, WHOSE MATTER IS IT? We have seen what the matter is—salvation;
now, consider whose is it. "Your own salvation." At this hour nothing
else is to occupy your thoughts but this intensely personal matter, and I
beseech the Holy Spirit to hold your minds fast to this one point.If you are saved it
will be "your own salvation," and you yourself will enjoy it. If you are not
saved, the sin you now commit is your own sin, the guilt your own guilt. The
condemnation under which you fire, with all its disquietude and fear, or with
all its callousnees and neglect is your own—all your own you may share in other
men's sins, and other men may become participators in yours, but a burden lies
on your own back which no one besides can touch with one of his fingers. There;
is a page in God's Book where your sins are recorded unmingled with the
transgressions of your fellows. Now, beloved, you must obtain for all this sin a
personal pardon, or you are undone for ever. No other can be washed in Christ's
blood for you; no one can believe and let his faith stand instead of your faith.
The very supposition of human sponsorship in religion is monstrous. You must
yourself repent, yourself believe, yourself be washed in the blood, or else for
you there is no forgiveness, no acceptance, no adoption, no regeneration. It is
all a personal matter through and through: "your own salvation" it must be, or
it will be your own eternal ruin.Reflect anxiously that you must
personally die. No one imagines that another can die for him. No man can redeem
his brother or give to God a ransom. Through that iron gate I must pass alone,
and so must you. Dying will have to be our own personal business; and in that
dying we shall have either personal comfort or personal dismay. When death is
past, salvation is still our "own salvation;" for if I am saved, mine
"eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very
far off." Mine eyes shall see him, and not another on my behalf. No brother's
head is to wear your crown; no stranger's hand to wave your palm; no sister's
eye to gaze for you upon the beatific vision, and no sponsor's heart to be
filled as your proxy with the ecstatic bliss. There is a personal heaven for the
personal believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. It must be if you possess it, "your
own salvation." But if you have it not, reflect again, that it will be your own
damnation. No one will be condemned for you; no other can bear the hot thunder
bolts of Jehovah's wrath on your behalf. When you shall say, "Hide me, ye rocks!
Conceal me, O mountains!" No one will spring forward, and say, "You can cease to
be accursed, and I will become a curse for you." A substitute there is to-day
for every one that believeth—God's appointed substitute, the Christ of God; but
if that substitution be not accepted by you, there can never be another; but
there remains only for you a personal casting away to suffer personal pangs in
your own soul and in your own body for ever. This, then, makes it a most solemn
business. O be wise, and look well to "your own salvation."You may be tempted to-day, and
very likely you are to forget your own salvation by thoughts of other people. We
are all so apt to look abroad in this matter, and not to look at home. Let me
pray you to reverse the process, and let everything which has made you neglect
your own vineyard be turned to the opposite account, and lead you to begin at
home, and see to "your own salvation." Perhaps you dwell among the saints of
God, and you have been rather apt to find fault with them, though for my part, I
can say these are the people I desire to live with and desire to die with: "thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my God." But, O if you live among the
saints ought it not to be your business to see to "Your own salvation"? See that
you are truly one of them, not written in their church-book merely, but really
graven upon the palms of Christ's hands; not a false professor, but a real
possessor; not a mere wearer of the name of Christ, but a bearer of the nature
of Christ. If you live in a gracious family be afraid lest thou should be
divided from them for ever. How could you endure to go from a Christian
household to the place of torment! Let the anxieties of saints lead you to be
anxious. Let their prayers drive you to prayer. Let their example rebuke your
sin, and their joys entice you to their Savior. O see to this! But perhaps you
live most among ungodly men, and the tendency of your converse with the ungodly
is to make you think as they do of the trifles and vanities, and wickednesses of
this life. Do not let it be so; but, on the contrary, say, "O God, though I am
placed among these people, yet gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with
bloody men. Let me avoid the sins into which they fall, and the impenitence of
which they are guilty. Save me, I pray thee, O my God, save me from the
transgressions which they commit."Perhaps to-day some of your
minds are occupied with thoughts of the dead who have lately fallen asleep.
There is a little one unburied at home, or there is a father not get laid in the
grave. Oh, when you weep for those who have gone to heaven, think of "your own
salvation," and weep for yourselves, for you have parted with them for ever
unless you are saved. You have said, "Farewell" to those beloved ones, eternally
farewell, unless you yourselves believe in Jesus. And if any of you have heard
of persons who have lived in sin and died in blasphemy, and are lost, I pray you
think not of them carelessly lest you also suffer the same doom: for what saith
the Savior: "Suppose ye that these were sinners above all the sinners?" "I tell
you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." It seems to me
as if everything on earth and everything in heaven, and everything in hell, yea,
and God himself, calls upon you to seek "your own salvation," first, and
foremost, and above all other things.It may be profitable to mention
some persons upon whom this theme needs much pressing. I will begin at home.
There is great need to urge this matter upon official Christians, such as I am,
such as my brethren, the deacons and elders, are. If there are any persons who
are likely to be deceived, it is those who are called by their office to act as
shepherds to the souls of others. Oh, my brethren I it is so easy for me to
imagine because I am a minister, and have to deal with holy things, that
therefore I am safe. I pray I may never fall into that delusion, but may always
cling to the cross, as a poor, needy sinner resting in the blood of Jesus.
Brother ministers, co-workers, and officials of the church, do not imagine that
office can save you. The son of perdition was an apostle, greater than we are in
office, and yet at this hour he is greater in destruction. See to it, ye that
are numbered amongst the leaders of Israel, that you yourselves be
saved.Unpractical doctrinalists are
another class of persons who need to be warned to see to their own salvation.
When they hear a sermon, they sit with their mouths open, ready to snap at half
a mistake. They make a man an offender for a word, for they conclude themselves
to be the standards of orthodoxy, and they weigh up the preacher as he speaks,
with as much coolness as if they had been appointed deputy judges for the Great
King himself. Oh, sir, weigh yourself! It may be a great thing to be sound in
the head, in the faith, but it is a greater thing to be sound in the heart. I
may be able to split a hair between orthodoxy and heterodoxy, and yet may have
no part nor lot in the matter. You may be a very sound Calvinist, or you may
happen to think soundness lies in another direction; but, oh, it is nought, it
is less than nought, except your souls feel the power of the truth, and ye
yourselves are born again. See to "your own salvation," O ye wise men in the
letter, who have not the Spirit.So, too, certain persons who are
always given to curious speculations need warning. When they read the Bible it
is not to find whether they are saved or no, but to know whether we are under
the third or fourth vial, when the millenium is going to be, or what is the
battle of Armageddon. Ah, sir, search out all these things if thou hast time and
skill, but look to thine own salvation first. The book of Revelation, blessed is
he that understands it, but not unless, first of all, he understands this, "He
that believeth and is baptised shall be saved." The greatest doctor in the
symbols and mysteries of the Apocalypse shall be as certainly cast away as the
most ignorant, unless he has come to Christ, and rested his soul in the atoning
work of our great substitute.I know some who greatly need to
look to their own salvation. I refer to those who are always criticising others.
They can hardly go to a place of worship but what they are observing their
neighbour's dress or conduct. Nobody is safe from their remarks, they are such
keen judges, and make such shrewd observations. Ye faultfinders and talebearers,
look to "your own salvation." You condemned a minister the other day for a
supposed fault, and yet he is a dear servant of God, who lives near his Master;
who are you, sir, to use your tongue against such a one as he? The other day a
poor humble Christian was the object of your gossip and your slander, to the
wounding of her heart. Oh, see to yourself, see to yourself. If those eyes which
look outward so piercingly would sometimes look inward they might see a sight
which would blind them with horror. Blessed horror if it led them to turn to the
Savior who would open those eyes afresh, and grant them to see his
salvation.I
might also say that in this matter of looking to personal salvation, it is
necessary to speak to some who have espoused certain great public designs. I
trust I am as ardent a Protestant as any man living, but I know too many red-hot
Protestants who are but little better than Romanists, for though the Romanists
of old might have burnt them, they would certainly withhold toleration from
Romanists to-day, if they could; and therein I see not a pin to choose between
the two bigots. Zealous Protestants, I agree with you, but yet I warn you that
your zeal in this matter will not save you, or stand in the stead of personal
godliness. Many an orthodox Protestant will be found at the left hand of the
Great Judge. And you, too, who are for ever agitating this and that public
question, I would say to you, "Let politics alone till your own inward politics
are settled on a good foundation." You are a Radical Reformer, you could show us
a system of political economy which would right all our wrongs and give to every
man his due; then I pray you right you own wrongs, reform yourself, yield
yourself to the love of Jesus Christ, or what will it signify to you, though you
knew how to balance the affairs of nations, and to regulate the arrangement of
all classes of society, if you yourself shall be blown away like chaff before
the winnowing fan of the Lord. God grant us grace, then, whatever else we take
up with, to keep it in its proper place, and make our calling and election
sure.III.
And now, thirdly, and O for grace to speak aright, I shall try to ANSWER CERTAIN
OBJECTIONS. I think I hear somebody say, "Well, but don't you believe in
predestination? What have we to do with looking to our own salvation? Is
it not all fixed?" Thou fool, for I can scarce answer thee till I have given
thee thy right title; was it not fixed whether thou shouldst get wet or not in
coming to this place? Why then did you bring your umbrella? Is it not fixed
whether you shall be nourished with food to-day or shall go hungry? Why then
will you go home and eat your dinner? Is it not fixed whether you shall live or
not to-morrow; will you therefore, cut your throat? No, you do not reason so
wickedly, so foolishly from destiny in reference to anything but "your own
salvation," and you know it is not reasoning, it just mere talk. Here is all the
answer I will give you, and all you deserve.Another says, "I have a
difficulty about this looking to our own salvation. Do you not believe in
full assurance? Are there not some who know that they are saved beyond
all doubt? Yes, blessed be God, I hope there are many such now present. But let
me tell you who these are not. These are not persons who are afraid to examine
themselves. If I meet with any man who says, "I have no need to examine my self
any more, I know I am saved, and therefore have no need to take any further
care," I would venture to say to him, "Sir, you are lost already. This strong
delusion of yours has led you to believe a lie." There are none so cautious as
those who possess full assurance, and there are none who have so much holy fear
of sinning against God, nor who walk so tenderly and carefully as those who
possess the full assurance of faith. Presumption is not assurance, though, alas!
many think so. No fully assured believer will ever object to being reminded of
the importance of his own salvation.But a third objection arises.
"This is very selfish," says one. "You have been exhorting us to look to
ourselves, and that is sheer selfishness." Yes, so you say; but let me tell you
it is a kind of selfishness that is absolutely needful before you can be
unselfish. A part of salvation is to be delivered from selfishness, and I am
selfish enough to desire to be delivered from selfishness. How can you be of any
service to others if you are not saved yourself? A man is drowning. I am on
London Bridge. If I spring from the parapet and can swim, I can save him; but
suppose I cannot swim, can I render any service by leaping into sudden and
certain death with the sinking man? I am disqualified from helping him till I
have the ability to do so. There is a school over yonder. Well, the first
enquiry of him who is to be the master must he, "Do I know myself that which I
profess to teach?" Do you call that enquiry selfish? Surely it a most unselfish
selfishness, grounded upon common sense. Indeed, the man who is not so selfish
as to ask himself, "Am I qualified to act as a teacher?" would be guilty of
gross selfishness in putting himself into an office which he was not qualified
to fill. I will suppose an illiterate person going into the school, and saying,
"I will be master here, and take the pay," and yet he cannot teach the children
to read or write. Would he not be very selfish in not seeing to his own fitness?
But surely it it is not selfishness that would make a man stand back and say,
"No, I must first go to school myself, otherwise it is but a mockery of the
children for me to attempt to teach them anything." This is no selfishness,
then, when looked at aright, which makes us see to our own salvation, for it is
the basis from which we operate for the good of others.IV. Having answered these
objections, I shall for a minute attempt to RENDER SOME ASSISTANCE to those who
would fain be right in the best things.Has the Holy Spirit been pleased
to make any one here earnest about his own salvation? Friend, I will help you to
answer two questions. Ask yourself, first, "Am I saved?" I would help thee to
reply to that very quickly. If you are saved this morning, you are the subject
of a work within you, as saith the text, "Work out your own salvation; for it is
God which worketh in you." you cannot work it in, but when God works it
in you work it out. Have you a work of the Holy Ghost in your soul? Do
you feel something more than unaided human nature can attain unto? Have you a
change wrought in you from above? If so, you are saved. Again, does your
salvation rest wholly upon Christ? He who hangs anywhere but upon the cross,
hangs upon that which will deceive him. If thou standest upon Christ, thou art
on a rock; but if thou trustest in the merits of Christ in part, and thy own
merits in part, then thou hast one foot on a rock but another on the quicksand;
and thou mightest as well have both feet on the quicksand, for the result will
be the same.
But suppose that question should
have to be answered by any here in the negative (and I am afraid it must be),
then let those who confess that they are not saved, hear the answer to another
enquiry: "How can I be saved?" Ah, dear hearer, I have not to bring a huge
volume nor a whole armful of folios to you, and to say, "It will take you months
and Years to understand the plan of salvation." No, the way is plain, the method
simple. Thou shalt be saved within the next moment if thou believest. God's work
of salvation is, as far as its commencement and essence is concerned,
instantaneous. If thou believes "that Jesus is the Christ, thou art born of God
now. If thou dost now stand in spirit at the foot of the cross, and view the
incarnate God suffering, bleeding, and dying there, and if as thou dost look at
him, thy soul consents to have him for her Savior, and casts herself wholly on
him, thou art saved. How vividly there comes before my memory this morning the
moment when I first believed in Jesus! It was the simplest act my mind every
performed, and yet the most wonderful, for the Holy Spirit wrought it in me.
Simply to have done with reliance upon myself, and have done with confidence in
all but Jesus, and to rest alone, my undivided confidence in him, and in what he
had done. My sin was in that moment forgiven me, and I was saved, and may it all
be so with you, my friend, even with you if you also, trust the Lord Jesus.
"Your own salvation" shall be secured by that one simple act of faith; and
henceforward, kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, you shall
tread the way of holiness, till you come to be where Jesus is in everlasting
bliss. God grant that not a soul may go out of this place unsaved. Even you,
little children, who are here, you youngsters, you young boys and girls, I pray
that you may in early life attend to "your own salvation." Faith is not a grace
for old people only, nor for your fathers and mothers only; if your little
hearts shall look to him who was the holy child Jesus, if you know but little
yet, if you trust him salvation shall be yours. I pray that to you who are
young, "your own salvation" may become, while you are yet in your youth, a
matter of joy, because you have trusted it in the hands of your
Redeemer.Now
I must close: but one or two thoughts press me. I must utter them ere I sit
down. I would anxiously urge each person here to see to this matter of his own
salvation. Do it, I pray you, and in earnest, for no one can do it for you. I
have asked God for your soul, my hearer, and I pray I may have an answer of
peace concerning you. But unless you also pray, vain are my prayers. You
remember your mother's tears. Ah! you have crossed the ocean since those days,
and you have gone into the deeps of sin, but you recollect when you used to say
your prayers at her knee, and when she would lovingly say "Amen," and kiss her
boy and bless him, and pray that he might know his mother's God. Those prayers
are ringing in the ears of God for you, but it is impossible that you can ever
be saved unless it is said of you, "Behold, he prayeth." Your mother's holiness
can only rise up in judgment to condemn your wilful wickedness unless you
imitate it. Your father's earnest exhortations shall but confirm the just
sentence of the Judge unless you hearken to them, and yourselves consider and
put your trust in Jesus. Oh I bethink you each one of you, there is but one
hope, and that one hope lost, it is gone for ever. Defeated in one battle, a
commander attempts another, and hopes that he may yet win the campaign. Your
life is your one fight, and if it be lost it is lost for aye. The man who was
bankrupt yesterday commences again in business with good heart, and hopes that
he may yet succeed; but in the business of this mortal life, if you are found
bankrupt, you are bankrupt for ever and ever. I do therefore charge you by the
living God, before whom I stand, and before whom I may have to give an account
of this day's preaching ere another day's sun shall shine, I charge you see to
your own salvation. God help you, that you may never cease to seek unto God till
you know by the witness of the Spirit that you have indeed passed from death
unto life. See to it now, now, NOW, NOW. This very day the voice of
warning comes to certain of you from God, with special emphasis, because you
greatly need it, for your time is short. How many have passed into eternity
during this week! You may yourself be gone from the land of the living before
next Sabbath-day. I suppose, according to the calculation of probabilities, out
of this audience there are several who will die within a month. I am not
conjecturing now, but according to all probabilities these thousands cannot all
meet again, it all have a mind to do so. Who then among us will be summoned to
the unknown land? Will it be you, young woman, who have been laughing at the
things of God? Shall it be yonder merchant, who has not time enough for
religion? Shall it be you, my foreign friend, who have crossed the ocean to take
a holiday? Will you be carried back a corpse? I do conjure you bethink
yourselves, all of you. You who dwell in London will remember years ago when the
cholera swept through our streets, some of us were in the midst of it, and saw
many drop around us, as though smitten with an invisible but deadly arrow. That
disease is said to be on its way hither again; it is said to be rapidly sweeping
from Poland across the Continent, and if it come and seize some of you, are you
ready to depart? Even if that form of death do not afflict our city, as I pray
it may not, yet is death ever within our gates, and the pestilence walketh in
darkness every night, therefore consider your ways. Thus saith the Lord, and
with his word I conclude this discourse: "Prepare to meet thy God, O
Israel."