07 Chap 3 It is a Great Salvation

CHAPTER III.

IT IS A GREAT SALVATION.

Hebrews 2:3.-How shall we escape, if we neglect so great

Salvation

We are exposed and need salvation. Jesus has died to save us. Yet most men are very indifferent to the subject. They seem to care but little about it, and to esteem it a thing of no value. Judging from their estimate of it, as exhibited in their lives, we should think it a matter of no great consequence. But it is of vast importance; " the one thing needful."Luke 10:42.

"Religion is the chief concern Of mortals here below."

" Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him ; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will ?" Hebrews 2:1-4.

It is a great salvation. The plan- of redemption is a conception of infinite wisdom. It is too broad and deep to be the offspring of finite intellect. It abases man, while it honours and exalts Jehovah and brings glory to his name. It honours the law, while it spares the criminal. The just suffers for the unjust -suffers voluntarily, for he had power to lay down his life and to take it again. John 10:18. The ungodly are justified ; and yet God’s character is untarnished, and every one of his perfections receives new lustre and shines forth with ever-increasing glory. Romans 4:5. 2 Corinthians 4:6. The scheme of redemption is not a human invention, nor an angelic invention ; it originated with God. The plan was laid by infinite wisdom ; and when we contemplate it, we may well exclaim, "0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God I" Romans 11:33. God is its author. It originated in his infinite love. It was because he loved us that he devised the way of salvation ; because he loved us that he gave his Son for us. John 3:16. And this love was self-moved. There was nothing in us to call it into existence; no good thing in us to move him to compassionate our case and provide salvation for us. It is well for us to remember that we had no claims ; that they were forfeited by sin ; and that we could have had no reason to complain, had no provision been made for our deliverance from wrath. But God pitied us ; and he devised the plan by which his justice could be honoured, and yet the sinner be forgiven and restored to his favour. And the plan is worthy of its Author. The salvation partakes of the greatness of him who originated it; and how great is he! "Cant thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection ? It is high as heaven ; what canst thou do deeper than hell ; what canst thou know ? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." Job 11:7-9, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised ; and his ’greatness is unsearchable." Psalms 145:3. " All nations before him are as nothing ; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell Isaiah 40:17, Isaiah 40:22. The Scriptures are full in their testimony that the plan of salvation originated with God. Immediately after the fall he promised that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. Genesis 3:15. Even before the creation the delights of the Son of God, as our Redeemer, were with the sons of men. Proverbs 8:22-31. Speaking of the covenant of redemption, Jehovah says, "I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips His seed shall endure for ever." Psalms 89:3-4, Psalms 89:30-37. Addressing the Son he declares, " I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the gentiles ; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house." Isaiah 42:5-8, and Isaiah 49:7-9. And again, " It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Isaiah 49:6. " It pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put him to grief." Isaiah 53:10-12. " God sent his Son into the world." John 3:17. " Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation." Romans 3:25. " When the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Galatians 4:4-5. " In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent hie Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:9-10. How often is salvation ascribed to God! and with what frequency is he spoken of as the God of salvation! Isaiah 12:2 ; Psalms 79:9. " He that is our God is the God of salvation ; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death." Psalms 68:19-20. " Salvation is of the Lord." Jonah 2:9. " He hath raised up a horn of salvation for us." Luke 1:69. And what more exalted conception can we form of the greatness of this, salvation, than to think of it as worthy of its great Author! O what condescension, that God should stoop so low as to look upon us! What are we that God should pity us ! that he should so love us as to provide salvation for us! and so great salvation ! He needs us not. He is happy without us. Yet his bowels of compassion have been moved for us! If our hearts were not adamant, they would melt at the thought of such love. If they were not harder than the nether mill-stone, our repentings would be kindled together; and we would hasten to embrace thereat salvation. The plan of redemption is of itself enough to prove the divine origin of the Bible ; for the book which reveals it, like the plan itself, must have had its origin in heaven. Both came from God, and like him are great. So Simeon felt when taking the infant Saviour in his arms, he said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Luke 2:29-30. Consider by whom salvation was purchased. This is no other than Jesus Christ, the Mediator, the Son of man, and the Son of God ; " for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." 1 Timothy 2:5-6. That Jesus possessed a nature like ours, in which he obeyed and suffered, there can be no question; and equally unquestionable is it, that he also possessed a divine nature. There were in him both divinity and humanity. "He wrapped the mantle of humanity about him ; but the God was within." " He was, and continues to be, both God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person for ever." Thus saith the prophet, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6. He is Immanuel-God with us. Isaiah 7:14.

Though he came in the flesh, he is over all, God blessed for ever-" the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of his person." Romans 9:5 ; Hebrews 1:3. " In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins : who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all things were created by him, and for him : and he is before all things, and by him all things consist, and he is the head of the body, the church : who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead ; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself." Colossians 1:14-20. We have, then, a divine Redeemer. There is not only human sympathy in his heart, but divine compassion; and in his arm is omnipotent strength. They who repose in him are safe. And surely it must be a great salvation which required a divine Redeemer to accomplish. This was needful. He must be God to redeem as well as man to die. None but he could bear infinite wrath. None but he could obey and suffer in the stead of others. No mere creature could make atonement, for God has claims upon every creature for all the obedience it can render, and no sufferings of a mere finite creature, for any limited duration. can be a full satisfaction to the justice of God. The Mediator must be divine, that he might bring in a righteousness that could avail to our justification. And being divine, his atonement, though made with special reference to his own, is of infinite value, for his divinity gives dignity and worth to his sufferings and death. Its merits can never be estimated. It is sufficient for the world, for every sinner and every degree of guilt. It is true that Jesus was a man of sorrows, " for the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us ;" John 1:14; but it is also true that he is the infinite God, for the Word was God. John 1:1. He is both the root and the offspring of David, David’s son, and David’s Lord. Revelation 22:16. Matthew 22:42-45. And the work which he accomplished is worthy of himself-a great salvation. His atonement is not measured by the limited capacities of his human nature; but by the infinitude of the divine.

Then how great the price paid for our salvation! Among men, the price paid is not always a fair criterion of value. They may err in judgment, or be deceived. But here the pride was fixed by infinite wisdom ; and it has been paid. And what is the price? Not the obedience, nor the sufferings of a creature; nothing less than the blood of the Son of God. " Without shedding of blood is no remission." Hebrews 9:22. And the blood shed must be precious, that it might make atonement and satisfy for our sins. It is the blood of Jehovah’s fellow, his equal; the blood of " God manifest in the flesh." Zechariah 13:7. John 10:30. 1 Timothy 3:16. " Ye are not your own ; for ye are bought with a price." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. " Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers ; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but, was manifest in these last times for you." 1 Peter 1:18-20. We read in Acts 20:28, of the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. The divine nature did not suffer ; but in virtue of the union subsisting between the divine and human natures in the person of Christ, the acts and properties of the one are attributed to the other : for he took our nature into personal union with his divinity, and while his human nature alone suffered, his divine nature sustained his humanity in both his-active and passive obedience, and rendered his work acceptable to God and available for us. Hence it is written, " In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Ephesians 1:7. " Christ bath loved us, and bath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour." Ephesians 5:2. " Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." 1 Corinthians 15:3. " Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot to God." Hebrews 9:13-14. " Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." Hebrews 9:25-28. " Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he bath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh ; and having a high priest over the house of God ; let us draw near with a true heart." Hebrews 10:19-22. Here, then, is the price of our redemption-the blood-the life of Jesus. And must Jesus die to save us ? Must God’s own Son be, delivered up to death? Is this the price he must pay to redeem us? And can men slight the mercy so dearly purchased? Can they lightly esteem it? Reader, can you thus treat the blood of the Son of God ? Did he estimate your salvation so highly as to die to secure it, and will you cast it away as a thing of nought As he who purchased redemption is divine, so is the Spirit who applies it. All the persons in the adorable Trinity bear their appropriate part in the great work of human redemption. The covenant of works, made with Adam as our federal head, was broken, and we were ruined by his fall. Jesus is our representative and surety in the covenant of grace. He obeyed and died for us; and he purchased for us the Spirit to apply to us the benefits of the new covenant. And the work of the Spirit is no less needful than the work of Christ. Regeneration is as necessary as an atonement. And this work is so great, the change is so entire, that it is called a new creation. Christians are the workmanship of God, " created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Ephesians 2:10. The power exerted in this new creation is compared to the power by which Christ was raised from the dead : " The eyes of your understanding being enlightened ; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places." Ephesians 1:18-20. That it is the Spirit which applies to us the purchased redemption, read what the Scripture saith : " And you path he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.... For by grace are ye saved, through faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 2:8. ’ And Jehovah promises, ’A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you : and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." Ezekiel 36:26-27. The Saviour said to Nicodemus, " Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God ;" and, " Ye must be born again." John 3:3-8. To his sorrowing disciples he said, " It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me ; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more ; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth : for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak : and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine : therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you." John 16:7-15.

It is the Spirit that renews our hearts; he works faith in us ; he "unites us to. Christ in our effectual, calling ;" he carries on the work of sanctification until the day of Christ. Php 1:6. Hence David prays, " Create in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence ; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me." Psalms 51:10:11. And the Spirit is divine. The Holy Ghost. is God. Thus it was said to Ananias, " Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost ? Thon hest not lied unto men, but unto God." Acts 5:3-4. He is eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. He is possessed of all divine perfections ; and that salvation in which he bears so conspicuous a part, must be a great salvation. That in which all the persons of the blessed Trinity are so deeply interested cannot be a trifle. What the Father planned, and the Son executed, and the Spirit applies, must be worthy of the God- head, and partake of the -greatness of its divine origin.

It is a great salvation too, because of the change it effects in us. Our condition by nature was shown in the first chapter. We are sinful, exposed, and without hope. Salvation effects a change in all these respects. It changes our character. If interested by faith in the great salvation, our natures are changed, and we are made new creatures in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17. From enemies of God we are converted into friends. Once we delighted in rebellion against him, now we delight in his service. We love his word; love the ordinances of his house; love his people ; renounce ourselves ; trust in his Son ; and esteem it our greatest privilege to hold communion with him, to draw near to him in prayer, and to sing his praise. Once we were blind, now we see ; once we were dead, now we are alive ; we love what we once hated, and bate what we once loved. John 9:25 ; Romans 6:4, and Romans 7:15-22. " Old things are passed away, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17. Here is a great change-a complete revolution-in character. Sinners have become saints. Nor does salvation produce a less change in our relations. Sanctification changes our character ; justification changes our state. By nature we stand to the law in the relation of condemned criminals. If interested in the great salvation, we are no longer condemned. We are accounted righteous ; we are treated as innocent. It is not a bare reprieve, it is a perfect justification ; it entitles to the rewards of innocency, because our Surety has answered the demands against us. Here is a great change in our state.

Before, we were condemned ; now we are justified, and have a title to eternal, life ; yea, we are adopted into the family of God, and are heirs of heaven. John 1:12-13. Romans 8:17. Hence, there is a great change in our prospects. What is the prospect of the sinner? Death, eternal death What is the prospect of those who have a part in this salvation? Life, eternal life! The one is an heir of hell ; the other an heir of heaven. Look, then, at the change which this salvation effects in our character, our state, and our prospects, and in view of this change, measure, if you can, its greatness. O, it is a great salvation, and considered only in its relation to ourselves, it is above all estimate, above all price! Consider the misery from which it seven us. " The way of transgressors is hard." Proverbs 13:15. " The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, -whose waters cast up- mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isaiah 57:20-21. Their consciences are ill at ease. Sin brings misery to the sinner, as it "Brought death into the world, and all our woe." By that change which this salvation effects, peace is restored to the soul. " The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace." Galatians 5:22. " Great peace have they who love God’s law." Psalms 119:165. "Come unto me, and I will give you rest," says. Jesus. Matthew 11:28. " Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." 1 Timothy 4:8. " For the Lord God is a sun and shield : the Lord will give grace and glory ; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Psalms 54:11. The godly are saved from many evils in this world. They have a quiet conscience. They are freed from all the misery which results from a sense of unforgiven sin. And then they are rescued from all the miseries which the wicked must suffer in the world to come. There the lost writhe in eternal anguish, for ever dying, and yet forbid to die ; for ever seeking death, yet death for ever fleeing from them. Hell ! hell what horrors lie in that singles word I Hell, a dwelling-place for eternity ! O who does not, terror-stricken, shrink from the thought ? What then must be the dread reality ? From this, salvation delivers us. Think of it, and confess it a great salvation. And consider the happiness to which it raises us. " Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with him." Isaiah 3:10. It is well in this world. His sins are blotted out, and shall never be brought against him to his condemnation. Psalms 32:1-2. Romans 4:6-8. He has peace with God and peace within. His " fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1 John 1:3. He may not be without seasons of trial and sorrow; he may know what sore temptations mean, and may even walk in darkness and see no light for a season ; yet there are times when he can " rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Peter 1:6-9. Were there no future state of existence, he would still be a gainer by his religion. His happiness in this world far outweighs the carnal joys of the wicked. And when death comes, he enters into the joy of his Lord, the full fruition of heavenly glory. That is happiness which eye hath not seen, which ear hath not heard, which the heart of man hath never conceived. 1 Corinthians 2:9. O the glories of that upper. world I There are the angelic hosts ; there the army of the redeemed ; there the blessed Redeemer, the Lamb of God, the Saviour of sinners! What a company! What songs are there! What everlasting triumphs! What a great salvation to be delivered’ from hell and raised to heaven! O what a wonder that they who deserved the deepest perdition should be raised to the highest glory ! This indeed is a miracle of mercy. " Behold, God is my salvation ; I will trust, and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song ; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Isaiah 12:2-3. This salvation is great, because it is eternal. Thus it is written : "Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation." Isaiah 45:17. Jesus is "the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." Hebrews 5:9. He " gives unto them eternal life." John 10:28. Hence he de-dares, " He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." John 6:47. And it must be a great salvation, because the angels take such an interest in it. The angels that sinned were left without salvation. No Saviour died for them. Hebrews 2:16. 2 Peter 2:4. That God should pity men and not angels ; that he should give his Son for man, and leave the fallen angels in their guilt and ruin, excites the wonder and admiration of those angels which kept their first estate. 1 Peter 1:12. They have ever manifested the deepest interest in the scheme of redemption.

They were sent to tell of the coming Saviour. Matthew 1:20-21. They announced his advent; witnessed his baptism ; were present at his temptation; ministered to his wants; strengthened him in his agony ; stood by him in his crucifixion ; watched his grave; announced his resurrection; were present when he ascended; welcomed him to his .glory : God manifest in the flesh was seen of angels. 1 Timothy 3:16. Luke 2:9-11. Matthew 3:16-17, and Matthew 34:11. Luke 22:43. Matthew 28:2-6. Acts 1:10-11. Psalms 24:7-10. They are now his messengers, ministering to the heirs of salvation, strengthening them in trouble, and delivering them from danger, as they did Peter from prison, and Paul from the perils of shipwreck. Hebrews 1:14. Acts 12:11, and Act :27:23; Acts 24:24. Yea, they are present in our worshipping assemblies-we must demean ourselves properly because of the angels; and they wait to rejoice over repenting sinners, and convey the joyful tidings to heaven. 1 Corinthians 11:10. Luke 15:10. And is it not a great salvation when the angels manifest so deep an interest in it ? He is great who planned it ; he is great who bought it; great is the price paid for it; great is the Spirit who applies it ; it effects a great change in those who are saved by it ; delivers from great misery ; exalts to great happiness; and interests greatly the bright spirits of heaven. It is a great salvation-eternal salvation.

Then, reader, this salvation is worthy of your acceptance. It certainly is not beneath your notice. What interests all heaven, and all hell too, should certainly interest you-should interest all men. When heaven and hell are moved, the earth should not be indifferent. The salvation which is worthy the attention of angels-which indeed is worthy of, God its great Author-is certainly worthy of your attention-it is worthy of all accepta. lion. It is so because of the expense at which it has been provided. The Son of God must come from heaven, assume our, nature, die in our stead, to open the way of life. A rich feast has been made, and made at an infinite expense. What is freely offered you, and what you may have by accepting, cost the agony, the blood, the life of Jesus Christ! O think of this price ; and is not salvation thus purchased worthy your regard? And can you slight it? Can you lightly esteem the price of your redemption ? Will you count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing ? Hebrews 10:28. Whatever else you do, I beseech you not to trifle with this salvation. When invited to the cross, do not begin to make light of it. Matthew 22:5. It is worthy your acceptance because of the prospects it opens before you. You are dying; it reveals the way of life. It sets before you the glories of the heavenly world, an unfading crown, never-failing riches, immortal songs, eternal rest and joy. It teaches you how to obtain the victory over death and the. grave. And does it not here meet a want of your nature? Are you prepared to grapple with the king of terrors? Were the summons for your departure to come now, could you welcome it? Are you prepared to go? Could you die in peace? Are you prepared for heaven Not if this salvation is still neglected. Let the prospects it reveals command your immediate acceptance. There is no escape if you neglect it. There is no other salvation; there never will be any other salvation. There is no other probation ; there never will be any other probation. Neglect this salvation, and you continue exposed till death comes, and then you are lost! No Saviour will be offered you in the future world ; no salvation will there be proclaimed ; no message of peace can there be heard or read; you are then beyond the reach of hope and mercy-lost, for ever lost! O flee to the cross! Delay not, for death is near!

" Soon, borne on time’s most rapid wing, Shall death command you to the grave;

Before his bar your spirit bring, And none be found to hear or save. In that lone land of deep despair, No Sabbath’s heavenly light shall rise ; No God regard your bitter prayer, No Saviour call yeu to the skies."