4. Eternal Salvation

“He became the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him." He says," Come unto me;" and if any poor soul says, "Lord, I come," that soul obeys Him. See, my friend, He will never give you up, never let you slip; it is an eternal salvation. The day will come when you will be called from this world, but He will be with you, cheering you, sustaining you. Should your eyes close here, who will be the first they will open on? Jesus, the One you have known here all along.
Unsaved reader, your life hitherto has been a great mistake, but now you have just got to take Christ, simply to receive Him; you have nothing to do but receive Christ as your Saviour, and God's salvation is yours. The sinner wants to buy salvation, but God gives it. If anybody gives you a present, say a basket of grapes, what do you do? “Oh, I say, Thank you." No; there is something you do before that, it is to take it, and then say Thank you. What did Simeon do when he saw the infant Jesus? Why, he took Him.
Thus you see God's salvation is a great salvation, a common salvation, a present salvation, and an eternal salvation. Hallelujah! You are saved if you believe in Jesus, and He will never give you up.
Now, just a few words on the lessons grace teaches us; we must go to school first before we learn lessons. The door is salvation; you come in by the door, and you see written up, No unsaved person comes in here. Christ says, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in he shall be saved." How long does it take to be saved? Less time than entering a door. If you only look to the blessed Saviour, as you look you are saved. Yes, you are saved. But having saved us, grace then gives us some most precious lessons. “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." You cannot do the things now that you used to do. You are just like poor Joe with his banjo. He got converted one day, and went home and took down his banjo from the wall, broke it in pieces and put it in the fire. His wife said," What are you doing, Joe?" “Oh," he said," I am saved, and the banjo suited me before, but I cannot keep it now." Quite right, Joe.
If you, my dear fellow-believer, are saying, "What is the harm in this thing or in that," you have got to burn the banjo. When a man is converted, he leads quite a different life from what he did before. He governs himself now. He might have been very imperious and impetuous once, but all that is changed. You scarcely know him now. I see some men converted whom I used to know long ago; I could scarcely tell they were the same men, except their faces are the same, but the expression is altered.
“Live soberly,"—that is the life within. Self-restraint, —that is a very good thing. "Righteously,"—that is life without. There must be uprightness. "There he is preaching," says the world, "but he is owing me a lot of money." There must be none of that sort of thing. Live "righteously." None of the sharp tricks of the world in your business. You may have to suffer for it. "They that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Better suffer for doing what is right than for what is wrong. A girl said to me one day, "I am afraid I am not up to that, sir." "How so?" I asked. Well," said she," I am in a shop where I have got to sell gloves at 3s. 6d. per pair, that I know are only 2s. 6d. gloves." The Christian may have to suffer for righteousness sake; but let him keep a good conscience, and then he will walk godly—that is a walk for God.
You say, "Do not expect too much." Well, begin at home; there what we are comes out. Live soberly; keep in order the temper; keep in order the tongue. Live like Jesus did in this world. His life should be reproduced in the Christian. But are these lessons learned quickly? I have been learning them for twenty-one years, and find I have to learn them yet; but grace goes on teaching and teaching.
“Looking for that blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." Have you suffered for His sake? Oh, what a reward you will get then. I daresay you will know what the last day of the term means. Well, Paul says, you must keep your eye on the last day of the term, when the prizes will be given away. Everything done for Jesus will get a prize in that day,—even a cup of cold water will not be forgotten. The Lord says, “Well clone, good and faithful servant." It is not "Well done, successful servant.”
The first thing grace does is to save me; then it teaches me how to walk, and to keep my eye fixed on Christ's coming, " looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Dear reader, may you be saved by, walk with, and wait for, the Lord Jesus.
W. T. P. W.