The assurance of salvation.
"Say unto my soul," etc. Can the heart frame, the lips utter, a more ambitious request? "Creator and Preserver of all being, Almighty, Eternal, Infinite God, speak to me, even me; tell me that thou art mine; that I am thine!" Yet this prayer is as reasonable as ambitious. For human nature has in it a capacity which can be satisfied with nothing less. What God says must needs be true. Therefore this is a double petition:
I. GOD IS THE SOUL'S SALVATION. Salvation is often spoken of as God's gift (Psalms 37:39; Isaiah 45:7; Isaiah 46:13). But here (as Psalms 27:1; Isaiah 12:2) God himself is our Salvation. The word has two meanings—the experience of being saved; the power that saves. In the first sense, God bestows salvation—q.d, redemption from guilt and its reward; spiritual healing; deliverance from the habit and power of sin; in a word, life. In the second sense, it is the love which pities, the grace which pardons, the righteousness which atones; the spiritual power that quickens the dead soul; the light by which we see truth, the strength whereby we obey it; the Divine breath whereby our spirit lives. All this is in God. Salvation is ours as bodily life is ours—God's work and gift. But "the Father hath life in himself." How worse than vain is the notion that we can save ourselves! Salvation is not a reward to be earned or result to be toiled for; it is life. You can starve or poison yourself, but you cannot bestow on food its power to nourish, or on your body to receive nourishment. You can maim yourself, but not restore a limb. You can sin, but not forgive, atone, redeem. These are God's alone. Salvation is personal: "thy salvation." It must be so, since sin is personal, character is personal, holiness and happiness are personal. There may be community in sin and guilt, or in noble effort and benevolent action; but each one bears his own responsibility. If you are saved, God must say to your soul, "I am thy Salvation."
II. WE NEED GOD'S OWN ASSURANCE OF OUR SALVATION. "Say," etc. It is too great a thing to take on man's work. Sin so deadens the conscience, that to many forgiveness seems an easy thing. But let conscience wake, and it becomes difficult to believe that God can forgive. How can this prayer be answered, this assurance given? It needs no voice from heaven (as to Abraham, who had no Bible, no gospel; Genesis 15:1). The standing answer is in the gift of God's beloved Son, and in the promises of his Word (1 John 5:9-11; 1 Corinthians 1:30). The special answer is by the gift of his Spirit, promised to every one who asks (Luke 11:13; Romans 5:5; Romans 8:16). The dependence of salvation on faith is not (as some fancy) a condition, rendering salvation less free. It is the very means by which it is freely given. "Look unto me, and be ye saved I" Believe and live! Ask and have! Therefore there is no presumption in that personal joyful assurance of salvation which rests not on our own faith, but simply on God's Word (John 10:28, John 10:29; 2 Timothy 1:12).
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE