[Sept. 25th, 1864.]
There are two modes of presentation, as to the method and conditions of salvation, running through the Bible, the one representing the attainment of eternal life as easy, the other representing it as difficult. At one time we are told that “he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;” and that whosoever confesses Christ before men, will also be confessed by him before his Father which is in heaven. We are not required to ascend to heaven, or go down to hell, but simply to believe with the heart and confess with the lips, that God has raised up Jesus from the dead. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.” This is illustrated in many cases besides that of the dying thief. It is vastly important. We need a method of salvation, in which, in one sense, we have nothing to do. We cannot atone for our sins; we cannot merit eternal life; we cannot change our own heart. We have a Saviour who has done all things for us. All that is required, in this view of the case, is that we should be willing to be saved. We are the recipients and subjects, and not the agents of salvation. On the other hand, however, we are told that the righteous are scarcely saved. We are commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling; to strive to enter in at the strait gate; that many shall seek to enter in, and not be able. We are to crucify the flesh, to overcome the world, to resist the devices of Satan. We are laborers, soldiers, wrestlers, runners in a doubtful race. These two modes of representation are of course consistent. The one regards the work of Christ, and its appropriation by us; the other concerns our acting consistently with the new relation into which we are brought to God. It may be easy to obtain adoption into a family, and difficult to live accordingly. It may be easy to have the eyes opened, the withered arm restored, but difficult to use those renovated members agreeably to the will of God. It is easy, in one sense, to believe; but to live a life of faith, to live so as to prove that our faith is genuine, may be a difficult task.
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One of the conditions of salvation, that is, one of those things which we must do in order to prove that we truly believe, and belong to Christ, and which all who do believe will strive to do, is to live a holy life. That is, we are to avoid all sin, to exercise all right affections toward God and our fellow-men, and to be devoted to his glory and service.
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Another thing is, to be willing to suffer for Christ. The cross is the emblem of suffering. To bear the cross is to endure suffering. The context shows that this is the meaning of the Lord in this place.
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Another thing is, that we must love Christ more than any other object; more than our lives. And, therefore, if the sundering of all earthly ties be necessary to the service of Christ, we must be ready to submit to the sacrifice.
These are difficult conditions to fulfill; but, 1. They are essential. 2. They are reasonable. Nothing is required but what we ought to be gladly willing to perform. The difficulty arises not from the nature of the work so much as from our own state. If we were what we should be, if we were filled with faith and love, we should find all this easy. The early Christians did not find it hard to submit to the spoiling of their goods; they suffered it joyfully. Paul did not find it difficult to preach, to labor, to suffer. He rejoiced in all that he was called upon to do and to suffer in the cause of Christ.
Now this is illustrated and confirmed by the whole history of the Church, in its martyrs, confessors, missionaries, etc. They have been the happiest men on earth. We should bear in mind, then,
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That we must be willing to suffer for Christ, and to renounce all things for him.
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That those who do this are sustained in doing it. They receive in this world even a hundred-fold. Christ’s heaviest burden is made light.
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That these light afflictions are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
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That to refuse to suffer for Christ, to prefer father or mother, brothers or sisters, houses or land to him, involves the forfeiture of this life, and of the life that is to come.
His cross. Each man has his own cross. One has that form of trial referred to in the context; another, sickness, feebleness of body; another, poverty; another, want of success; another, reproach; another, insignificance. In any case we must bear our burden cheerfully, looking unto Christ as our example, our helper and our reward.
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