Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1953
“But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.” Psalm 37:39.
SALVATION is a blessing peculiar to the righteous. The ungodly do not, as a rule, believe that they have any need of salvation and, therefore, they do not desire it, or seek after it. The righteous know that they are born in a fallen state; they acknowledge that they have destroyed themselves by personal sin; and they are conscious of a thousand dangers which surround them. Hence they need salvation, seek it and find it. It is to them that salvation has come to make them righteous, for until they are saved, they are unrighteous, even as others. But now that salvation has come to their house, they bring forth the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God their Savior.
This may be used as a description of the Believer’s life—he lives a life of salvation. He is saved in Christ, who is his life, in whom he has forgiveness of sins and every other Covenant blessing. He is always being delivered, or saved and, from the moment in which he begins as a Believer till that last moment on earth when he shall be about to depart out of the world unto the Father, his whole life is encompassed within the Divine circle of salvation. God is working salvation for him, salvation in him and salvation by him—and is giving him to receive the fullness of salvation which he shall forever enjoy in the world to come—
“Salvation is forever near
The souls that fear and trust the Lord.
And Grace, descending from on high,
Fresh hopes of Glory shall afford.” Beloved Friends, we rejoice in that right royal word, “salvation!” We would let its echo fly over the whole world. To us it is a word of great meaning. It does not signify salvation from the punishment of sin, alone, though it comprehends that blessing and we are glad that it does so, but it means complete and immediate salvation from the love of sin, conscious salvation from the power of sin, growing salvation from the propensity to sin and ultimate salvation from all tendency to sin! When we have gained full salvation, we shall never, never again sin, but shall find ourselves before the Throne of God as pure as that throne, made perfect by the work of the Holy Spirit, who will have sanctified us wholly— spirit, soul and body! Men of the world think, when we talk of salvation, that we mean escaping from Hell. This is all they would fear and so it strikes them as the great matter—but we are not of their mind. Being delivered from the pains and penalties of evil is certainly a great blessing, but it is by no means the greatest! It follows in the train of a grander blessing, even as the blaze of the comet follows the central light. The righteous dread sin more than Hell and, to them, wrong is more terrible than any punishment which awaits it. The joy of salvation to us is that we are delivered from this present evil world, delivered from the lusts of the flesh, delivered from the old death of natural corruption, delivered from the power of Satan and from the dominion of evil! Our salvation will not be full till we are totally and finally delivered from every trace of sin and are “without fault before the Throne of God.” Sanctification completed is our salvation perfected—purity without spot will be our Paradise Regained!
“The salvation of the righteous” in the broadest sense of the word “is of the Lord” and the more breadth of meaning we give to it, the more completely we shall see that it must be Divine. At the same time, our life is made up of a series of salvations and each of these is of the Lord. We are constantly being saved—saved from this and that form of danger and evil. As each daily trouble threatens to engulf us, we are saved from it. As each temptation, like a dragon, threatens to swallow us up, we are saved from it. Our God is the God of salvations and unto Him belongs the issues from death. We
escape from deaths often, yes, and from the very belly of Hell—and still we live to sing, as Jonah sang when he was in the depths of the sea, “Salvation is of the Lord!”
I have said that this glorious salvation, which is of the Lord, is the peculiar heritage of Believers. They alone know their need of it and they alone participate in it. Look at the ungodly man who is pictured in this Psalm. He does not want salvation. He flourishes like the green bay tree—he spreads his branches to overshadow everybody else. Such men need no salvation. “Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.” They want no salvation—their lands are abundant, their house is full of treasure and they leave the rest of their substance to their babes. They put no trust in the name of the Lord. “They call their lands after their own names.” They want no God—they have no sighs after Him. They never cry, “As the hart pants after the water-brooks, so pants my soul after You, O God!” They have no trials in their lives and “there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.” The rod of God’s children does not fall upon them—“Whom the Lord loves, He chastens”—but often those whom He loves not, He leaves to indulge in such pleasure as they can find. He gives His swine good measure of husks, for He would not be unkind even to them! And there they lie and feed without fear— knowing nothing of another world, nor caring for it—