SUNDAY READING

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1934, Page 14 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING

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Me Rev. J. D. McL. WILSON

SALVATION THE NEED AND THE QUEST FOR IT. WHAT IT MEANS AND WILL GIVE. ■ “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and tby house.” — Acts, 16, 30-31. Such words may possibly sound strange in our ears. They appear somewhat antiquated or related to the slums arid prison-reformation rather than to ordinary respectable people. Actually they deal with an experience, not only universally valid, but of imperative necessity for Christian character and wise living. . We are not particularly concerned with the actual incident of the text, though it is one of the dramatic stories of the New Testament I can well remember the impression it made on me as a youth, and to this hour the picture of it rises swiftly to the imagination. The prison in the Roman colony at Macedonia, the convulsive earthquake with its shaking walls and doors thrown open and general alarm, the distraught jailor seizing his sword to commit suicide, and the unusual prisoners, Paul and Silas, so strong and calm, bringing order into chaos, and leading the keeper of the prison into an entirely new life and world. But it is not so much the story that is in our mind, as the curious experience which came to the jailor, completely altering his mental outlook and the whole current of his life.

It is familiar knowledge that calamity and portentous happenings beyond human control do compel men to serious thought, to adjustments of their relations with God,-and to changes in their mode of life. Many of' you will recall the refugees who came here after the Napier earthquake. They told us the thought of God, an awakening to his almighty, control of the world, a conviction of life’s uncertainty, and of their accountability to the God who created them, and would one day.judge them, so laid hold upon their minds that they could find no release until they had made their- peace with God, and had made different alignments of their ways and purposes. . • It is hinted to-day. in this world of ours, which is fairly comfortable despite our talk- to the contrary,, that , ordinary people are not worrying any more about salvation than they are about their sins. This, of. course, is not surprising, for uhlfess they are seriously minded they are largely insensible of the need of such a thing, and they will continue so to be until they are stabbed broad awake by some poignant compulsion. However, it needs not theology to point out that sin is a reality. The biologist and the bacteriologist every day vividly exhibit sin’s dreadful sequelae in tainted flesh and blood, and in vitiated nerve and burnt out cell. The ethicist, too, points to sin’s resultant .disorders and diseases in our social organism, while religion loudly declares ■ sin has fateful consequences upon man’s immortal personality which only an almighty and loving God can avert or amend. If only man could know himself as in the clear eyes of the Eternal! If only he would measure himself. by original standards (for he was made in the image of God)! If only he would institute comparison with the immaculate Jesus Christ and not be content with those miserable little superiorities and inferiorities which arise as he sets himself beside 'other . span-high creatures, he would then see his need of a profound change, and he would welcome gladly the salvation provided of God in Christ Jesus. : ' Christian salvation is a wonderfully comprehensive thing, much more so than most people imagine. It is certain deliverance from the depression and dismay which spring from the knowledge and fear of evil we have done. There is a burden of sin. There is a gnawing pain from the awakened conscience, .and nothing can bring relief to that, or "out the damned spot” save God and His salvation through Jesus Christ our Redeem* er. But salvation means also a personal consciousness of the pardoning mercy and help of God: and, a growth in all trueness and goodness, of life. As one of the theologians has it, "Salvation brings to man forgiveness, peace, assurance of God’s love and- care, a progressive victory over sin, culminating in the end in perfect conformity with the character of Christ.” We need not to say that of this

salvation God is the Author, Christ is the only Mediator, and—it is a gift of grace. But how shall we gain this salvation? What must man do to be delivered from sin, to be cleansed from the impurities which sully his soul, to be rid of the dishonesties and. insincerities which mar his life ? How shall he expel the greed and avarice from his heart ? What must he do to cast out the spirit of worldliness which shuts out Thee, O God from his life and ways? How can the old passions be slain and new affections be born? How can he be a new creature in Jesus Christ? In other words “what must I do to be saved ?” It is strange how we all endeavour to answer this, and to do something. I do not mean in such ways as the purchasing of merit through philanthropy, Church association, and the practice of the moralities. You will discover that almost every person, even the thief, has a private philosophy of his own, a secret code or standard up to which he tries to live. You will find that there is somewhere he draws the line, there are some things he will not do. The underlying thought at the back of his mind is, “if I can keep fairly well up on the mark, if I do not fall too far below my standard God will not be too hard on me.” And so he eases his conscience, so he ’anticipates receiving the condonation, if not the very salvation of God. Let us hear the great Apostle’s answer to the heart cry of this Roman. Let us note clearly the reply to the arresting interrogative of the text. Says Paul, place your confidence in Jesus Christ and all will be well. “Belicve on the Lord Jesus Christ snd thou, shalt be saved.” Now this “believe” is an intensely significant word. It is not a mere mental concurrence to the proposition that God is the heavenly Father, Christ is the Redeemer of the world and so on. The devil or any intelligent criminal may assent to such impersonal categories. Belief is such a confidence as will gamble everything upon its judgment. For example, here is a plank across a dangerous chasm. Belief is nof the affirmation that I consider it strong enough to bear me; it is the stepping out upon it and backing my conviction with my life. Or again, here is a gold or coal mine: belief in its quality is not recommending your friends to buy up its shares; it is investing all you have in it yourself. So belief in God, which gains salvation, is not verbal but operative. It is not an intellectual determination but a trust so complete as to risk all upon it being true that Christ can forgive you your Kino, give you peace in your conscience, give you an acceptable standing with the Judge of all the earth, give you moral courage, strength, and all those qualities and powers necessary for a high and noble life in the world. Anyone may see exactly what salvation means when he beholds the drunkard, the jailbird, and the wifebeater renouncing drink, working honest-' ly t making a decent home, and winning the respect of those who formerly despised him. Any one mssy know what salvation is when he sees a girl who has forfeited what makes girlhood beautiful and has become sodden and stained with drink, turning round and rebuilding the temple of sanctity, and spending her days and years in a devoted ministry among those who are as she once was. But we are not thus, we say. We have no need of such salvation. We are not drunkards, or profligates, or rogues. Let me tell you the story of one whom Lord Rosebery described as the most illustrious Scotsman since John Knox. For eight years as a brilliant scholar, an eloquent preacher, and a respected pastor, he ministed to the congregation of Kilmany, possessing no more than an intellectual apprehension of salvation. Then he truly believed, cast himself unreservedly upon Christ, trusting implicitly in his precious promises. And he became such a man as Scotland has rarely looked upon. Gladstone used to say of him, that “the world would never forget his warrior grandeur, his unbounded philanthropy, his strength of purpose, his mental integrity, his absorbed and absorbing earnestness, and above all his singular simplicity. He was one of God’s nobles.” When I want to think of what salvation means I think of Thomas Chalmers. What must I do to be saved ? “Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”

“I came to Jesus, as I was Weary and worn and sad, I found in Him a resting place And He has made me'glad.”