Luke 3:6

The salvation of God

Salvation all of God

We are to be saved, not by what we are worth ourselves; not by that which we have attained.

Looking at ourselves in some sense as a piece of art, a picture, a statue, or an exquisite piece of machinery, we are not worth saving. In and of ourselves, there is nothing worth preservation. And all the work that we have ever done on our own character and nature does not amount to any considerable value. If we are saved, it will not be because of that which we have succeeded in doing; it will be because of that which has been done upon us and in us by another and higher artist-hand. If we inherit salvation in the life which is to come, if we enter upon a life of immortality in blessedness, it will be because we are saved by grace. (H. W. Beecher.)

God’s part and man’s part in salvation

A ship is stuck on a mudbank, and, the tide going out, it careens over, and there it lies, like many discouraged Christians. They do not need the anchor. The anchor is out, though. By and by the tide begins to come in, little by little. The captain calls up the crew, and orders them to hoist in the anchor. It is hoisted in and stowed away. “Trim the sails,” is the next command, and that is obeyed. The tide is still coming in, coming in, coming in; and by and by the vessel floats off; and the crew look up with admiration, and say, “What a captain we have! It was the hauling in of the anchor and the trimming of the sails that saved us. The captain gave his orders, they were obeyed, and then she floated.” No, it was not the captain’s doings. The Lord God, who swings the stars through the heavens and exerts His power upon the ocean, did it. The captain merely foresaw the coming of the tide, and adapted the circumstances of the vessel to influences which existed before. (H. W.Beecher.)

Christ the only way of salvation

Mrs. Bennet, wife of John Bennet, minister of an Independent Church in Cheshire, the day before she died, raised herself into a very solemn attitude, and with most striking emphasis delivered, in the following language, her dying testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus:--“I here declare it before you that I have looked on the right hand and on the left--I have cast my eyes before and behind--to see if there was any possible way of salvation but by the Son of God; and I am fully satisfied there is not. No 1 none on earth, nor all the angels in heaven, could have wrought out salvation for such a sinner. None but God Himself, taking our nature upon Him, and doing all that the holy law required, could have procured pardon for me, a sinner. He has wrought out salvation for me, and I know that I shall enjoy it for ever.” (Clerical Library.)

O that all flesh, that is, all men that believe, may

1. See the glory of God’s wisdom in His contriving the way of our salvation by Jesus Christ.

2. The glory of His infinite love, mercy, and Divine goodness.

3. The glory of His infinite justice and holiness, in that His justice is as much exalted in and by Christ, as His love and mercy.

Thus in respect of all the glorious attributes of God, the glory of God is in and by Jesus Christ revealed. Take the glory of God here, for His glory personally considered,

1. How doth the glory of God the Father shine forth herein, or what revelation is there of it in the gospel!

2. How is the glory of God the Son revealed also!

3. How is the glory of God the Holy Ghost likewise revealed and magnified! And all this is done and displayed in Jesus Christ the Mediator. And all flesh shall see it; that is, not the Jews only, but also the Gentiles, or all nations; i.e., some in all nations; nay, the whole world at last.