The word "salvation" is used very many times in the Bible. When the children of Israel escaped from Pharaoh and his host, they praised Jehovah for their salvation; and when the apostle Paul was in the ship which was wrecked upon the rocks of Malta, he said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." Crew and passengers" all escaped safe to land;" theirs was a salvation. But the Bible tells of " great salvation," and this is not a salvation from earthly dangers or enemies, or from the death of our bodies; it is salvation for time and for eternity.
If we speak of salvation we cannot but think of a savior, and when God tells us of His great salvation, He tells us also of our great Savior, the Lord Jesus.
When the Lord was born into this world, the holy angel said that the babe should be called "Jesus; for He shall save His, people from their sins." (Matt. 1:2121And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21).) From that day, many, many thousands of both old and young rejoice in their Savior's name, and love to speak of Him as " The Lord Jesus Christ our Savior." (Titus 1:44To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. (Titus 1:4).)
Ours is a great Savior. Jesus is God as well as man. He made all things; "without Him was not anything made that was made " (John 1:33All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)); but to save us from our sins He stooped to weakness and to death. In love and grace He became the Sufferer to become our Savior.
There is no other Savior for sinners than " Jesus of Nazareth, whom man crucified, and whom God raised from the dead." Every other hope of salvation on which men may trust will prove vain, " Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12).)
In our present chapter we shall try to make clear to you " the way of salvation," as the poor young girl of Philippi described the preaching of Paul and Silas to the heathen of her town.
We will first illustrate to you what salvation is:-
SALVATION.
"FIRE! fire!" cry the passers-by. " Make way! " And in an incredibly short space of time the thronged road is cleared-omnibuses, wagons, cabs, pulling aside. The long shout of the firemen is heard in the distance; it grows louder. Down comes the fire-engine, steam up, at full gallop. It dashes by, with brass helmets, shining machinery, surging steam, and crimson wheels, and you follow the runners at top-speed. They are not a moment too soon. The urgent haste was needed; for from the upper windows the thick smoke rolls out in black volumes, while the roar of the flames and the crackling of the timbers of the lower part of the building make you shudder.
And now there is intense silence in the crowd, for the fire-escape man has fixed his ladder, and is mounting to the uppermost floor. He quickly enters the burning house; at the further end of that- upper room lies a child asleep. It knows not its danger, but only dreams of strange sounds; and before it is half awake, the strong man has borne it upon his shoulder to the window. He places his foot upon the ladder, and as he does so, a shout louder than the roar of the fire rises up from the crowd below, welcoming his return; and down he gently bears his burden clear out of the ruins to safety.
A Savior.
A fine brave man, with a medal upon his breast, called upon me the other day. "What is that medal?" I asked. "Read it," said he; and, engraved upon the medal, I read how many persons this brave man had saved.
A house had one night taken fire, when all the people inside it were in bed, asleep. As they slept the fire burned below stairs, first slowly, then swiftly; soon the flames took the staircase, and room after room, till they reached the very place where the family slept. When the poor people awoke, they found that they could not escape, and thought they were lost. They could do nothing to help themselves.
But the voice of the brave fireman bade them take courage, for he could save them. He put a long ladder to the top window, and quickly mounted it. He entered the smoke-filled rooms; led some of the grown persons to the ladder, and helped them down the escape. He snatched up the little children in his arms, and brought them, too, safely through the fire and smoke, and down the ladder into the street. He saved them all!
Had he not been strong, and brave, and kind, he could not have saved them, and had he not run very quickly to the burning house with his ladder, he would have been too late; and the father, mother, and poor children would have all been burned up.
As I looked at the brave man, I thought, you are a dear, noble man; no wonder you are proud of the little medal upon your breast, with the names of the persons upon it whom you saved from the flames!
I also thought of One who is strong and kind—the Savior Jesus, who saves poor sinners, and who loves to show the names of those He has saved. He left His home above, and made haste to the world where we live; He found us unable to save ourselves, and you know what He did to save us; He shed His blood upon the cross; He gave up His own life for our sakes.
Do you not think that the children in the burning house would quickly run to the arms of the brave man who came to save them?
And do you not think that children run to the kind and strong Savior to save them? How safely did the little ones rest in the arms of the strong man; and how safely do the children who have fled to Jesus rest in Him! And how they love Him for His seeking and saving them!
The little ones in the burning house could not save themselves; they could not even climb down the ladder alone; they needed some one to save them, otherwise they would have been burnt up. You need to be saved likewise, and Jesus, the Savior, came down to this earth to seek and to save the lost. All you have to do is to run to Him, as the poor children ran to the arms of the brave man who came to their burning house.
Those whom Jesus saves are saved forever. It is His glory to save them, and He will keep them safely to the end. We shall see Him soon, and bless Him for saving us, and we shall love Him better than we do now.
We trust that these stories have helped you clearly to understand what salvation is, but it may be well to try to answer a question upon the subject which was put to us by a little girl. Let us, then, read about-
LITTLE NELLIE'S QUESTION.
The sands were bright with groups of children one warm, sunny morning last August. I was standing within a happy circle of little boys and girls, who had left off building their sand castles to listen to the simple gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. A little girl, who was paddling in the sea at a short distance, ran towards us. She pushed herself gently through the seated children, and stood before us barefooted with her dress tucked up, holding in her hands a small spade and bucket. She was a fair child, with an expressive countenance. The breeze was blowing her golden curls over her head and face, and her little white bonnet. Looking straight up to me, not the least concerned with the other children, who were all staring at her, she asked in a clear manner-
"Please,-what-mean-'Saved?' I don't know: will you tell me?" She then paused, puzzled and serious.
I confess that I felt somewhat perplexed to give the clearest answer to a child so young, and about such an important question. Looking to the Lord, I began in this way: "How old are you, dear?"
" Five," she said.
" And what is your name? "
Nelly."
" And where do you live? "
" London."
" Now, Nelly, listen to me, and I will try to answer your question very plainly. First of all, where did you hear of being saved?
"A gentleman who talks to the people on the sands said, 'You must be saved!' Many times he said it."
" Well, Nelly, he must have believed that people were lost, or else he would not have told them, You must be saved ' " Then I said, " Are you lost, do you think? "
" No, I am not lost," said my little friend, "for I can see my big brother Bertie and my nurse, and they will take care of me."
" You are not lost to your brother and your nurse, but you have a soul in you which neither you nor anyone else can see, and your soul is lost to God and to heaven. Let me try to explain to you why. It is because of sin-because you, little child as you are, have done that which God hates. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down from heaven to save your soul. Do you know, dear Nelly, that though only a little child five years old, you have a heart full of sin? Are you never naughty? "
" Yes," she said. "Sometimes I am very cross, and like to do what I like."
" Well, dear, Jesus saves us from our sins. Do you know, Nelly, how Jesus saves us? "
" No; I don't," gravely answered the child. " Mamma never told me. '
" I will tell you then. Jesus is God. He made everything-the sea-shore and the sand, and He made you. Many years ago, Jesus came down from heaven to this earth. When He was here He loved the little children very much; He took them in His arms and blessed them. He was so gentle, so loving. But the people did not love Him, and wicked and cruel men took Him and nailed Him to a cross of wood. They pierced His hands and His feet with nails, and put on His head a crown of thorns. All this did Jesus suffer, dear Nelly, to save our souls. And more, too, my child. Ah! I wonder if you can understand! God put the sins of His people upon Jesus when. Jesus hung upon the cross, and then God turned away from His dear Son, and His soul was an offering for sin. It was as if you had been very cross, and your mamma was going to punish you, when your brother asked to be punished in your place. So the kind Savior stood in our stead, and `by His stripes we are healed.' Oh! that pain of soul, when Jesus bore our punishment, was more dreadful to bear than that of the nails with which wicked men had pierced His hands and His feet.
"Jesus suffered all this to be our Savior. All who come to Him He receives, and God gives them His Holy Spirit. Oh! how happy you will be through life, dear Nelly, if you will only have Jesus for your Savior. But," added I to my young yet attentive listener, "I must tell the whole truth. If you turn your back upon Jesus you will not be saved."
We had spoken so long that the rising tide made us run quickly to the cliff.
On this solid rock we all are safe," said I, "and Jesus in the Bible is called 'the Rock.' Mind, all of you, that your feet stand upon the sure foundation."
" I will love Jesus," whispered little Nelly.
J. L. M. V.
These stories upon salvation show you that, when we speak of salvation, we mean not a person saving himself, but a person being saved by some power outside of himself. And this is most true as to our souls. We cannot save our own souls. God would not have sent His Son to be our Savior if we could have saved ourselves. Yet, whether old or young, there is something in our foolish hearts which, until God by His Spirit teaches us the truth, is ready to say, " I shall try to save myself."
Such was the language of the little ragged girl of the following story:-
" WILL THEY LET ME IN IF I AM VERY GOOD?"
It was Sunday afternoon, and the classes in the Sunday-school were all so busy with their lessons that for some time no one noticed a rough little head peeping in through the half-closed door; but a teacher sitting near saw it at last, and beckoned the owner of it to her. The child, a girl of ten, came slowly in, seeming half afraid to venture, but reassured by the lady's kindness, she took her seat in the class, and, as she could not read, listened to what was going on, and was evidently interested in the lesson, though too shy to speak. The subject that afternoon was "Heaven," and the teacher spoke of the streets of gold, and the gates of pearl, and the freedom from sin and care, and, in finishing, quoted the verses in Rev. 7:16, 1716They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Revelation 7:16‑17)- "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." The eyes of the little new comer were fixed. on the teacher as she spoke these words slowly and distinctly, and she said half to herself, " Oh, shouldn't I like to go there! " Poor child, she knew what hunger and thirst meant, and scorching heat and bitter cold, and pain and tears too, though her life had been but a short one!
The bell rang for closing school, and a few minutes later the children rose to go; but the teacher kept the hand of the poor ragged maiden, meaning to have a talk with her before she went away. The little one began the conversation by asking her, " Where is that nice place that you were talking about? Because I do want to go there. Do you think they will let me in if I am very good?"
The teacher answered her first question, and then told her that she would never be good enough to go to heaven, however much she tried, but that Jesus, the Son of God, had died in order that her sins might be forgiven, and that if she would believe on Him, she would be sure to go there."
"I don't know anything about believing," said the little girl, " but I can be good if I like, and I will, and then I am sure they won't turn me away if I say I have done my best."
The teacher talked to her in vain; the ragged child said she could not understand, but she would try her own way; and so they parted—the little one promising to come again the next Sunday, to say how she got on.
The teacher went home, and in her own room she knelt long in prayer for the little stranger who had so interested her.
A few days after, in passing through one of the narrow streets near the school, she saw her little ragged friend, with a very sober face, seated upon the doorstep. As soon as the child saw her, she ran to her, saying, " Oh, I am so glad to see you. I was just thinking how long it would be till Sunday, and now I. need not wait. I did so want to tell you that I have been trying these three days, and I can't be good. I've done lots and lots of naughty things, and I seem as if I can't help it. What shall I do? They will never let me go to that nice home you were talking about."
The lady's home was near, so she took the little one there, that they might have a quiet place to talk. When they reached the house, she said, " So you have found out that you cannot be good of yourself, and I am glad, for now you know that you cannot save yourself-don't you? "
"Yes, I'm afraid I can't do anything. I've been a dreadful bad girl, and I am afraid I always shall be. There is not anything good in me."
" No," said the lady, " there is not; and yet we read that nothing that defileth shall enter heaven. But don't you remember how I told you that God knew how wicked we were, and how utterly unable we were to save ourselves, and how He, in His love, sent His own Son to die for us, to bear the punishment of our sin instead of us? And God tells us, that if we believe on Him we shall have everlasting life, and shall live with Him forever. There is nothing for you to do."
The ragged child was learning a great lesson-one which many wise and grown-up people find very hard to understand-she was learning that she was a lost, helpless sinner.
The Holy Spirit of God had shown her that there was nothing good in her. Now, dear young friends, have you learned this solemn truth? Have you read in the word of God, " In me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing," and believed it? So long as we are seeking for any good thing out of ourselves, we do not believe what God says about us as lost and helpless, and we cannot know the blessing of being saved by the Lord Jesus.
No doubt, when you first began to think of eternity, of the holy and happy heaven above, and of how you should reach that home-you, like the ragged child of our story, said in the thoughts of your heart, " Will they let me in if I am very good?" and, like her, you were ready to declare, " I can be good if I like." But we are not allowed to enter heaven because we are good-no; nor does God bid us try to be good, and so fit ourselves for heaven; quite the opposite-God receives us because of what Jesus has done for us, and God loves us in our sins just as we are.
The lady further explained to the poor child what sin is. Sin is doing the things our evil hearts have pleasure in. And she showed the ragged child how there is none that doeth good in God's sight-no, not one: but that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. And she told the little girl that God, in His mercy to her, had shown her that she could not be good, as she had said she would be. Then she explained more about Jesus to the child, and showed her what God is as the Holy One-so holy that even the beautiful heavens are not pure in His sight, and the very angels are charged with folly. Ah! what, then, is man-lost, guilty man! Then the lady told the little ragged one of the blood which Jesus shed upon the cross; and how that blood cleanses the sins of all who believe on Him. For God has said this, and what God says is true, And God justifies anyone, however black his sins may be, who believes on Jesus. Having thus told the child about God and Jesus, and sin and heaven, the lady said to the eager, listening child, " Will you not believe on Jesus and be saved? "
The child was silent for awhile. So the teacher took her Bible, and read many passages upon man's sin, and the value of Christ's blood, and then she knelt in prayer with the little one. When they rose, she asked again, " Do you believe on Jesus? "
" Are you sure He died for me " asked the child. And when the gracious words of Jesus, inviting every burdened heart to come to Him, were told her, she cried, " Then I will believe Him-I do believe on Him-I am so glad." And she seemed as if she could scarcely contain herself for joy. J. S.
The words heading this chapter were uttered in the town of Philippi, in which town the gospel was first preached in Europe.
Let us now come to the personal question: "What must I do to be saved?" It was first asked in Europe one night in a prison, and many thousands of times has it been asked since then.
Read carefully our true tale of the poor ragged boy, and you shall learn the golden words which answer the question, "What must I do to be saved?" May God put this cry into your hearts, and may His Holy Spirit teach you to long earnestly for, and never to rest till you find, the Savior.
THOSE GOLD WORDS.
One Sunday a little ragged boy was slowly wending his way along one of the less frequented of the London streets. His eyes were fixed upon the ground, and presently he came to a stop, attracted by the sight of something pretty. It was a card that had been dropped from the Bible of a Sunday-school girl. The boy picked it up carefully, holding it at the edges lest his dirty fingers should spoil it. It was pretty, he thought. The colors of the border were so bright, and the gold letters shone in the sunshine. How he wished he could read those words, but that was impossible, for the poor child had never been taught.
Fearing some of his companions would come and take his pretty card away from him, the ragged boy put it into his pocket, saying to himself, "I'll get old Molly to read them words to me to-night. I bet they're something good, or they wouldn't have taken the trouble to make 'em so pretty."
So saying, the boy walked on, and being soon after joined by some of his companions, he forgot the card for a time. But in the evening, before he returned to his home, he went to a house in the same court, felt his way up a dark staircase, and opening a door, called out, " I say, Molly, are you there? "
"Yes, come in, Jack," answered a shaky voice.
So he went in, and there by a rickety table, on which stood a rush candle, sat an old woman, trying to read.
" Now, Molly," said Jack, " I want you to read these gold words to me. I don't know anyone else as can."
" All right, my boy," answered the old woman. " I'd do more nor that for you, Jack, for you be always ready to do a kind turn for me."
She took the card in her hand, and after admiring it for a minute, read slowly, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
" What does that mean, Molly?" asked Jack.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you, boy. I don't know much about them things."
" But who is the Lord Jesus Christ? "
I have heard say that He is the Son of God, who lives up in the sky."
" I wonder what ' thou shalt be saved ' means-what are we to be saved from? "
" I think I can tell you that, Jack," said Molly. " When I was a child like you I used to go to Sunday-school, and I used to learn a few things there, but I have nearly lost them now. I do remember that they used to tell us sometimes that everyone who was wicked and didn't serve God. as they ought, would be put into a big fire when they died-a fire called hell, and I expect it is that we want to be saved from."
" Well," said Jack, " I wish I knew more about that Lord Jesus Christ, that I might believe on Him, 'cause I shouldn't like to be put into that fire at all. Good night, Molly." And putting his card into his pocket again, he went home to bed, but it was a long time before he slept, his mind was so full of the verse on his card.
The next day, he made up his mind to try and find someone who would tell him something about Jesus Christ, and when he was going out of the court, seeing Molly in front of him, he asked her if she knew how he could find anyone who knew anything about Him? She said there was a gentleman that lived at one of the houses where she sold oranges, who she guessed would tell him all he wanted to know, and showing Jack where the house was, she went on her way.
It was some time before Jack could get courage to knock at the door, but he did at last, and it was opened by a servant, who thought he was a beggar, and wanted to send him away. But the gentleman passing near the door, saw him, and asked him what he wanted. Jack pulled out his card, and asked him if he would be so kind as to tell him what those words meant. The gentleman smiled kindly, and taking Jack by the hand, led him into a room, and bade him sit down while he explained the verse.
" My boy," said the kind man, " God made everything. He made this world. He made us. God is a holy God and hates sin. All the bad things we do are sin. And God must punish sin. You cannot hide your bad doings from God, and He knows all your thoughts. But God is love. And He sent His own Son into this world. Jesus is His name. Jesus came here from heaven about 1800 years ago. He came to tell man that God is love. He came also to die for man, and to bear the punishment against sin which we deserve. It was a cruel death, Jack, that Jesus died. Wicked men nailed' Him to a cross of wood and hung Him up to die. While He was dying there He was bearing our punishment. God laid our sins upon Him. When He was dead Jesus was put into a tomb, but God raised Him from the dead, and Jesus is now in heaven. He is full of love, my boy, and waiting to receive you. He will forgive all your sins and make you ready for heaven. ' Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!" J. S.
THE MESSAGE OF LOVE.
Here's a message of love,
Come down from above,
To invite little children to heaven. In God's blessed book,
Poor sinners may look,
And see how all sin is forgiven.
For there they may read
How Jesus did bleed,
And die for His dear little ones,
How clean. His blood makes them
And how that God takes them,
To be His own daughters and sons.
And then if they die,
He takes them on high,
To be with Him in heaven above!
For so true is His heart,
That He never will part
From a child that has tasted His love.