Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
To you
I. What is the word of this salvation?
1. It is the testimony that Jesus is the promised Saviour (Act_13:23).
2. The word which promises forgiveness to all who exhibit repentance of sin, and faith in the Lord Jesus (Act_13:38-39).
3. In a word, it is the proclamation of perfect salvation, through the risen Saviour (Act_13:32-33).
(1) It is comparable to a word for conciseness and simplicity.
(2) It is a word, as being spoken by God, and as being His present utterance even at this moment.
(3) It is a word; for it reveals Him who is truly “the Word.”
(4) It is a word of salvation; for it declares, describes, presents and presses home salvation.
(5) It is a word sent, for the gospel dispensation is a mission of mercy from God, the gospel is a message, Jesus is the Messiah, and the Holy Ghost Himself is sent to work salvation among men.
II. In what manner is the gospel sent to you?
1. In the general commission, which ordains that it be preached to every creature.
2. In the fact that the gospel is preached in our land, the Bible is in every house, and the word is proclaimed in our streets.
3. In the providence which has brought you this day to hear the word. Very specially may you be sent to the preacher, the preacher sent to you, and the special message be sent through the preacher to you.
4. In the peculiar adaptation of it to your case, character, and necessity, h medicine which suits your disease is evidently meant for you.
5. In the power which has attended it, while you have been hearing it, though you may have resisted that power. It would be a sad thing if we had to single out even one, and say, “This word is not only sent to you”; but we are under no such painful necessity.
III. In what position does it place you? In a position--
1. Of singular favour. Prophets and kings died without hearing what you hear (Mat_13:16).
2. Of notable indebtedness to martyrs and men of God, in past ages, and in these days; for these have lived and died to bring you the gospel.
3. Of great hopefulness; for we trust you will accept it and live.
4. Of serious responsibility; for if you neglect it, how will you escape? (Heb_2:3). It puts it out of your power to remain unaffected by the gospel. It must either save you, or increase your condemnation.
IV. In what manner will you treat this word?
1. Will you decidedly and honestly refuse it? This would be a terrible determination; but the very idea of so doing might startle you into a better mind?
2. Will you basely and foolishly delay your reply? This is a very dangerous course, and many perish in it.
3. Will you play the hypocrite, and pretend to receive it, while in your heart you reject it?
4. Will you act the part of the temporary convert?
5. Will you not rather accept the word of salvation with delight? Suppose the gospel should be taken from you by your removal to a place where it is not preached, or by the death of the minister whom you so greatly esteem. It would be just. It may happen. It has happened to others. Refuse the heavenly message no longer, lest your day of grace should end in an eternity of woe. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
To you is the word of salvation
I remember when Mr. Richard Weaver preached at Park Street Chapel, in his younger days, he came down from the pulpit, and ran over the pews to get at the people, that he might speak to them individually, and say, “you,” and “you,” and “you.” I am not nimble enough on my legs to do that, and I do not think I should try it if I were younger: but I wish I could, somehow or another, come to each one of you, and press home these glad tidings of great joy. You, my dear old friend, it means you! You, young woman, over there to the right, it means you! You, dear child, sitting with your grandmother, it means you!“Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The word of salvation
I.The general character of the gospel. The gospel is “the word of this salvation”--
1. As being the sole authority on which we ascertain the possibility of that salvation. Without it we should be inextricably bewildered on the question whether or not our salvation could be made consistent with the character of God.
(1) We may learn much respecting the Divine character without the aid of written revelation. The “heavens above, the earth beneath, the waters under the earth,” startle us with the conviction that He who made them and still preserves them must necessarily be a God of wisdom and knowledge. We gaze on the stupendous structure and mechanism of the universe, and we perceive inscribed on every part of it the signs of an almighty hand. We look upon the creatures of various kinds that people this world of ours, and we remark indications equally expressive of the goodness of Him “by whom all things consist.” And in addition there is, in the law He has promulgated, a revelation of His perfect purity and justice.
(2) But whence are we to ascertain His mercy? Or by what means may we discover that “God may be just and yet the justifier” of those who have broken His commandment? From other quarters we look for information in vain. Or, if an answer come, it is to assure us that God “will by no means clear the guilty.”
(3) It is the gospel only, which satisfies us in this great inquiry, Here and here alone we learn that in the restoration of our nature, mercy and truth may meet together, and righteousness and peace embrace each other.
2. As it reveals to us the plan and means of our “salvation.” It opens to us the very principle and motive in which the plan originated, by assuring us that “God so loved the world,” and that it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He hath saved us.” Do we inquire in what manner the purpose of this grace and mercy was carried into practical effect? We are informed it was by the gift of His well-beloved and only-begotten Son. Are we desirous of knowing in what respect this Son was given? We learn that though, “being in the form of God,” yet He “humbled Himself” and “took upon Himself the form of a servant,” and finally was put to death. Do we inquire, what was the immediate issue of the amazing series of sufferings through which He passed? We are assured that on the third day He “rose again from the dead,” and that therefore “God hath highly exalted Him to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins.” Are we concerned to know by what means we are to receive the benefit of all this love and condescension? Directions clear and numerous are set before us, so that we need not miss our providential way.
3. As being the instrument by which it is effected. It is not merely the wisdom of God, or the grace of God, it is also “the power of God unto salvation.” The gospel is indebted for its former and its present triumphs, not to the zeal or eloquence of its ministers, but to that Divine power which was breathed into it on its original promulgation, and which still continues to make it effectual. “Not by power, nor by might, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.”
4. The character of the gospel as a “word of salvation,” becomes still more strikingly apparent, when it is compared with preceding revelations.
(1) Let it be compared, for instance, with the law of Moses. That law was eminently--
(a) A word of terror. How different were the circumstances under which “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ to those under which the law came.” Instead of being terrified and driven back with “thunderings and lightnings,” we are encouraged to “come with boldness to a throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,” etc.
(b) A word of condemnation. How different are the accents in which the gospel speaks to us. For, whilst it fully secures the glory of the Divine holiness, it assures us at the same time “that through this Man is preached unto us the forgiveness of sins.”
(2) And the gospel is distinguished from all preceding revelations, as in comparison they were at best but words of promise. In their clearest discoveries they were but as the dimness of the twilight which precedes the glory of the risen day.
(3) And in contrast with false systems of religion, which, as regards their effects on the habits of civil life and of domestic society, are systems of destruction and cruelty, the gospel is a “word of salvation”; since it instructs us to “do ourselves no harm,” and directs us to love our neighbour as ourselves. And if it be contrasted with such systems, with regard to their effect upon man’s spiritual and eternal interests, they appear not only systems of cruelty to the body, but also systems of awful destruction to the soul.
II. The practical duties which result from its communication. It has not indeed been sent to you as it was sent originally to the Jews, by special revelation from heaven, or by the personal ministry of Christ. Still it has been sent. And the practical duties are--
1. To receive implicitly the “form of doctrine” which that word inculcates. In matters which depend on human authority we have a right to doubt, and if we please, to contradict and to deny. But the “word of the gospel” is not” the word of men”; it is “in truth the word of God.” As such, it is clothed with an authority which precludes at once all right on our part to question any doctrine it proposes. “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker.”
2. To gratefully accept the benefits it offers.
3. To expect that salvation which constitutes the subject of it. The very reason why, notwithstanding your repeated rejection of this word, it has continued to be sent to you, has been that God willeth not the death of a sinner, but would rather that all men should repent and live.
4. To send it to others. For every benefit bestowed upon us involves an obligation to be “merciful even as our leather who is in heaven is merciful.” (Jonathan Crowther.)
The word of salvation
I.Needed. “What must I do to be saved?” the question of questions.
1. Men are lost, and need saving from the consequences of their wandering.
2. Men are under condemnation, and need saving from the threatenings of the broken law.
3. Men are sundered from God, the Fountain of life and blessedness, and need saving from the death that never dies.
4. Men are in bondage to sin and evil habits, and need saving from that dire captivity. And where is the saving word? Nature is dumb on the subject of salvation; conscience emphasises the existence of the evil, but is silent as to the remedy; philosophy has grappled with the problem, but has left it where it was; educational and reformatory measures have removed a few symptoms, but left the root of the disease untouched. History is the arena on which many saving experiments have been tried; let the student say which has succeeded.
II. Best.
1. From whom?
(1) Not from man. The patient is unequal to effect his own cure. The declaration of the text is a disclaimer of originality to an age sick of original efforts to cure an inveterate disease--a disease, too, beyond the power of original physicians even to understand. The office of the gospel preacher is simply to tell what he has been told in the clearest way.
(2) From God who knows the evil thoroughly; who pities and loves the sinner; who desires above all things his salvation, and has made abundant provision for it in Christ.
2. To whom. “You,” whoever you may be.
(1) Jews ineffectually striving to work out their salvation by the works of the law.
(2) God-fearing Gentiles endeavouring to construct a salvation out of the elements of their morality.
(3) Sinners of every degree.
III. Accepted.
1. Heard. Hence the need of Scripture study, and attendance on the ministry of reconciliation. Ignorance is inexcusable in a land of Bibles and churches.
2. Believed in. A sick man who has no faith in his doctor or his prescriptions will hardly be persuaded to take his prescriptions. So there must be an assent to the verity and divinity of the gospel message.
3. Embraced. Not simply with the intellect, but with the heart. “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” When may the word of salvation be accepted? Now. For it is needed now; it is sent now. The need for it will not grow less by lapse of time; nor will time make it more acceptable. (J. W. Burn.)
The word of salvation
I.To whom sent. To all sinners, for all sinners need it, and it is suited to the case of all.
II. For what purpose sent. As a word of--
1. Pardon to the condemned sinner.
2. Peace to the rebellious sinner.
3. Life to the dead sinner.
4. Liberty to the captive sinner.
5. Healing to the diseased sinner.
6. Cleansing to the polluted sinner.
7. Direction to the bewildered sinner.
8. Refreshment to the weary sinner.
9. Comfort to the disconsolate sinner. (R. Erskine.)
The word of salvation delivered
I. The true character of the gospel which we preach. It--
1. Reveals salvation clearly.
2. Offers it freely.
3. Confers it actually on all who will receive it.
II. The commission which we hear in relation to the gospel. We must address--
1. Those who on account of their attachment to the law suppose themselves not to need it.
2. Those who through their alienation from God and His law suppose themselves beyond its reach. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
Words of salvation
Even in the ordinary experience of life men are saved by words--the words of their fellows. When a blind man avoids a precipice, and turns into a path of safety at the warning voice of a benevolent passenger, he has been saved by words. When the various portions of an army make a combined movement by orders of its chief, they are saved from ruin, and placed in safety, by words. Words, false and meaningless, however reverently they may be received, will not save, and on the other hand, words true and Divine will not save those who despise and neglect them. (W. Arnot.)
A message of salvation
It has been stated that Addison, the great essayist, found peace by believing in Christ ere he died. But it has remained for a recent biographer of Addison to inform us how it came about, for he was never known to have had any clerical friends who would be likely to influence him. It is now stated that a pastry cook sent home a pie on Christmas Day and under it he placed a page of Richard Baxter’s “Call to the Unconverted.” Addison, upon perusing it, purchased the whole book, which was the means of leading him to Jesus.
Words of salvation providentially sent
A young man in America was once at work upon his farm. He was careless about religion--indeed nobody had ever said a word to him about it; and as he had no Bible and only worldly friends, there seemed little chance of his ever hearing of Christ and salvation, and of heaven and hell. On this particular day, it was a bright morning in early summer, he had to take his cart, drawn by oxen, along the high road. He was thinking of nothing except his daily work and his daffy bread. A gentle breeze was blowing, and as he went along it stirred a little piece of paper which had been lying by the roadside, so that it fluttered in front of him. But on went the young man, the oxen and the cart, all the same. When he had gone a short way farther, however, a thought came over him, “I wonder what that bit of paper was--I’ve a great mind to go back and see.” And, stopping his team, he did go back. He picked it up and read it as he walked along. It was a leaf out of the Bible. The summer passed away with its flowers and sunshine, and the corn grew ripe, and was gathered into the garner; there was another harvest, too, standing ready for the sickle. The young man who had found the leaf lay upon a sick and dying bed. A sore disease had smitten him, and his parents knew there was no hope of his life. They were stricken with grief, but he--oh, he was rejoicing! And now his lips were open to tell them what he had never told before. The leaf out of the Bible had brought to him first the sense of sin and then the knowledge of a Saviour. He sought for a whole Bible, and ever since it had been his constant companion, and now, though called almost suddenly away from life with all its happiness, he knew whom he had believed, and he was ready. He had an anchor, sure and steadfast, for the Lamb that was slain to take away sin had taken away his sin. And without a doubt or a fear he entered into rest.
Salvation, for all
If I were to come as an accredited agent to you from the upper sanctuary, with a letter of invitation to you, with your name and address on it, you would not doubt your warrant to accept it. Well, here is the Bible--your invitation to come to Christ. It does not bear your name and address; but it says, “Whosoever”: that takes you in. It says, “All”: that takes you in. It says, “If any”: that takes you in. What can be surer and freer than that? (T. Chalmers, D. D.)
Salvation, common
The gospel river of life does not branch out into divers streams. There is not a broad sweep of water for the rich, the intellectual, and the cultivated, and a little scant runnel where the poor may now and then come and get healed by the side of its precarious wave. There is no costly sanatorium beneath whose shade patrician leprosy may get by itself to be fashionably sprinkled and healed. Naaman, with all his retinue watching, must come and dip and plunge like common men in Jordan. There is no sort of salvation except the one ransom and deliverance that is purchased for rich and poor together by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ; and the poor beggar, his garment ragged from the havoc of a hundred storms, and his flesh bleeding from the ulcers of a hundred wounds, may dip eagerly into the same Bethesda, and emerge unscarred and comely as a child. (W. M. Punshon, LL. D.)
Salvation, neglecting
Most of the calamities of life are caused by simple neglect. By neglect of education, children grow up in ignorance; by neglect, a farm grows up to weeds and briers; by neglect, a house goes to decay; by neglect of sowing, a man will have no harvest; by neglect of reaping, the harvest would rot in the fields. No worldly interest can prosper where there is neglect; and why may it not be so in religion? There is nothing in earthly affairs that is valuable that will not be ruined if it is not attended to; and why may it not be so with the concerns of the soul? Let no one infer, therefore, that because he is not a drunkard, or an adulterer, or a murderer, that therefore he will be saved. Such an inference would be as irrational as it would be for a man to infer, that, because he is not a murderer, his farm will produce a harvest; or that, because he is not an adulterer, therefore his merchandise will take care of itself. Salvation would be worth nothing if it cost no effort; and there will be no salvation where no effort is put forth. (A. Barnes, D. D.)
Salvation, simplicity of
A physician who was anxious about his soul asked a believing patient of his how he should find peace. His patient replied, “Doctor, I have felt that I could do nothing, and I have put my case in your hand: I am trusting in you. This is exactly what every poor sinner must do in the Lord Jesus.” He saw the simplicity of the way, and soon found peace in Christ.
