Key Verse: "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord."
- Jonah 2:9 KJV
Salvation is the work of God. It is He alone who
quickens the soul which is "dead in trespasses and sins," and it is He
also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both "Alpha
and Omega." "Salvation is of the Lord." If I am prayerful, God makes me
prayerful; if I have graces, they are God's gifts to me; if I hold on in a
consistent life, it is because He upholds me with His hand. I do nothing
whatever towards my own preservation, except what God Himself first does in
me. Whatever I have, all my goodness is of the Lord alone.
Wherein I sin—that is my own; but wherein I act rightly—that is of God, wholly and completely. If I have repulsed a spiritual enemy, the Lord's strength nerved my arm. Do I live before men a consecrated life? It is not I—but Christ who lives in me. Am I holy? I did not cleanse myself—God's Holy Spirit sanctifies me. Am I weaned from the world? I am weaned by God's chastisements sanctified to my good. Do I grow in knowledge? The great Instructor teaches me. All my jewels were fashioned by heavenly art. I find in God all that I need—but I find in myself nothing but sin and misery.
"He alone is my rock and my salvation." Do I feed on the Word? That Word would be no food for me, unless the Lord made it food for my soul, and helped me to feed upon it. Do I live on the manna which comes down from heaven? What is that manna—but Jesus Christ himself incarnate, whose body and whose blood I eat and drink? Am I continually receiving fresh increase of strength? Where do I gather my might? My help comes from heaven's hills—without Jesus I can do nothing! As a branch cannot bring forth fruit, except it abides in the vine, no more can I, except I abide in Him. What Jonah learned in the great deep—let me learn this morning in my closet: "Salvation is of the Lord."
Are you Saved?
