II. In the work of our salvation Divine and human co-operation is necessary.—Illustrated in the products of nature, in works of art and skill. 1. God works in us by the light of His truth. 2. By appealing to us with the influence of powerful motives. 3. Works in us by the influences of His Spirit.
III. Seek to ascertain to what extent we are indebted for our personal salvation to God working in us.—Our salvation from first to last is from God; that we are saved by grace, yet not so as to destroy our own effort. He produces in us the will and power. We are to exercise the will and power by repenting, believing, and living a life of holiness.
IV. Why we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.—Because of the possibility of our unfaithfulness. May be too sure of salvation, and too doubtful.—J. C. Symons.
The Active Exertion of Man in working out his Salvation harmonises with the Free Grace of God as being the Sole Author of it.—There are two facts connected with the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt—their preservation in the wilderness, and their settlement in the land of Canaan—to which I would solicit your attention.
I. That all was done for them by God, and is to be ascribed solely, from first to last, to His almighty power and grace.—1. The means by which the establishment of the Israelites in the Promised Land was effected were evidently beyond the reach of human agency. 2. Even in those particular cases in which the active exertions of the Israelites were employed as the means of their deliverance or success the whole is ascribed to God. (1) He gave them courage to fight against their enemies; (2) He gave them success by sending terror into the hearts of their enemies.
II. That although God thus did everything for them, He did it in such a way as to bring every power of their minds and bodies into exercise, and to render their own activity absolutely necessary to their preservation and success.—Illustrated in the passage of the Red Sea, and in the first battle of the Israelites with the Amalekites (Exod. xvii. 8).
Lessons.—1. As the deliverance of the Israelites and their establishment in Canaan was wholly of God, so the salvation of every sinner is to be ascribed solely and entirely to His mercy and power. 2. As God required the Israelites to be active, watchful, diligent, ardent, and strenuous in their exertions to overcome difficulties and to defeat their enemies, so He requires His people to make their calling and election sure, to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.—Although God does all for us in the matter of our salvation, yet He places us in situations where we must exert ourselves or perish.—Anonymous.
The Co-operation of Human and Divine Agency in our Salvation.
I. This co-operation of Divine and human energies has place in all the most important facts and pursuits that make up the history of man.—1. It is true of the commencement of our being. 2. Our growth and education are the result of the same joint agency. 3. This fundamental law reigns over all the works of man.
II. What does God accomplish and what does He demand of us in the joint working out of our salvation?—1 God works in us by the light of His truth. 2. By the power of motives. 3. By the energy of His Spirit.