His isolation grows defined.
* H. Howard, The Summits of the Sovl, 180,
302 WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION
II.
The Spikit that Befits the High Enterpkisb.
" Fear and trembling."
1. This fear does not mean mistrust or doubt, which would keep the mind in a continual apprehension of falling short of salvation, but a distrust of ourselves from a consciousness of our own weakness, and of the obstacles in the way, which produces an anxious solicitude to use all the means necessary to salvation. And trembling here denotes self-abasement in the Divine presence, a holy reverence of God, originating in the conviction of our absolute dependence upon Him for that grace which worketh salvation. The one is a warning against carnal confidence, which, if indulged, would lead to the disuse of the means of salvation ; and the other an admonition against vain presumption, which would lead to dependence upon self-endeavour for salvation. What is here recommended is assurance without spiritual security, and labour without spiritual pride ; and this meets the case both of those who undervalue and of those who overvalue human agency in the work of salvation.
^ Did you ever have committed to your care something ex- ceedingly rare and precious ; something of singular beauty or untold value ? Did you ever come into the possession of some- thing long and ardently desired, which you had thought to be too good, too sweet, too lovable ever to be really yours, your very own ? Was there not an awe, almost a terror, in the sense of that possession? Did you not say to yourself, "Who am I that I should have this? What if I should let it drop? What if I should lose it ? " Did not the very joy make you " afraid " and your happiness make you " tremble " ? ^
^ An eminent French surgeon used to say to his students when they were engaged in difficult and delicate operations, in which coolness and firmness were needed, " Gentlemen, don't be in a hurry, for there's no time to lose." Time to make that incision once and well in the vital place, not time to dash at it with over- confidence.^
* J. Vaughan.
2 J. McNeill, Regent Square Pulxnt, i. 125.
PHILIPPIANS II. 12, 13 303
^ As a young man Dr. A. A. Hodge was Professor Joseph Henry's assistant in making his experiments. He says : " I can well remember the wonderful care with which he arranged all his principal experiments. Then often, when the testing moment came, that holy as well as great philosopher would raise his hand in adoring reverence and call upon me to uncover my head and worship in silence. ' Because,' he said, ' God is here : I am about to ask God a question.'" Surely that was the right spirit of scientific inquiry — none the less exact for being religious — and it went upon the idea that God is working out in nature His own thought and plan. So, I say, truth is to be embodied — worked into the material of our lives: and the Christian, being once enlightened, is to work out his salvation with fear and trembling.^
2. This fear is a rational and salutary emotion. Here is a crowded concert-hall. In the midst of the performance, a messenger whispers to the conductor. He taps with his baton. In an instant the instruments are hushed, and the leader announces in a clear voice that a fire has just broken out in the building, and that, while there is no immediate danger it is advisable for the audience quietly but at once to withdraw. Here is every care taken to prevent panic, but at the same time every effort to inspire rational fear. It is unworthy of a man under such circumstances to be overcome with terror, but no one of all that audience feels that it is beneath him to fear. No man compromises his dignity or shows that he is a coward when he is " moved by fear " to save his life.
^ Bishop Latimer once preached a sermon before King Henry VIII., which greatly offended his royal auditor by its plainness. The king ordered him to preach again the next Sabbath, and to make public apology for his offence. The bishop ascended the pulpit and read his text, and thus began his sermon : " Hugh Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou art this day to speak ? To the high and mighty Monarch, the King's most excellent Majesty, who can take away thy life if thou offendest ; therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But then, consider well, Hugh ! Dost thou not know from whom thou comest — upon whose message thou art sent ? Even by the great and mighty God, who is all-present and beholdeth all thy ways, and who is able to cast thy soul into hell ! Therefore take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully." And so beginning, he preached over again, but with increased energy, the self-same 1 G. T. Purves, FaUh and Life, 147.
304 WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION
sermon he had preached the week before. The fear of God delivered him from the fear of man.^
3. This fear means distrust of self with a desire to please God. There are two master principles of action which simultaneously claim our obedience — God's will and self-will. Between these two there is everlasting antagonism ; eternal irreconcilableness. One of these must be renounced, agreeably to the Scripture maxim, " Ye cannot serve two masters," and the other must be chosen as the ruling principle of the life. In the case of those who are being sanctified this choice has been made, for they have learned that the wisdom of self-will worketh death ; and they have elected to follow the counsel of the will of God as the only way of working out their own salvation. Now, this consecration to the will of God is practical holiness. Precisely in the same ratio that the conduct is coincident with the Divine will is the work of personal sanctification promoted. If we could come to have no will of our own, to lose our will in God's, we would have reached the highest moral perfection possible to a creature. And we must ever have our eye upon this as our loftiest aim and endeavour.