till He is pleased to reveal to us the full excellencies of the gift, and to enable us to enjoy them in the eternal heaven. Above all, I meant to protest against, to awaken from the fearful delusion, that CHRIST has conferred absolutely on mankind, or upon any chosen number—the elect—the salvation which, by His precious merits, He procured; that it is ours independently of means of grace, without closing with present offers of it, and making present exertions, and showing present appreciation of it; that it can be ours at all, without earnest seeking and praying for it, and strivings, and workings, and self-denials, and crucifyings of evil, and growth in grace, and perseverance unto the end. “By grace are ye saved, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of GOD.” Work out your own salvation, each individual of you; make that your own which was once procured for all that would have it; work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Your salvation (I speak to the baptized) is _begun_, you have _present_ salvation—_i.e._, you are in the way which leads to salvation. You have guaranteed to you, on conditions, the helps necessary to attain perfect salvation. You may derive, and should be deriving, present benefits from your salvation, and you should experience present joy in it. You have, I say, present salvation. You have been made members of that One Body, which was sanctified, and which is able to sanctify all other bodies that are joined to it: you are branches of that glorious tree, whose sap, pervading every healthy branch, gives it present strength and develops its beautiful growth, and by and by will produce the fruit of everlasting life. You have the life of CHRIST kindled in your souls. Your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. Now is the day of salvation, and _present_ salvation, too; not merely past salvation applied, not that you are washed in a lake whose waters _once_ flowed from a glorious Fountain; not that you partake of a store of sanctification, long ago laid up; but that now each individual of you is operated upon by a present influence, deriving directly from the source, the water of life, having sanctification produced in you by the now-working and influencing Spirit. Creatures of the present, there is a present salvation for you; and that does not mean merely that you have for yourselves to seek and lay hold of a ready salvation, but that a merciful and grace-giving GOD, a loving Saviour, an indwelling Spirit, are present with you, and personally operating upon you for your salvation.