“Jesus alone can save”

“And there were also two other, malefactors, led with [Jesus] to be put to death” (Luke 23:32).

There were two others led along with Jesus to crucifixion. They were malefactors. Jesus was hanging on the cross between them. Jesus was counted as one among thieves. He came from heaven into an earthly home and into a woman’s womb. It is not easy for God to come down like that. As a babe, He was hunted for, by powerful murderers. He had to flee from them to Egypt. As He grew up, He was moving among children with sinful instincts. At the age of twelve, He was in the temple discussing things of the Spirit. As he grew up, He had to live with brothers who did not believe Him. He had to teach His parents that the kingdom’s needs should come first.

Then in the ministry, He called twelve disciples to follow Him. Some of them had a fiery temper. There was a hasty Peter, Judas Iscariot a hypocrite, Thomas a doubter and so on. He had to accept dinners of Pharisees who were full of self-righteousness and sin. He kept coming down lower and lower. He entered Zacchaeus’ house where the love of money held sway. Now on the cross he was with thieves, one on either side—thus completely identifying Himself with sinners. He came for that purpose.

He came into contact with the depraved nature of men. He dwelt among the most ordinary people. Hell is in the mind, where there are evil thoughts and where there is no love or desire for holiness. Saints and angels cannot live among us whose minds dwell in hell. It is suffering for them. Christ came down, down, down, and now on the cross He is completely identified with sinners. He took the place of Barabbas the murderer. He came to know the problems of sinners and criminals. “For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus took our sins upon Him. ... He absorbed the whole poisonous nature of man into Himself. He came down into our midst and humbled Himself to a criminal’s death. The thieves were watching Jesus. He did not press them to repentance. Among them one was saved and one perished. Without our consent and desire, Jesus will not force His blessed deliverance on us.

Jesus took our sinful nature down to the grave to be buried there and seen no more. He died for you and me. Isaiah 53:12, “Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” He was counted among the transgressors. Our sin gave Him the wages of death. He died. But there is hope for us. He knows all about us and can save us.

—N. Daniel

“Living a righteous life”

“Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity” (Micah 3:9).

Selfishness and sin have grown to such a pitch in the heart of men that righteousness and a correct distinction between right and wrong is greatly disliked and hated by most people. But the God of the Bible, the Living God, is just and true and is the God of judgment. Thus in His sight and before His holy Word, actions and thoughts, motives and secret ambitions, men of high degree and men of low estate, are all weighed, searched, categorized, seen, and judged for what they are.

Talking in practical terms, when a father or a mother dies leaving some property or money, the natural inclination of the sons is for each to get the best portion possible. The financial stress in the large family of one or the inadequate salary of another of the brothers does not always carry weight or gain in the sympathy of the other brothers or sisters. “That is his own fault. He should have studied harder when Daddy gave him the opportunity and he would have landed in a better job,” they say. Hard words with no sympathy at all for their own brother!

Now the Living God says, “Can’t you be just and fair? Can’t you give him the finer part of the land which will yield him a little more harvest? Should you be filled with so much ill will when it comes to property or money?” But men hate judgment.

With all our boasted education and culture, I have found men in many parts of the world to be so biased, prejudiced, insular with national and parochial obsessions, and it is hardly possible for them to be objective and fair-minded. Whether it is a property division in a family or politics at an international level, it is just the same. Self-interest and selfishness and a total lack of objectivity cloud all judgment.

Nowadays, promoting justice and upholding the just cause impartially seem no longer to be the objective of law courts in many parts of the world. Governments so pressurize judges to promote their pet interests and social programs that an individual today is denied his rights. The hardworking man has every reason to feel victimized and the just man to feel hated and not wanted. All this tilts the balance strongly against fair-mindedness, truth, and justice.

The Living God is by no means coerced or frightened by all the unjust, immoral ways of men. Every one of us will have to give an account of all the deeds done in this body before Him. Unrighteousness can never be painted white in His sight. Lies and untruthfulness will never be winked at before the High Tribunal of God. They will only damn your soul and condemn you to hell fire.

Most people do not know that judgment is inherent in righteousness. That is, there is always alongside of it judgment. It is as simple as this: when the day dawns, everything that needs to be hidden away or everything that dare not be seen is put under covers. The light of day is too much for the robber to rob in, for the murderer to murder, or the gang of terrorists to sit in open deliberation of their next move. They run away before the day breaks. They know that their own actions are wrong and therefore cannot stand the light of day. So light and judgment go together.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Sun of Righteousness. When He comes into your life, sin must run away. Every wicked motive and every deceitful desire, every unclean impulse, every homosexual deed or sexual perversion must be put away. It is impossible to harbor sin in your heart anymore.

More and more people act on the belief that unrighteousness, lies, bribes, and wickedness pay. For a short season, in His great longsuffering, the Living God gives you a long rope. But it is impossible that a family or a group of people will prosper long who practice wickedness, propagate lies, and act without principle. They are doomed to fall and disaster is bound to overtake them.

Many people ignore the simple principle that they will reap what they sow. You cannot sow wild oats and reap a bumper harvest of the finest wheat.

Loving the people, praying for the people, and lifting heavy burdens off the people is the role of a priest. But should a priest or a preacher be given to much eating or spendthrift ways, he will soon be looking for more and more money. In fact what has a preacher to do with money? The more money you have, the more worries you have. How can any preacher function merely because he is paid? A priest and a prophet are the representatives of God. Money or cash is not the medium through which they operate or establish their work. It is by prayer and the power that you have with God that your credentials are established.

What if you have a million in the bank? Is that going to make your prayer more effectual? On the contrary, you are likely to plummet into a life of materialism and worldliness. The priests who teach for hire are a curse to any people. The purse is the last thing which should figure in the thinking of a true Christian preacher. These are hard days, no doubt. But the Lord who takes care of the sparrow will not forget you. From my boyhood days I have seen my parents walk and preach without any regard to money, and after operating fifty years myself in this manner, I know that this is the only way by which a Christian worker who wants to be true to God can operate.

Alas! What a day of decline and disaster we are living in today, when “priests teach for hire and the prophets prophesy for money!” Dear reader, you can start spiritual revolution around you by returning the bribes that you have taken and by cleansing your conscience in obedience to God’s Word. The Lord Jesus Christ will endue you with His peace, righteousness, and power, and the workers of unrighteousness around you will tremble and fear.

When the Spirit of God works in you, you have a very clear and strong sense of what is right and wrong. Instead of hating the Spirit of judgment, we welcome and embrace it, for without it we would stumble and fall.

—Joshua Daniel

“Guaranteed by resurrection”

Robert Flockart was a well-known character in the city of Edinburgh for part of the nineteenth century. Although he was not an ordained preacher, he proclaimed the Gospel every night in the open air for over forty-five years. While speaking one night on the text Romans 4:25 (“[Jesus] was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification”), he told the following story to illustrate his message.

“An aunt of mine died and left me a large sum of money in her will, but the will was contested by relatives, and I received nothing. On another occasion, an ex-Sunday School pupil of mine who had rejected the Gospel, and who was under sentence of death, invited me to come to his cell to pray with him. With tears in his eyes, he said, ‘Mr. Flockart, you are the best friend I have on earth, and I am leaving to you all my possessions.’ However, the young man did not die, as he received a pardon. I received nothing again.

“But now, dear friends, I want to tell you a far greater story. The best Friend I ever had, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for me on the Cross of Calvary, and willed to me eternal life. And, praise the Lord, on the third day He rose again to make sure I got it!”

Yes, the death of Christ was the payment for our sins, while the resurrection was the guarantee for our Salvation.

—Selected

“Reality Check”

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation [anger-bearing sacrifice] for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:28).

“Victory found”

The following is an account of how Rosalind Goforth, a Christian missionary to China, found victory over sin in Jesus Christ.

I do not remember the time when I did not have in some degree a love for the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour. When not quite twelve years of age, at a revival meeting, I publicly accepted and confessed Christ as my Lord and Master.

From that time there grew up in my heart a deep yearning to know Christ in a more real way, for He seemed so unreal, so far away and visionary. One night when still quite young I remember going out under the trees in my parents' garden and, looking up into the starlit heavens, I longed with intense longing to feel Christ near me. As I knelt down there on the grass, alone with God, Job's cry became mine, "Oh, that I knew where I might find him!" Could I have borne it had I known then that almost forty years would pass before that yearning would be satisfied?

With the longing to know Christ, literally to "find" Him, came a passionate desire to serve Him. But, oh, what a terrible nature I had! Passionate, proud, self-willed, indeed just full was I of those things that I knew were unlike Christ.

The following years of half-hearted conflict with sinful self must be passed over till about the fifth year of our missionary work in China. I grieve to say that the new life in a foreign land with its trying climate, provoking servants, and altogether irritating conditions, seemed to have developed rather than subdued my natural disposition.

One day (I can never forget it), as I sat inside the house by a paper window at dusk, two Chinese Christian women sat down on the other side. They began talking about me, and (wrongly, no doubt) I listened. One said, "Yes, she is a hard worker, a zealous preacher, and—yes, she dearly loves us; but, oh, what a temper she has! If she would only live more as she preaches!"

Then followed a full and true delineation of my life and character. So true indeed was it, as to crush out all sense of annoyance and leave me humbled to the dust. I saw then how useless, how worse than useless, was it for me to come to China to preach Christ and not live Christ. But how could I live Christ? I knew some (including my dear husband) who had a peace and a power—yes, and a something I could not define—that I had not; and often I longed to know the secret.

Was it possible, with such a nature as mine, ever to become patient and gentle?

Was it possible that I could ever really stop worrying?

Could I, in a word, ever hope to be able to live Christ as well as preach Him?

I knew I loved Christ; and again and again I had proved my willingness to give up all for His sake. But I knew, too, that one hot flash of temper with the Chinese, or with the children before the Chinese, would largely undo weeks, perhaps months, of self-sacrificing service.

The years that followed led often through the furnace. The Lord knew that nothing but fire could destroy the dross and subdue my stubborn will. Those years may be summed up in one line: "Fighting [not finding], following, keeping, struggling." Yes, and failing! Sometimes in the depths of despair over these failures; then going on determined to do my best—and what a poor best it was!

In the year 1905, and later, as I witnessed the wonderful way the Lord was leading my husband, and saw the Holy Spirit's power in his life and message, I came to seek very definitely for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. It was a time of deep heart-searching. The heinousness of sin was revealed as never before. Many, many things had to be set right toward man and God. I learned what "paying the price" meant. Those were times of wonderful mountaintop experiences, and I came to honor the Holy Spirit and seek His power for the overcoming of sin in a new way. But Christ still remained, as before, distant, afar off, and I longed increasingly to know—to find Him. Although I had much more power over besetting sins, yet there were times of great darkness and defeat.

It was during one of these latter times that we were forced to return to Canada, in June 1916. My husband's health prevented him from public speaking, and it seemed that this duty for us both was to fall on me. But I dreaded facing the home church without some spiritual uplift—a fresh vision for myself. The Lord saw this heart-hunger, and in His own glorious way He fulfilled literally the promise, "He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness" (Psalm 107:9).

A spiritual conference was to be held the latter part of June at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and to this I was led. One day I went to the meeting rather against my inclination, for it was so lovely under the trees by the beautiful lake. The speaker was a stranger to me, but from almost the first his message gripped me—Victory Over Sin! Why, this was what I had fought for, had hungered for, all my life! Was it possible?

The speaker went on to describe very simply an ordinary Christian life experience—sometimes on the mountaintop, with visions of God; then again would come the sagging, and dimming of vision, coldness, discouragement, and perhaps definite disobedience, and a time of downgrade experience. Then perhaps a sorrow, or even some special mercy, would bring the wanderer back to his Lord.

The speaker asked for all those who felt this to be a picture of their experience to raise the hand. I was sitting in the front seat, and shame only kept me from raising my hand at once. But I did so want to get all God had for me, and I determined to be true; and after a struggle I raised my hand. Wondering if others were like myself, I ventured to glance back and saw many hands were raised, though the audience was composed almost entirely of Christian workers, ministers, and missionaries.

The leader then went on to say that life which he had described was not the life God planned or wished for His children. He described the higher life of peace, rest in the Lord, of power and freedom from struggle, worry, care. As I listened I could scarcely believe it could be true, yet my whole soul was moved so that it was with the greatest difficulty I could control my emotion. I saw then, though dimly, that I was nearing the goal for which I had been aiming all my life.

Early the next morning, soon after daybreak, on my knees I went over carefully and prayerfully all the passages on the victorious life that were given in a little leaflet. What a comfort and strength it was to see how clear God's Word was that victory and not defeat, was His will for His children, and to see what wonderful provision He had made! Later, during the days that followed, clearer light came. I did what I was asked to do—I quietly but definitely accepted Christ as my Saviour from the power of sin as I had so long before accepted Him as my Saviour from the penalty of sin. And on this I rested.

I left Niagara, realizing, however, there was still something I did not have. I felt much as the blind man must have felt when he said, "I see men as trees, walking." I had begun to see light, but dimly.

The day after reaching home I picked up a little booklet, The Life That Wins, which I had not read before, and going to my son's bedside I told him it was the personal testimony of one whom God used to bring great blessing into my life. I then read it aloud till I came to the words, "At last I realized that Jesus Christ was actually and literally within me." I stopped amazed. The sun seemed suddenly to come from under a cloud and flood my whole soul with light. How blind I had been! I saw at last the secret of victory—it was simply Jesus Christ Himself—His own life lived out in the believer. But the thought of victory was for the moment lost sight of in the inexpressible joy of realizing Christ's indwelling presence! Like a tired, worn-out wanderer finding home at last I just rested in Him. Rested in His love—in Himself. And, oh, the peace and joy that came flooding my life! A restfulness and quietness of spirit I never thought could be mine took possession of me so naturally. Literally a new life began for me, or rather in me. It was just "the Life that is Christ."

The first step I took in this new life was to stand on God's own Word, and not merely on man's teaching or even on a personal experience. And, as I studied especially the truth of God's indwelling, victory over sin, and God's bountiful provision, the word was fairly illumined with new light.

The years that have passed have been years of blessed fellowship with Christ and of joy in His service. A friend asked me not long ago if I could give in a sentence the after-result in my life of what I said had come to me in 1916, and I replied, "Yes, it can be all summed up in one word, resting."

Some have asked, "But have you never sinned?" Yes, I grieve to say I have. Sin is the one thing I abhor—for it is the one thing that can, if unrepented of, separate us, not only from Christ, but from the consciousness of His presence. But I have learned that there is instantaneous forgiveness and restoration to be had always. There need be not times of despair.

One of the blessed results of this life is not only the consciousness of Christ's presence, but the reality of His presence as manifested in definite results when, in the daily details of life, matters are left with Him and He has undertaken.

My own thought of Him is beautifully expressed in Spurgeon's words:

What the hand is to the lute,
What the breath is to the flute,
What's the mother to the child,
What the guide in pathless wild,
What is oil to troubled wave,
What is ransom to a slave,
What is flower to the bee,
That is Jesus Christ to me.

—Published in Rosalind Goforth, How I know God answers prayer: the personal testimony of one lifetime (1921)


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