years ago, some children were playing on a mountain in France, and their
merry peals of laughter attracted the notice of a shepherd lad who was
taking care of the sheep a little way off. Suddenly a wolf foaming at the
mouth came in sight. He saw it run madly down the mountain towards the
children. Without a moment's hesitation he rushed forward, seized the
wolf, and grappled with it. After a fierce struggle he managed to bind a
leather strap around its mouth, and then he killed it, but not before the
wolf, which was raving mad, had bitten him severely in the hand. This
occurred just at the time when Pasteur, the famous Paris doctor, had
discovered a remedy for hydrophobia. Without delay the shepherd lad who
had saved the lives of the children at such a cost was taken to Paris and
was cured. Hundreds of patients are sent to the Pasteur Institute at Paris
and when they ring the bell, the door is opened by an elderly man with a
scar on his hand. He was once the shepherd lad who rescued the children
from the raving wolf, and the deep scars are from its bite. Inside the
hall there is a statue representing him in the terrible struggle with the
wolf.
Think of the wounded hands of the Son of God. Do you ask Where? How? Why?
Where were they wounded? On Calvary's Cross. How? "They pierced My hands
and My feet." [Footnote: Ps. xxii. 16.] This is the wonder of it, "He was
wounded for our transgressions." Look at the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, and
there you will see Jesus as the Suffering Substitute. Seven times in that
chapter it is distinctly mentioned that all His suffering was because He
was bearing our sins. Notice in verse 5 it says, "He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities." Then in verse 6, "The
Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." In verse 8, "For the
transgression of My people was He stricken," or the stroke was upon Him.
He stood between the stroke of Divine Justice and the sinner and received
the blow Himself. In verse 10, "Thou shalt make His soul an offering for
sin;" verse 11, "He shall bear their iniquities;" verse 12, "He bare the
sin of many." Jesus was the Suffering Substitute because He was the
Sin-bearer. See how in His death He was identified with the sinner. For
in verse 12 we read, "He was numbered with the transgressors."
In the Gospels we are told that there were two thieves crucified with Him,
on either side one and Jesus in the midst. I once saw a coloured
illustration of the three crosses on Calvary. One cross was painted black,
the other was white, and the middle one was red. Now if we look at those
three crosses on Calvary from the Divine standpoint, it seems as if one
cross which was black at first is now white. It is the cross of the
penitent thief; all his sins have been transferred to the Sin-bearer, so
now there is not one sin on him; he has been washed "whiter than snow."
The cross of the impenitent thief is black, and remains black, for he dies
with all his sins on him and goes into the blackness of darkness for ever.
The middle cross is red: Jesus the Holy One has no sin in Him, but the sin
of the whole world is _on_ Him, because He is the atoning sacrifice for
sin.
"O Christ, what burdens bowed Thy head,
Our load was laid on Thee.
Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead,
Didst bear all ill for me.
A victim led, Thy blood was shed,
Now there's no load for me."
In the writings of an American Evangelist we meet with this quaint
illustration, "God uses bright red to get pure white out of dead black."
It is just the same truth as we have seen shining out from the three
crosses. There we see Jesus "in the midst," the God-appointed
Sacrifice for sin, and we see the penitent thief washed whiter than snow
in the precious Blood. We see Jesus again "in the midst," three days
after. It is in the Upper Room at Jerusalem, on Easter Sunday. The
disciples who were like scattered sheep have gathered together there once
more, though still trembling with fear. "Then came Jesus and stood in the
midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you." [Footnote: St. John xx. 19.]
It was the first time He had spoken to them since the night when He was
betrayed when they had forsaken Him and had run away. He might have met
them with a reproof, but He knows all about our poor hearts, so He meets
them with a smile and the sweet greeting, "Peace be unto you." And He says
it to them _all_, even to Peter who had denied his Lord, and to the others
who had forsaken Him. Yes, He has only one greeting for them one and all,
and that is "Peace."
Then a pause, and after the pause there came a revelation--"He showed them
His hands and His side." Why did He show them the nail prints in His hands
and the deep wound in His side? It was to reveal to them the wondrous
truth that He Himself is our Peace, and that the Peace which He gives is
the Peace which He has Himself made through the Blood of His
Cross. [Footnote: Col. i. 20.]
"Through Christ on the Cross peace was made,
My debt by His death was all paid;
No otter foundation is laid,
For peace the gift of God's love."
He showed them His hands and His side, because He wants them to understand
that these sacred scars tell us of His wondrous love and of the infinite
cost of Redemption. Let us lift up our hearts and say--
"Oh, make me understand it,
Help me to take it in,
"What it meant to Thee the Holy One
To bear away my sin."
We find from St. John's Gospel that Thomas, one of the twelve, was not
among them when Jesus came, so the rest of the disciples told him, "We
have seen the Lord." He replied, "Unless I see in His hands the wound made
by the nails, and put my finger into the wound, and put my hand into His
side, I will never believe it." So when a week later Jesus says to Thomas,
"Reach hither thy finger and behold (or feel) My hands, and reach hither
thy hand and thrust it into My side," [Footnote: St. John xx. 27.] it
shows how our Lord made these scars the very test of his faith, and it is
the same now.
In St. Luke's Gospel we read that He said, "Behold My hands and My feet."
When He showed them the marks of His sufferings for them, it was as if He
said, "Here is the guarantee of your pardon and peace." We cannot have
peace until we have pardon; many seek peace instead of taking pardon
first. When He showed them His hands, and His feet, and His side, it was
as if He said, "You need cleansing from all sin; here are the marks of the
cleansing Blood. You need the touch of healing power, and here is the Hand
that will give it to you. You want companionship in your daily life.
Here are the feet that will travel with you, you never walk alone." What
wonderful tenderness and love! If ever you feel depressed or ready to
doubt God's love, remember how "He showed them His hands and His side,"
that they might see those sacred scars. And we read in the next verse,
"Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord." Yes, "they were
filled with joy at seeing the Master." You will remember how troubled
Thomas had been before this, but now the sight of the wounded hands took
away all his doubts and fears. It was then that his faith rose higher than
that of any of the others, for he exclaimed with adoration and worship,
"My Lord, and my God!" If ever you wander away or your heart grows cold
and careless, think of those words, "He showed them His hands and His
side," and remember He is still the same in the glory.
When the beloved Apostle John looked through the open door into heaven, he
saw Him standing there in the midst of the throne with the nail prints in
His hands and feet, "a Lamb as it had been slain." [Footnote: Rev. v. 6.]
What a sight!
"Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved to sin no more."
But _why_ did He show them the wounds in His hands and side? To make it
plain that He bore all the penalty of sin. Some speak about sin as if it
were only a mistake, but God says sin is guilt, and that all are guilty,
for all have sinned. We have offended against God's holy law, and if any
one breaks the law he brings upon himself the penalty. God says, "The soul
that sinneth, it shall die;" [Footnote: Ezek. xviii. 20.] so the penalty
we deserve is death, everlasting punishment. The penalty must be paid by
some one. God's justice demands it.
God is not willing that any should perish; He loves the sinner, though He
hates the sin. Still the penalty must be paid, so He found out a way; His
own dear Son must take the sinner's place and suffer the full penalty
instead, the death-penalty.
Perhaps you wonder, how can the death of One atone for the sin of the
many? A lad once asked his father this question. The father made no reply
but took him into the garden. Then he dug up a spadeful of earth with a
number of worms in it, and turning to the boy he asked him, "Now which is
of most value, your life or that of one worm, or even a thousand worms?"
"Mine," said the boy. "Now" said the father, "you can see how the life and
death of the Divine Saviour is _sufficient satisfaction to God_ for the
sins of the whole world."
Oh! the wonder of it all. We see God, the Holy God, the just God, the
righteous God--we see man, guilty, condemned, sinful. Then we see the Son
of God Who knew no sin, _made_ sin for us, [Footnote: 2 Cor. v. 21.] so
that all the requirements of God's holiness and justice are fully met.
It was on the Cross, in that hour of darkness and agony when He cried, "My
God, My God, _why_ hast Thou forsaken Me," that He was _made_ sin for us.
Now we see the meaning of the wounded Hands, the broken Heart of God.
"If I were God," the cynic said, "this sinning, suffering world would
break my heart." But what if God's heart _was_ broken? Do we not read in
the 69th Psalm, "Reproach hath broken my heart? [Footnote: Ps. lxix. 20.]"
The last night before He died He went to the garden of Gethsemane. Only
three of His disciples followed Him into the place where He knelt down to
pray, and even these three fell asleep. He was left alone. He says, "I
looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but
I found none." It was then the agony began which ended on the
Cross in a broken heart.
It was then He prayed saying, "Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup
from Me, and there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening
Him." [Footnote: St. Luke xxii. 42, 43.]
His prayer was heard and the victory was won over the adversary, for it
must be on the Cross and in no other way that the Atonement could be made.
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us, for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."
[Footnote: Gal. iii. 13.] "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body
on the tree." [Footnote: I Pet. ii. 24.]
It was there on the Cross that He said, "It is finished; and He bowed His
Head and died." We should not have known that He died of a broken heart if
one little circumstance had not taken place. The Holy Spirit has shown us
that this circumstance was foretold in the Scriptures and was all part of
God's purpose in our redemption. The soldiers had orders to break the legs
of those who had been crucified, so as to hasten their death, and remove
their bodies without delay; but when they came to Jesus and saw that He
was dead already, they brake not His legs; but one of the soldiers pierced
His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. "This was a proof
that He had died of a broken heart." [Footnote: John xix. 34.]
"He died of a broken heart for you,
He died of a broken heart,
Oh! wondrous love for you, for me,
He died of a broken heart."
When we remember that the pouring out of the blood followed on the
breaking of the body, then we see the meaning of the precious words spoken
by our Lord during the Last Supper. We read that, "He took bread, and when
He had given thanks, He brake it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My Body
which is broken for you.' [Footnote: I Cor. xi. 24.] And He took the cup
and said, 'This is My Blood of the New Testament which is shed for many.'"
[Footnote: St. Mark xiv. 24.]
Why did He die? Why was His blood poured out? The Apostle Paul answers
that question when He says, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
Himself." In that one sentence we have the Message of the Cross! We see
God's purpose behind it all.
Two wonderful truths lie hidden in that glorious message. The first is,
that "Christ _died_ to put away sin," because sin is the thing and the
only thing which comes between us and God. The good news which Christ
brings to us is that God Himself has taken the first step in this work of
reconciliation. Oh! how wonderful it is that it is our sins which have
brought out all the anguish and love of God's heart. Yes, our sins grieved
Him so much He could not rest till He had devised a plan by which they
could "all be blotted out," once for all.
Dear friends, whenever your sins are a burden, say these words over and
over in your heart, "God was in Christ reconciling me to Himself."
[Footnote: 2 Cor. v. 19.] This alone would have been wonderful, but there
is something more in the good news, and that is "God is beseeching you to
be reconciled to Him." Have you ever grasped that truth?
I remember hearing of a great lawyer who was moved to shed tears, and when
a fellow-lawyer asked him why he was in trouble he replied, "I see now
what I never saw before. Yes, I see that God is _beseeching_ me to be
reconciled to Him. I always thought it was for me to beseech God."
Many think as this lawyer did that the sinner must first come to God. No,
it is God Who comes to us entreating us to return to Him. He is always
sending us messages of love, and the moment we turn to Him and trust Him
He gives us a full free pardon.
Dear fellow-sinners, "we pray you now in Christ's stead," and because of
His great love in dying for you, "Be reconciled to God." God is now
willing; are you willing? Do say "Yes." Will you say it now very solemnly
in your heart to God?
ADDRESS VII
THE WORD OF GOD
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE--Psalm xix.
This Psalm is full of the glory of God. It tells us first of the Glory of
God shining in this beautiful world which He has made, and then it shows
us the glory of God shining in the Scriptures, in this Book which lies
open before us.
The first verse bursts forth with the triumphant note, "The heavens
declare the glory of God." Everything in earth and sky shows forth His
wisdom, His power and His love.
Then it gives us a wonderful picture of the sunrise and compares it to "a
bridegroom coming out of his chamber." You have seen the first streaks of
light in the early morning, and then you have watched the onward course of
the sun till it is high up in the sky at mid-day, full of power,
"rejoicing as a strong man to run a race."
But Nature, with all its secrets, Nature with all its wonders and
treasures, is only part of God's revelation of Himself; the other part is
to be found in His Word.
So the Psalmist passes from the glorious sun in the heavens to the glory
shining in the Word of God. The glory we see in God's works is only an
illustration of the glory shining in this Book. After giving the wonderful
description of the rising sun, he goes on to point out that there is not a
single spot in the whole world where the sun does not shine, and that its
light and heat can be felt by everything. Then he shows us that it is just
the same with the Word of God. It is God's message to every one, but it is
only when it finds an entrance into man's heart that it gives light.
[Footnote: Ps. cxix. 130.]
If you draw down the blind the sun cannot shine into your room; so the
Holy Spirit must open our hearts for the light of His Word to enter in,
otherwise it will be to us the same as any other book.
"Is it dark without you, darker still within?
Clear the darkened windows,
Open wide the door;
Let the blessed sunshine in."
How can we know that the Bible is the Word of God? A gentleman, who was an
unbeliever, stopped one day to speak to Molly, the old woman who kept a
flower stall near the station. He noticed she was reading her Bible, so he
asked her why she read it. "Because it is the Word of God." "How do you
know?" "Because it cheers and warms my heart. I am just as sure it is
God's own Word as I am that it is the sun shining up there." This simple
testimony was the means of convincing him and he thanked her for it.
We have heard how the sun shines over the whole world, but is it not
wonderful that every little drop of water can reflect the whole of its
light? In every sunbeam there are seven colours, and when you look up at
the rainbow you see all the seven in one drop of rain. This is only an
illustration of the wonders of God's grace. If you are a child of God the
whole of God's grace enters your heart, so you have grace to speak, grace
to pray, grace to be loving and patient, grace for everything. The whole
of God's life and light and love are for you as if there were no one else
in the world. It is the same with all the precious truths of God's Word:
they are _all_ yours. A minister who wanted to know how many promises
there are in the Bible searched all through the Book and he counted nearly
five thousand. Had you any idea that there are as many as five thousand
precious promises for the believer in God's Word? Have you claimed them?
A Christian woman who was very ill asked her daughter to read the 8th
chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. When she had finished the mother
said, "That's mine, it's _all_ mine." How rich she was! Only think of it
and it is an _Eternal_ inheritance, for the chapter begins with "no
condemnation" and ends with "no separation."
If you will look at verses 7 and 8 of our Psalm, you will see four things
which the Word of God does. "It converts the soul, makes wise the simple,
rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes." Let us think of these four
things.
First: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." The law here
means the whole covenant of Jehovah.
You remember how, when God appeared to Abraham, that Abraham fell on his
face, feeling his utter weakness and nothingness, and then God talked with
him. When a man is laid low in the dust then God can talk to him. And God
said to Abraham, "I will make my covenant between Me and thee." [Footnote:
Gen. xvii. 2.] A covenant is a promise made under solemn conditions, and
it is God's covenant of grace which converts the soul. Such a promise as
we have in Ezekiel: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit
will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh: And I will put my Spirit
within you." [Footnote: Ezek. xxxvi. 26.] God says "I will" five times in
those few lines, because He wants us to understand that in giving this
promise He undertakes to do in us and for us what we can never do for
ourselves.
This reminds me of a young woman who was troubled because, although she
was longing to be saved, yet she felt her heart was so hard. One Sunday
the minister took this verse as the text for his sermon. When he gave it
out it seemed to her as if a voice was speaking these words close to her,
right into her ear, "I will give you an heart of flesh." It came like a
message direct from God. She was so deeply touched she could not listen to
the sermon, and after it was over she went into the fields to find a quiet
place that she might look at the words again in her Bible. She is now a
very bright earnest Christian.
It is through the Word that God speaks to our hearts, and when the Holy
Spirit makes it a living Word and quickens us to receive it with faith,
then we are converted. If you are not saved, take your Bible and read it
prayerfully, and you will find in it just what you want. Remember the
letter of Scripture is of no use unless we experience its power and enjoy
its sweetness.
A young clergyman was converted through a very strange text. He was so
much depressed he thought of committing suicide, and then his eye fell on
that verse in Ecclesiastes, "A living dog is better than a dead lion."
[Footnote: Eccles. ix. 4.] The words brought fresh hope to him. He said to
himself, One thing is certain and that is, I am still a _living_ man, and
he was then led to seek Christ as the Way, the Truth and the _Life_.
It is wonderful to think of the many different ways in which God sends His
Word home to our hearts. Spurgeon gives an instance of this. He was asked
to visit a dying man who told him about his conversion. He said, "Some
years ago I was at work in the Crystal Palace. God's Spirit was striving
with me and I felt the burden of sin. It seemed to follow me wherever I
went. Suddenly a voice said to me distinctly, 'Behold he Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world.' [Footnote: St. John i. 29.] No one was
near me, and I thought the message had come straight from God. I then saw
clearly that Christ had died to save me, and ever since I have had joy and
peace in believing."
Spurgeon listened to the dying man's testimony with deep interest, and he
remembered that on that very day he had gone to the Crystal Palace to test
his voice in the transept before speaking at a People's service which was
to be held there, and had used that very text, "Behold the Lamb of God
which taketh away the sin of the world."
Let us thank God that His Word is _perfect_ in converting he soul.
"The testimony of the Lord is _sure_, making wise the simple." It is well
known that very often a man who is no scholar, but who is taught of God,
is able to see deep truths which learned men fail to understand. Every
time you read your Bible look up and say, "Lord, open Thou mine eyes that
I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 18.]
Do not feel discouraged because you do not understand t all. There are
many things which earthly fathers tell their children which they do not
understand till they are grown up, but still they love to get father's
letters, and the Bible is our heavenly Father's letter to us. Do you value
it?
In the 8th verse of the 19th Psalm it says, "The statutes of the LORD are
right, rejoicing the heart." I have seen many careworn faces lit up with
joy when reading the Word. One man especially, who had a great deal of
trouble and opposition in his home life, used to give his testimony at the
Meeting. Opening his Bible in the 5th chapter of the Gospel of St. John he
would read the 24th verse, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth My word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life
and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."
Then he would tell us with a beaming face that it was his song of
assurance, for, as he said, there are three links, "He that _heareth_,
_believeth_, _hath_--and 'hath' means 'got it,' and I've got everlasting
life. Jesus says it and I know it's true." He is now in the glory, and
maybe he is telling the angels about it.
If we had no Bible we should have no certainty that our sins are forgiven.
A little girl named Molly said to her aunt who was teaching her about
Jesus, "How can I be sure that my sins are forgiven?" "Because God says
so," [Footnote: i John i. 9.] was the reply, and then she repeated the
text, "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Many say, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins," and yet they still carry
about the burden of their sins. They see clearly how God can forgive sin,
but they cannot realise that it is their own sins which are forgiven. This
was the case with Luther. He tells us how, when he was distressed because
of his sins, a friend pointed out to him that he would not have real peace
unless he claimed God's forgiveness for his _own _sins. It was like a new
light flashing into his soul; he saw his mistake and looking up with a
beaming face, he said, "I see it now--it is not other people's sins, it is
_my_ sins which are all forgiven!"
We must not estimate sin and forgiveness by our own standard. When we have
given way to sin again and again we feel ashamed to ask God's forgiveness
so often but the wonder of it all is that God meets this very feeling of
shame with the words, "My thoughts are not your thoughts"; and then He
adds, "For I will abundantly pardon," [Footnote: 2 Isa. lv. 7, 8.] which
means, I will repeatedly pardon. God's thoughts of sin and His thoughts
about forgiveness are far higher than ours. Sometimes I feel quite
overwhelmed when I think of how great His forgiving love has been to me.
Look again at our Psalm, verse 7, "The testimony of the Lord is _sure_,
making wise the simple." The word Testimony means an assurance or a
promise from God to the individual soul, and David had such confidence in
God he is quite sure He will not disappoint him or fail to keep His word.
So he says, "The testimony, or promise, of God is _sure_." It is this
certainty which makes David so happy.
He seems to be overflowing with joy, for he says, "Thy testimonies also
are my delight and my counsellors," [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 24.] and again,
"I love Thy testimonies." "Thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore doth
my soul keep them. Thy testimonies that Thou hast commanded are righteous
and very faithful." [Footnote: Ps. cxix. 119, 129, 138.]
The word "Testimony" means also what God has commanded us to believe and
also to practise.
A native convert in China said the other day, "I began by reading the
Bible, but now I am _behaving_ it." This is what David means when he says,
"My soul hath kept Thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly."
[Footnote: Ps. cxix. 167.]