_FAITH IN THE SAVIOUR._
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."--Acts
xvi. 31.
A startling providential dispensation was one of the means by which
the spiritual nature of this jailer was roused. Only one, effectual so
far as it went, but not complete in itself. It was preparatory and
auxiliary to the action of the Holy Spirit, the instrument by which
the Spirit did His special work of convincing the man of sin. Thus it
is that outward events and circumstances are made to co-operate with
God in the conversion of a soul. The way in which the Spirit works is
a mystery, akin to that in which one human mind acts upon another. But
the _means_ of this spiritual action is no mystery. We use speech,
external appliances of various kinds; the Divine Spirit does the same.
In the case of the jailer he employed the earthquake together with the
calm faith, the perfect serenity, of the apostles at a moment which
was to himself a moment of terror, and which would also have been a
moment of terror to them had they not been the Christians they were. A
great joy; a great sorrow, commotion, loss, alarm, the apparent
nearness of death; daily mercies, the "means of grace," the Word of
God, the ministry of the gospel--through all these the Spirit works.
They are powerless in themselves; they can only become mighty as used
by Him.
It is obvious at a glance that this man's spiritual nature _was_
roused. Spiritual realities burst in upon his mind in all their awful
momentousness. His whole soul was suddenly concentrated in a sense of
his ruin. Hence the short, sharp question--the question which sprung
from an inward agony--"What must I do to be saved?" That question must
be answered, if it can be--answered on the instant! There is a
tremendous depth of meaning in it. It is as though a lightning flash
had in a moment illuminated the man's whole spiritual condition,
bringing out every feature of it into startling distinctness. All the
fears and the aspirations of his immortal being are here; his past
life with all its sin, his remorse, his dread of judgment, his terror
in the presence of God--all are here; he feels himself to be a lost
man. How can he be saved?
In his question there is no hint of self-righteousness or of
self-confidence, or even of the remotest hope in himself. He does not
ask, like "the young man in the gospel," "What good thing must I do
that I may inherit eternal life?" The question of the young man is
leisurely; the question of the jailer is hurried, under the feeling
that there is not a moment to be lost. Helpless and hopeless, he wants
but one thing, and that is to be "saved." Of course his "What must I
do?" indicates that he is willing and ready to comply with any
possible terms; yet it is not a question of conscious strength--it is
rather the question of despair.
Such a question shows that a great point--an essential point--had been
gained. The gospel is a sovereign remedy designed and constructed to
meet a desperate case. Not only do they that are whole stand in no
need of a physician, but wherever there lingers an idea of spiritual
strength, or a dream, of self-righteousness, the condition necessary
for the reception of such a salvation as that which the gospel
proclaims is entirely wanting. Christ is an exclusive Saviour, and
"looking to Him" is an exclusive hope.
"What must I do to be saved?" Clear, quick, unhesitating, comes the
answer of Paul: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved." Both the question and the answer strike the point--the centre
of the soul's supreme need, and the centre of the gospel message.
This answer of Paul's is not simply his own. It is the answer of God
to every man who wants to know how he can be saved. It is the answer
of the whole Bible. It is the pre-eminently, distinctively Christian
answer. All revelation has one great object--Jesus Christ, promised,
announced, expected, seen by faith beforehand; then Jesus Christ
actually come, His life told, His mission developed, Himself presented
to the world as the one and only Name whereby men can be
saved;--always Jesus Christ. Patriarchs and prophets, Moses and David,
Christ Himself, His apostles and disciples after Him, the whole
Church--all unite to say to the awakened soul: "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
But this answer, though not Paul's alone, is nevertheless his in such
a sense that an immense weight belongs to it. What does Paul himself
understand by it? We know something of his experience, and that will
tell us the meaning of these words as spoken by him. He spake that
which he knew, and testified that which he had seen. He felt that he
could offer to the spiritual need of every man that which had so fully
met his own.
Read Paul's life. Read his epistles. You see at a glance what Christ
was to _him_--a Redeemer. And what to him was the very centre of
Christian truth? "Christ crucified." He had been so roused as to see
clearly the relation between himself and God. The true sense of sin
had been awakened within him. No man had made more strenuous efforts
to obtain justification by the works of the law than he had; and no
man had more deeply realised his helplessness. How does he describe
the struggle? "I had not known sin, but by the law.... When the
commandment came, sin revived, and I died.... Sin, taking occasion by
the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.... That which I do I
allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do
I.... I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) there dwelleth no good
thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which
is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil
which I would not, that I do.... O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?"
"I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
We all know how God arrested, overcame, and subdued him, by showing
him in that same "Jesus Christ our Lord" the mystery of the Divine
love. God taught him that he must no longer expect righteousness and
eternal life to come from his own works, to be wrought by his own
strength. Eternal life is the free gift of God. Look to the cross!
Listen to the Spirit! Learn in "the folly of the cross" to adore the
wisdom and the power of God--a forgiveness that glorifies justice as
well as mercy; a forgiveness that kills sin as well as removes its
penalty; a salvation that harmonises man with God as well as forgives
him; a salvation that implies a perfect holiness, the motive being
love, and the effectual power being that of the Holy Spirit. Deep as
his want had been, it was now completely met by the revelation of the
Saviour. To that revelation his response was prompt, complete,
irrevocable. He says that it was as though scales had fallen from his
eyes, this disclosure of the Divine plan of salvation to his mind. It
was full of light, full of mercy. The manifestation of the risen
Christ was the instrumentality which enlightened him. He saw
straightway the nature and purpose of "the cross," the certainty of
justification through faith, the believer's completeness in Christ.
"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us." "There is now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that
it was weak through the flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." "I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." The natural
result of these convictions in the apostle's own case was his
consecration to the Saviour. Bought with a great price, he felt that
he was no longer his own, but that, in life and death, he belonged to
Him who had given Himself for him. In Christ he had found peace for
his conscience, light for his mind, love for his heart. And what was
the secret of it all? Simply "believing in the Lord Jesus Christ."
This, then, was Paul's gospel to the jailer, and there is no other
gospel to-day. We know that sin incurs condemnation--the displeasure
of God. The universal conscience gives testimony to that fact. We know
that man cannot, in his own person, satisfy the claims of the Divine
law. But there comes down to us the old truth that Christ is "the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world." He "finished the work
which His Father gave Him to do," and the whole benefit of that work
is given to faith.
It is in the name of this perfect system of truth--which, observe, is
a perfect series of facts--consecrated by the trial of ages, by the
experience of an incalculable number of souls in all times, places,
and conditions, and by the world's own verdict on Christian character
wherever it is found--that we speak to you with a confidence equal to
that with which Paul spoke to the jailer. And let me add that we so
speak because we have made the experience of it our own, and that it
is as sure in our hearts as our very existence. Yes, a perfect series
of facts as well as a perfect system of truth. Men sometimes object
that we put before them hard and abstruse systems of theology, and
that we condemn them for not believing things which they cannot
understand. There is no need to do anything of the kind, and when it
is done a grave mistake is committed. I preach no "abstractions" to
you when I urge you to faith in Christ for salvation. I deal with
facts and their deductions--deductions which are as inevitable as the
facts are real--deductions which follow the facts as the shadow
follows the substance. Deny the deductions? You must first deny the
facts. The jailer, poor man, was no theologian, and Paul did not
perplex and mystify him. He placed the person of Christ immediately
before the soul. Faith in a person; that is _first_--not faith in a
creed. A creed will follow; for there cannot be faith without thought,
and thought always strives to formulate itself. But, blessed be God,
millions have been saved with next to no "theology." Having Christ for
its object, and salvation for its aim, faith reposes in the facts of
His mission and work; but as He is a living Christ, it emphatically
reposes in _Him_. This is the commonest form of the believer's
experience. In our social life we know what faith in a person means.
We confide in known goodness; and therefore we believe words,
promises, acts, and we do so because we trust _him_ from whom they
come. This is the last and most perfect stage of the faith men place
in one another, and it includes a confidence which is not impaired by
what, in the person who is trusted, seems startling, unexpected,
mysterious, contradictory, inexplicable. Just so with the gospel. It
meets our needs by telling us what God has done for us in Christ. We
believe the record which fits our want, and we put our trust in the
Saviour. Confiding in Him, we can accept such mysteries as we may
discern in His dealings, and faith in a holy and loving Saviour is
henceforth the true rest of life, and the true foretaste of heaven.
Such being the nature of faith unto salvation, we see how it contrasts
(1) with indifference. Indifference is commonly supposed to be a
mental state, in which a man neither believes nor disbelieves; whereas
it is really a state of spiritual deadness. (2) With mere opinion,
which is nothing more than an inclination in favour of, or against, a
thing, and not an earnest practical conviction about it. (3) With
presumption, which is a prepossession with no sufficient basis of
evidence.
It may, perhaps, be said that, in this representation of faith in
Christ as the one all-comprehensive condition of salvation, we have
left no room for penitence, holiness, devotedness. But think again for
a moment. Were not all these in this man? Did not his conduct to the
apostles show, so far as the opportunity was given him, the fruits of
faith in the various ways of grateful love? Faith is the
starting-point; but when we are told to "believe in Christ" an appeal
is made to us in response to which there is a whole career to be
filled up. Faith, like everything else in life, has its beginning, and
its development is progressive. It means thought, and thought means
contrition, gratitude, and a glad and loving obedience. It requires
time, but we have eternity before us. In some, the result of years is
accomplished in a day. Simple-hearted men generally receive by a sort
of intuition what others take a long period to elaborate. The one
thing essential to all is that they be faithful to the light and the
love they have received.
"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." We do not call you to a learned
and critical study. The life and teachings and redeeming work of the
Saviour are put before us with a simplicity that brings them within
the reach of a peasant or a child. Attention, earnestness, sincerity,
prayer, will do all that is needed. Seek the faith that will make
Christ yours. Do you not already, under the gracious influence of the
Holy Spirit, feel your need of Him? Oh, whilst mercy calls, and the
throne of grace is accessible, pray and yield!
Ye that in these courts are found
Listening to the joyful sound,
Lost and helpless as you are,
Sons of sorrow, sin, and care,
Glorify the King of kings!
Take the peace the gospel brings.
Turn to Christ with longing eyes,
View His bleeding sacrifice.
See through Him your sins forgiven,
Pardon, holiness, and heaven.
Glorify the King of kings!
Take the peace the gospel brings.