_CHRIST ALL AND IN ALL_.
(Colossians iii. 11.)
Christ is _all_ to us that we make Him to be. I want to emphasize
that word "all." Some men make Him to be "a root out of a dry
ground," "without form or comeliness." He is nothing to them; they do
not want Him. Some Christians have a very small Saviour, for they are
not willing to receive Him fully, and let Him do great and mighty
things for them. Others have a mighty Saviour, because they make Him
to be great and mighty.
If we would know what Christ wants to be to us, we must first of all
know Him as our Saviour from sin. When the angel came down from
heaven to proclaim that He was to be born into the world, you
remember he gave His name, "He shall be called Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins." Have we been delivered from sin? He
did not come to save us _in_ our sins, but _from_ our sins. Now,
there are three ways of knowing a man. Some men you know only by
hearsay; others you merely know by having been once introduced to
them, you know them very slightly; others again you know by having
been acquainted with them for years, you know them intimately. So I
believe there are three classes of people to-day in the Christian
Church and out of it: those who know Christ only by reading or by
hearsay, those who have a historical Christ; those who have a slight
personal acquaintance with Him; and, those who thirst, as Paul did,
to "know Him and the power of His resurrection." The more we know of
Christ the more we shall love Him, and the better we shall serve Him.
Let us look at Him as He hangs upon the Cross, and see how He has put
away sin. He was manifested that He might take away our sins; and if
we really know Him we must first of all see Him as our Saviour from
sin. You remember how the angels said to the shepherds on the plains
of Bethlehem, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people: for unto you is born this day, in the city of
David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke ii. 10, 11.) Then
if you go clear back to Isaiah, seven hundred years before Christ's
birth, you will find these words: "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside
me there is no Saviour" (xliii. 11).
Again, in the First Epistle of John (iv. 14) we read: "We have seen,
and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the
world." All the heathen religions, we read, teach men to work their
way up to God; but the religion of Jesus Christ is God coming down to
men to save them, to lift them up out of the pit of sin. In Luke xix.
10, we read that Christ Himself told the people what He had come for:
"The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." So
we start from the Cross, not from the cradle. Christ has opened up a
new and living way to the Father; He has taken all the stumbling-blocks
out of the way, so that every man who accepts of Christ as his
Saviour can have salvation.
But Christ is not only a Saviour. I might save a man from drowning
and rescue him from an untimely grave; but I might probably not be
able to do any more for him. Christ is something more than a Saviour.
When the children of Israel were placed behind the blood, that blood
was their salvation; but they would still have heard the crack of the
slave-driver's whip if they had not been delivered from the Egyptian
yoke of bondage: then it was that God delivered them from the hand of
the king of Egypt. I have little sympathy with the idea that God
comes down to save us, and then leaves us in prison, the slaves of
our besetting sins. No; He has come to deliver us, and to give us
victory over our evil tempers, our passions, and our lusts. Are you a
professed Christian but one who is a slave to some besetting sin? If
you want to get victory over that temper or that lust, go on to know
Christ more intimately. He brings deliverance for the past, the
present, and the future. "Who delivered; who doth deliver; who will
yet deliver." (2 Cor. i. 10.)
How often, like the children of Israel when they came to the Red Sea,
have we become discouraged because everything looked dark before us,
behind us, and around us, and we knew not which way to turn. Like
Peter we have said, "To whom shall we go?" But God has appeared for
our deliverance. He has brought us through the Red Sea right out into
the wilderness, and opened up the way into the Promised Land. But
Christ is not only our Deliverer; He is our Redeemer. That is
something more than being our Saviour. He has brought us back. "Ye
have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without
money." (Isaiah lii. 3.) "We were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold." (1 Peter i. 18.) If gold could have
redeemed us, could He not have created ten thousand worlds full of
gold?
When God had redeemed the children of Israel from the bondage of
Egypt, and brought them through the Red Sea, they struck out for the
wilderness; and then God became to them their Way. I am so thankful
the Lord has not left us in darkness as to the right way. There is no
living man who has been groping in the darkness but may know the way.
"I am the Way," says Christ. If we follow Christ we shall be in the
right way, and have the right doctrine. Who could lead the children
of Israel through the wilderness like the Almighty God Himself? He
knew the pitfalls and dangers of the way, and guided the people
through all their wilderness journey right into the promised land. It
is true that if it had not been for their accursed unbelief they
might have crossed into the land at Kadesh Barnea, and taken
possession of it, but they desired something besides God's word; so
they were turned back, and had to wander in the desert for forty
years. I believe there are thousands of God's children wandering in
the wilderness still. The Lord has delivered them from the hand of
the Egyptian, and would at once take them through the wilderness
right into the Promised Land, if they were only willing to follow
Christ. Christ has been down here, and has made the rough places
smooth, and the dark places light, and the crooked places straight.
If we will only be led by Him, and will follow Him, all will be
peace, and joy, and rest.
In the frontier, when a man goes out hunting he takes a hatchet with
him, and cuts off pieces from the bark of the trees as he goes along
through the forest: this is called "blazing the way." He does it that
he may know the way back, as there is no pathway through these thick
forests. Christ has come down to this earth; He has "blazed the Way:"
and now that He has gone up on high, if we will but follow him, we
shall be kept in the right path. I will tell you how you may know if
you are following Christ or not. If some one has slandered you, or
misjudged you, do you treat them as your master would have done? If
you do not bear these things in a loving and forgiving spirit, all
the churches and ministers in the world cannot make you right. "If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." (Romans
viii. 9.) "If any man be in Christ Jesus he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Cor.
v. 17.)
Christ is not only our way; He is the Light upon the way. He says, "I
am the Light of the world." (John viii. 12; ix. 5; xii. 46.) He goes
on to say, "He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life." It is impossible for any man or woman
who is following Christ to walk in darkness. If your soul is in the
darkness, groping around in the fog and mist of earth, let me tell
you it is because you have got away from the true light. There is
nothing but light that will dispel darkness. So let those who are
walking in spiritual darkness admit Christ into their hearts: He is
the Light. I call to mind a picture of which I used at one time to
think a good deal; but now I have come to look more closely, I would
not put it up in my house except I turned the face to the wall. It
represents Christ as standing at a door, knocking, and having a big
lantern in His hand. Why, you might as well hang up a lantern to the
sun as put one into Christ's hand. He is the Sun of Righteousness;
and it is our privilege to walk in the light of an unclouded sun.
Many people are hunting after light, and peace, and joy. We are
nowhere told to seek after these things. If we admit Christ into our
hearts these will all come of themselves. I remember, when a boy, I
used to try in vain to catch my shadow. One day I was walking with my
face to the sun; and as I happened to look around I saw that my
shadow was following me. The faster I went the faster my shadow
followed; I could not get away from it. So when our faces are
directed to the Sun of Righteousness, the peace and joy are sure to
come. A man said to me some time ago, "Moody, how do you feel?" It
was so long since I had thought about my feelings I had to stop and
consider awhile, in order to find out. Some Christians are all the
time thinking about their feelings; and because they do not feel just
right they think their joy is all gone. If we keep our faces towards
Christ, and are occupied with Him, we shall be lifted out of the
darkness and the trouble that may have gathered round our path.
I remember being in a meeting after the war of the great rebellion
broke out. The war had been going on for about six months. The army
of the North had been defeated at Bull Run, in fact, we had nothing
but defeat, and it looked as though the republic was going to pieces.
So we were much cast down and discouraged. At this meeting every
speaker for awhile seemed as if he had hung his harp upon the willow;
and it was one of the gloomiest meetings I ever attended. Finally an
old man with beautiful white hair got up to speak, and his face
literally shone. "Young men," he said "you do not talk like sons of
the King. Though it is dark just here, remember it is light somewhere
else." Then he went on to say that if it were dark all over the
world, it was light up around the Throne.
He told us he had come from the east, where a friend had described to
him how he had been up a mountain to spend the night and see the sun
rise. As the party were climbing up the mountain, and before they had
reached the summit, a storm came on. This friend said to the guide,
"I will give this up; take me back." The guide smiled, and replied,
"I think we shall get above the storm soon." On they went; and it was
not long before they got up to where it was as calm as any summer
evening. Down in the valley a terrible storm raged; they could hear
the thunder rolling, and see the lightning's flash; but all was
serene on the mountain top. "And so, my young friends," continued the
old man, "though all is dark around you, come a little higher and the
darkness will flee away." Often when I have been inclined to get
discouraged, I have thought of what he said. Now if you are down in
the valley amidst the thick fog and the darkness, get a little
higher; get nearer to Christ, and know more of Him.
You remember the Bible says, that when Christ expired on the cross,
the light of the world was put out. God sent His Son to be the light
of the world; but men did not love the light because it reproved them
of their sins. When they were about to put out this light, what did
Christ say to His disciples? "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me." (Acts
i. 8.) He has gone up yonder to intercede for us; but He wants us to
shine for Him down here. "Ye are the light of the world." (Matt. v.
14.) So our work is to shine; not to blow our own trumpet so that
people may look at us. What we want to do is to show forth Christ. If
we have any light at all it is borrowed light. Some one said to a
young Christian: "Converted! it is all moonshine!" Said he: "I thank
you for the illustration; the moon borrows its light from the sun;
and we borrow ours from the Sun of Righteousness." If we are
Christ's, we are here to shine for Him: by and by he will call us
home to our reward.
I remember hearing of a blind man who sat by the wayside with a
lantern near him. When he was asked what he had a lantern for, as he
could not see the light, he said it was that people should not
stumble over him. I believe more people stumble over the
inconsistencies of professed Christians than from any other cause.
What is doing more harm to the cause of Christ than all the
scepticism in the world is this cold, dead formalism, this conformity
to the world, this professing what we do not possess. The eyes of the
world are upon us. I think it was George Fox who said every Quaker
ought to light up the country for ten miles around him. If we were
all brightly shining for the Master, those about us would soon be
reached, and there would be a shout of praise going to heaven.
People say: "I want to know what is the truth." Listen: "I am the
truth," says Christ. (John xiv. 5.) If you want to know what the
truth is, get acquainted with Christ. People also complain that they
have not life. Many are trying to give themselves spiritual life. You
may galvanize yourselves and put electricity into yourselves, so to
speak; but the effect will not last very long. Christ alone is the
author of life. If you would have real spiritual life, get to know
Christ. Many try to stir up spiritual life by going to meetings. That
may be well enough; but it will be of no use, unless they get into
contact with the living Christ. Then their spiritual life will not be
a spasmodic thing, but will be perpetual; flowing on and on, and
bringing forth fruit to God.
Then Christ is our Keeper. A great many young disciples are afraid
they will not hold out. "He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber
nor sleep." (Psalm cxxi. 4.) It is the work of Christ to keep us; and
if He keeps us there will be no danger of our falling. I suppose if
Queen Victoria had to take care of the Crown of England, some thief
might attempt to get access to it; but it is put away in the Tower of
London, and guarded night and day by soldiers. The whole English army
would, if necessary, be called out to protect it. And we have no
strength in ourselves. We are no match for Satan; he has had six
thousand years' experience. But then we remember that the One who
neither slumbers nor sleeps is our keeper. In Isaiah xli. 10, we
read, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am
thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will
uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness." In Jude also,
verse 24, we are told that He is "able to keep us from falling." "We
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (1
John ii. 1.)
But Christ is something more. He is our Shepherd. It is the work of
the shepherd to care for the sheep, to feed them and protect them. "I
am the Good Shepherd;" "My sheep hear My voice." "I lay down My life
for the sheep." In that wonderful tenth chapter of John, Christ uses
the personal pronoun no less than twenty-eight times, in declaring
what He is and what He will do. In verse 28 He says, "They shall
never perish; neither shall any [_man_] pluck them out of My hand."
But notice the word "man" is in italics. See how the verse really
reads: "Neither shall any pluck them out of My hand"--no devil or man
shall be able to do it. In another place the Scripture declares,
"Your life is hid with Christ in God." (Col. iii. 3.) How safe and
how secure!
Christ says, "My sheep hear My voice . . . and they follow Me." (John
x. 27.) A gentleman in the East heard of a shepherd who could call
all his sheep to him by name. He went and asked if this was true. The
shepherd took him to the pasture where they were, and called one of
them by some name. One sheep looked up and answered the call, while
the others went on feeding and paid no attention. In the same way he
called about a dozen of the sheep around him. The stranger said, "How
do you know one from the other? They all look perfectly alike."
"Well," said he, "you see that sheep toes in a little; that other one
has a squint; one has a little piece of wool off; another has a black
spot; and another has a piece out of its ear." The man knew all his
sheep by their failings, for he had not a perfect one in the whole
flock. I suppose our Shepherd knows us in the same way.
An Eastern shepherd was once telling a gentleman that his sheep knew
his voice, and that no stranger could deceive them. The gentleman
thought he would like to put the statement to the test. So he put on
the shepherd's frock and turban, and took his staff and went to the
flock. He disguised his voice, and tried to speak as much like the
shepherd as he could; but he could not get a single sheep in the
flock to follow him. He asked the shepherd if his sheep never
followed a stranger. He was obliged to admit that if a sheep got
sickly it would follow any one. So it is with a good many professed
Christians; when they get sickly and weak in the faith, they will
follow any teacher that comes along; but when the soul is in health,
a man will not be carried away by errors and heresies. He will know
whether the "voice" speaks the truth or not. He can soon tell that,
if he is really in communion with God. When God sends a true
messenger his words will find a ready response in the Christian
heart.
Christ is a tender Shepherd. You may some time think He has not been
a very tender Shepherd to you; you are passing under the rod. It is
written, "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom He receiveth." (Heb. xii. 6.) That you are passing under the rod
is no proof that Christ does not love you. A friend of mine lost all
his children. No man could ever have loved his family more; but the
scarlet fever took one by one away; and so the whole four or five,
one after another, died. The poor stricken parents went over to great
Britain, and wandered from one place to another, there and on the
continent. At length they found their way to Syria. One day they saw
an Eastern shepherd come down to a stream, and call his flock to
cross. The sheep came down to the brink, and looked at the water; but
they seemed to shrink from it, and he could not get them to respond
to his call. He then took a little lamb, put it under one arm; he
took another lamb and put it under the other arm, and thus passed
into the stream. The old sheep no longer stood looking at the water:
they plunged in after the shepherd; and in a few minutes the whole
flock was on the other side; and he led them away to newer and
fresher pastures. The bereaved father and mother, as they looked on
the scene, felt that it taught them a lesson. They no longer murmured
because the Great Shepherd had taken their lambs one by one into
yonder world; and they began to look up and look forward to the time
when they would follow the loved ones they had lost. If you have
loved ones gone before, remember that your Shepherd is calling you to
"set your affection on things above." (Col. iii. 2.) Let us be
faithful to Him, and follow Him, while we remain in this world. And
if you have not taken Him for your Shepherd, do so this very day.
Christ is not only all these things that I have mentioned: He is also
our Mediator, our Sanctifier, our Justifier; in fact, it would take
volumes to tell what He desires to be to every individual soul. While
looking through some papers I once read this wonderful description of
Christ. I do not know where it originally came from; but it was so
fresh to my soul that I should like to give it to you:--
"Christ is our Way; we walk in Him. He is our Truth; we embrace Him.
He is our Life; we live in Him. He is our Lord; we choose Him to rule
over us. He is our Master; we serve Him. He is our Teacher,
instructing us in the way of salvation. He is our Prophet, pointing
out the future. He is our Priest, having atoned for us. He is our
Advocate, ever living to make intercession for us. He is our Saviour,
saving to the uttermost. He is our Root; we grow from Him. He is our
Bread; we feed upon Him. He is our Shepherd, leading us into green
pastures. He is our true Vine; we abide in Him. He is the Water of
Life; we slake our thirst from Him. He is the fairest among ten
thousand: we admire Him above all others. He is 'the brightness of
the Father's glory, and the express image of His person;' we strive
to reflect His likeness. He is the upholder of all things; we rest
upon Him. He is our wisdom; we are guided by Him. He is our
Righteousness; we cast all our imperfections upon Him. He is our
Sanctification; we draw all our power for holy life from Him. He is
our Redemption, redeeming us from all iniquity. He is our Healer,
curing all our diseases. He is our Friend, relieving us in all our
necessities. He is our Brother, cheering us in our difficulties."
Here is another beautiful extract: it is from Gotthold:
"For my part, my soul is like a hungry and thirsty child; and I need
His love and consolation for my refreshment. I am a wandering and
lost sheep; and I need Him as a good and faithful shepherd. My soul
is like a frightened dove pursued by the hawk; and I need His wounds
for a refuge. I am a feeble vine; and I need His cross to lay hold
of, and to wind myself about. I am a sinner; and I need His
righteousness. I am naked and bare; and I need His holiness and
innocence for a covering. I am ignorant; and I need His teaching:
simple and foolish; and I need the guidance of His Holy Spirit. In no
situation, and at no time, can I do without Him. Do I pray? He must
prompt, and intercede for me. Am I arraigned by Satan at the Divine
tribunal? He must be my Advocate. Am I in affliction? He must be my
Helper. Am I persecuted by the world? He must defend me. When I am
forsaken, He must be my Support; when I am dying, my life: when
mouldering in the grave, my Resurrection. Well, then, I will rather
part with all the world, and all that it contains, than with Thee, my
Saviour. And, God be thanked! I know that Thou, too, art neither able
nor willing to do without me. Thou art rich; and I am poor. Thou hast
abundance; and I am needy. Thou hast righteousness; and I sins. Thou
hast wine and oil; and I wounds. Thou hast cordials and refreshments;
and I hunger and thirst.
Use me then, my Saviour, for whatever purpose, and in whatever way,
Thou mayest require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it
with Thy grace. Here is my sinful and troubled soul; quicken and
refresh it with Thy love. Take my heart for Thine abode; my mouth to
spread the glory of Thy name; my love and all my powers, for the
advancement of Thy believing people; and never suffer the
steadfastness and confidence of my faith to abate--that so at all
times I may be enabled from the heart to say. 'Jesus needs me, and I
Him; and so we suit each other.'"