God's Purpose and Power to Bless.

THE purpose of God is to save and to bless man, and this comes out at the time when we might least have expected it.
At the call and conversion of Saul of Tarsus, as related in the twenty-sixth chapter of the Acts, we read that the Lord had appeared to him for a purpose, to make him a minister, and a witness, not of judgment, but of blessing. (vs. 19.)
A little before that time God’s Son had been crucified and rejected from the earth. Messages of grace from heaven by the mouth of the apostle Peter, and the testimony of Stephen, were equally refused, the latter sealing his witness with his blood. Saul of Tarsus was of the company of his enemies that stoned him to death.
What should we have expected after all this? Surely the immediate outpouring of God’s judgment. Not so.” God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world” (John 3:1717For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17).) Accordingly this very Saul of Tarsus is arrested on the journey from Jerusalem to Damascus, as one who was to be the witness of grace on God’s part to man; for God was, and is, bent upon blessing.
So the Lord Jesus in glory said to Saul, “I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified.” And he was to go forth and tell them that all this full cup of blessing should be theirs individually, on the simple principle of “faith that is in me” (Acts 26:16-1816But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:16‑18)).
And Saul went forth, and continued witnessing that Christ had suffered, and risen again from the dead, according as the prophets and Moses had said, in order to show light to the people and to the Gentiles (10:22, 23). For indeed “gross darkness” had set in, since He who was the Light of the world had been put out of it.
Now, this sets forth the condition the world is in today. It is under the blinding power of Satan, who is its god. (2 Cor. 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4).) Darkness, gross darkness, pervades the whole scene (Eph. 6:1212For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)). It was at this very time that God Himself declared what He had done. He who is slow to judgment, who delights in mercy, turned that dark deed of man in placing Christ upon the cross into the occasion of His richest blessing, even of His having been made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)), to bear the penalty of the very sin that put Him there, and to bear sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:2424Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)).
How simple!
FROM THE POWER OF SATAN TO GOD.
We may look at the case of the poor demoniac, whose name was Legion, as a wonderful illustration of this turning from the power of Satan to God. In the account in Luke 7:2727This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (Luke 7:27) we read that Jesus met “a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs”. Further, “he was kept bound with chains and in fetters: and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.” (vs. 29.)
His name was “Legion; because many devils were entered into him” (vs. 30). What a terrible picture of man in his natural state! Not that every individual is possessed by the devil in the same way; yet every one, however he may boast of his freewill, is really captive to that dreadful enemy, the god of this world, that old serpent (Rev. 20:22And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, (Revelation 20:2)). And as Legion had had devils a long time, so man’s condition has been such a long time; yea, ever since the entrance of sin, when he disobeyed God in Eden, and became the prey of the tempter. We were all born in this slavery and thralldom.
Legion also “ware no clothes.” Man, woman, or child, all are naked sinners in the sight of God. He abode not in any house. He was, indeed, an outcast, as also the sinner is from the only secure dwelling-place, the presence of God. His dwelling-place was in the tombs; fit description of what this world is, one vast graveyard. Where are all the generations of men that lived before the present one? All, with two exceptions; died.
Do you believe these solemn realities? They are the truth; apply them to yourself; do not put the truth away from you, from a feeling of despair, for there is salvation even for you.
Legion was bound with chains and fetters, the restraints his fellow-men put upon him; but he broke them, “and was driven of the devil into the wilderness,” and would have been driven sooner or later to destruction had not deliverance come. There are in the world today many agencies emanating from man to keep order and check the evil that is in him. Yet, withal, restraints good or bad, do not deliver; man’s state remains the same.
Oh! my reader, be not deceived by the sight of your eyes, but believe the word of God, and look at things as they are, and see also in the uncontrollable restlessness of the world today, the devil already driving his victims in the wilderness on the way to everlasting destruction in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:1515And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)). Do not be the devil’s dupe, when God warns you plainly, but take your place as a guilty, helpless sinner, and learn how you may be eternally delivered.
Wherein was Legion’s deliverance? Jesus meets him; He in whom resided the full power of God draws near. What was the effect? “What have I to do with Thee? “wretched Legion cries out; “I beseech Thee, torment me not.”
Do you feel like this? How often, when Christ is introduced, men feel it is tormenting them. Speak of Him, and you are a troubler. Yes, man finds the presence of Satan more easy to be borne than the presence of God. Dear reader, do you in your heart say to Jesus today, “What have I to do with Thee?”
Let me tell you that you must have to do with Him, now or hereafter. May it be, like this poor man, now. Jesus commanded, and by His word the unclean spirit departed out of the man.
Soon the same man that besought Jesus not to torment him, besought Him that he might remain with Him. What a change! and it is a change to be delivered from the power of Satan to God. The gospel is now the power of God to this purpose.
The lookers on see the wondrous work of God (Luke 8:3535Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. (Luke 8:35)). They see the poor man, clothed, and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus, the only place where rest is to be found. For Jesus says, “Come unto me... and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28).) God also has provided the best robe of the Father’s house, Christ Himself, for the repentant sinner.
They see him in his right mind. Man never has right thoughts of anything till he is brought back to God. What a deliverance! And Christ is now the repentant, believing one’s rest and peace. Christ, of God, made unto him righteousness (1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30)), and the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:1616For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)), becomes his own. Surely, he can only need one thing more, as every true-hearted Christian must desire: that is, to be with the One who has wrought all these marvels, and who has displayed such love. (Col. 3:1-41If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1‑4)).
Yet is there an interval before this may be. The men of Gadara would not have Jesus. He departed from them for a season. So has He from this world that refused Him; and, until His return, He bids us; as He did delivered Legion, to tell what great things God has done for us; first, to friends at home (Mark 5:1919Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. (Mark 5:19)), and then it is our privilege to publish God’s glad tidings abroad.
J. S. C.
The LORD Himself shall come,
And shout a quickening word;
Thousands shall answer from the tomb,
“Forever with the LORD!”
Then, as we upward fly,
That resurrection word
Shall be our shout of victory,
“Forever with the LORD!”
“Knowing as we are known!”
How shall we love that word,
How oft repeat before the throne,
Forever with the LORD!”
That resurrection-word,
That shout of victory:
Once more “Forever with the LORD!”
Amen, so let it be!