I was taking a journey by rail to go to a small village in Berkshire, with the object of telling out the good news of salvation to perishing sinners. On alighting at the station I was met by a young soldier who was home on furlough, and we walked together to the house where the preaching was to be held.
During his stay with his friends he had attended the ministry of the Word of God.
I found he was really anxious about his soul.
He owned that he was a lost sinner, and guilty before God, deserving only His judgment; but as yet he could not understand that the work of redemption was finished, and that God was waiting in long-suffering to save his soul. There was a LOOKING IN at his wretched condition, but no LOOKING OUT at the blessed Object God had provided in the Person of His own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. All was disquietude, all was uncertainty, all was darkness.
A Christian friend first made him a present of a Bible, and he asked me to write his name in it, which I did, and also a portion of Scripture underneath. Little did I think that the Lord was about to bring home to his heart, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that very scripture. But so it proved. During the preaching that evening many souls felt the power of the Word.
At the close of the meeting, the person who lived in the cottage said to him, “Well, Joseph, how is it with you?”
His answer was, "It's all settled, sir!”
I said to him, “It was not settled when you came to meet me at the station.”
“No, sir. The Lord spoke to me on this chair: ' He that hath the Son hath life.' I have got the Son, and I have got life.”
All hearts were lifted up to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving for having brought home His precious Word to Joseph, and for giving him to know that eternal life was his, because he had the Son.
From that night the young soldier was set free from the bondage of sin. Christ had become precious to him; and he knew, not only that His precious blood had cleansed his guilty conscience, but that, having received Christ Jesus into his heart by faith, he had passed from death unto life. He had the Son, and he had life!
Thus the darkness had given way to the light, the uncertainty to a divine certainty, and the disquietude to perfect peace. There was rejoicing in that heart which had been weary and heavy-laden with sin. All was settled for eternity.
Can you, dear reader, say that all is settled for eternity between a holy God and yourself?
If not, why not?
God Himself has come out to you in the greatness and perfection of His love, and given His dear Son.
The Lord Jesus has been down into death, down under the judgment of a holy God, and has perfectly settled the claims of divine justice, at the same time meeting the need of the poor lost and undone sinner.
The Holy Ghost is come to tell you that all has been done that was necessary to secure your eternal salvation, and it is NOW for you to receive His testimony, to set to your seal that God is true (John 3:33) JOH 3:33.
If, up to this moment, you have been careless, and treating the question of your soul's salvation lightly, may God in His rich mercy stop you just as you are, to see yourself in the light of His presence. He is not willing that you should perish. He has been in earnest; and given His dear Son. Christ has been in earnest, and given Himself. May you be in earnest, and believe on the Son of God.
The great enemy of your soul will seek to hinder the reception of Christ into your heart by faith, but do not listen to his lies, “he was a liar from the beginning." Believe the truth of a holy, faithful, long- suffering God.
“This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent" (John 6:29) JOH 6:29.
By simply receiving His testimony concerning His Son, eternal life is yours, with all its blessed realities. You can then say with Joseph, "It's all settled!" And you are then privileged, as a new creature in Christ Jesus, to live to Him who died for you.
Washed from your sins in His precious blood, you can wait for His coming to take you to Himself, to be with Him and like Him forever (Rev. 1:5 John 3:2) REV 1:5 JOH 3:2.
DO GOOD-LIVING PEOPLE NEED A SAVIOUR?
THE inward thought of many, who have been kept from gross manifestations of evil, is that they are better than others whose lives openly declare them to be “publicans and sinners"; and so far as this life is concerned, they are no doubt better members of society, and fulfill their natural obligations with greater propriety and decorum.
But have they any room to boast even before men on this account? How much less before God! is not much of their outward propriety traceable to education, and the influence of favorable circumstances, or of kind and considerate friends?
And, after all, do not the outwardly moral spring from the same sinful stock as the most profligate and profane? Have they not been conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity? (Psa. 51:5) PSA 51:5 . Are not their minds at enmity against God? (Rom. 8:7) ROM 8:7 . Have they not sinful hearts, thoughts, and desires?
(Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Matt. 12:34; Mark 7:21-23.) GEN 6:5 GEN 8:21 MAT 12:34 MAR 7:21-23
Yes, assuredly; for whatever difference there may be among men, "ALL [without exception] have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23.) ROM 3:23
The "natural man" can, no doubt, produce natural fruit in abundance. He can exhibit skill and intelligence in the things of man, and even show kindness and benevolence to his fellow-creature; but he cannot bring forth fruit unto God, for "they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:8) ROM 8:8 . And “without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb. 11:6) HEB 11:6.
Cain, the firstborn of Adam, “brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord," but the Lord had not respect unto him, nor to his offering (Gen. 4) GEN 4:1-26 . And why? Because it was the fruit of the ground.
Probably it was the best which the earth could produce; still it was the fruit of the earth, which had been cursed on account of man's sin, and consequently could not be accepted by God as a suitable presentation by a sinner to Him who is "of purer eyes than to behold evil."(Hab. 1:13) HAB 1:13.
“So, they who bring their own good deeds,
Or life devoid of blame,
Will find their works accounted weeds,
And all their glory shame.
The best the human heart can yield,
Is still the fruit of nature's field."
Abel, on the other hand, "brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof.
And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering." He came before God as a sinner, bringing with him a victim, in token of the necessity of the shedding of blood for the remission of his sins. "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts" (Heb. 11:4) HEB 11:4.
“The sacrifice which Abel brought,
A lamb, its life and blood,
On which he had no labor wrought,
Was well received of God;
So they who trust in Christ alone,
The LAMB who once was slain,
And nature's purest works disown,
A welcome will obtain;
For God, Who knows a sinner's deeds,
Accepts the LAMB in lieu of deeds.”
If it were possible, which it is not, for a man to keep the whole law, except in one point, that one offense would be fatal to him (James 2:10) JAM 2:10 . Not only is man a sinner in practice, but what is worse, he is one by nature; and, as a consequence, cannot bring forth good fruit; for " a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit" (Matt. 7:17) MAT 7:17 .
Hence the necessity of the work of Christ, who “once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18) 1PE 3:18 . He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:26) HEB 9:26 . He shed His precious blood "for the remission of sins," He who knew no sin, was made sin for us; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21) 2CO 5:21 . Having "died unto sin once," and " offered one sacrifice for sins," and thus put away that which otherwise would have been an impassable barrier to a sinner's entrance into the presence of God, He " was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, “and has “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high"; the proof to the believing soul that his sins have been put away: for Christ "was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4, 6; Heb. 10) ROM 4:1-25 ROM 6:1-23 HEB 10:1-39 .
The question for every soul then is, “What think ye of Christ?” Have you God's thoughts of Him? Are you taught of God to say, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God "? (Matt. 16:16) MAT 16:16 . Have you brought the offering of faith, and found acceptance in God's beloved Son? For “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," but the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom men crucified, but whom God raised from the dead (Acts 4:10-12) ACT 4:10 .
The offering of works by man in unbelief cannot find acceptance with God. For how can the Living God own "dead works"? which are all that a man " dead in trespasses and sins " can produce. No; the acceptance of a sinner is in and through Christ; and as God will not give His glory to another, neither will He share it with him; the glory of our salvation must be all His own.
The offerings of Cain and Abel cannot be blended. Salvation must be by Christ alone. Not by Christ and works, but simply and solely by Christ Himself, without any addition whatever to His one full and finished work upon the cross; owned and recognized by God, who raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory at His own right hand.
Have you, then, come to God? If you have, happy are you; for nothing shall be able to separate you from “the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:30) ROM 8:30 . If you have not come to Him, oh! delay not! but while God's one and only way of salvation is proclaimed, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus find acceptance with God, and blessing in Him forever and ever.