“It stands in my book against you, and you may tell me as often as you like you feel sure you are not in my debt, but I have ‘black and white’ to prove it, and you have no receipt to show it is paid.”
The speaker was a baker, and he was addressing an old man, named Stamford, who kept a small store.
Stamford had been in the habit of taking bread each week from this baker to retail to his customers, and, one week, there was no receipt in the book to show that this was paid for, and the baker angrily demanded the money.
Poor old Stamford could not be convinced he was in debt for this amount; so the matter was carried to the County Court, and, as no proof could be shown that he had paid the money, judgment was given against him, and he was ordered to pay the sum demanded, and the costs amounting in all to about $30.00.
The poor old man could scarcely manage to exist on the small profits his store produced, and his daughter, who kept his house, was almost constantly an invalid, so this fresh trouble pressed upon his spirits like a black thundercloud, and crushed him down to the earth. He was so ill from anxiety and worry, that he could not crawl down the stairs, as usual.
Where to look he did not know. He had no friend who could pay the debt for him, and he knew of none who loved him sufficiently well to do so. One thought kept haunting him night and day; one vision was ever before him, waking and sleeping—that debt. He pictured the day when the bailiff would take possession, and he be a homeless wanderer in a cold, dreary world.
It was during the gloom of November, with its dark days and thick smoky fogs, that the old man lay on his bed purposing, planning, contriving, how he could get out of his difficulty. His weary brain and aching heart always came back to the same conclusion, hopelessly in debt, and nothing to pay with, and no one he knew who would, or could, meet his need.
Reader, have you seen yourself a sinner, hopelessly involved, with “nothing to pay”? Have you heard God, in His Word, declare you are “lost,” a “debtor,” “without strength”? Have you discovered that your state and character are recorded in black and white in the imperishable records of the Word of God? and are you anxiously saying,
“Where can I get this load of guilt removed? Who can show me any good? Where can I find one who loves me well enough to pay the mighty debt of accumulated sins of omission and commission?”
Our old friend did not believe he was in debt until the judgment was recorded, and the verdict given against him.
Have you discovered that judgment has been recorded against you, and the verdict pronounced,
“The soul that sinneth it shall die”? and gazed upon these words which tell of something after death—(“the judgment,”) and learned that judgment means eternal separation from home, and light, and life, and joy, and peace, in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, and are unable to rest night and day, because of the dark, doleful, dreaded future? If so, listen as I tell you how God, in His goodness, undertook for old Stamford.
Just as the old man was in the deepest distress, and the day that he feared was drawing near, the writer of this paper called to see him, and heard the story of his suffering, his debt, and inability to pay. He went to some friends whom he knew, and told the woeful story. One of them immediately said,
“I shall be delighted to pay the debt. I have never seen the old man, but what you tell me of his need is enough. Here is the money; go and pay the debt, but do not tell him who paid it.”
It was then suggested that the money should be paid directly into the Court, without telling the old man anything about it, so that the first bearer of the good news would be the postman, who brought the letter containing the Court’s discharge.
Early the following morning the money was paid, the Court satisfied, and old Stamford declared free. What was now needed that he should be delivered from all his perplexities, and freed from his anxieties? You will say, “The knowledge of the fact that his debt is paid.”
Hours rolled away, and his misery continued, for though he was a free man he did not know it.
Even so, years have rolled away since the work of Christ was finished, and the “debt our sins augmented” was paid in “blood;” since the Friend of sinners, pitying us in our deep, deep, need, met all the claims of justice. Long, long before we knew anything about it, He “who was delivered for our offenses,” “was raised again for our justification.” The work which saves us eternally from all the consequences of our sins is a work done by another, altogether outside of ourselves.
Just as Stamford’s debt was paid by one who was both able and willing to do it, and did do it, before the old man knew anything about it, so Christ’s work was completed before we knew anything about it. The friend who paid Stamford’s debt had never seen the one whom he had befriended; they were strangers to each other. It was his need alone which drew out his benefactor’s love, and caused him to befriend him.
Could the old man have worked, or “done” anything to pay his debt, he would not have needed a friend.
So with you, anxious soul, it is your need, your helplessness, your utter inability to help yourself which renders you a fit subject for the grace of God, and the work of Christ. What will make you happy, set your soul at liberty, and speak peace to your conscience? Faith in the fact, stated in three words, “it is finished,” the debt is paid.
Let us follow the postman as he goes rat-tat at the door, and hands in a blue envelope with an official-looking seal.
The daughter takes it with trembling hand, and, as the old man listens, he says to himself, “Ah! it has come at last, here is the letter to tell us the execution is to be put into effect.” With sorrowful heart she breaks the seal, and reads of a “complete discharge.”
Surely now she will be filled with joy, and hasten up the rickety stairs to her sorrowing father, and tell him the good news, that the “debt is paid.”
Not so, however. As she reads she says,
“There is some mistake here, this cannot be meant for us—it cannot be true!” and she hurried upstairs, calling out,
“Father, just look at this letter. It says the debt is paid, but that cannot be true.”
With beating heart, and shaking hand, the letter is eagerly scanned, and, as he lays it down upon the bed, he says,
“Yes, there is some mistake somewhere, this cannot be for us, we don’t know a person in the world who would pay the debt.”
And so they were more perplexed than ever. The same Court that declared they were in debt had now declared their discharge from the debt; the same authority that condemned had now justified them; the power that had pronounced them guilty now declared that they were free; but this did not make them happy. Why? Because they did not believe it. They said, it was “too good to be true,” and thus their perplexity only increased.
Anxious soul, Jesus, who was nailed to the cross, delivered for our offenses, is now raised again for our justification. He who was crucified between two thieves, made “a curse,” “made sin,” is now in the best place in heaven, exalted to the highest seat, because of the perfect and complete way He has paid “the debt,” and glorified God about the question of sin. And that Word, which announces that the unbeliever is “condemned already,” also declares that “through this Man (Christ Jesus) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:3838Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: (Acts 13:38)), and tells you in plain, unmistakable terms, that Christ Jesus “gave Himself a ransom for all,” “died for sinners,” “died the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”
Reader, do you believe it? Do you accredit what God’s Word says?
If you look at yourself, you may well say, “It is too good to be true,” but it is not too good for God, it is just like Him, for He “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
The father and daughter did not believe what was written, and so remained perplexed, troubled, anxious. In order to solve their doubts, they sent for a neighbor, and asked him to read the letter, and tell them what he thought about it.
“Why,” said he, “it’s plain enough, there it is in black and white, the Court has discharged you, and you may be sure somebody has paid the debt for you.”
“Then you really think it is true?”
“True, why there it is as plain as plain can be, the Court says so, and that ought to be quite enough for anybody.”
The load went, the anxiety departed, and the effect was so powerful, when he believed what the letter stated, that he got up from his bed, the news doing what the doctor’s medicine had failed to do, enabling him to go downstairs for the first time for several weeks. Joy and thanksgiving filled his soul, and his one desire now was to know the one who had paid the debt.
Doubting soul, learn a lesson from our friend. Believe what God says because God says it; rest in what Christ has done, believe the witness of the Holy Ghost, who attests, with unmistakable truth, the precious record that, “their sins and iniquities will I remember no more,” and then joy, and