Safe, Sure & Happy
George Cutting
Table of Contents
Safe, Sure, and Happy
Which class are you traveling? You are traveling from time to eternity, and who knows how very near you may be to the end of this trip! There are only three ways to make this trip:
1St class: Those who are saved and know it;
2nd class: Those who are not sure of salvation, but anxious to be saved;
3rd class: Those who are not saved and do not care about it.
Which class are you traveling? How can you be careless about such an important thing as where you will spend eternity? You will be there forever and ever.
A man once jumped onto a train just as it was leaving the station. He was all out of breath, but he said, “It was worth running for it. I saved four hours by catching this train.” Four hours! But what about eternity? The man thought it was important enough to run hard to save four hours. In eternity you will be either with Christ in the Father’s house or you will be in outer darkness in hell.
Do not be careless about your own eternal destiny. God is not indifferent. “For 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. At the end of this journey of life, beyond death, the Word of God says, “After this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27.
Perhaps you are saying, “I am not careless or indifferent. I want to be saved, but I am NOT SURE. I’m in the second class you speak of.”
Both indifference and uncertainty are the result of not believing. If you don’t care, you don’t believe sin has ruined you and that God will punish sinners in hell forever. If you are not sure, you don’t believe God’s remedy for your condition. The more you are concerned about your condition, the greater will be your thirst to know for certain where you will be for eternity.
Suppose you are far from home and, as you travel along, the road divides ahead. You’re not familiar with the way, so you ask someone. He tells you, “I think this is the road. If you follow that, it will probably take you where you want to go.” Will “think” and “probably” satisfy you? Surely not. You want to be sure or every step you take makes you worry that you’re on the wrong road. You do want to be sure about eternity.
To lose your wealth is much,
To lose your health is more,
To lose your soul is such a loss
As no man can restore.
There are three things to make clear:
1. The way of salvation (Acts 16:17);
2. The knowledge of salvation (Luke 1:77);
3. The joy of salvation (Psalm 51:12).
The Way of Salvation
An example from the Old Testament: “Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.” Exodus 13:13.
Let us go back 3000 years. Two men, a priest of God and a poor Israelite, stand in serious conversation. A little ass stands trembling beside them. “I want to know,” says the poor Israelite, “if there can be a merciful exception made in my favor this once. This feeble little thing is my firstborn donkey. I know full well what the law of God says about it, but I am hoping that mercy will be shown and the ass’s life will be spared. I am poor and I can’t afford to lose the little colt.”
“But,” answers the priest, firmly, “the law of the Lord is plain and unmistakable, ‘Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck.’ Where is the lamb?”
“Ah, sir, I do not have a lamb.”
“Then go and buy one and return, or the ass’s neck must be broken. The lamb must die, or the ass must die.”
“My hopes are crushed,” he cries, “for I am too poor to buy a lamb.”
A third person now joins them, and after hearing the poor man’s sad story, he turns to him and says kindly, “Cheer up, I can meet your need. We have in our house a little lamb who is ‘without blemish and without spot.’ It has never once strayed from home and is loved by all in the house. I will get this lamb.” He hurries away. Soon he is gently leading the little creature until both lamb and ass are standing side by side. The lamb is bound to the altar, its blood shed, and the fire consumes it.
The priest now turns to the poor man and says, “You can take your little colt home in safety — no broken neck for it now. The lamb has died instead of the ass, and so the ass righteously goes free, thanks to your friend.”
Do you not see in this story God’s picture of a sinner’s salvation? God’s claims as to sin demanded a “broken neck.” Righteous judgment must come on your guilty head unless there is a substitute approved by God.
You could not find any way to meet your need, but God Himself has provided the lamb in the person of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. On to Calvary He went and “suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” 1 Peter 3:18. He “was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:25. God displays His righteousness when He clears the guilty sinner who believes on Jesus.
Can you say, “Yes, as a guilty sinner, I have found the Lord Jesus to be the One I can safely trust; I do believe on Him”? Then, through the finished work of Christ, God sees you as if you had never sinned. What a wonderful way of salvation this is! God’s heart of love is satisfied, the glory of the Son of God is established, and the sinner is saved. God’s beloved Son has done all the work. He gets all the praise, and you and I will enjoy the company of the Blesser forever and ever.
Now you may be saying, “But, I don’t feel saved. One day I feel pretty sure and the next I have doubts.” Here is your mistake. Did you ever hear of a captain trying to find anchorage by fastening his anchor inside the ship? Never. It is always outside.
It may be you understand that it is Christ’s death alone that makes you safe, but you think that it is what you feel that makes you sure. Now take your Bible again to find out how a person gets
The Knowledge of Salvation
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye HAVE eternal life.” 1 John 5:13. Man’s imagination often misquotes it like this: “These happy feelings have I given you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” Read the verse again. Now read Exodus 12:1-13, the story of the passover and judgment in Egypt.
Let us visit two of their houses and hear what they are saying. In the first house they are all shivering with fear and uncertainty. We ask, “What is the reason for all this trembling and fear?” The firstborn informs us that the Lord God is coming through the land this night and the firstborn are going to be killed.
“But hasn’t the God of Israel given you a way to escape that judgment?”
“Yes,” he replies, “we have done what He requires. The blood of the year-old, spotless lamb has been sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop on the lintel and side posts of our door. But I’ll be glad when this night of judgment is over. Only then will I be sure and know that I am safe. Those next door say they are sure that it is all right and that they are safe. But we think it is very presumptuous. Nobody can be sure.”
We go next door and what a contrast! Joy beams from every face. All are fully dressed, ready to leave at a moment’s notice, enjoying the roast lamb.
“How can you be so happy on such a night as this?” we ask.
“Ah,” they say, “we are only waiting for the Lord’s marching orders, and then we shall leave Egypt and these cruel taskmasters, free from slavery.”
“But what about the judgment? Aren’t you afraid?”
“Well, we know it, but our firstborn is safe. The blood of the lamb has been sprinkled according to the command of our God.”
“It has been next door, too,” we reply, “but they are all worried and unhappy because they are not sure of safety.”
“Ah,” responds the firstborn firmly, “but we not only have the blood sprinkled on the door, but we have the WORD of God about it. God has said, ‘When I see the blood, I will pass over you.’ God is satisfied with the blood outside, and we rest satisfied with His Word inside.”
The sprinkled blood makes us safe.
The spoken word makes us sure.
Let us ask you a question. “Which of those two houses do you think was safer?” Do you say house two where they are so happy? Then you are wrong. Both are equally safe. Their safety depends on what God thinks about the BLOOD outside and not on the state of their feelings inside. If you want to be sure of your own blessing, don’t listen to your unstable inward feelings and emotions but to the true witness of the Word of God. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on ME HATH [has] everlasting life.” John 6:47.
God says it!
I believe it.
That settles it!
Is your confidence in the right person — in Jesus, the Son of God? It is not a question of the amount or kind of faith, but of the trustworthiness of the person you put your faith in. One man may hold Christ with the grip of a drowning man and another only touches the hem of His garment; both are equally safe. That is what is meant by believing on HIM.
“I do really believe on Him, but I don’t like to say, ‘I’m saved,’ for fear I should be telling a lie.”
Suppose I ask a child how old he is and he tells me he is twelve. You come along and ask me how old that child is and I tell you, “I don’t like to say, for fear I should be telling a lie.” “But,” you say, “that would be making the child a liar.” And so it would. But aren’t you virtually making Christ a liar if you don’t like to say you’re saved for fear of telling a lie, when Christ Himself has said, “He that believeth on ME HATH everlasting life”?
“But how may I be sure that I really do believe? I have tried often to believe and looked within to see if I had gotten it, but the more I look at my faith, the less I seem to have.”
Suppose a man comes to you who is always telling jokes and playing tricks, and he tells you that half the town is on fire. Do you believe, or even try to believe, that man? Of course not. You know him too well. But now suppose that, instead of this man, it was one who is most trustworthy, a person who had never deceived you or tried to play a trick on you, and he brings you the same sad news. Do you believe him?
“Yes, definitely,” you say, “I believe him, because of his trustworthy character.”
“How do you know that you believe him?”
“Because of who and what he is.”
“That is just why we can believe the gospel, because of the One who brings me the news.”
Jesus said, “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24. “He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar.” 1 John 5:10.
Do you say, “I can’t believe”? Well, who is it you can’t believe? Faith is confidence in the living person of the Lord Jesus Christ who finished the work of redemption on the cross of Calvary.
His finished work makes me eternally safe; His Word about those who believe on Him makes me sure. I find in Christ and His work the WAY of salvation, and in the Word of God the KNOWLEDGE of salvation.
But if you are saved, you may say, “How is it that I have such ups and downs, often losing all my joy and comfort and getting as miserable and downcast as I was before my conversion?” This brings us to our third point:
The Joy of Salvation
The Bible teaches that while you are saved by Christ’s work and assured by God’s Word, you are kept in comfort and joy by the Holy Spirit who indwells every saved person. Also, you must remember that every saved one still has within him the “flesh,” the evil nature he was born with as a natural man. The Holy Spirit in the believer resists the flesh and is grieved by every action of it in motive, word or deed. When the believer is walking “worthy of the Lord,” the Holy Spirit will be producing in his soul His blessed fruit, which includes love, joy and peace (Galatians 5:22). When he is living in a worldly way, the Spirit is grieved and this fruit is not evident.
Let us put it this way for you who do believe on God’s Son: Christ’s work and your salvation stand or fall together, and your walk and your enjoyment stand or fall together. When your walk (the way you live) breaks down, your joy will break down with it.
Now do you see your mistake? You have been mixing enjoyment with your safety — two very different things. When, through self-indulgence, losing your temper, worldliness or some other action of the flesh, you grieved the Holy Spirit and lost your joy, you thought your safety was undermined. But:
Your safety depends on Christ’s work FOR you;
Your assurance, on God’s Word TO you;
Your enjoyment, on not grieving the Holy Spirit IN you.
A young man, who enjoys his father’s company, used his father’s car without permission and bumped into a tree, putting a dent in the door. At mealtime he didn’t feel like eating and went off to bed early. He was ashamed in his father’s presence. Why was this? He had disobeyed and felt very miserable. The enjoyment of his father’s company was gone.
What had become of the relationship that existed before the incident? Is that gone too? Has that been interrupted? Certainly not! They are still father and son. That relationship depends on his birth, but his communion or enjoyment of his father depends on his behavior. Eventually the son confesses what has taken place and the father forgives him. He is no longer unhappy in his father’s company. His joy is restored because communion is restored.
Suppose, before the son confesses his sin, he is found out, and his father says he must go to his room and stay there until he confesses. If fire broke out, do you think that the father would leave the unrepentant boy in the house to die in the flames? Very probably he would be the first one the father would take out of the burning house. Yes, you know very well that the love of relationship is one thing, and the joy of communion is quite another.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. Nothing can break the link of relationship, but an impure motive or foolish word will break the link of communion.
If you are troubled, consider your ways and get low before the Lord. When you realize what it is that has caused you to lose your joy, confess it to God your Father and judge yourself unsparingly. NEVER mix up safety with your joy.
Don’t imagine, however, that God looks on the believer’s sin more lightly than on the unbeliever’s. Sin is sin in God’s sight, but the believer’s sins were all laid on Jesus. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” 1 Peter 2:24. We have a Substitute who took the punishment for our sins, but the unbeliever, the Christ-rejecter, will bear his own sins in his own person in the lake of fire forever.
When a saved one fails, the question of condemnation cannot be raised against him. The Judge Himself has settled that once for all on the cross. But the question of communion is raised by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Thus unhappiness remains, until the sin is confessed and forsaken.
Take another example. On a beautiful, moonlit night you observe the moon reflected in a still pond. Someone drops a pebble into the pond and the “moon” is all broken. But, no, it is not the moon but the water that reflects it that has changed.
Now apply this simple figure. Your heart is the pond. When you are not allowing evil in your life, the blessed Spirit of God takes the glories and preciousness of Christ and reveals them to you for your comfort and enjoyment. But the moment you allow a wrong thought to stay in your heart, or an idle word escapes your lips, your heart is disturbed, your happy experiences are gone, and you are restless until, in brokenness of spirit before God, you confess your sin. This restores you to the calm, sweet joy of communion.
When your heart is thus upset, has Christ’s work changed? No, no! Then your salvation has not changed. Has God’s Word changed? Surely not! Then the certainty of your salvation has not changed. Then what has changed? The action of the Holy Spirit within you has changed, and, instead of filling your heart with the glories and worthiness of Christ, He has had to turn aside and fill you with a sense of your sin and carelessness. He takes from you your comfort and joy until you judge the evil thing that He judges and resists. When this is done, communion with God is restored and you have joy in Him again.
Thus, the object of my trust, the Lord Jesus Christ — His death, His blood and His resurrection — makes me safe . . . the unchanging Word of God makes me sure . . . and my simple obedience to His Word makes me happy.
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8.