"By grace are you saved through
faith." - Eph. 2-8
The
greatest exhibit of God's wonder working grace will be the glorified Church. No
other manifestation of His loving-kindness has ever equaled the perfecting work
accomplished in these saints of the Lord. Having in grace chosen not many wise,
noble, or great according to the world's rule of values, no flesh may therefore
glory in His sight however highly honored. And having chosen
to work out the special marvels of His grace on material so imperfect, so
prone to be otherwise than always pliable in His hands, how greatly God has
needed to be an undiscouraged Workman. So often, the clay has broken on
the wheel as He sought to make it into a vessel of usefulness and of beauty.
But in loving-kindness it has been taken up again and made into yet another
vessel. Again, and again, His patience has been manifested according to
promise, "He shall not crush a
broken reed, nor quench a wick that dimly burns” (Isaiah 42:3 - Moffatt). Seven
times the just man may fall but, through grace, he "rises up again," assisted by a Hand mighty to save.
Truly, "the Lord is long-suffering
to us, not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9).
In
all His working, the ways of God are marvelous in our eyes. The marvels of His
grace are the proof that God is love. In the operation of His grace toward His
people, He not only knows how to steal the bitterness out of life's woes, but
He also knows how to discard the unworthy material we so often bring in word
and deed, and to preserve the good and commendable. We are not under law, but
under grace, and what debtors to that
grace we are! In the Old Testament records, where faults and failings are
impartially set forth, Moses leaves
We
are under that marvelous grace wherein we are made the righteousness of God
through Christ. Our imperfections are all provided for
in the finished work of Christ for us. He took our place under condemnation,
and we take His place now in the Holy Presence of God. Jesus went to the cross,
bearing our sin; we come from the cross, bearing His righteousness. With sins
confessed, and cleansed from all unrighteousness. It
is ours to know that we are now com-plete in Christ
the Beloved One. But to really believe this and by faith enter into the rest it
should bring to us ~ how many of us have learned to experience this promised
rest? We have struggled and wrestled to gain it, while all the time the Word
has been clear and simple, that such as have "believed do enter into rest." And what a rest is this! "For he that is entered into His rest,
he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His" (Hebrews
4:3, 10).
Too
often faith falls short of this possible rest and quietness of spirit. So, life
goes on in fluctuations between long periods of self-condemnation
and too few brief seasons of joy when we cease to keep looking inward at self.
The secret of perpetual joy and confidence eludes us, and we are ready to
confess to ourselves that too often an unaccountable depression settles down
over our spirit, making all expressions of professed joy seem meaningless. We
know we should be happy in our knowledge of God's favor, always rejoicing even though
outward circumstances are otherwise than calm. We know that our lives should
reflect freedom from fear, and bear testimony that we know the One whom we have
believed, and that we are therefore able to trust His word in all things. Yet
failing to realize the peace and assurance we crave, how easily we can succumb
to the Tempter's arguments, and say, "This
sweet boon of rest is not for me." We see these possibilities of full
assurance taught in the Scriptures, and now and again exemplified in the experience
of some we meet; but we conclude that since temperaments differ, ours must be
the unfortunate type; therefore, to keep up the effort to reach the goal of our
aspirations is all in vain.
Such
conclusions are wrong, and it is well to remember the word of inspiration
which says, "Let us earnestly
endeavor, therefore, to enter into that rest, that no one may fall by the same
example of unbelief" (Hebrews 4:11 - Diaglott) as did Israel of old.
It must be remembered that we live in the realm of faith, and that our
assurance, our joy and peace, depend not on anything we have done or could do,
but on the finished redemption accomplished for us in Christ Jesus. It is from
Jesus Himself we receive the primary principle of true faith, "This is the work of God, that you
believe on Him whom He has sent" (John
What
God has cleansed we are not to turn from as unclean, and what He has made
simple we are to be careful not to mystify and becloud with multiplied words.
The verbosity with which this life of rest in Christ is so often treated has
hindered many from grasping its meaning. Simply stated it becomes beautifully
practical, and surely inspirational. Theological discussions of such themes
are likely to be wordy, while experimental discoveries of great truths can be
presented in language understandable by all. Having this in mind, it affords a
great pleasure to pass on the contents of a letter received quite recently
from one who has found the secret springs of this great boon of peace and rest.
O how simple these wonderful possibilities are when the Lord can come in and
speak as never man may speak.
Let
us, then, give ear to the testimony of the writer of this letter. Quoted in part,
she says, "I would like to mention here a line of thought I have been
following for some time with great help and profit. It is that instead of
spending so much time in looking into my own life to find there whether today
I have climbed another rung of the ladder of grace, that
I spend more time in thinking of our marvelous Lord and of His wonders of
character. In Him, we see the perfection of all beauty, grace, love, and mercy;
the One to whom we may come, finding there One who is
perfect in every respect. I like to enumerate the qualities in which He is perfect
-- not just to glibly skate over the word, giving it
no particular thought, but to feel that He is, indeed, perfect in every
wonderful quality I can name or understand -- and even then, still to know that
we can never exhaust His grace and beauty of character. Why should I look at myself in the light of His glory? What do I expect
to find in myself that will ever give me much ground for anything but humility
and the feeling that it is Himself and not me at all?
My puny little efforts pale into insignificance -- and more than that, I
become so discouraged, looking inside my own heart too closely. But when I look at Him, I see the Sun of all
grace, the perfection of Hope and joy beyond us to probe to its depths. My
heart expands and swells in love toward a God and His Son so worthy of all
praise and adoration. I find true joy in forgetting self with its failures and
its continual disappointments of development. But I feel strong and mighty
when it comes to singing His praise, when it comes to thanking God for the
evidence we have of His care and our sonship with Him. I become a giant when I
attempt to enumerate His blessings, spiritual and material in our daily lives
and to thank Him for these things which are never-ending.
But
what shall we say when we realize that we have only touched the fringe of all
these blessings? What a breathless view we obtain at times of the future in the
presence of such a God! How much time is spent by some of us in simple
thanksgiving for these matchless blessings? Here I do not need to 'keep my feet on the ground.' We can
soar to the heavenlies, feeling that we have fellowship of the rarest with the
true Christians of all ages, be they living or gone from this world. I feel,
too, that this is not an impractical thing, a thing illusory and intangible,
but a definite reality in which we can forget this life with its failures and
troubles, its few friends who understand or who, perhaps, are so stultified by
the restrictions of the human spirit, by our clumsy efforts to express
ourselves, by fear of being misunderstood and laughed at by a multitude of
human shortcomings and limitations. Surely this is where we meet God in true
fellowship and worship. This is the place where we find true strength: knowing
we have a God who never fails, who never weakens or grows weary of our coming to Him.
What a God we have! May our thanks ascend like incense daily and our worship
grow to full stature. But even in that we shall never
reach the end. So once more, my God is an inexhaustible storehouse of grace and
glory. Thanks be to His Holy Name."
In
the foregoing letter, the writer could express an assurance that in her
experience this happier frame of mind was "not
an impractical thing, a thing illusory and intangible, but a definite reality
in which we can forget this life with its failures and troubles." In
this assurance, thus expressed, there is reality indeed. Such experiences may
be new discoveries to any of us when a loving providence finds us ready to be
led, but others have known a similar joy before us. Others have testified to
being lifted up out of the fluctuating conditions of doubt and depression
alternating with times when faith triumphed and rested. Proof of this comes to
our attention in another letter received by a friend, the writer having passed
on some time ago. We are glad to append this testimonial to the above, and
quote in part as follows:
"I
was so pleased to get your nice letter, and feel I should reply to it, even
though in pencil. I have not your letter at hand to refer to, but I noticed
that you mentioned 'our covenant by sacrifice' several times, and I just wonder
what it all means to you. I used to think of that as meaning what I was doing,
and many an unhappy hour I had thinking how constantly I failed in doing and in
not doing. Many a time I surrendered myself to God, but now I think I was
always thinking of the 'I' in the surrender (what I would now do or say), and that went on for a long
time.
Many
a lesson God gave me, and I always laid hold of something, but I can now see it
was always in connection with something
on my part. I could fill a book, dear,
with all the gracious things the Lord showed me, and I thought I understood it
all, but now 'I have entered the valley of blessing so sweet,' and there is no
more 'I' in the business.
About
eighteen months ago, I was reading and studying Colossians and saw that Jesus
was everything. In Him everything in heaven and in earth was centered -- God's
will for us the Church, and
His Plan for the world, and that He
was always well-pleasing to the Father. While thinking about that, it came to
me how pure and perfect, how lovely and all-satisfying to God our dear Savior
was, and I thought if I were hidden in Him, then I too would be always
well-pleasing to our Heavenly Father. It was as if a door opened and that door
was Christ our Lord, and I stepped in and was
swallowed up in Him, lost in Him, and God found me in Him. What a day I had! All the verses I used to
delight in had a deeper, sweeter meaning to me. He had overcome and He counted
me as also having overcome. Out of His fullness, I am all that He was and is. “By whom the world is crucified to me and I
unto the world.”
I
see my own weaknesses and failings, but I seek to follow Paul, and glory in my
infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. The blood of Jesus
Christ is always cleansing me, and He has taken me into the Holy of Holies, and
made me to sit down with Him, and His banner over me is love. What a
difference! I understand what it means to reckon myself dead in the old nature,
in a way I never did before. I have entered the joy
of the Lord,
praise His name! And
everything has a different look in a way I
can hardly describe. The work is done, and all is finished, and I go on
following in His footsteps, seeking ever to refer all things to Him, and to lay hold...."
In
these testimonies we see illustrated the verities of feasting on Christ. This
is the great truth of our standing in grace. If our vision can reach to the
utmost of this wonderful provision made for us in Jesus Christ, the days of
faltering faith should be over, and the garments of perpetual praise put on.
Then will God's goodness bind grateful hearts to Him, and the habit of song
will surely be, "Hear what the Lord
has done for me."
- J. J. Blackburn