If Our Faith Stops At The Cross

The women had brought spices, expecting to find Jesus' body wrapped in burial garments, lying in the tomb. "He is not here — He has risen!" said the angel. Matthew 28:6

Too many Christians look yet for their Christ, among the dead. They do not get beyond the cross and the grave. 

They see Christ, as only the Lamb of God who takes away their sin. They think of Him as accomplishing in His sufferings and death, the whole of His work of human redemption. 

They do not think of a living Christ who intercedes for them in Heaven, and who walks with them on earth in loving companionship.

The cross must never be forgotten! In a certain very real sense Christ saved His people by giving Himself for them. 

The cross was the fullest, most complete revealing of divine love, which earth has ever seen! There the heart of God broke that its streams of life might flow out to give life to the perishing world. 

To leave a dying Christ out of our creed is to leave out salvation. 

The prints of the nails are the proof-marks on all doctrine, on all theology, on all Christian life.

He who dims the luster of the cross of Christ is putting out the light of Christian hope, by which alone souls can be lighted homeward. 

We must never forget that Jesus died...died for us!

But if our faith stops at the cross it misses the blessing of the fullest revealing of Christ. 

We do not merely need a Savior who nineteen hundred years ago went to death to redeem us but one who also is alive to walk by our side in loving companionship.

We need a Savior who can now hear our prayers.

We need a Savior to whose feet we can now creep in penitence, when we have sinned.

We need a Savior to whom we can now call for help, when the battle is going against us.

We need a Savior who is now interested in all of the affairs of our common life, and who can assist us in time of need.

We need a Savior who can now be our real Friend...loving us, keeping close beside us always.

We not only need a Savior who saved us by one great act wrought centuries ago but one who continually saves us by His warm heart throbbing with love today, walking ever by our side.

Nothing less than a living Christ will do for us! That is what the gospel brings to us. It tells us of Him who lives. He was dead — the nail-prints are in His hands — but He is now alive forevermore! 

He is risen! He loves us now, today, always. He is ever with us!

It is only as we realize the truth of a living Christ that our hearts are satisfied. We crave a personal friendship which will come into our life with its sympathies, its inspirations, its companionship, its shelter, its life, its comfort. All this, the living Christ is to us.

Heb 7:25  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

 ~J. R. Miller~

No Shortcuts

Patience is needed in peculiar measure for all development of human character. "In your patience possess ye your souls" your selves. 

Every man, that is, has a true self hidden amid the ruins of his nature. 

And as a mother from a burning homestead saves her child, so man must win his life. 

And the only way to do it is the long way, the long and tedious and patient way--in your patience ye shall win your souls. 

Just as there are no shortcuts to heaven, so are there no shortcuts to character.

If it takes long to grow a mustard seed, it will take longer still to grow a man. 

And therefore we have need of patience when we are tempted to what is swift and flashy; tempted to forget that of all lengthy ways there are none so lengthy as the ways of God. 

All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. It was the great temptation of Christ as He looked out upon His opening ministry.

And then He chose the long and lowly way by the garden of Gethsemane and Calvary, and so came to His kingdom and His crown.

~George H. Morrison~

The Temptation To Come Down From The Cross

Lastly our Lord was tempted to come down from the cross."Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him" Matt. 27:42. 

When these voices broke upon His ear, were they not fraught with terrible temptation? 

Think of the agony He was enduring in His so sensitive and sinless frame. 

Think how the very passion of His heart was that these men and women should believe in Him. 

And as these cries rang upon His ear did they not carry with them the suggestion that in one instant He might escape His torture, and doing it win the allegiance of His own?

Tempted in every prospect of the cross, our Lord was tempted on the cross itself.

By one swift action might He not end His agony and win the great ambition of His life?

And the wonderful thing is that on the cross as in the desert at the opening of His ministry, He steeled Himself against these tempting voices. 

They said "Come down, and we will believe in you." 

We believe, because He did not come down. To us the glory is in His hanging there till He cried in a loud voice "It is finished." 

And when we are tempted, as we so often are, to release ourselves when "crucified with Christ," what a comfort that we can quietly say, "He was tempted in all points like as we are."

~George H. Morrison~

Blessed Is The One Who Waits

Dan 12:12  Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

Waiting may seem like an easy thing to do, but it is a discipline that a Christian soldier does not learn without years of training.

Marching and drills are much easier for God’s warriors than standing still.

There are times of indecision and confusion, when even the
most willing person, who eagerly desires to serve the Lord, does not know what direction to take.

So what should you do when you find yourself in this situation?

Should you allow yourself to be overcome with despair?
 
Should you turn back in cowardice or in fear or rush ahead in ignorance?

NO, you should simply wait—but wait in prayer.

Call upon God and plead your case before Him, telling Him of your difficulty and reminding Him of His promise to help.

Wait in faith. Express your unwavering confidence in Him.

And believe that even if He keeps you waiting until midnight, He will come at the right time to fulfill His vision for you.

Wait in quiet patience. Never complain about what you believe to be the cause of your problems, as the children of Israel did against Moses.

Accept your situation exactly as it is and then simply place it with your whole heart into the hand of your covenant God.
 
And while removing any self-will, say to Him,“Lord,‘Not my will, but yours be done’ [Luke 22:42].

I do not know what to do, and I am in great need. But I will wait until You divide the flood before me or drive back my enemies.

I will wait even if You keep me here many days, for my heart is fixed on You alone, dear Lord.

And my spirit will wait for You with full confidence that You will still be my joy and my salvation, Psa 61:3  For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 

~From Morning by Morning~

Wait, patiently wait, God never is late; Your budding plans are in Your Father’s holding, And only wait His grand divine unfolding.

Then wait, wait, Patiently wait.

Trust, hopefully trust, That God will adjust Your tangled life; and from its dark concealings, Will bring His will, in all its bright revealings.

Then trust, trust, Hopefully trust.

Rest, peacefully rest On your Savior’s breast;

Breathe in His ear your sacred high ambition, And He will bring it forth in blest fruition.

Then rest, rest, Peacefully rest!

~Mercy A. Gladwin~

Blessed Is The Man Who Says "I Will Not"

There is a perilous progress in sin! 

At first I content myself with walking in the counsel of the wicked. It is an occasional companionship. 

It is a meeting only now and again. For a little while I am with them,

And then some better influence calls me away...a remembrance of my mother's prayers, a sentence in a letter from a friend, a verse of Scripture shot suddenly into my mind.

But by and by I am found standing in the way of sinners. They have gained a greater power over me, and a completer fascination.  

I have learned to love them too well. I linger much longer in their society, and it is hard for me to tear myself from them.

The poison is working, the leaven is spreading...my condition is more fixed and more hopeless by far! 

And, at last, where do you see me? I am sitting in the seat of the scornful. I am at home among those who laugh at God and Christ and Heaven and Hell. 

You cannot see any difference between me and them. I have joined their ranks. I am one of their number. 

Their resorts are mine; their sneers and sarcasms are mine; their seared conscience and withered heart are mine!

Oh dreary ending of a dreary journey!

As I would escape that lowest depth of all...let me not look over the precipice, nor set my feet on the fatal slope.

Blessed is the man who says, "I will not!" to the first allurements of sin. 

Blessed is the man who will not so much as walk On the Enchanted Ground. 

~Alexander Smellie~

"Oh Man Of Desire"

Dan 10:11  And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
 
Oh, man of desire---This was the divine character given to Daniel of old. It is translated in our version, "O man, greatly beloved." But it literally means "O man of desires!" This is a necessary element in all spiritual forces.

It is one of the secrets of effectual prayer, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them." The element of strong desire gives momentum to our purposes and prayers. 

Indifference is an unwholesome condition; indolence and apathy are offensive both to God and nature.

And so in our spiritual life, God often has to wake us up by the presence of trying circumstances, and push us into new places of trust by forces that we must subdue, or sink beneath their power. 

There is no factor in prayer more effectual than love. 

If we are intensely interested in an object, or an individual, our petitions become like living forces, and not only convey their wants to God, but in some sense convey God's help back to them.

May God fill us to-day with the heart of Christ that we may glow with the Divine fire of holy desire.

~A. B. Simpson~

Sanctified Souls Are Satisfied

Jer 31:14  And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
                                                                              
Note the "My" which comes twice: "My people shall be satisfied with My goodness."

The kind of people who are satisfied with God are marked out as God's own.

He is pleased with them, for they are pleased with Him. They call Him their God, and He calls them His people; He is satisfied to take them for a portion, and they are satisfied with Him for their portion.

There is a mutual communion of delight between God's Israel and Israel's God. These people are satisfied. This is a grand thing. 

Very few of the sons of men are ever satisfied, let their lot be what it may; they have swallowed the horse-leech, and it continually cries, "Give! give!"

Only sanctified souls are satisfied souls. 

God Himself must both convert us and content us.

It is no wonder that the LORD's people should be satisfied with the goodness of their LORD. 

Here is goodness without mixture, bounty without stint, mercy without chiding, love without change, favor without reserve.

If God's goodness does not satisfy us, what will? 

What! are we still groaning?

Surely there is a wrong desire within if it be one which God's goodness does not satisfy.

LORD, I am satisfied. Blessed be Thy name.

 ~Charles Spurgeon~

Walk Without Stumbling

If the LORD will not suffer it, neither men nor devils can do it. 

How greatly would they rejoice if they could give us a disgraceful fall, drive us from our position, and bury us out of memory! 

They could do this to their heart's content were it not for one hindrance, and only one: the LORD will not suffer it; and if He does not suffer it, we shall not suffer it. 

The way of life is like traveling among the Alps.

Along the mountain path one is constantly exposed to the slipping of the foot. 

Where the way is high the head is apt to swim, and then the feet soon slide; there are spots which are smooth as glass and others that are rough with loose stones, and in either of these a fall is hard to avoid. 

He who throughout life is enabled to keep himself upright and to walk without stumbling has the best of reasons for gratitude.

What with pitfalls and snares, weak knees, weary feet, and subtle enemies, no child of God would stand fast for an hour were it not for the faithful love which will not suffer his foot to be moved.

Amidst a thousand snares I stand Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
 
That hand unseen shall hold me still, And lead me to thy holy hill.

~Charles Spurgeon~

True Humility Rewarded

Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

It ought not to be difficult for us to humble ourselves, for what have we to be proud of? 

We ought to take the lowest place without being told to do so.

If we are sensible and honest, we shall be little in our own eyes. 

Especially before the LORD in prayer we shall shrink to nothing.

There we cannot speak of merit, for we have none; our one and only appeal must be to mercy: "God be merciful to me a sinner."

Here is a cheering word from the throne. We shall be exalted by the LORD if we humble ourselves.

For us the way upward is downhill. 

When we are stripped of self we are clothed with humility, and this is the best of wear. 

The LORD will exalt us in peace and happiness of mind; He will exalt us into knowledge of His Word and fellowship with Himself; He will exalt us in the enjoyment of sure pardon and justification.

The LORD puts His honors upon those who can wear them to the honor of the Giver. 

He gives usefulness, acceptance, and influence to those who will not be puffed up by them but will be abased by a sense of greater responsibility.

Neither God nor man will care to lift up a man who lifts up himself; but both God and good men unite to honor modest worth. 

O LORD, sink me in self that I may rise in Thee.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Complete Separation From Satan's Kingdom

The Lord was very explicit about Israel's exodus. 

He wrought and wrought for His rights, so completely, that He would not compromise to the degree of a hoof. "There shall not a hoof be left behind" (Ex. 10:26).

He was working for His rights over other rights, His authority, and He would not allow a fragment to remain outside of His own realm. 

That means that the Kingdom of the Son of His love is a Kingdom which claims all, which represents all, which means the most perfect separation from the kingdom, whatever its form and nature, over which Satan has rights and therefore power. 

God is not going to give His power, His glory, to any little fragment which lies within the domain of the prince of this world. 

The secret of spiritual power, of spiritual life, of spiritual fulness, of spiritual effectiveness, the secret of reaching God's full end, is found in the utterness of the dominion of the Lord Jesus, in His having His rights in the life.

Until, in type, that was established in the case of Israel, they were a floundering people.

They, although out literally from Egypt, were not out spiritually, and were weak, impersistent, unreliable, ineffective, inwardly divided.

They were not really out in an inward way. God could not commit Himself to them until they were established on the other side of Jordan. 

Then He could; He commenced to commit Himself at Jericho, and went on.

Israel was chosen, in the sovereignty of God, to be the instrument and vessel of blessing to all nations of the earth.

God intended to reach all through Israel. In them, Abraham's seed, all nations of the earth were intended to be blessed.

There is a sense, of course, in which that has been fulfilled, inasmuch as Jesus Christ of the seed of Abraham has been the blessing to all nations, but Israel as a nation was called to be a blessing and a channel of Divine blessing to all peoples, and Israel failed.

The Church has come in according to the word of the Lord Jesus "The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Matt. 21:43).

And Peter says about the Church "an elect race... a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9), to take the place of Israel with the same object - that the Church might be the channel of Divine blessing to all peoples.

Now, why is it that there is so much ineffectiveness, so much lack of power, so much defeat - that is, absence of victory; so much that does not count for God about us.

Let us ask ourselves in all honesty whether it may not be that, as yet, we do not know in a living way, the meaning of the Cross as it is here set forth.

The Cross represents that accomplishment of an utter going out from a realm where Satan has rights and therefore has power to spoil.

In Egypt, Pharaoh had rights. He was king of Egypt, that was his domain, he had a right to do what he would.

These people are in my domain, then they come under my rule and I can do as I like, as I will!

So he oppressed, he weakened, he limited, he afflicted.

And yet they are the elect, called sons of God, called sons of God even when they are there.

We are sons of God by calling. But what a terrible thing to think of sons of God in a state of defeat like this, all because they are in a realm where there are rights by which they are bound.

While they stay in that realm, and, mark you again, while there remains one hoof in that realm - they might have all gone out, flocks and herds and everything of their possessions might have gone out, and then just one hoof of one bullock left in Egypt - the whole thing would have been under arrest.

The Lord's attitude was, I want that last hoof before I move!

That is a very literal interpretation, but that is the Lord's attitude.

It means this, that our vocation cannot be fulfilled, the calling with which we are called, the power of God, cannot be realized while one fragment remains in the territory where Satan has rights.

We must get on to the ground, into the realm, where all those rights are destroyed and he has no authority at all; and God has secured that realm, that position, by the Cross of the Lord Jesus...

And if you and I will only come into line with the meaning of the Cross in its fullness, we have come into the way of power, fruitfulness, effectiveness.

~T. Austin Sparks~