The One Great Reality
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Louisa Clayton >> The One Great Reality
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You have all heard of Florence Nightingale and her life of devotion in
nursing the sick. She was asked to tell the secret of her earnest
Christian life, and after a pause she said, "I have kept nothing back from
God." Faith in God is unreserved confidence, telling Him all and keeping
nothing back. But before we can do this as a daily habit we must
definitely commit ourselves and all we have into God's hands.
It says in Isaiah xliv. 5, "One shall say, I am the Lord's." I have a mark
in my Bible which I made many years ago by the side of these words. I put
the date and then I wrote these words: "He gave Himself for me and I give
myself to Him. He takes me and I take Him." Ever since then it has been my
delight to tell others how simple it all is. It is the sinner taking the
Saviour and the Saviour taking the sinner.
Are you asking, What must I do? First believe what God says about you in
His Word. He says, that you are guilty, lost, ruined. Then He presents
Christ to us as the Saviour and calls on us to believe what He says about
Him. "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he hath not
believed the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record that
God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in His Son." [Footnote:
I John v. 10, 11.]
"Have faith in God." Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of
God, and "faith is the gift of God." And the wonder of it all is that God
says to the weak ones like poor Jacob, "I have chosen thee and not cast
thee away," and He never will, for "_God keeps all His failures_," not
like man who throws his failures on one side as worthless.
Oh! to trust Him then more fully,
Just to simply trust.
Then instead of "limiting the Holy One of Israel" we shall be singing at
the top of our voices, "The LORD hath done great things for us whereof we
are glad." [Footnote: Ps. cxxvi. 3.] So then let us "trust in the Lord for
ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is Everlasting Strength." [Footnote: Isa.
xxvi. 4.]
ADDRESS IX
THE CHURCH OF GOD
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE--Ephesians v. 22-33.
"Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it." [Footnote: Eph. v.
25.] Two precious truths shine out in these words. He _loved_, He _gave_.
He not only gave Himself for the Church when He died on the Cross, but He
is still sanctifying and cleansing it, and by and by when He comes again
"He will present it unto Himself a glorious Church." [Footnote: Eph. v.
27.]
So we have the history of the Church in the past, in the present, and in
the future. We look back to the past and we see Christ giving Himself,
that is, laying down His life on the Cross; but we must also look far, far
back into the past Eternity to find out another precious truth. (Perhaps
you have never thought about it.) It is, that the Church was in God's
thoughts from the very beginning! The Son of God was in the bosom of the
Father "in the beginning"; and it was then--before the world was created,
that God chose us in Him and gave us to Him. [Footnote: Eph. i. 4.]
Now we see why "Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it."
What is the Church? The word "Church" means "called out," so the Church
embraces all who have been "called out" during the present age to form the
"Body of Christ." In the Old Testament we find that the Jews were God's
chosen people, [Footnote: Exod. vi. 7.] so they had all the privileges,
but in later times, the Jews rejected the Gospel of the grace of God, and
then God graciously visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people to
be called by His Name. [Footnote: Acts xv. 14.]
When did this special "_calling out_" begin? Nearly 1900 years ago on the
Day of Pentecost, and it has been going on ever since, and when the number
of "the called-out ones" has been completed, then "The Lord Himself shall
descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air." [Footnote: I Thess. iv. 16, 17.]
Each of those three words, "_chosen_," "_called out_," and "_caught up_,"
leads us on to something more. We were chosen in Him to be holy;
[Footnote: Eph. i. 4.] we are called out to be the Body of Christ now, and
by and by we shall be caught up to meet the Bridegroom and to be with Him
for ever. If you are a child of God, you can say with holy wonder, "God
has done all this for me."
The Church was formed out of a little company of 120 men and women who
were gathered together praying in the Upper Room at Jerusalem. [Footnote:
Acts i. 14, 15.] Suddenly they heard a wonderful sound and saw a heavenly
vision, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost; and before the day
was over that little company increased to the number of 3,000 souls. How
many does it number now? No one knows, but it is a "multitude which no man
can number." [Footnote: Rev. vii. 9.] Some are already in glory, some are
still on earth, but it matters not where they are, they belong to the
"whole family" of God "in heaven and in earth." [Footnote: Eph. iii. 15.]
On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, His special
work was to create a new thing--it was then that the Church of God was
formed into one Body by the Holy Spirit, "For, as the body is one and hath
many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one
body, so also is Christ." [Footnote: I Cor. xii. 12, 27.] "Now ye are the
Body of Christ and members in particular," that is, individually, for
every saved soul is a member.
The Church is a living body united to Jesus Christ, for He is the living
Head of the Body. He needs His Church just as much as His Church needs
Him. It is the Holy Spirit who unites us to the risen and glorified Christ
Who is the Head, and then He unites us to one another in Him. It is a
_living_ union, because we pass through death into the resurrection life
of Christ, for by "One Spirit we are all baptized into One Body, and we
have all been made to drink into that One Spirit." [Footnote: I Cor. xii.
13.] The Holy Ghost sustains the life of the Church. In Him we live and
move and have our being. As the bird lives in the air, as the flower lives
in the sunshine, so we live in the Spirit, and when we drink in His
fulness there is growth and fruitfulness.
Have we ever felt this need of drinking into that One Spirit? Everything
connected with the true Church of Christ must be spiritual, it is this
which is being lost sight of in the present day, and it is the reason why
there is so little power and so few conversions.
Have you ever tried to understand why the Church is called "the Body of
Christ"? Think first about your own body. It is the only part of your real
self that can be seen. I cannot see your heart or your thoughts, but
I know what your thoughts are by your words, and what you feel by the look
of joy or sorrow in your face, and by the way you go about.
It is by your body that your real personality is made known to others;
what you really are would never be seen unless your body made it known. In
the same way the Church is the Body in order to make Christ known in the
world. He is hidden from our view, He is unseen, but He manifests Himself
and shines out through us, and He sends us to carry His messages and to do
His Will.
This was the earnest desire of the Apostle Paul when he said that he was
willing that the old self should be taken away so that "the _life_ also of
Jesus might be made manifest in our body." [Footnote: 2 Cor. iv. 10, 11.]
This is what the Church is here on earth for, to make the unseen Christ
known. Just as every drop of water reflects the light, so every member of
the Church, however weak and small, can reflect His love.
Is His compassion for sinners beaming in your eye? Is His purity seen in
your daily life? Do you judge things from His standpoint?
I remember when some one was telling me why she loved a Christian worker
whom we both knew, she added, "I love her for what I see of Christ in
her."
Think of Christ exalted in Heaven far above all things, and remember He is
there not for Himself, but for _you_. "He is Head over all things to His
Body, the Church." [Footnote: Eph. i. 22, 23.]
It is wonderful to think of this union with Christ, that we are His Body
and He is the Head; but there is another wonder quite as great, it is that
He is the Bridegroom and the Church is the Bride. When we speak of the
Church as the Body of Christ, it is a living union, _life_ is the one
thought brought out; when we speak of Christ as the Bridegroom it is
_love_ which is the chief point. It brings out the affection, tenderness
and nearness of the Bridegroom. "So ought men to love their wives as their
own bodies, He that loveth His wife loveth Himself." [Footnote: Eph. v.
28-30.]
We have nothing so wonderful in the Old Testament. Think of the depths out
of which we have come, and the heights to which we are raised. "He raiseth
up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill
to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory."
[Footnote: 1 Sam. ii. 8.] Think of the sinner lifted out of all his
bondage and ruin to be the Bride of the Lamb! There is nothing higher that
God can give than this. This will be our glorious position by and by when
the Bridegroom comes to take us to our Heavenly Home, for His parting
words were, "I will come again and receive you unto Myself." [Footnote:
St. John xiv. 3.]
There will be three great surprises on the day that He comes again. These
surprises have been kept secret, but on that day the glorious secrets will
all be made known.
The first surprise will be when we shall see all the saints who have died
in Christ called back from the unseen world and clothed with their new,
glorified bodies. What a joyful meeting it will be.
The next surprise will be that we who are still living on earth when
Christ comes will be changed, we shall not die, we shall escape from the
hand of death. "It is appointed unto men once to die," but "Christ was
once offered to bear the sin of many," [Footnote: Heb. ix. 27, 28.] and
when He comes the saints who are living will be changed "in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye." [Footnote: 1 Cor. xv. 52.] You know how long it
takes for you to shut your eye and open it--it will not take longer than
that for the change to be made. Three great changes will take place--our
_bodies_ will be changed, no more sin, or pain, or weariness; our _minds_
will be changed. "We shall _know_" then what we cannot know now, we shall
see all as God sees it, we shall know the love of Christ and we shall love
Him as He deserves to be loved, and best of all "we shall be like Him for
we shall see Him as He is."
The third surprise will be that our _circumstances_ will also be changed;
we shall be no longer on the earth, for as soon as the great change takes
place we shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. He will then look
into our life work, and He will say to His faithful ones who have been
true-hearted and loyal: "Well done, good and faithful servant." [Footnote:
St. Matt. xxv. 21.] Then the heavens will resound with the Hallelujah
chorus, "Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour to Him, for the
marriage of the Lamb is come and His wife hath made herself ready."
[Footnote: Rev. xix. 7.]
But the glory will be only then beginning, it will be "_glory upon
glory_." Remember there are two stages in Christ's Coming; He will come
_for_ His saints, and then He will come down to earth _with_ His saints.
As it is written: "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His
saints." [Footnote: Jude 14.] "When Christ, who is our Life, shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." [Footnote: Col. iii. 4.]
We shall come _with_ Him when He comes to reign on the earth.
But there is something still grander than the glorious position of having
a place with Him on His throne. We look on and on into the Eternity that
is coming (and it is a wonderful outlook) and what do we find? It is that
we are wanted for the ages to come to show forth, and to be living
personal illustrations "of the riches of God's grace." It is not only that
we shall be saved and glorified, but that God will use us personally to
show forth all His love. The grace of God is the love which flowed down to
us in our great need, when we were dead in sins, slaves to sin and Satan
and deserving nothing but God's wrath.
It is we ourselves who are wanted for the ages to come for "the praise of
His glory." The expression "_the riches_ of God's grace" [Footnote: Eph.
i. 7.] meets our personal need, but there is something else that will
shine forth, it is called "_the glory_ of God's grace." [Footnote: Eph. i.
6.] All that God prepares for us is worthy of His greatness and power. The
inheritance which He has in store and the beautiful Home above will be
worthy of God Himself, all that is in it and around it surpassing
everything that we can imagine in its glory and beauty will be worthy of
God Himself. It is only as our eyes are spiritually enlightened that we
can get a glimpse of "the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the
saints." [Footnote: Eph. i. 18.]
The words of this old hymn describe what it will be like--
"I go on my way rejoicing,
Though weary the wilderness road--
I go on my way rejoicing
In hope of the glory of God.
"Then no more in the earthen vessel
The treasure of God shall be,
But in full and unclouded beauty,
O Lord, wilt Thou shine through me.
"All, all in Thy new creation
The glory of God shall see;
And the lamp for that light eternal
The Bride of the Lamb shall be.
"A golden lamp in the heavens,
That all may see and adore
The Lamb who was slain and who liveth,
Who liveth for evermore.
"So I go on my way rejoicing
That the heavens and earth shall see
His grace, and His glory and beauty,
In the depth of His love to me."
Our mission throughout eternity is to make known the love and wisdom of
God that He may not only be all, but in all. He is in us now, but we want
Him to be in all, and it will be through us that God will let the whole
universe be so filled with the glorious knowledge of His love and wisdom
that these words will at last be fulfilled--"God ... all and in all."
[Footnote: I Cor. xv. 28.]
We are passing through wars and convulsions and revolutions hitherto
unknown, but a glorious future is awaiting us, and one thing is certain,
that nothing can "separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord." [Footnote: Rom. viii. 39.] That is our security.
It is also certain that it is not in the power of the devil to destroy the
Church of God, for we are wanted in the ages to come. It is the Church
which is to be the glory of Christ to all Eternity.
We are also wanted _now_ in a very special way. Men's hearts are failing
them for fear, they need strong, calm, prayerful helpers in this time of
perplexity. Who can speak a word of cheer and encouragement? Who can point
them to the Rock of Ages which cannot be moved? Who can inspire them with
faith and hope? Only the one who has himself made God his Refuge. It is in
times of trouble that the worldly man turns for help and sympathy to the
believer. It is through us that God would work out His purpose of grace
and love to the world.
A young man who had met with a bitter disappointment went to an aged
Christian and poured out his trouble. After hearing his sad story, his
friend said in a calm, tender voice, "God knows all about it, there is no
such thing as chance in the world." "What is there then?" asked the young
man eagerly. "There is _love_, Eternal _love_," was the answer.
The reason why the believer is kept in perfect peace is because he looks
beyond all the tumult of battle, the bitter strife and terrible bloodshed
to the time when God will gather together all things in Christ, for He is
to be Head over all.
LOVE, ETERNAL LOVE.
Never for a moment shall that love cease to bless us and shield us.
Whatever may happen to our bodies nothing can touch the eternal life
within.
Do you feel anxious to know whether you will have a share in the glory? I
will tell you how you may know. You remember Christian had a roll given
him by Evangelist which he was to give in at the Celestial Gate. When you
first come to Jesus as a poor sinner the Holy Spirit gives you four
precious words written as it were in a roll for you to hide in your heart
until the moment when Jesus comes and you are caught up to meet Him in the
air. Take your Bible and you will find there four precious words which God
has written for you to rest upon, and which will never fail you.
1. REDEEMED. [Footnote: Pet. i. 18, 19] "Bought with a price," and the
price was the life-blood of God's dear Son, so we belong to the Church of
Christ which He has "purchased with His own blood." [Footnote: Acts xx.
28]
2. SEALED. [Footnote: Eph. i. 13] The Seal is God's mark upon us showing
to men and angels and devils that we are His "purchased possession"; that
we belong to Him, spirit, soul and body absolutely, and for ever, for
God's solid foundation stands unmoved, bearing this inscription, "The Lord
knoweth them that are His." [Footnote: 2 Tim. ii. 19]
A Christian doctor who had been in the Crimean War and in China, was very
particular when going on a journey to have all his luggage "_labelled and
ready_." In his last illness he turned to a friend and said with a smile,
"_I am labelled and ready_"! and then he gave this beautiful testimony:
"There is only one thing that makes me quite ready and quite sure of
Heaven, it is that my sins are forgiven by trusting in the Blood of Jesus.
Nothing that we can do can save us, it is what He did. He alone can give
us peace with God."
3. KEPT. [Footnote: 1 Pet. i. 5] A young Christian told a friend that he
was afraid as to whether he would be able to live the life. The friend
looked at him, and said, with a ringing voice of assurance, "He is able to
keep you from falling." [Footnote: Jude 24] He then saw that he was no
longer in his own keeping, but in _God's_ keeping, and that the keeping
would be up to the last moment, and be so complete that he would be handed
over without the smallest defect to stand in "the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy."
4. GLORIFIED. [Footnote: Rom. viii. 30] This is the last and grandest of
the four precious words which God has given to strengthen our hearts, and
it is the crown of all. What shall we say? No words can express what it
will be, it will surpass our highest expectations. But we know that it
will be fulness of life, fulness of joy, fulness of love, and all our
deepest longings satisfied, all our highest hopes fulfilled, and it will
be for ever and for ever!
Let us hold fast God's sure word of promise, "The Lord will give grace and
glory." [Footnote: Ps. lxxxiv. 11] Let us lift up our hearts in praise and
thanksgiving to Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, UNTO HIM
IS THE GLORY IN THE CHURCH, THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, TO ALL ETERNITY, WORLD
WITHOUT END. AMEN. [Footnote: Eph. iii. 20, 21]
ADDRESS X
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
PORTION OF SCRIPTURE--St. Matthew xxi. 1-17, and
Revelation xi. 15-18.
Now, therefore, why speak ye not a word of bringing the King back?
[Footnote: 2 Sam. xix. 10] This question was asked a long time ago. You
remember how David was driven from his throne. His son Absalom rebelled
against him and he had to leave the country; but Absalom is now dead, the
rebellion is at an end, and still David is an exile. At last some of the
people talk it over together and inquire of one another, "Why say ye not a
word, or why are ye silent about bringing back the King?" So they sent
word to the King and Judah went to meet him.
I was reminded of this Old Testament story when a correspondent wrote in
the spring of this year as follows: "I have spent two days in what is left
of Belgium, and I find that the dream of the Belgians is to see the King
ride back into Brussels. Men and women, old and young, talk and plan and
have visions of the time when the King comes Home."
It is touching to think how these people, in spite of all their
misfortunes, still love their brave King and cling to the hope of having
him once more among them in his rightful place on the throne and then
their ruined towns and homes will be restored.
It makes me think of another King, our Lord Jesus, who entered the City of
Jerusalem amidst the cheers and acclamations of a large crowd, and how the
words came true: "Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold thy King cometh
unto thee." [Footnote: St. Matt. xxi. 5] And now they cry, "Hosanna"--He
is come, He is come! and the children's voices ring out with praise. But
this proclaiming Him as King aroused the enmity of some of the rulers and
they stirred up the people against Him. Here was the opportunity, the
golden opportunity, for accepting or rejecting the Son of God. They had
listened to His teaching, they brought their sick to Him for healing, they
appreciated the benefits of His ministry, but they refused to submit to
His authority, so they were determined to silence His Voice. Sin shows
itself in the rebellion of the _will_ against God, and so they lost the
opportunity, and instead of accepting Him, they crucified their King.
The words are still true: "Behold, thy King cometh," He comes to set up
the Kingdom of God in our hearts, so the opportunity is given to you now
to accept Him as your King.
We listen to the good news about peace and forgiveness, but are we willing
to make Jesus King in our hearts? Here is the great test, it is here that
the opposition of man's _will_ begins to show itself, because if He is to
be our Lord and Master He claims all we are and all we have. He must be
Lord of _all_ or He is not Lord at all; nothing less will do. There is no
real union with Him by faith until we say in our hearts, "My Lord, and my
God." [Footnote: St. John xx. 28.] It is impossible to accept Christ as our
Saviour without also yielding to Him as King, and proclaiming Him as King.
A young friend of mine has these three simple words, "Make Jesus King," in
a frame hanging on the wall of her room. She told me they were the means
of leading her to decide for Christ.
Nothing but the power of the Holy Spirit can enable us to yield to Him as
our Lord and Master. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the
Holy Ghost." [Footnote: 1 Cor. xii. 3.] This is the central fact--"JESUS IS
LORD." "For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He
might be Lord both of the dead and living." [Footnote: Rom. xiv. 9]
It is the Holy Spirit who first reveals Christ to your heart and enables
you to say, "Thou art my Lord," [Footnote: Ps. xvi. 2] and then He gives
you grace to love and obey Him as your Master. So, whether you look
backward to the moment when your sins were all blotted out, "_He is
Lord_"; or whether you look at your present life with all its
shortcomings, "_He is Lord_"; or whether you look forward to the end,
waiting for His Coming, _He is Lord_. "Can you say truly--
"He cleansed my heart from all its sin,
What a wonderful Saviour!
And now He reigns and rules within,
What a wonderful Saviour!"
We have seen our Lord proclaimed King at Jerusalem and accepting the
title. Although rejected and crucified, His every word and action was
kingly up to the last moment of His earthly life. He spoke openly of His
Kingdom to Pilate, for when Pilate asked Him, "Art Thou a King then?"
[Footnote: St. John xviii. 37] He answered, "I am." The purple robe, the
crown of thorns, the sceptre, though offered in mockery, were all kingly,
for the superscription over the Cross, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE
JEWS, [Footnote: St. Matt. xxvii. 37] was true. The Cross was the way to
the Throne. "I beheld, and lo in the midst of the Throne stood a
Lamb, as it had been slain." [Footnote: Rev. v. 6]
In that dark, dark hour of Christ's agony on the Cross, there was only one
man who recognised Christ as King, and that was the dying thief. It was a
very real cry that broke from his lips in his utter need--"Lord, remember
me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom." [Footnote: St. Luke xxiii. 42] It
was wonderful faith. Can you think of any other as wonderful? He
recognised Christ as King--not a dying King leaving His throne--but a
victorious King about to enter His Kingdom. The penitent thief saw even
more than this, he saw that it was a Kingdom of souls rescued from sin's
bondage and slavery; not a Kingdom of the great ones of earth, but for
outcasts such as he was, so he cried, "Take me as I am and give me a place
in the Kingdom."
But the answer to the cry was as wonderful as the cry itself--"To-day
shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." When the King said "With Me," He
meant, "I am passing from darkness into Everlasting Light. Come with Me. I
have broken the chains of sin, I am setting the prisoners free. Come with
Me." From that moment the penitent thief was identified with Christ in His
death and in His Risen Life. Is this true of you?
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