Dear —,—I have your letter. You say concerning mine, "It makes me feel such a longing to feel that my sins are forgiven. Oh, how I wish I could feel happy;" and further on you speak of distraction from worldly thoughts.
You are making the mistake which thousands of earnest seekers after salvation are making—trying to obtain peace before you believe what God says in His Word. You say, "I do believe that Jesus died for lost and ruined sinners; but yet I cannot, as it were, take it home to myself, and claim it for my own.”
Do you believe yourself to be, by nature, lost and ruined, a child of wrath, and also one "dead in trespasses and sins"? (Eph. 2).
I do not doubt for a moment that you not only believe, but realize all this. Your letter shows that plainly; for you speak of that longing to feel that your sins are forgiven, and of being "most miserable." You tell me, in effect, that you believe yourself to be lost and ruined; that you believe Jesus died for the lost and ruined; but yet cannot believe that He died for you.
Let me give you an illustration. Suppose I am hungry, and I see, in front of a rich man's house, a board bearing this inscription, "All who are hungry, on applying within, will receive a loaf of bread." If I believe the notice is in good faith, what do I do? I apply at once within, and get my need supplied. And why? Because I am a hungry one, I go as a hungry one, and plead nothing but my hunger and the notice on the board outside. I put the case to myself thus: It says, hungry people will be supplied; I am hungry, therefore I shall be supplied.
But suppose some one comes along and says, "You'll not get anything because your name isn't on the board." I say to him, "No matter, my friend; I'm even more sure of getting a loaf than if my name were there, because there are others bearing the same name, and thus it might not be meant for me; but because it says ‘All who are hungry,’ I'm certain of getting supplied, because I'm hungry.”
Now, dear soul, let me apply this illustration to the case of the sinner, and God's salvation. I find it written in 1 Tim. 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save SINNERS, of whom I am chief." Am I a sinner? Yes. Do I know that I am a sinner? Yes. Has my conscience been awakened to ask the momentous question, "What must I do to be saved?" Yes. Then what does God answer? Why, He says, Poor burdened, anxious soul, you have got nothing at all to do to be saved, because Christ Jesus came into the world to SAVE sinners, not to half-save them; and, therefore, poor sinner, all that is left to thee is to "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” "believe God" (Acts 27:25); I say “Blessed God, Thou hast accepted the sacrifice of Jesus on account of my sins (Rom. 4:25); and, in proof of Thine acceptance of His finished work on my behalf, Thou hast raised Him up from the dead and given Him glory (1 Peter 1:21); thou art satisfied, and, blessed God, I am satisfied too; for that which has satisfied Thine Holiness and glorified Thee, is more than enough to satisfy my conscience—it causes me to rejoice; to joy in Thee (Rom. 5:11); I can call Thee my Father now (Rom. 8:8, 14, 17; Gal. 4:6, 7); O, my God, my heart is at rest in Thee; I am reconciled; I am saved” (John 5:24; 6:47; Col. 1:12,14; 1 Tim. 1:9).
But immediately I have this "peace with God," (Rom. 5:1), some one may ask, "How can you say that you are saved? your name is not in the Bible." I answer at once, "No, I am even glad to say it is not; for there might be some doubt, as there are others bearing the same name, whether I was the person meant, if the name by which I am known to men were there; but, thank God, the name by which He knows me is there—the name of SINNER; I go to God in that name (Luke 18:13), but I link with it another name—the name of that One who was treated, on the cross, for my sake, as though He had borne my name. He was made sin for me; and I say, Lord, Thy Word says that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; I am a sinner; therefore Jesus came to save me; I believe on Jesus (Acts 8:31), and, therefore, am accepted in the Beloved '" (Eph. 1:6).
And when do I feel happy, and know that my sins are forgiven? The moment I believe on His name, (John 1:12; 1 John 2:12). Do I feel happy first and then believe? Surely not. I believe first, and then feel happy because I believe. Did I feel I had the loaf of bread first, and then go and fetch it? No; I first believed, the notice, went in as a hungry one, and received the bread, and then felt that I had it, and began to eat.
What is it that makes me happy and at rest? The knowledge I have through believing God's Word, that Jesus has died for me, the sinner, and has borne my sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter, 2:21). Immediately I believe this I am at liberty, and begin to rejoice; because I see that God is on my side and justifies me, (Rom. 8), the spirit of bondage or fear is cast out, and the spirit of adoption takes its place.
What is it, then, which has hitherto made you so miserable? The knowledge that you are a sinner, and that God must punish sin. But the moment you believe on Jesus, accept Him as your substitute, your Savior, the One who has been punished for you, you will be filled with joy and peace in believing (Rom. 15:13).
Your position, then, dear soul, is a simple one. You believe that Jesus died for sinners, and that you are a sinner. Now, as you read this, think for a moment or two before the Lord. You have just another step to take, namely, to believe that Jesus died for YOU, because you are a sinner, and the burden is gone; you are at rest (Matt. 11:28) and saved. Peace comes through taking home to yourself God's salvation, by faith. The reason God so honors faith is, that faith honors Him, and He says, "Them that honor me I will honor" (1 Sam. 2:30). The peace of the trusting sinner rests upon the fact that God never changes (Heb. 1:12), and that Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, and to day, and forever" (Heb. 13:8).
I change—He changes not;
My Christ can never die;
His love, not mine, the resting-place,
His truth, not mine, the tie.”
Jesus says concerning those that trust Him, "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28). My feelings are changing, and if I were to ground my peace on my feelings, I should never be certain whether I had peace at all; but I do not rest in feeling, but on what God says in His Word to me, the trusting sinner. He tells me that I shall not, perish, but have everlasting life, because I believe on His Son; and I believe it, because He says it. I believe in Jesus as my Savior and my all, and I joyfully believe God when He tells me that I have everlasting life. God does not say in His Word, Look unto me and feel saved, but, "Look unto me, and be ye saved" (Isa. 45:22). Peace comes not from looking at my poor sinful self, but from looking away from my poor sinful self to Jesus. In Jesus, by faith, I see the One who has suffered for my sins, atoned for my sins, and put away my sins, sitting in Heaven at the right hand of God because He has put away my sins. Ah, this is
"Peace, peace, deep as a river!”
a peace, I humbly and thankfully say, nothing can shake, because it is not founded on anything which I have done, or can do, nor yet upon my often-varying feelings, but upon the glorious finished and accepted work on my behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ—made known to me by the Word of the Living God.
You know that a representative is one who stands in the place of, and acts for, another. Jesus was my representative on the Cross. He stood in my place, and bore the wrath of God due to me on account of my sins; and now He is my representative in Heaven as the Accepted One, and faith in Him puts me into the place of His representative down here; that is, of representing what He is to the world, according to the measure of my grace.
Be no longer, then, occupied with yourself, but with Him; and this will bring deliverance the moment by faith you look. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14,15). I believe these two verses to be the simplest two verses about salvation to be found in the Bible; and, often as they are quoted by preachers, I wonder they are not more frequently quoted. Mark the two little words "as," "so." “As Moses lifted up the serpent.” How was that? Upon a pole betwixt earth and heaven. "Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." How was Christ lifted up? Nailed to a cross, betwixt earth and heaven, and between two thieves. Why did Moses raise the serpent? That every one that was bitten when he looked might live. Why was Christ lifted up? "That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life." When did the stricken one get healing and revive? "When he beheld the serpent of brass he lived" (Num. 21). When does the perishing sinner get life? "Believing" he has "life through his name" (John 20:31), that is, of course, the moment he believes, otherwise the analogy would not hold good, because it is said, "as"—"so,"—the story in Num. 21 is the exact counterpart, in the method of its application to the sinner, of the story in John 3
Suppose an Israelite had said to Moses, "The agony I am suffering is fearful: Oh, that I could feel better," what would Moses have said? "Turn your eye to this; and when you look, you live.”
But suppose an Israelite said, "I can believe that is for others, but I cannot believe it is for me," what would have been Moses’ answer? "The Lord has said, 'Every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.'”
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but haw. everlasting life." Precious soul, answer to God one question—CHRIST, or FEELINGS—Which?—In deepest interest, Yours, R. H. G.