THE DAY OF REST. "How Can Man Be Justified With God?"

Te Aroha News, Issue 166, 21 August 1886, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE DAY OF REST. "How Can Man Be Justified With God?"

1 Jb6<xxv. i. with Job is. 2. " ~* ' ' ' In other woras, How, can man be rigkt.witk God ? What is the difficulty, do you ■ ask«? Some of us hare stood in*» court of justice; ■and we have, heard, the jury give their,.verdict. It is their part to decide the fate of the prisoner, the yule's part to pronounce the sentence. J5Te cannot reverse the verdict. Perhaps the mo3t solemn moment in a trial as the moment when the jury come back into court.. .There is a breathless stillness, to bear whether the prisoner is " guilty " or "not guilty," if f JuiUy the j adge c(lnnoi niter the verdict. Maybe he looks in the Statute-book to find the exact sentence for the crime committed, but that sentence (whatever it is) he viust pronounce. t Sinner ■» what i<j the verdict to-day upon you and upan me, as wa stand before the bar 04 God ? Look at Romans Hi. 19. Not one has a chance of escape : "all the world " M "guilty before God.*" "Alt the world" must include you and me. It we were to secure the services of the very best pleader this world could produce, the verdict for «aeh and all of us would be -the same, g»nt!/. Once more let us. look at Ronnnß iii ; the 2 3rd verse says, ♦' All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,"— not some, but ALL. Again in Rom. v. 12 we read, "By one jnaneia entered into the world, and death toy sin j and so death passed upon all men, lor that all have sinned. How,— shall we hear the sentence which " tho Judge of all the earth " will pas?, indeed which ho has already passed, upon all thus brought in •« guilty" before Him? Yes, and He " will by no means clear the guilt}/. Turn to the "Statute-book." There, twico repeated (in Ezekiel xviii. 4, 20), we find, " The soul that einneth it shall die." It is not tho body only which the sentence is pronounced, but the soul. The crime ia sin— tho verdict "guilty," —the Statute-book says Heath, and the sentence has been passed. The condemned criminal looka in vain, first at the jury, then at the judge. Is there no hope for him ? Rone. As we see our lost condition, we exclaim in theee words from Job : " How ca>- man 3H5 JUSTIFIED WITH GOD?" Oh, how rtM-imporfcant does thi3 question now become ; for there is not one surely who dares say, "/have not einned." When our Lord atood in the Temple, and the Jews brought to Him a woman taken in ncr sm, He appealed to those religious men of that day to carry out the sentence of their law upon that guilty sinner, if they themselves were icithout sin. Not one dared xjome forward— all passed out of the Temple, leaving Jesus and the woman alone. That 3ame Jesus i 3 present here to-day, and He, as it were, puts a similar questionla there one olyou without sin ? Self-convicted pinner ! your own conscience, and God's Word both give the verdict, guilty! "Row Thex Ca>- Man Be Justified With God ?" This becotne3 to each of us a ptn>onnl question. How am Ito be"rkrht ■with God?" s One return 3 the answer, I have never einnei as others. That is not the point. Have you ecer sinned at all. 7 If I am taken to court, and put upon my trial for stealing, I am not asked whethor I have committed murder; but am tried for the particular ofienco I have committed. So is it in God's court. I find, as I stand before His tribunal, tba*, it I "offend in one point," lam " guilty of all." Is this juet ? Assuredly it is, if you view it aright. Break the law of your country, you must take the consequsnees. Whether your offence be small or groat, the law is broken, and must be satisfied ; even so is it with the 3Jaw of God. Until that law has been sati3fisd. it is a broken law, broken whether by one offence or by many. You and I can not satisfy it. A schoolboy rnacte a blot on his copytook, and could not get it out. He turned over the page, but the black mark showed through. Sinner ! if you try to hide your sins, you "will fail — fail completely, " Turning over a new leal" won't do : the blot shows through." Yes— and is there not a blot on every page ? Just as y©u' hear the tick of the clock in the dead of the night, when all is quiet, bo distinctly does the memory of sin resound in your conscience, and come up agaio. and •gam before you. The verdict is, c/uilty. How Thkn Cax Max Ec Justified With God ? Do you still say, •• Surely if i cannot wash ont the stain, 1 can cover it ■over." — What with 1 The answer you will find in Isaiah Ixiv. 6 : •• We are all a 9 an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." These rags afford no covering to the convicted sinner,—" filthy rags " can avail nothing. As long as your name is written with any one em against ifc, you cannot be " ri^ht with God." Perhaps you say, "1 hops one day to make my peaea with God." When, and how? In the time of the American war, pome of the Southerners sent to President Lincoln this message : " How may we have peace with you ?" " Lay down your arms !" was the reply. Sinner ! do the same. There are no other terinß for rebels, and such— if wijußtified— we are. Ceaae to rosiet. Accept God's way of peace, the only way. "Lay down youranm." You can do nothing -to make your peace with God. Look back to that death He died for you, that b!oad He shed for you. Take iJiehst sinner's place ; accept the lott sinner's Saviour. There ia nothing " right" out of Christ. Many are willing to take the sinner's place j ,lrat you musb get lower than that. Ifc is lost sinners whom Jeaus died, to saye — "for the Son of man is come to seek and to Bave that which was lost." And don't say, dear friend, "I am 100 bad to be saved." , You cannot be worse than lost, your sins are not greater than "the \~ sin of the world," which. ** the Lamb of God " came to " take away,", His promise still is, " Him that cometh to MS, I will in no ivise east out." HOW. CAK MAN BE JUSTIFIED WITH GOD ? The question is answered " Justified by jaiui, justified by His blood" .When the Lord was on the cross, He wae there, not for His otou sins, but for mine— for yours; yes, for " the Em pf the world." **R.& died for our sins." God * ' made , Him . to be sin for us who knew no sip, -that; we might become the righteousness of God in *^ °. wn " £f e *t Dft * e our B^ as i Q his ©wnfjawy qnthe^ree/'^, Hf£%as taken from i tfie""crosB into the -gravj9 r T-'*tbejWage3.of sin is death.". He *ose from^Mgravej ",with<rats/siii ;" for VMVjmpWM& \*:W<^elerhca: tife" u Jl^jßMnans; iv.Sg, .we read :^nf; T * was 5 tfetfrerec} 'forjojjr ' offenceß, .and! ml " for oot' jitetfficationi^W^^hcc&Mn*

captive ; " that is,.Hetook that which held man-iljaptivdcintotofcptivityaHlhenj^wJiftW He left them with " the napkin linen clothes" in that, open grave.* They are gone for ever ! " all oast into the depths of 'the sea."" ' "^ »,«»-. „—*,-3 « 5- >i f '«• Oho© hath he appeared,, to ■»?/* atpawsin by the sacrifice ofHimselU' „ „, ,.,; --.' , V T>e blood of Jeaua. Christ Hia Spn cleahseth us from all einV" - s • *-' N6tonly are they forgiven, hukfofg'ottin, for He hath B'aid* !,' Theirsbs and iniquities will, l remember no more, " . "I, even I, am Hothat'blQtteth out thy trarisgressiohß for Mine own sake, and 1 ivill not r'ememberthy sins.!' - . „ God sees the believer " without sin " in Christ-* Christ \ who is "aliVe for evermore," who •<* is entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence ot Goi for 11s." " There shall in no wise -enter there, any thing that de/ileth." > - - . Man-can be justified with God, is ntstU fiedwith God in Another The question is answeie'l. The " Just One " takes the unjust One's place. "He laid down Bialife for us." "Mother"— asked a little girl— "how can one take the place of many ? " Removing the gold ring from her finger, the mother placed it on the table. Then taking a nosegay' of faded flowers from a vase standing by, she put them beside tha ring. The flowers were moved, the gold ring substituted for them. The child needed no further explanation. The one gold ring was worth all the faded flowers. So the one perfect Saviour is worth all the imperfect sinners. Am I in Him, or in myself, now before Go-i ? Am I going to stand in myeelf, or im Another? Do you Bay, "I don't know." Why nob? Go to Him without delay. He offers to become your Substitute. "Behold, noxo is the accepted time ; behold, note is the day of salvation." He is willing to be your 11 Advocate," to take your place. If you would have the benefit of Hi 1 } advocacy, you musk have Him as your Saviour now. There was once a lady in Paria, who wished to obtain the services of the beat advocate she could find. She went from one lawyer to another, unable to decide. At last, cm the very day of the trial, she fixed on a gentleman, noted as one of the most eminent lawyers in the city, and opplied to him. "Madam," ho eaid, "you are too late ! I am just appointed (0 be your judge '" Dear friend, it may be too late for you to havo Chriat as your Advocate, unless you go to Him now. • The day of execution is cominsr, who knows how soon ? Remember, if He is not your Saviour, He is your Judge \ Am 1 "right with God ?' "I am praying to be." How often one h»a this reply ! Suppose you were hopelessly in dobfc, and some rich man told you that he had paid all you owed, and than and there offered you the receipt in full for nothing, would you go on praying him, or anyone else, to pay your debts, o- to mako you fit to accept the receipt ? No ! you would eagerly toko ib at once, and thank the giver. Why treat the Lord differently ? la He less worthy of your confidence ? Give Him credit for meaning what lie says. You are a debtor indeed, and cannot pat/, but "the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all, ' "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God U eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, .... and this is the witness, that' God hath given to ?<s eternal life, and this life is in his Son." Remember though, "he that believeth not God hath made him a liar." Awfully solemn words these. Are you willing, dear fiiend, to believe Him noiv 1 If so, rest assured that God the Holy Ghost — not the devil, not your oton heart— has thus made you willing/ Take— oh ! take tha gift, thank the gracious Heavenly Giver, and at one© " be justified with God." A pocr sinner, nothing at all ; Je3us Christ my all n all ! This is God's way, and it is the only way the question wo havo been considering can be answered, "for there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." He that hath the Son, hath life, he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." You cannot possibly " try to believe " (a very common expression)— either you do believe a person, or you do not. Dear friend, believe HIM now ! Then you too "may hwv'"' that you " have eternal lifo "—not feel it— not sse it —•that will all come in the Lord's own time ; but you may knoio It now ; for " these things have I written unto you that believe, that ye may know that ye have eternal life " — know it, bacause He saya ib. I One other point. If you have not Christ, you have nothing \ No justification — no forgiveness - no salva-tion-no 'life" — no peace— no power "to please God." You are "condemned aheadyf " tho wrath of God abideth on " you. God forbid any one should wilfully, knowingly continue in so terrible a condition. If though you have Christ— have taken Him aa your all — having Him—" in Him " you have everylhhtg. But, oh ! again remember— for the sake of Him, who has shed His precious blood to redeom you, remember— there is no middl course. ••/» Christ," "saved *ith an everlasting salvation "—out of Christ, •' having no hopa" — lost, Now, as to your daily life, believer "If " Christ's" your life need no longer be "up and down ;" but you may go on to " w&'k with God "" — "to keep his commandments " day by day. It ia indeed hard — impoaaible to take a stand by oneself, for we are cure sooner or later to give way to temptation. But it is perfectly possible, both to atand and "to walk "in Christ His power will then uphold nad keep you. He say a, "My Grace 19 sufficient for thee" Yea, and we have nothing to do with troubling about to-morroio, — His promise is, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." The life in the railway-engine becomes the life of the train — of empty, or " heavyladen " trucks. ' It is just the cozipling, which is needed to link them together. Faith, that takeg Jeaus at His word, is the coupling which unites the empty "heavy-laden"' fcioner to the almighty, life giving Saviour, ' * You may exhaust the power of the engines -you may put on too many carriages for it to be able to move them. Not,- 'so with Christ: "All power is given unto" Him "in heaven and earth," every poor sinner joined to ffi'm, He will take tight on; and up to glory. As many as received Him, to them gave Hepowerto befiome the sons of G6d." All His p^wer shall then be yours. As a dear man remarked lately, — Jesvs is' the Subs'tttuiefot everything:'.^ ' - > • ' 'And— He will ,n6't take you a 1 little way, and then leave you ; for He hath laid, "I will mever "leave thee,- nor f or§aka*thee. " 1 f ""My sheep 'shall' never perish" I 1I 1 cive unjfco' thenY eternal 'life,- neither 'shall any 1 pluote'them y Qub of My'hand^' ** '» !■ r *'*-pBto thankfully pomejof Vs bless 1 God for the 'h^urWen that coupling of faith wa9 maddbefcween'our eoub and Jesus, 1 ' *

Sinner ~ooi#ofed^ilMfiiW^U yo* not! day? ..Kwjsffif/. ©i«.|; O jj,^«oa I 4 • There remaineth no more to be done." »»: be--< j t Just as I *ny .^itbout one »le«.' c ' » ! ' ' X * * , -But that Thy blood Was BUM for 'biier '1 " • A l nd tnfe't TAbit bWKt^'e'dottie' to 'Thee; 3 " . O Lamb, of Qod f loomej .k. > r-[ r »i „ « Toriamrt'ouVofdrie^arkblot, > '•- Totho'©, ifbo^blood'oftn oitsßtfse e\,Ghevoii^ . . ojOLipabotGod, loonae. t> ; ,, Jt< : tae jt antiV'i'hy love xinknp'Wn ' H " '"' • Ha 9 broken every barrier down ; < > «> „ 'iVbiwtoboThino.yea.a'/ttneoZojie, -, s OL-vnab.of God, I COME., / „ •Then yoti riioy cay, with all " boldnesg and confidenco," and without any prtsuthption, IJN CHRIST, I AM " JUSTIFIED WITH GOD," for "there is NOW no condemna tion to them which are in Chriet'Jesus." *