THE DAY OF REST. GOD'S SALVATION.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 171, 25 September 1886, Page 5

THE DAY OF REST. GOD'S SALVATION.

(By Brownlow North, 8.A.)

Bom. 5 chap, 8 v., "'.God commondeth. His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners. Christ diod for us." • '■ •

God's Salvation have you got it? If you. havo not, what have you got ■w.orfch. having? , Do not throw this paper down without j reading it. it baa come to you in lore. ' Beware lest you reject the counsel of God against yourself Have you made up your mind to read it?— very well-— then think now of all you have, and of all your heart desires to gob ; and then ask yourself what will it all profit you if you die without God's salvation ? 1 know not who you are into whose hands this paper has fallen ; you may be high or low, rich or poor, lightly or highly esteemed in thia world, but if you are without God's 'salvation, let your worldly position be what it may, you are a poor, needy, miserable creature, utterly without provision. If you have it, then "all things are youre." (1 Cor. iii. 21.)' Then, though your earthly portion is no better than the portion of the beggar Lazarus, yet you are more eaduringly noble, more tnduringly rich, than all the princes of this world put together. For God your Father nas settled on you the unsearchable riches of Christ, and they are inalienably yours for time and for eternity. But if you have not this salvation, go on neglecting it, and die without it, it would have been better for you that you had never betn b6rn. 4 Oh ! who can tell the difference it makes to a man, whether he has or has not God's salvation ? It makes a great difference to a man, whether ho is rich or poor, sickly or healthy, honoured or dishonoured in this world ; but all the differences that exist on earth between the two extremes of happiness or misery, areas nothing cocapared to the difference between having and not having God's Salvation. And the reason for this is simple. " The things tbat are Been are temporal "—-the happiness and misery of this world have an ending, " The things that are not seen are eternal"— *and we are hastening to a world where happiness and misery are everlasting. There are two or three truths that I would endeavour to impress upon you before I open up to you the subject of this address : for though few would "deny them with their lips, multitudes hare never received them into their hearts ; and a man must receive them into his heart before he will care Aout God's salvation. A man will not care about God's salvation until he really believes in the life everlasting. Reader, whether you believe it or not you have to live forever. A Power over which you had no control has been pleased to put you into thia world — your will was not consulted — you were placed here because He chose it who giveth no account of his actions to any, and you are a living witness to yourself and to others that there is such a Power. Now that same Power has revealed to us that He is about to take us out of this world and to place us in another ; and, as surely as we are now in a world that paeseth away, so surely shall we one day Had ourselves in a world that endureth forever. A man must believe that he is immortal — tbat he has an immortality of misery or an immortality of glory before him — or he will not care about God's salvation. Again, a man must believe that he has destroyed himself, and that, if judged by j hie past life, his immortality will be misery and not glory, or he will not care about j God's salvation ,It is the teaching of the devil and our own hearts, that because a man has performed more duties, and not committed so many ; sins as some others, therefore God will not condemn him at the last day— that, for the sake of the good bits of his life, he may hope to be forgiven the bad— and that Christ, in his mercy to him, because he has not been so very wicked, will help him when he needs it, and make up his deficiencies. But the teaching of God is, " the ' soul t that sinneth, it shall die." "He who otfendeth in one point, is guilty of ! all." "Death has passed upon all men," not because they have committed fifty or a hundred sins, but "/or that all have sinned." And until a man believes that, having sinned, no matter whether much or little, he haa destroyed himself and brought on himself an immortality of misery, he will not care about God's salvation. Again, it is the teaching of the devil, that when a man pleases he can give up sin, repent, believe; get pardon, and be saved ; and multitudes go on in their wickedness, iviending to forsake it, and, at some 'convenient season, turn to God. Multitudes are now in hell who never meant to go there, but who were swindled but of heaven by these doctrines of the devil. The teaching of the Bible is that every natural man is led captive by Satan at his will — that none but a Stronger than he can spoil hie goods, or deliver the sinner, his lawful captive, out j of his hand ; and as well might a fallen child of Adam endeavour to create a world as to re-create himself in righteouness and j true holiness. Until a man believes that he is not only lost, but so .utterly in the power of Satan that he is unable, by any j doings of his own, to deliver himself, he will not. pare about God's salvation i , Now; whether you believe them or not, the three things' that I have stated are true. First, there is an eternity before you, and as long as God lives you will live. Next, you have- destroyed yourself; and if you are judged by your own merits and get the just reward of your own deeds, as long as God iive3 in heaven you will live in hell. And, lastly, you are so in the power of Satan aud the false teaching of your own' spirit, that, though you have destroyed yourself and earned hell, you can neither repent, believe,, nor do anything to save yourself ! Think of these truths, I beseech you for, a moment; for when you really* believe them, , "the fear of the Lord," will be to you <%*% * the beginning of wisdom," a^d, you will be, in a state^of heart to value God's salvation. :JEBUS , CHRIST IS- , GOV'S SALVATION. "There is none other, name given among men whereby we .be must, saved,", but the nprae of- Jesus only. (Acts iv. 12.) Jesus ! Christ came '.to seek and to save that which was loat j'' and V4* is a^faithf ul saying, % and, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ' Jesus came into the world to save sinners." ! So, {that, T if, you really believe the three truths I hftye stated, which shut you up to, be a' lost' sinner, you. must either, doubt the< truth, of< God, and thus make him a liar, or, must believe that you »re tihe, very person mentioned, in these Scriptures. TSo matter j how" hard,, how, vile, how completely steeped,^ in. worldlings or; wickedness you .may, Be, the Bible invites you.by^your r very name,', 11 Losx Wipa," to come ,tp/ Christ, - and -if ydu are, filling tocqmo nothing' can prevbot yoursalvation but} believing you cannot^ bet'avea.' " < .. K ,*,, LefciiiM apeak ty.you t>y,y ( ottr name.oUost | fiayie^'i X^«f on f sea that, you, have sinned j adnearned its wages, xrhicH ie'death, Jeeus

Christ has -become the einner's substitute, and, has died for,, in. th&room of, in the stead, of % lost einnors. He who is God's salvation has made all things ready iovyo'ur salvation and has died; that He.may have a , gift of death to give to every lost sinner whoiwill accept it from Him. God Must have death toy sin ; but the eatne Scriptures that tell us this, tell us that "God commendeth Hia love to us, in that, while we were pat siuners, Christ died for (Rom. v. 8 ) Again, %t Christ died for the ungodly" and, again (Heb. ii 9) : "We ccc Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels ior the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour ; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." Now, what is the meaning of thepo, and riuch like scripture?, of which the Word of God i« full? I« it not that Jesus has died for those who have brought death on themsalres by sin ? Most surely. And thu?, by the grace of God, every man has a death which he can carry to God, and plead that for that death's sake, God should pardon him, and not put him. to death; O God forgive me, because Jeeus Christ died for my sins. (1 Cor. xv. 3.) Reader, in the name of the Lord Jesun Christ, is offered you now, the gift of waifl death ! Accept it, carry it to God, plead it with Him, and believe in it, and for th© sake of this death, God will forgive you your past lifa. Christ hat already cndurcQ its punishmtnt. Perhapß "you hare a difficulty in receiving it. You say you believe that Jesus died to save einnere, and that sinner is your name ; still, you fcbink that for some reason or other, for the lack of some good thing in youivelf perhaps God will not receive you. This is the devil striving to work in you unbelief . The question with which you have to do is not what you think and feel, but what God haa said and done. Has not He so loved the world as to give His only begotten Son to Hie for sinnere, even the very chief. H»8 He not told us that the blood of Christ cleanspth from aU sin ? If then you go and plead t iis death, tbi* blood, with God, and, believing in Jesus Christ, rest upon Hi* written word for pardon, do you thijk God will disappoint yiu— will He put a poor einner to death for sina for which Christ has ar ady died ? If a man gets in debt, he makos himeelf a transgressor, and deserves punishment; but .if a*rich man pays bis debfc-, wi'l the creditor bring in the bill agaia ? Oh, reader, carry this fcift of God, this death of Christ, boldly to the throne of grace, and make not God in your estimation an unjust God, who would demand payment twice for the same fin. But God has provided some hing more for us than the death of Christ, in order that we may be *' complete " in God's salvation. (Col. ii. 10 ) He has given us the LiFJB of Christ. It is our unrighteous life that is our con« demnation,*Which first must be got rid of. It must be taken off, all ita fancied good bits, ns well as all its bad bite, and given as a whole— a garment spotted with the fleah —to Christ. He will do with it the very best thing that can be done with the very best natural life of the very best man that ever lived ; cast it behind His back, and remeihber it no more. Then having washed the defiled and naked sinner in His blood, He will give him Hjs Life. God demands from mon perfection". A man must not only stand before God iv judgment without*in, butadorned wirh alife of perfect spotless righteousness ; without this the Judge will never pass him guiltless, or acknowledge hi? title to Heaven. Who then. can be caved, for all have einned ? Blessed be God, we have thia''perfection too in God's salvation. Christ not only died for us, but lived for us. "lie fulfilled, all righteousness." He " matrmtied the law and made it honourable." "He was made Bin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him," and as by the transference of our sinful lives to Him, He was made sin, and got the reward of it ; bo by the transference of BLis righteous life to ue, we get the righteousness and the reward of it. "By the obedience of one," says St. Paul, "shall many be made righteous." "(Rom. v. 19.) The righteousness in which a man stands before God and i«j justified, ia not a work, but a gift (Rom. v. 17) ; and is unto aaltl t and upon all themothat believe, for there ts no difference (Rom. iii. 22) : and no matter wnoyou are, or what you have beon, as in , the name of the Lord Jesus Christ 1 offered you the gift of death, so I now offer you this gift of righteousness. It ia a great | offer and u great gitt. Will you neglect so great salvation ? ! But you will say you have no taste or i appetite for spiritual things, your heart and affections ure occupied with the affairs of thfe lite, and that while you have the ideas of happiness you^have at present, religion is distasteful to you here, and, you could not enjoy heaven t>ven if you got there. This is quite true ; and our Saviour said precisely the same thing when He told Nicodemua that uuless a man was bora again he could not the kingdom of God. But this, too, is provided for in the gift of God's salvation. , Until a man receives a new spirit, or, in other words, the Holy Spirit, he neither pan nor will do anything, exo'po as he is led and taught by the god of this world. ! S;atan has. him in his power, and ho is not so strong as Satan. But the,, object of GrOd'a, salvation is not only to bring back man to God, but to bring back Godjo nian, and God must come to man before man w ill go to Gad. But God kascomc to man. G»d the Father sent God the Son, and God was i manifest in the flesh and dwelt among us. Ec lived for us, He died for us, , He arose and ascended iato heaven, V to appear in the presence of God for us " (Heb. ix. 24), and now,' being at the right hand of God exulted, • He has received the gift of God the Spirit to give to man, yea, even to ll therebclliotts." (Psalm lxviii. 18.) And now the lost sinner who will go and ask for him in the name of Jesus, had got the promise that he shall receive through the Son, from- the Father, the gift of God the Spirit.' , And then you aek what will happen ? The Holy Spirit entering into you will give you new perceptions, new affections, new desire?, new powers. ' He will so bind Satan in you' that he shall never again get the uncontrolled dominion over you. He will open your eyes to see, and your heart to understand what you could not ccc or understand by nature, and taking of the things that are Christ's and showing them to youV'He will cause yoU to see beliuty and desirableness in'God'a salvation, that you shall put 1 that fiW, and* before all things; and 'take up your' cross and follow Jesus^ In the natii? df'the Lord Joa'ue, and on; tb&, authority of His Word, I tell you ,God , <yjli give you His r Holy Spirit if you ask Him. i . u ,• , And; now you are onc^ more offered God's salvation if jou havanot got it. Will you again reject it?, This appeal has not been' made toiyou by chance ; it, is a special call,a direct message from God to you. Judgs 'me*ntB are **ypu,; and about you, but 'at present the judgments are in mercy, and have come, through the ; forbearance of a kind, God, v to.fferiftgv you 'to , repentance. ,Bufc..G t od! f ia«r#J9OtwL Q«Cf tod often by them' th^stferisfc, jop&if &Q& reject thi« call v .-inay'. be your *\once tpo* J bftcn. n Lifb up your h^r,^/ r ftsA^|i^iAHe^nfttoe of Jesat; *3copt God's Salvation; . "j,d .: