A SURE FOUNDATION
A SURE FOUNDATION
To secure a sure foundation it is often needful to clear away a lot of rubbish. The wise builder digs “deep”; he removes all that is untrustworthy before he lays a single stone. This is exactly what I desire to do, and I entreat my reader to give earnest consideration to the weighty matters which I shall bring before him. There can be no solid peace until the whole truth of our lost condition as children of Adam is known and accepted. Peace founded upon ignorance and self-deception is common enough; but it is a slumber from which there will be a terrible awakening in ETERNITY, if never before.
It is evident that on such a subject human opinions are perfectly worthless. As to our souls’ relations with God, we dare not allow the opinions of men to weigh with us for a single moment. Philosophers may speculate, theologians may reason and dispute, and rationalists may assert the sufficiency of the human mind to pronounce on these solemn questions, but we regard them all with equal distrust. We would as soon think of leaning on a straw, or of crossing Niagara on a spider’s web, as of placing any reliance on our own abilities or mental powers in this matter. The Holy Scriptures must be our only authority and guide. We find there unerring truth which carries its own credentials with it, for it searches and exposes us as none but God could, and by so doing proves its divine origin more completely than all the volumes of “Evidences” that were ever written.
Let us then ponder well, and weigh as in the very presence of God, the following grave and momentous statements of Holy Scripture:
“We have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous,
[p. 2] no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3: 9 - 12).
“That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become subject to the judgment of God” (Romans 3: 19; margin).
“By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3: 20).
“There is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3: 23).
These are sweeping and comprehensive statements. They are too plain to be misunderstood, and it is impossible for any sober-minded person to regard them with levity or indifference. They do not assert that all Adam’s children are alike as to sinful actions; but they do proclaim that all are alike “under sin”, “subject to the judgment of God”, and “come short of the glory of God”. Sin displays itself in a thousand different forms in a thousand different individuals. It stalks unblushingly abroad at noonday in the open and profligate sinner. It makes itself obnoxious to men when it violently trespasses upon their interests or pleasures in the form of dishonesty or personal injury, or when it excessively outrages natural and moral decency. But the root-principle from which every sinful action proceeds is the same in every man, woman, and child of Adam’s race. It would be difficult to find two lives that were exactly alike outwardly; but when we look beneath the surface, and consider man’s state before God, we find “there is no difference”. The amiable young lady and the industrious man of business are doing their own will and seeking their own pleasure. The drunkard and the thief are doing the same thing on a rather lower platform. It is true that [p. 3] in the one case there may be a certain outward acknowledgment of God which is not found in the other; but this is only a “form of godliness” assumed in order to maintain a good character before men, or to soothe and satisfy a conscience which might otherwise become uncomfortably active.
Instruction as to what is right and wrong is of no avail as a remedy. It has been tried. God has made known to man in the law what he ought to do, and what he ought not to do. Its only effect is to bring home to every awakened conscience “the knowledge of sin”. I have no doubt the reader would admit that he had often done things he knew to be contrary to the mind of God. Does not this prove that there is something fearfully wrong?
“But if I do my best to please God, and to do what is right, is not that enough?” Well, perhaps you have honestly tried to do this. How have you succeeded? You have promised, resolved, vowed; you have cultivated yourself very carefully, you have read the Bible, and you have prayed earnestly. You have done your best. Now I ask a plain question. Are you satisfied with the result of your efforts? Have you not found out that you are “under sin”? And being “under sin”, you must be “subject to the judgment of God”.
Additions or subtractions are of no use in such a case. You have tried to get rid of bad habits and to acquire good ones; but the weeds grow faster than you can pluck them up, and the flowers you fain would cultivate wither before they come to perfection. You are slowly beginning to realise that the soil is bad — that no half measures will do — that you have not only done many wrong things, but that you are all wrong yourself. What is the use of adding religion or morality to a man who still remains “subject to the judgment of God”?
You may be sure of this, that if you build upon yourself in any way your labour is vain. Sooner or later the complete [p. 4] worthlessness and instability of such a foundation must be apparent. Many will discover this when eternal ruin has come upon them. They have built without removing the rubbish. They may bear an excellent name among men; they may acquire a great reputation for their sterling moral character; they may hold high positions in religious circles; but they have reared this imposing structure on a heap of rubbish. For in spite of all this they remain “under sin”, and they “come short of the glory of God”. And if in this state when their day of grace is over they must perish eternally. May God in His mercy preserve you from building upon the rubbish of fallen and sinful flesh.
THE FOUNDATION.
The first thing that an awakened sinner feels is that God must be righteous in all His ways. If grace is to reign it must be “through righteousness”. Any supposed blessing which does not rest upon a secure basis of righteousness is absolutely worthless. Hence the sure foundation of all blessing is that wondrous act in which the righteousness of God is declared — THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
“Whom God hath set forth a propitiation [or mercy-seat] THROUGH FAITH IN HIS BLOOD, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3: 25, 26).
The extreme penalty has passed upon all alike. “The wages of sin is death”. “And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 6: 23; Romans 5: 12). The righteousness of God must be against sin, but in the death of Christ we see that righteousness declared in such a way that it becomes the foundation of blessing. God has expressed His judgment of sin in the fullest way without touching a hair of the sinner’s head. Nothing could show God’s [p. 5] hatred of sin so much as the fact that Christ has died to bear its judgment, while the fact that He has died has silenced the devil as to God’s actings in grace. The one who was chief of sinners may go into glory on the ground of that death, forgiveness of sins may be proclaimed to the guilty and perishing millions of Adam’s race, and not even Satan can say that God is unrighteous in His ways of grace.
I can see God’s way of dealing with sin in the death of Christ; I see all that is due to God in respect of sin maintained in that death; in a word, I see His righteousness there. But it is all in my favour. I can fall in with God’s righteousness — with God’s way of dealing with sin — and find that it secures my blessing for ever. On the ground of the death of Christ, God is as righteous in justifying the ungodly sinner who believes in Jesus as He will be righteous in condemning everyone who has not “faith in His blood”. You must learn God’s righteousness either in grace or in judgment. The believer learns it in the death of Christ; the unbeliever will learn it in the awful light of the great white throne. Apart from “the precious blood of Christ”, the whole weight of God’s righteousness must be against you. Thank God! that precious blood is available for you; you may by faith come under its cleansing efficacy and sheltering power; and then “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ” will be upon you, making your blessing eternally sure.
It is of vast importance for us to see that the judgment due to us has not been in any wise mitigated. God’s righteousness could only act in one way toward us as children of Adam. We were under His judgment — under the sentence of death. But what was due to us has come upon One who in perfect divine love was found in the place of sin and death. A divine Person has been in this world, AND HAS DIED. So that the righteousness of God is seen in a way that presents it in the strongest possible light. If it were [p. 6] possible for the son of a judge to take the place of a criminal, and the judge passed the full sentence upon him, his righteousness would be more vividly expressed than if he had sentenced the culprit himself. You may depend upon it that no criminal would venture to trifle with such a judge. But God has been so glorified in the death of Christ that His righteousness is “UNTO ALL”. That is, it is presented in the gospel to every creature under heaven as the only way and ground of blessing for sinners. God has approached man in this wonderful way. He has provided for His own glory, and laid a sure foundation for the blessing of man. Do you fear God? Do you bow in recognition of the solemn fact that you are subject to His judgment, and that the sentence of death has passed upon you? Then you are entitled by faith and through God’s grace to put yourself under the — shelter of the precious blood of Christ. You are entitled to take your stand upon the fact that the judgment has been borne, and the sentence righteously executed, to take advantage of God’s righteousness, and to fall in with His way of dealing with sin, and if you do so your blessing is certain. God is “the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus”.