DELIVERANCE: INWARD AND OUTWARD
DELIVERANCE: INWARD AND OUTWARD
“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of this body of death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”, Romans 7:24,25.
“For we do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, as to our tribulation which happened to us in Asia, that we were excessively pressed beyond our power, so as to despair even of living. But we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not have our trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead: who has delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver: in whom we confide that he will also yet deliver: ye also labouring together by supplication for us”, 2 Corinthians 1:8-11.
God’s deliverance is a very great need of the time, and it is presented to us in these scriptures in two aspects — inward and outward. The first is the more important, because, if we have it, it will wonderfully fortify us during the time we may have to wait for outward deliverance.
In Romans 7: 24 we see one in captivity to a power of evil within, which he refers to as the law of sin in his members. He is brought to hopeless despair, so that he cries, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of this body of death?” When that point is reached, deliverance is very near. It is quite possible that we may think we have reached that point when we have not, but, when we do, deliverance is there for us through infinite grace. That is, God fills the vision of the soul, and a person whose vision is filled with God is in deliverance. He exclaims, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
I would stress those words, “through Jesus Christ our Lord”; the power of inward deliverance comes through Him. God directs us to a Person outside ourselves; He directs us to the Person seen in the gospels, “Jesus Christ our Lord”. The gospels show His power to effect deliverance for every one who came into contact with Him. There are about forty distinct examples in the gospels of persons who experienced the delivering power of the Lord Jesus, as well as the large number who are mentioned in a general way. I believe they were all intended to illustrate different forms of the power of sin in our members. I ought to be able to say which of the cases in the gospels represents my case, or [p. 136] perhaps, two or more would have to be combined to make up the full picture of the deliverance which I need. But even if they all combined in one case, it would not be too much for Jesus Christ our Lord to meet. When He was here He healed every disease and every infirmity, and in doing so, He illustrated His ability to meet every form in which the law of sin can work in our members. It was in every case the virtue and power that were in Him that effected healing. It was no question of what they could do for themselves; they came into contact with Him, and by the virtue that was in Him they got deliverance from whatever condition they were in. Whatever moral disease or infirmity I may be subject to, there is adequate power in Jesus Christ our Lord to meet it. Therefore there must be a lack of earnestness on my part if I go on in captivity to the law of sin. As we avail ourselves of the virtue that is in Him we pass into a new kind of life altogether.
Christianity, in the true sense, is Christ glorified in those whom He has delivered. “I am glorified in them”. As the healed persons of the gospels took their places in the assembly, as, no doubt, many of them did, what a wonderful testimony they would be to what Christ had done! They were living examples of what Christ could do! A brother said to me, I cannot make myself any different from what I am. I replied, It is not a question of what you can make yourself, but of what Christ can make you. He would have us here completely delivered from the law of sin by the virtue which is in Himself: and that not once for all, but as looking to Him continuously as the One by whom God’s delivering power sets us free. The virtue that is in Him abides to be drawn upon as it is needed.
It is evident that, if we are delivered by the power and grace which comes through Jesus Christ our Lord, it is in view of a life in liberty of an entirely new character. The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is like a new breath of life, and that law sets free from the law of sin and death. Before we got that new breath of life we were living for ourselves, living in view of the world and what it had to offer, but as having that new breath of life we live now in relation to God, and to Christ, and to the brethren. As living in those holy relations we are free from the law of sin and of death. Our companions now are those who do not walk according to flesh but according [p. 137] to Spirit. Our life-links now are with those who are joint-heirs with Christ, which involves sharing with Him a glorious portion soon, but at the present time sharing in suffering. The effect of inward deliverance is that we are set free to occupy an entirely new place as amongst the children of God. Our affections are at liberty, though circumstantially it is a time of suffering, for we are assured that none of the sufferings or pressures can separate us from the love of Christ. No circumstances could be more severe than those of the faithful servants of God who were cast into the burning, fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar’s orders. But they were “loose” there, and they had the company of the divine Person who had loosed them. No doubt they had the consciousness that they were loved by Him.
If inwardly delivered so that Christ is magnified in us, we find ourselves in a scene of contrariety where all kinds of pressures come on the people of God. Paul says, “we were excessively pressed beyond our power, so as to despair even of living”. He speaks quite simply about it, making no attempt to hide the fact that he felt the pressure intensely. It is a mark of spiritual shallowness not to feel pressures that come upon us. Paul did not affect to be above feeling the pressure, but he met it by taking the ground that he had the sentence of death in himself. He was already, as to his own mind, as good as dead, and if that were so everything hung on “God who raises the dead”. The greatest pressure of all is death; it may even be “so great a death”. But Paul’s trust was not in himself — the sentence of death was there — but in God who raises the dead. If we were actually dead no one could do anything for us but God, and if we are excessively pressed beyond our power, so as to despair even of living, the only One to whom we can look is God; He raises the dead. God is not baffled even if His saints are killed, for He raises the dead; He holds the master key.
But if the saints are to remain here in testimony they must, of necessity, be delivered from the power that would kill them. So Paul speaks beautifully of God, “who has delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver; in whom we confide that he will also yet deliver”. He had the sense in his soul that outward deliverance would be vouchsafed so long as necessary. So long as God wishes to retain us here for His pleasure He will deliver us. If we are in any way a comfort [p. 138] to others, God may retain us here, as He did Paul. “I know that I shall remain and abide along with you all, for your progress and joy in faith”, Philippians 1: 25. Not one of us will die, or be killed, until his work is done. A servant of the Lord said long ago: Man is immortal until his work is done. We can be thankful for the truth enshrined in those words. If we are of some little service it may be God’s pleasure to keep us here, however much Satan would like to kill us off. So myriads of angels are busy preserving the lives of many saints today. There will be outward deliverance so long as it is needed for the continuance of the service and testimony.