SALVATION AND TESTIMONY
[p. 434] SALVATION AND TESTIMONY
Many who are simple in faith have not been accustomed to make distinctions as to things which differ. For instance, some minds may not apprehend the difference between light and life, yet there is a great difference, though the two are closely connected.
The sun in the heavens shines on everything in nature; so now, the light of God has come, His love has been brought out: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son”. Light is the revelation of God and it is for everyone. It is like the sun that shines for everyone, so that even a blind man gets the benefit of it; as it is said, “There is nothing hid from the heat thereof”. Felix was affected by the light of God, but he was not subdued by it; when a man is converted he is subdued by the light; the light shines into the heart of every one that is reached by the gospel. The correct reading of this passage is, “The grace of God which carries with it salvation for all men has appeared”, and the force of it is that the grace of God brings salvation, as the sun brings warmth and heat. Light does not destroy, it leads to life, but in life God must begin. Man is baffled in his thoughts when the question of life is brought in. Life is the great subject with John; with him it is not so much a question of light as of life; a man must be born again.
In this passage there is a remarkable expression used in regard to christians, they are called “a peculiar people”. I only recall one other passage which speaks of christians as a people. Israel is a people, but the assembly of God is the body of Christ; when we are looked at as a people, it is as individuals.
[p. 435] I want to speak this evening of salvation, and another thing which is connected with it, that is, good works, The apostle was very earnest in exhorting those to whom he wrote to be zealous of good works; he desired that they should be a people bearing a true testimony for the Lord down here. When Christ was on earth He was full of good works, He went about doing good; and if we desire to bear testimony to the grace of God we must be zealous of good works.
“The grace of God which carries with it salvation for all men has appeared”. The passage does not speak of bringing salvation for the elect, but for all men. Paul speaks of the elect in writing to Timothy, saying, “I endure all things for the elect’s sakes”. Here in Titus we have the character of the grace of God, which has come as light into the world, bringing with it salvation. It is important to see in what that salvation consists, and also on what foundation it rests. We must bear in mind what God has effected for Himself in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, as well as what that death and resurrection have secured for us. It is the wonderful way in which God has intervened for man, and all is effected in One who is Himself a divine Person, the Son.
Let us look at what God effected for Himself in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first thing is the removal of the man that was an offence to Him. The first man, the lawless man, could not please God; he could not be reinstated, he must be removed, and the blessed Son of God took the place of that man vicariously, as a sacrifice on the cross, in order that He might remove that man from beneath the eye of God, and, consequently, the first man is no longer seen by God. The witness of Christ having done this was in the blood, for “the blood is the life”. The blood bears witness to the [p. 436] fact that the first man has disappeared in judgment from the eye of God. The man that was an offence to God has disappeared, and in resurrection there is before God a man of another order. Christ was not of the first man, but He entered into the place of the first man and went into death, and came forth from death as man. He was the same morally when He came out of death as when He went into it, there was no change in Him. But in resurrection we see death annulled, and the kingdom established in Him. The resurrection of one man from the dead is a proof that God has gained the victory.
Now all the blessings of the kingdom are established in Christ; He is Lord of all. When on earth He could say in reference to Himself, “The kingdom of God is within you”. “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Spirit is the power by which these principles prevail. God’s righteousness has been maintained and vindicated, the kingdom of God is established in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is here to maintain its principles in those who are upon the earth.
Salvation consists in the appropriation of Christ as Lord. We have to appropriate Him thus because He is not yet reigning in manifest power. We have not to appropriate the government of this country in that way, because it is manifestly present and acknowledged; but the Lord is not here, He is at the right hand of God. We know Him by faith as the risen One, and appropriate Him as Lord, and thus we get the blessings of the kingdom.
If you go about in the fear of death it proves that you have not yet appropriated Jesus as Lord. In His kingdom the power of death is broken, and as a believer you belong to that kingdom where death does not rule. Have you the blessings of the kingdom, supported by the authority of the word of God?
[p. 437] Have you secured your title-deeds? Do not be satisfied with the mere letter of Scripture. Are we in the enjoyment of righteousness, peace, and joy, in the Holy Spirit, every day in the week, and every hour of the day? These things never lose their power for the christian, but rather become more intense as we go on; how much do we taste of them?
The kingdom of God does not belong to this world. We have to go through the world and do our business, and obey the powers that be, but these things have to do with man’s kingdom, not with God’s kingdom. We must distinguish between the present order of things, through which we have to pass, and the kingdom of God, and yet the blessings of the kingdom affect us in every detail of our lives here.
Now we own the moral sway of God, and we are in the light and enjoyment of what is established in the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we are able to carry out every duty as owning Him as Lord, even to the most menial service. The exhortation here is to slaves, and none of us have been so low as that. We are only in this world for a moment, and while passing on, our thoughts are to be engaged with the kingdom. It seems to me that many of the Lord’s people are living beneath their position. A christian’s occupation in this world may be a very humble one, very small and poor in the estimation of men, but when he is considered in connection with the kingdom of God a dignity attaches to him of which the world knows nothing. The apostle writes, “Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters ... that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things”. They were not to rebel, nor even to seek their freedom, and why? Because they were in the kingdom of God. If you want to enjoy salvation, appropriate the Lord Jesus Christ.
[p. 438] I hope you understand that the kingdom of God is outside all that is here, so that it is said, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord”. Let it be the habit of your soul to confess Him, for thus you will get away from the god of this world. If you appropriate Him as Lord, you are out of Satan’s power, and you cannot have any fear of death. For the millennium the Lord will bring salvation with Him, and it will consist in deliverance from death and all the power of evil.
Then, if Christ is Lord to us, we ought to be representatives of Him down here, and so we have the words, “We should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”. We are to be a people representative of the Lord, and zealous of good works. To help us to understand this I would refer to Colossians 1: 9 - 11 where we find three things, which were, in a sense, characteristic of the Lord Himself, and which are to characterise us as walking worthily of Him; we are to be (1) fruitful in good works, (2) increasing in the knowledge of God, and (3) strengthened according to the power of Christ’s glory. When the Lord comes He will bring these things with Him, and men will be zealous of good works; they will have the knowledge of God and the power of Christ’s glory. In that day all that God is will be expressed to the world in the Person of the Son; “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”.
When here on earth He bore full testimony to God; He did the Father’s works, and spoke the Father’s words, and was filled with the Spirit; thus He was the full expression of God, and when He comes again He will be the full expression of God’s supremacy and glory. If we look into the glory now, what do we see? Jesus! and from heaven we look [p. 439] for Him as Saviour. When He comes in the power of His glory angels will be His ministers in dealing with evil, but He has power to subdue all things to Himself.
Now He looks for His people to be a true testimony to Himself, like vigorous trees, growing and bearing fruit. If we are not thus we have not the signs of health, and we shall be dwarfed. If a christian goes on well he expands, he grows by the knowledge of God, and everything about him shews it. The kingdom of God is not only righteousness and peace, but also joy in the Holy Spirit. There is a testimony for the Lord in every good work, and a growth by the knowledge of God, in fact, a true representation of Christ.
When the Lord comes again the power of His glory will be displayed in raising the bodies of His saints; but what a wonderful thing it is to be here now a testimony to the power that worketh in us, the power by which He will subdue all things unto Himself. “Strengthened ... unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness”. Patience and long-suffering are the signs of strength. We see it all in Christ when He was here; He was ever patient and long-suffering, and He had His own joy, so that at the moment of His utter rejection by man He rejoiced in spirit. Patience and long-suffering mark Christ now, and God strengthens us that we may be patient.
To be here a testimony for the Lord we have to do with two things, the grace of God and the glory of God. The grace of God teaches us how to walk, and as we prove the power of the glory we become fruitful unto every good work. Impatience often marks us. As a man advances in years he is prone to be more impatient; declining in natural power, he likes his own way and does not like to be thwarted; but that is self. In Christ we see what is different [p. 440] from this, and looking to the Lord we come out in “all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness”. It is not that we are merely resigned, for resignation is a poor thing for a christian, but we are superior, we give thanks unto the Father.
The first thing that marks a person who is in the good of salvation is the appropriation of the Lord, and as a consequence he is delivered from fear. The one who fears is not in the enjoyment of deliverance, he is not made perfect in love. We enjoy salvation in the measure in which we appropriate the Lord; we walk in the light of the Lord, and in the blessings of the kingdom. Then the power of His glory is here, and this enables us to come out in moral superiority to all that is here. We look for the appearing of the glory when its power will be put forth as to our bodies.