|
SEED & BREAD
Number 1
YOU NEED A SAVIOUR
The basic needs of mankind are usually thought to be food, clothing, and
shelter. That these are necessities all will admit, but even after these
have been amply supplied, his most basic need still remains. He still
has need for a Saviour. This need is one to which the human mind gives
constant witness. The individual man has been so constructed by the
Creator that he cannot have peace of mind, rest of heart, and quietness
of spirit until he is linked up with his Creator by means of a divinely
provided Saviour.
This unfulfilled need of a Saviour is the explanation of the constant
dissatisfaction of most men, their ceaseless activity, their
restlessness of heart, their constant search for pleasure. They try to
still the voice of conscience by listening to a tho usand other voices.
All thoughts of God must be crowded out and replaced by other thoughts.
Man ever strives to bring himself to that state of mind which is
described in scripture as being: "God is not in all his thoughts." He
must create a constant din of activities above which the voice o
conscience cannot be heard. For above all else, conscience continually
tells man of his need of a Saviour. This is your greatest need, your
most important need.
There are many reasons why you need a Saviour, but the chief one will
always be your standing and state in the sight of God. This truth is
expressed in simple, easily-understood words spoken by the Apostle Paul
when he said of all men in Romans 3:22,23: "There is no difference, for
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." These words become
plainer still when we recognise that to "come short" is to lack, and
that "glory" has to do with esteem. For example, the esteem in which we
hold a person is the glory we will give to him. If we esteem him to be
upright and honest, this is the glory we will give him when the occasion
arises for us to speak concerning him. Thus Paul's statement literally
tells us that there is no difference, all have sinned and are lacking
the esteem of God.
The lesson all should learn here is that while we may be highly esteemed
by our friends, family, and fellowmen, yet because we are sinners we are
lacking the esteem of God. You may be extolled in life or at death as
having been a good citizen, good father, and good churchman, but you are
still lacking the esteem of God. Your children may esteem you highly as
a good mother and your husband may praise you as a good wife, but you
are still lacking the esteem of God. Something must be brought into your
life, there must be some definite act of yours that will bring you to
God's favourable attention that will result in Him esteeming you for
what you are and what you have done.
As to what this is there can be no question. Your neglect of the
God-appointed Saviour must cease. You must appropriate God's great
provision for your great need -- your need of a Saviour. You must be
able to stand before Him as a sinner who has a Saviour -- not a sinner
without one. This will cause Him to esteem you as a believer, and you
will no longer lack the esteem of God. It is your crying need that you
bring yourself to some final dealing with God in regard to this. Truly,
you need a Saviour.
Another positive reason why you need a Saviour is seen in the fact that
death is working in you and you are dying. Apart from divine
intervention the death that works in you will reach its end and your
life will be over and gone. This is a fact that few want to face, and
many will not like being reminded of it, but it is an inexorable fact
and the death rate is still one apiece. "It is appointed unto men once
to die" (Heb. 9:27). In view of this you need a Saviour who can rescue
you from the fate and fact of death and give you another life to take
the place of the one you are using up little by little, day by day.
Those who are advancing in years, who now realise that there is more
sand in the bottom of the glass than there is in the top, should give
careful thought to this fact. Senior citizens need more than a hobby.
They need a Saviour. Do you think that within yourself you have power to
turn over the glass so that another life will run through again? Do you
think that in death you will automatically be given another life to take
the place of the one that is used up and gone? Certainly not. You need
to make contact with a Saviour who is the author and giver of life. To
have such a Saviour is to have the guarantee of another life. Truly, you
need a Saviour.
THE SAVIOUR YOU NEED
Of course, the Saviour you need is the One that God has provided. No one
else will do, and even to consider another would be to slander God's
provision. The Virgin Mary spoke of "God my Saviour" (Lk. 1:47), a
phrase that tells us that our Saviour should be no one less than God
Himself. Happy indeed is the one who can say: "Thou are my Father, my
God, and the rock of my salvation." We have come to maturity when we can
say in truth, "My Saviour is my God, and my God is my Saviour."
Through the prophet Isaiah, Jehovah declared: "I, even I, am the LORD
(Jehovah); and beside Me there is no Saviour" (Isa. 43:11). Again He
says, "Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the LORD (Jehovah)?
And there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is
none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (Isa. 45:21,22). In view of
these declarations it is evident that the Saviour we need can be no one
else and no one less than the mighty God, the Creator, that Jehovah who
is seen on every page of the Old Testament and comes to us in the New
Testament as the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Saviour that will fulfil our need must be the Saviour of sinners.
"They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I
came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," are the
words of the Lord Jesus concerning this. (Lk. 5:31). We go to physicians
because we are sick and we should fly to the Saviour because we are
sinners. It is declared in Scripture that "Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15). Titus speaks of "the great God and
our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Ti. 2:13), not two beings but one. The two
titles here are appositional (one defines the other) and should read
"the great God even our Saviour Jesus Christ." If Jesus Christ is not
"the great God", if He is not Jehovah, then He cannot be our Saviour
since long before this Jehovah declared that there is no Saviour except
Himself.
The Saviour you need is the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born to be a
Saviour (Lk. 2:11); He was sent to be a Saviour (1 Jn. 4:14); He is
called "God our Saviour" (T. 1:3,4), and in the same sentence He is
spoken of as "the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour." Thus our Saviour is
our God and our God is our Saviour.
In receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour we are not putting our
trust in a peasant who lived in Palestine two thousand years ago. We
must not form our opinions of Him from one short period of His long
history. The "days of His flesh" is not even the place to begin to
understand Him. The record God has given to Him and which we are
required to believe in order to be saved does not begin with a babe born
in Bethlehem. It begins with His first recorded act, "In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). This Creator is called
the Word (Logos) in Jn. 1:1 and is declared to have done the total work
of creation in Jn. 1:3. And it was this Word, this Creator, who was made
flesh and dwelt for thirty-three years as a man upon earth. This is our
Creator, this is our Lord, this is our Saviour -- a capable Saviour, an
all-sufficient Saviour, one who is able to save unto the uttermost all
who come unto God by Him.
The simplicity of God's plan of salvation for the sinner and the
infallibility of the Word of God should result in the conclusion that a
sinner can be saved by Jesus Christ, and that the believer in Christ
Jesus should know that he is saved. If we have turned from our own works
and merit to a complete dependence upon the all-sufficient work and
merit of Christ, we should have this knowledge and assurance. If we have
put our trust in Him for our salvation, if we have received Him as our
Saviour, then we must either believe Him to be what He claims to be and
do what He claims to do or else believe Him to be incapable and untrue.
Remember, salvation depends on the Saviour.
Since by the Word of God you have been shown your need of a Saviour, and
Jesus Christ has been shown to be the Saviour you need, then your next
step is to make Him your personal Saviour. If your mind has been
exercised and your heart stirred, consider this to be the work of God's
Holy Spirit. You are being helped in a matter that is very dear to the
heart of God. Why not deliberately decide that you will believe in God,
that you will from this hour forth be a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Let this be your confession of faith in Him, and let your first
confession of faith be the most important one. This should be the one
you make to God, and to Him alone. Public declarations can come later,
and they should follow, but your original confession of faith in Jesus
Christ should be your personal dealing with God.
As a preparation for this confession I would suggest that you read
through the Gospel of John, paying close attention to every occurrence
of the word believe. You will find it there just as it has been set
forth in this message -- that to all sinners who need a Saviour, Jesus
Christ is the Saviour you need.
INDEX
Issue no. 001
|