The
Ministry of Reconciliation
"God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto [put into] us the word of
reconciliation." 2Cor.5:19.
He
"His own self bare our sins in His own body." 1Pet.2:24. He did not
impute our trespasses to us, but took them all on Himself.
"A
soft answer turneth away wrath." Christ comes to us with gentle words, not
harshly chiding us, in order that He may win us. He calls us to come to Him and
find rest; to exchange our galling yoke of bondage, and heavy burden, for His
easy yoke and light burden.
In
Christ's Stead
All
Christians are one in Christ. There is but one seed--all are embraced in
Christ, the Representative Man. Therefore "as He is, so are we in this
world." 1Joh.4:17.
Christ was
in this world as an example of what men ought to be, and of what His true
followers will be when wholly consecrated to Him. To His disciples He says,
"As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you," and to this end He
clothes them with His own power through the Spirit. "God sent not His Son
into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be
saved." John 3:17. Therefore we are not sent to condemn, but to save.
Hence the injunction, "If a man be overtaken in a fault, . . . restore
such an one." This is not to be limited to those who are associated with
us in church capacity. We are sent as ambassadors for Christ, to beseech men,
in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God. 2Cor.5:20.
The whole
universe provides no greater work; no higher office can be found in heaven or
earth than that of ambassador for Christ, which is the office of even the
lowliest and most despised soul that is reconciled to God.
"Ye
Which Are Spiritual."
Only such
ones are called upon to restore the erring; none others can do it. The Holy
Spirit alone must speak through those who would reprove and rebuke. It is
Christ's own work that is to be done, and only by the power of the Spirit can
anybody be a witness to Him. But would it, then, not be great presumption for
anybody to go to restore a brother? Would it not be as much as claiming that he
himself is spiritual? It is indeed no light matter to stand in Christ's place
to any fallen man; and the design of God is that each one should take heed to
himself, "considering thyself lest thou also be tempted." It is plain
that the rule here laid down is calculated to work a revival in the
church.
As soon as
a man is overtaken in a fault, the duty of each one is--not straightway to talk
to somebody about him, nor even to go directly to the erring one himself,
but--to ask himself, How do I stand? Am I not guilty, if not of the same thing,
of something equally bad? May it not even be that some fault in me has led to
his fall? Am I walking in the Spirit, so that I could restore him, and not
drive him further away? This would result in a complete reformation in the
church, and it might well be that by the time the others had got into condition
to go to the faulty one, he might also have recovered himself from the snare of
the devil.
Bound in
Heaven
In giving
directions how to deal with one who has committed a trespass (Matt.18:10-18),
the Saviour said, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven." Does this mean that God pledges Himself to be bound by
any decision that any company of men calling themselves His church may
make?--Certainly not. Nothing that is done on earth can change God's will. The
history of the church, as we have it for nearly eighteen hundred years, is a
record of mistakes and errors, of self aggrandizement, and of putting self in
the place of God. Who can read the history of the councils of the church, and
say that God was in any of them, or that He either prompted or sanctioned any
of their decrees? What, then, did Christ
mean?--Just what He said. His instruction shows that He meant that the church
should be spiritual,--filled with the spirit of meekness,--and that every one
who spoke should "speak as the oracles of God." Only the Word of
Christ should be in the heart and mouth of all who deal with a trespasser. When
this is the case, it follows, since God's Word is settled forever in heaven,
that whatever is bound on earth must necessarily be bound in heaven. But this
will not be the case unless the Scriptures are strictly followed in letter and
in spirit.
"The
Law of Christ."
This is
fulfilled by bearing one another's burdens, because the law of Christ's life is
to bear burdens. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every
one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Is.53:6. "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows."
Whoever would fulfil His law must have His life in him, still doing the same
work for the strayed and fallen.
"In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren,
that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself
hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted."
Heb.2:17,18. He knows what it is to be sorely tempted, and He knows how to
overcome. Yea, although He "knew no sin," He was made even to be sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 2Cor. 5:21. He
took every one of our sins, and confessed them before God as His own. Even so
He comes to us. Instead of upbraiding us for our sin, He opens His heart to us,
and tells us how He has suffered with the same infirmity, and that He knows all
the hardship, the pain, the sorrow, and the shame. Thus He draws us to Himself,
and wins our confidence. Knowing that He has passed through the same experience,
that He has been down into the very depths, we are ready to listen to Him when
He talks about the way of escape. We know that He is talking from
experience. The greatest part,
therefore, of the work of saving sinners is to show ourselves one with them.
That is to say, it is in the confession of our own faults that we save others.
The man who feels himself without sin, is not the man to restore the sinful. He
who goes to one who is overtaken in any trespass, and says, "How in the
world could you ever do such a thing? I never did a thing like that in my life,
and I can't see how anybody with any sense of self-respect could do so,"
might far better stay at home. God chose one Pharisee, and only one, to be an
apostle, but he was not sent forth until he could acknowledge himself to be the
chief of sinners. 1Tim.1:15. It is
humiliating
to confess sin. That is true, but the way of salvation is the way of the cross.
It was only by the cross that Christ could be the Saviour of sinners. Therefore
if we would share His joy, we must with Him endure the cross, despising the
shame. Remember this fact: It is only by confessing our own sins that we can
save others from their sins. Only thus can we show them the way of salvation;
for it is he who confesses his sins that obtains cleansing from them, and so
can lead others to the fountain.
The Glad
Tidings
By E. J.
WAGGONER
(Excerpt- To be continued)
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