Stonewall Revisted
He Sent His Word to Heal Us
By Stephen Black
As I gave my life completely over to the Lord back in 1983, He took me down memory lane as a part of my deliverance. There I was, a five year old little boy, very curious about the male anatomy. This was the first remembrance of what were the beginnings of homosexual thoughts. You will find that many believe just because there maybe a curiousness about anatomy that this is an inclination of orientation, but this is just not true. I did not try exploring homosexuality until many years later when I chose with my heart to give over to the temptations. At about age six, I remember being molested by a male friend of the family who was baby sitting me. This opened the doors to sexual perversion in my life. I also recall that I was exposed to some pornography at the same time. The pornography was heterosexual yet very devastating to my understanding of REAL love and God's design for sexuality. God's kind of love is found in 1 Cor. 13 and 1 John.
At age seven I was exposed to more pornography. My brother's friends had come over to our house to look at Playboy magazines. One of my brother's friends was reading an article about testing yourself to see if you might have homosexual tendencies. The article asked if you were attracted to men or women in very explicit ways. My mind was reeling from the pictures and the feelings that I was having to deal with. He showed the "pictures" to me and asked me, "Who would you kiss, the man or the woman?" Little did they know that I had found and looked through their magazines beforehand. So I became very frightened. This fear caused me to believe that I was going to really get in trouble. I remember wanting to answer what I thought he wanted to hear. I thought "well, we are all boys" (and seven year old boys are not supposed to be interested in girls) so I told him, "The man." Well, my brother's friends went on and on about how I was a "queer." They ridiculed my brother and me.
I remember seeing my brother's face and how ashamed he was of me. I was greatly disillusioned and confused. I remember feeling so dirty, having the voices telling me over and over, "You homosexual, you queer." The voices of ridicule condemned me in my mind for several days. I thought of the human anatomy over and over in a state of confusion.
A few years later, when I was about nine years old, our next door neighbors had some out-of-state friends visiting. I was playing at their house. I went into the garage followed by the adult male visitor. He grabbed me from behind and began to molest me. He would not let me go. He told me to be quiet. I was so scared. After struggling with him for a few minutes, which seemed like an hour, I finally got away. I was terrified at what had happened. I ran out of the garage and sat down like nothing had happened.
He then came out of the garage and flipped me back in the chair I was sitting in and knocked the breath out of me. He then looked down at me on the ground and said, "This is just a sample of what you'll get if you say anything to anyone." I was terrified! I went home and never told anyone. I thought it was my fault, because in the heat of the summer, I was wearing cut off shorts with no shirt. Looking back, I can now see that the demons of hell were condemning me. I wonder how many other children do not realize that they are being victimized? At this same time in my life, I received a book about witches from the parochial school I attended. This book contained chants and stories. I remember late one night, how I began chanting out of the book. This chant was for power and acceptance. As I chanted I began to feel a strong presence in the room. I became afraid and put the book away permanently. I was also exposed to fortune telling games for children. Since then the Lord has shown me how the devil had set up demonic control and perverted my thinking. I had given Satan ground in my life. All the voices I had been hearing were demons. These voices may seem like our own thoughts. The voices seem to be you talking to yourself. Remember though, not all thoughts that enter your mind are your own, some according to the Scriptures may be demonic "fiery missiles." (Eph. 6:10-18, 2 Cor. 10:3-5).
About a year later, my family went on a trip to Colorado. We stayed with friends of my parents. My parent's friends had a son who was a couple of years older than me. At bed time he had a "game" he had learned from another friend. He began telling me about this "game." He told me it was okay because it was just a "game." Molested again, except this time I submitted to it, because it was just a "game." This was the time in my life when I started actually learning about sex. A year later, he came to visit at my house and we "played" the "game" again.
The reason the Lord has reminded me of the things I went through was to demonstrate that, though many people claim they are born gay, it is childhood influences and not genetics that incline one to homosexuality. Many say that they have had desires for the same sex as long as they can remember. I was a very little boy when all this started in my life. I was opened up to sexual perversion and demonic influences at a very young age . Yet, I had never really thought about all these episodes until the Lord reminded me of them after coming out of homosexuality. I was one of those thousands of gays who believed the lie, that I was "born gay." Homosexuality is a learned sin behavior. In most cases the behavior is inflicted by outsiders at first and then chosen. It is very subtle how these things can creep into a child's life. It is sad that my parents never knew about what had happened to me. My parents love me, like all parents love their children and were broken hearted to find out. Yet, because they lacked God's knowledge and did not understand His ways, I was not protected; I had no spiritual hedge of protection. (Job 1:10, 3:23). Though my parents made mistakes, they raised me the best they knew how and I don't fault them for my choices. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge. I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of God, I also will forget your children." Hosea 4:6. The demons of hell had come in to destroy my life without my parents ever realizing it. The sins of the forefathers, are sins or desires that allow demonic influences to begin ministering to even a small child. It is true that we are born with a sin nature. (Gen. 3:7, 22). Babies are not taught to throw fits, get angry or rebel; they do it all by themselves. It is also true that we inherit many traits from our parents. It is a Scriptural principle that we inherit root sin habits and desires, the sins of the forefathers. However, this is not an excuse for blaming others for our own choices. We cannot blame our parents for our sins. We choose to rebel and walk in sin. It does not matter what the deception may be, it is our choice. We must take full responsibility for our choices, actions and sins before a holy, righteous and just God. However, I have talked to people who have confessed their sins and the sins of their forefathers and received immediate measures of deliverance. It is important to confess and take authority over sin habits. (Neh. 9:2, Exodus 20:5 & Deut. 5:9-10, Prov. 28:13, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16). "For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against (ruling) persons without bodies _ the evil rulers of the unseen world, (against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places), those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world." Eph. 6:12LB&NKJV.(Eph. 2:1-5).
When I was twelve, my family moved to another house and I started going to a public school. I was brought up Catholic and had attended a Catholic private school up until this time. In the seventh grade I was introduced to drugs. I started smoking marijuana and listened to hard rock music and had the kind of friends who were always pushing for more and more sin. This was a very sad time in my life. I totally rejected the very little I knew of God. This opened the door for a constant influence of demonic activity in my life; I started becoming sexually active with a girl I met in school. I surrounded myself with peers who encouraged me to continue in sin. "Do not be deceived, evil companionships corrupt good habits." 1 Cor. 15:33. After living this way a year and a half, I went into a deep depression because I kept having homosexual thoughts, desires and dreams. I had given myself over to the desires of my flesh. I was so depressed and I would not talk to any of my friends. I remained this way for about a month. My family and friends became very concerned. They constantly asked me to talk, but I wouldn't; I was afraid of what everyone would think. I had really started completely believing that I was homosexual. One night in my depression, I started praying to God to change me. I believed I had been born gay; I was believing a lie. I was trying to have a "heterosexual relationship" but could not stop having homosexual thoughts, so I blamed God for making me gay. In great anger I told God to change me, but I thought to no avail. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools," Romans 1:18-22. See the picture in this passage of Scripture. This is a direct comparison to the homosexual life-style. I had suppressed the truth of God for a lie. It was my fault, for even nature proclaimed to me that God was real and that my desires were unnatural. I did not honor God nor did I give Him thanks, so my heart became darkened. Truly, I became a fool. "And with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved (set free). And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, so that all those who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness, might be condemned.." 2 Thess. 2:10-12. These passages of Scripture are definitely a picture of where I was in homosexuality.
In junior high school I had another experience that caused me to believe the lie. There was a boy in one of my classes who ridiculed me EVERY day by calling me "faggot." I was becoming more and more depressed. He was picking up on my brokenness, and my inability to relate to men. Subsequently I was effeminate in my actions. Remember, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Well, words do hurt, and can, very deeply. (Prov. 25:18, Psa. 52:2, Psa. 55:21). I was so wounded and embarrassed by this other student. Satan's devices are to minister rejection at all costs. His schemes are the rejection of self and to pervert God's creation.
Finally, I decided to kill myself. The depression was too much. I believe I would have succeeded if it had not been for a "friend" who came over that very night. I was headed out the front door when he drove up, and he asked me, "Where are you going?" I told him, "To kill myself." He said, "Oh come inside. I need to talk to you. I know what's wrong with you." I didn't believe him, but I wanted to know what he thought, so we went back inside. We went to my room where he began telling me that he thought my problem was not anything to worry about. He told me he was bisexual, and it was perfectly normal. I was shocked! A false peace came over me. One of my closest friends understood what I was going through. It was then I broke off my relationship with my girl friend and pursued a relationship with him. This opened up the door for my involvement in the homosexual life-style. I did not know that there were other homosexuals, and that a whole section of society was given over to homosexuality. One thing lead to another and as I went through high school, I met other friends and started going out to gay bars and meeting other people; I thought all I wanted was to be "married" homosexually.
A few years later, at my little sister's wedding, I talked with the priest who performed her ceremony. He said, "Stephen, I know why you haven't been coming to church." I said "Why?" He glared at me and said, "It's all the more reason why you should." About this time my friends walked up and we left. I thought, "he had to be gay." I was really shocked, yet this experience reinforced my false sense of peace. It gave me a great hope that the earlier conviction and guilt I had felt was not valid. I pursued gay-type marriage relationships with several men with various backgrounds. I had one relationship that lasted two years with a very wealthy man, named Mike. During this time, I was very religious and started going back to the Catholic Church. I was going to college and was very open with my life-style. I lived in a very beautiful home, drove a new convertible and had lots of money. I traveled and saw a lot of places. I was so very worldly. I lusted after riches, and I thought that I was really something. (Rom. 12:3, 1 Cor. 8:2) A high school friend had heard the reason why I had broken up with my girl friend. So she mailed me a tract called the "Gay Blade" produced by Jack Chick. It was very convicting. I showed it to Mike, and he told me to throw it in the trash because as he said, "It's garbage." He thought he knew better, because he was an elder in a very prominent Episcopal church. I threw it away, but not without thinking about it for several days. I now understand how my Heavenly Father was reaching out to me.
Several months later my little brother died. We were only 18 months apart in age. This was a major turning point in my life. For the first time in years, I began praying earnestly. My mind became opened to the fact that I would spend eternity somewhere. I cried out to God, mostly complaining to Him, for I felt HE had taken my little brother. I was trying to deal with my own appalling guilt. At my little brother's funeral, I noticed that the same priest from my little sister's wedding was talking with Mike. I thought it was very strange, but it confirmed what I had thought earlier. Mike knew him very well, and he knew many other gay priests and ministers. When I talked with this priest, he told me that being homosexual was okay with God. It was great because God created us this way, and he loved us just the way we are. This really ministered a false hope to me. So, now more than ever, I believed that my life-style was predestined. Yet, I became depressed again for several months. I was filled with guilt over my relationship with my little brother. I was so convicted that I was worthy of death, and that I should have been the one to have died. During this time of depression, the relationship with Mike ended in a horrible fight. I then joined a health club and met a guy I thought was straight. He was a body builder and he helped me train. But I was wrong. He had been exposed to homosexuality one other time earlier in his life. He was plagued with thoughts. One thing led to another, and I entered into another relationship. This man was married, knowing this was tearing me up inside, and consequently I developed an ulcer. He wanted to leave his wife and move to another state with me. He was a very good lawyer and could easily do this. Being religious, I knew this had to be wrong. I decided that I had to end the relationship, I could not stand the guilt anymore. I was really torn up over all this, so I decided to try and force my self to be heterosexual. I went into a relationship with a girl who just happened to be "trying to help" me out of the life-style. This relationship with all its sexual sin carried just as much guilt, and it didn't work. I still wanted to have a relationship with a man. I did not realize that the need I had could only be fulfilled in a loving father type relationship, which I had never really known growing up. I can say now that my heavenly Father is meeting all my needs. During these last few years the Lord has restored to me a wonderful relationship with my earthly father, whom I love dearly. We must, even through rejection turn our hearts to our fathers, otherwise it will not go well with us. (Mal. 4:6, Ex. 20:12, Eph. 6:1-3).
I met another guy named Steven who I thought was the "perfect person" for me. Our relationship lasted for three months. Then the day came when I gave my life over to Jesus. This relationship was a real test for me after my conversion. Satan was playing his last and best ploy. Steven would call and cry over the phone, begging me to reconsider, that real love wouldn't do this. But because of my new found love, immaturity and zeal for Jesus, I would rebuke and quote the Scriptures. Subsequently Steven turned on me and began to hate me. (1 Cor. 15:33, Proverbs 14:16, 17:10, 18:6-7, 23:9, 26:4). I have written these dealings with homosexual relationships to give HOPE to others who might be reading this testimony. I want others to know of the mighty deliverance of Jesus Christ. Many in homosexuality have accused me of not ever being gay, but that is as far from the truth as could be, I was, but I am NOT. My old self died in Jesus Christ and I have a new life now, because of His love at Calvary.
During this transition from death to life, an old high school friend named Mary called me up and said that we needed to go out because it was her birthday. The next day Mary wanted to go see her sister. She warned me that her sister and her sister's husband were "real religious," but I didn't care. So we went to their house. I was sitting in their living room listening to them tell Mary of God's ways. These people, (another) Steve, Mary's brother-in-law, and Linda, her sister, talked to Mary about Jesus in a way that I had never known. They talked about Jesus doing this and that for them. They talked about how Jesus would come and go from their home. I thought these people are crazy. I didn't know of a Jesus like this, the Jesus I knew was dead on a cross, and found in a wafer on Sundays. But, all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. The Lord said to me, "If you do not accept me tonight, you will die." My heart began to pound and pound. I knew that I had to know Jesus like these people. The girls left the room, and I was sitting there with, Steve. I said to Steve, "I need to know Jesus like you do." He jumped up out of his chair and said, "Well, brother I think Jesus is calling you." I knew Jesus was calling me and that it was very serious. I prayed that night to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD! I remember, as I prayed, seeing Jesus dying on the cross for me. I saw Him on the cross in a new way and I believed. Steve led me in a prayer surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. A few minutes later the girls came back into the room, and Steve told Mary that I had just gotten "saved." Mary was unsure. She asked, "Did you?" And I said, "Yes, I think so." I did not fully understand what all had happened to me, and I didn't understand the terminology, "saved." Then more salvation came. Later that night after getting home, I went to my bedroom with the old unused family Bible. I began praying for God to show me where my life-style had been wrong. I wanted God to show me from the Bible whether homosexuality was right or wrong. I opened the Bible, came to Leviticus chapter 18, and my eyes fell upon verse 22. It was a miracle from God! "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female, it is an abomination."Lev. 18:22 (Lev. 20:13). God had ministered the law to me so I could see my need for Jesus Christ. (Gal 3:22-24, Rom. 7:7, Matt. 5:17-20). I really didn't know what abomination meant, but by looking at the word I knew it had to mean something that God really hated. I then knelt down beside my bed and cried out to God for forgiveness. I prayed, trusting Jesus to totally change my life, and from that day I have been totally transformed. I am not saying I didn't have to work through a lot because I did! Matter of fact, for the next year I came under all kinds of various temptations and trials. After my transformation, the next several days were filled with great conviction and a lot of demonic attack. I confessed my sin to Steve and he prayed with me again. (James 5:16). I then began searching for a church. The Holy Spirit led me to a group of people who were loving God with all their hearts. I found out later that, the believers at this fellowship had been praying for me during a Bible study. Thank God for those who pray and believe God for souls. If you are praying for someone, don't ever stop! Keep Praying! It is so very important to find a group of people who you can fellowship with and who can encourage you and hold you accountable. Pray and ask Jesus to help you find the right place for you. He was faithful to me and He will be faithful to you, for God is not a respecter of persons. (Acts 10:34,35).
In conclusion, deliverance from homosexuality comes only from Jesus Christ, it does not come from great counselors and ministries. God does use these people, but the realization must be that it comes from Jesus Christ and Him ONLY. Total deliverance from homosexuality comes only through a new life-style of an absolute surrender and a complete dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We must believe IN JESUS THROUGH genuine repentance. We must believe His promises and stand on the Word of God, and determine to obey Him. Ask Him to help you. The axe must be laid to every root problem in our lives, in order that we may walk fully with Jesus. Unforgiveness and bitterness are major root problems. Homosexuals are usually very hurting bitter people. This is partly because they had a very poor relationship with their father. And for most, they have never experienced true masculine love and have not experienced the Father heart of God. People in the homosexual life-style view their relationship with God the Father as they view their relationship with their earthly father. They reject God in anger and bitterness and seek for the unfulfilled need of the father's love. We all need this love desperately, especially those in a life-style of homosexuality.
We should remember that salvation, or deliverance from sodomy, comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ." Romans 10:17. Jesus is The Living Word. He is the overcoming powerful grace we need to overcome sin. The grace of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord, is sufficient for us in our weakness. His grace is the power to overcome ALL sin. The humble receive grace. Therefore, we must humble ourselves daily to receive His grace daily. (James 4:6). "God will not be mocked, for whatsoever a man sows, this shall he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life." Gal. 6:7. Nature itself proclaims God's invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature. (Romans 1:20). God's way is for man to be with woman. This is natural! (Gen. 1:26,27). God made no mistakes when He created us anatomically. He has given each of us our correct natural body parts. Make no mistake about it, God created the male and the female to live and work together emotionally, spiritually and physically. "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted by evil, He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." James 1:12-15. We must cry out to God for deliverance! For God, according to His Word, hears the prayers of the repentant and sees the heart of the person who is truly being honest with Him. (Psalms 51:17). Do not try to test God, but be totally honest with Him. Humble yourself before God, confessing every sin and motive, and He will be gracious to you. His grace will bring power to overcome any sin. Hope in God. Trust fully in Him, committing all your ways to Him, and He will surely make your steps straight. (Prov 3:6, Psa. 37:5). I praise God every day for delivering me from sodomy. When the memories of the past come up now, I just turn them into altars of praise to Him for His mighty deliverance. My goal is to continually worship Him in EVERY trial and temptation.
We must constantly thank God for everything He is doing in our lives. My heavenly Father has given me a beautiful, merciful wife. We have been married now since May 25, 1986, and we have three beautiful children. God's blessings never cease when we are opened to Him in obedience.
Bible Study Notes:
Revelation 12:11, Prov. 9:10, Proverbs 10:27, 14:27, 16:6, 19:23, Job 28:28 and Psalm 34:7-10 & 111:10 Revelation 14:6-7, Luke 24:47, Isa. 30:15, Heb. 4:14-16, 1 Cor. 10:12-13, James 4:6-10, Titus 2:11-12, Psalm 51:17 and 32:1-5, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16, John 1:1, 1 John 1:1, Romans 10:17, Heb. 11:6, Psalm 119:105, Matt. 4:1-11, James 1:21-22, 1 Peter 1:23, Psalm 119:9-16, 2 Cor 10:3-5, Eph. 4:23,1 Peter 1:13-16, 1 Peter 4:12-13, Eph. 6:10-18, 2 Cor. 5:17, Gen. 3:1-5, Romans 1:25, Gal. 5:19-24, 1 Cor. 6:9-11, Eph. 5:5-6, Rev. 21:8, Psalm 68:5-6, Psalm 103:13, John 14:9-10, Romans 8:31, Romans 8:15, 1 John 4:8-11, Psalm 25:14, 2 Cor. 1:3-4, Mal. 4:6, Ex. 20:12, Eph. 6:1-3, Matt. 18:21-35, John 14:26, 1 John 2:27, 1 Peter 5:8-10.
The above Scripture references accompanying this original testimony were written by Stephen in 1991 as part of a Bible Study. These Bible verses should be engrafted into our souls for our own deliverance. "Therefore putting aside all filthiness and overflowing of evil, receive in meekness the implanted Word, WHICH IS ABLE TO SAVE YOUR SOULS." James1:21.
Stephen Black is an ordained minister and has been ministering to people leaving the homosexual life-style since 1984. He has been the Assistant Director of First Stone Ministries since September of 1993, and can be reached at First Stone Ministries for counseling and/or public speaking. Used by permission of First Stone Ministries, 1330 N. Classen Blvd., Suite G-80, Oklahoma City, OK 73106; 405-236-HOPE (4673).
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Thursday, July 9, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Horatius Bonar
BELIEVE AND BE SAVED
It is the Holy Spirit alone that can draw us to the cross and fasten us to the Saviour. He who thinks he can do without the Spirit, has yet to learn his own sinfulness and helplessness. The gospel would be no good news to the dead in sin, if it did not tell of the love and power of the divine Spirit, as explicitly as it announces the love and power of the divine Substitute.
But, while keeping this in mind, we may try to learn from Scripture what is written concerning the bond which connects us individually with the cross of Christ; making us thereby partakers of the pardon and the life which that cross reveals.
Thus then it is written, "By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
Faith then is the link, the one link, between the sinner and the Sin-bearer. It is not faith, as a work or exercise of our minds, which must be properly performed in order to qualify or fit us for pardon. It is not faith, as a religious duty, which must be gone through according to certain rules, in order to induce Christ to give us the benefits of his work. It is faith, simply as a receiver of the divine record concerning the Son of God. It is not faith considered as the source of holiness, as containing in itself the seed of all spiritual excellence and good works; it is faith alone, recognizing simply the completeness of the great sacrifice for sin, and the trueness of the Father's testimony to that completeness; as Paul writes to the Thessalonians, "our testimony among you was believed." It is not faith as a piece of money or a thing of merit; but faith taking God at his word, and giving him credit for speaking the honest truth, when he declares that "Christ died for the ungodly," and that the life which that death contains for sinners, is to be had without money, and without price."
But let us learn the things concerning this faith, from the lips of God himself. I lay great stress on this in dealing with inquirers. For the more that we can fix the sinner's eye and conscience upon God's own words, the more likely shall we be to lead him aright, and to secure the quickening presence of that Almighty Spirit who alone can give sight to the blind. One great difficulty which the inquirer finds in such cases, is that of unlearning much of his past experience and teaching. Hence the importance of studying the divine words themselves, by which the sinner is made wise unto salvation. For they both unteach the false and imperfect, and teach the true and the perfect.
Let us mark how frequently and strongly God has spoken respecting faith and believing. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." "Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." "The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood...to declare his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." "He that believeth shall be saved." "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life; for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life." "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life." "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." "He that believeth on me shall never thirst." "This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." "He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." "These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through his name." "By him all that believeth are justified from all things." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." "To him gave all the prophets witness, that through his name whoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." "It pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe." "This is his commandment, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us." "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son." "He that believeth not shall be damned."
These are some of the many texts which teach us what the link is between the sinner and the great salvation. They show that it is our belief of God's testimony, concerning his own free love, and the work of his Son, that makes us partakers of the blessings which that testimony reveals. They do not indeed ascribe any meritorious or saving virtue to our act of faith. They show us that it is the object of faith, - the person, or thing, or truth of which faith lays hold, - that is the soul's peace and consolation. But still they announce most solemnly the necessity of believing, and the greatness of the sin of unbelief. In them God demands the immediate faith of all who hear his testimony. Yet he gives no countenance to the self-righteousness of those who are trying to perform the act of faith, in order to qualify themselves for the favor of God; whose religion consists in performing acts of a certain kind; whose comfort arises from thinking of these well-performed acts; and whose assurance comes from the summing up of these at certain seasons, and dwelling upon the superior quality of many of them.
In some places the word trust occurs where perhaps we might have expected faith. But the reason of this is plain; the testimony which faith receives, is testimony to a person and his good will, in which case, belief of the testimony and confidence in the person are things inseparable. Our reception of God's testimony is confidence in God himself, and in Jesus Christ his Son. Hence it is that the Scripture speaks of trust or confidence as that which saves us, as if it would say to the sinner, "Such is the gracious character of God, that you have only to put your case into his hands, however bad it be, and entrust your soul to his keeping, and you shall be saved."
In some places we are said to be saved by the knowledge of God or of Christ; that is simply knowing God as he has made himself known to us in Jesus Christ. (Isa. liii.11; 1 Tim. ii.4; 2 Pet. ii.20). Thus Jesus spoke, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." And as if to make simplicity more simple, the Apostle, in speaking of the facts of Christ's death, and burial, and resurrection, says, "By which ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you."[23]
The God connects salvation with believing, trusting, knowing, remembering. Yet the salvation is not in our act of believing, trusting, knowing, or remembering; it is in the thing or person believed on, trusted, known, remembered. Nor is salvation given as a reward for believing and knowing. The things believed and known are our salvation. Nor are we saved or comforted by thinking about our act of believing and ascertaining that it possesses all the proper ingredients and qualities which would induce God to approve of it, and of us because of it. This would be making faith a meritorious, or, at least, a qualifying work; and then grace would be no more grace. It would really be making our faith a part of Christ's work, - the finishing stroke put to the great understanding of the Son of God, which, otherwise, would have been incomplete, or, at least, unsuitable for the sinner, as a sinner. To the man that makes his faith and his trust his rest, and tries to pacify his conscience by getting up evidence of their solidity and excellence, we say, miserable comforters are they all! I get light by using my eyes; not by thinking about my use of them, nor by a scientific analysis of their component parts. So I get peace by, and in believing; not by thinking about my faith, or trying to prove to myself how well I have performed the believing act. We might as well extract water from the desert sands as peace from our own act of faith. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ will do everything for us; believing in our own faith, or trusting in our own trust, will do nothing.
Thus faith is the bond between us and the Son of God; and it is so, not because of anything in itself, but because it is only through the medium of truth, as known and believed, that the soul can get hold of things or persons. Faith is nothing, save as it lays hold of Christ; and it does so by laying hold of the truth or testimony concerning him. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," says the apostle. "Ye shall know the truth," says the Lord, "and the truth shall make you free," and again, "because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not...And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?" We have also such expressions as these: "Those that know the truth;" "those that obey not the truth;" "The truth as it is in Jesus;" "belief of the truth;" "acknowledging of the truth;" "the way of truth;" "we are of the truth;" "destitute of the truth;" "sanctify them through thy truth;" "I speak forth the words of truth;" "the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth." Most memorable in connection with this subject, are the Lord's warnings in the parable of the sower, specially the following: - "The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear: then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." The words, too, of the beloved disciple are no less so: - "He that saw it bare record, and his record is true; and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe;" and, again, "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
This truth regarding Christ and his sacrificial work, the natural man hates, because he hates Christ himself. "They hated me," says the Lord; nay, more, they hated me without a cause." It is not error that man hates, but truth; and hence the necessity for the Holy Spirit's work to remove that hatred, - to make the sinner even so much as willing to know the truth or the True One. Yet there is no backwardness on the part of God to give that Spirit; - and the first dawnings of inquiry and anxiety show that something beyond flesh and blood is at work in the soul.
But though it needs the power of the divine Spirit to make us believing men, this is not because faith is a mysterious thing, a great exercise or effort of soul, which must be very accurately gone through in order to make it acceptable, but because of our dislike to the truth believed, and our enmity to the Being in whom we are asked to confide. Believing is the simplest of all mental processes; yet not the less is the power of God needed. Let not the inquirer mystify or magnify faith in order to give it merit or importance in itself, so that by its superior texture or quality it may justify him; yet never, on the other hand, let him try to simplify it for the purpose of making the Spirit's work unnecessary. The more simple that he sees it to be, the more will he see his own guilt, in so deliberately refusing to believe, and his need of the divine Helper to overcome the fearful opposition of the natural heart to the simple reception of the truth.
The difficulty of believing has its real root in pure self-righteousness; and the struggles to believe, the endeavors to trust, of which men speak, are the indications of this self-righteousness. So far are these spiritual exercises from being tokens for good, they are often mere expressions of spiritual pride, - evidences of the desperate strength of self-righteousness. It is worse than vain, then, to try to comfort an anxious soul by pointing to these exercises or efforts as proofs of existing faith. They are proofs either of ignorance or of unbelief, - proofs of the sinner's determination to do anything rather than believe that all is done. Doubts are not the best evidences of faith; and attempts at performing this great thing called faith are mere proofs of blindness to the finished propitiation of the Son of God.
To do some great thing called faith, in order to win God's favour, the sinner has no objection; nay, it is just what he wants, for it gives him the opportunity of working for his salvation. But he rejects the idea of taking his stand upon a work already done, and so ceasing to exercise his soul in order to effect a reconciliation, for which all that is needed was accomplished eighteen hundred years ago, upon the cross of Him who "was made sin for us, though he knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
It is the Holy Spirit alone that can draw us to the cross and fasten us to the Saviour. He who thinks he can do without the Spirit, has yet to learn his own sinfulness and helplessness. The gospel would be no good news to the dead in sin, if it did not tell of the love and power of the divine Spirit, as explicitly as it announces the love and power of the divine Substitute.
But, while keeping this in mind, we may try to learn from Scripture what is written concerning the bond which connects us individually with the cross of Christ; making us thereby partakers of the pardon and the life which that cross reveals.
Thus then it is written, "By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
Faith then is the link, the one link, between the sinner and the Sin-bearer. It is not faith, as a work or exercise of our minds, which must be properly performed in order to qualify or fit us for pardon. It is not faith, as a religious duty, which must be gone through according to certain rules, in order to induce Christ to give us the benefits of his work. It is faith, simply as a receiver of the divine record concerning the Son of God. It is not faith considered as the source of holiness, as containing in itself the seed of all spiritual excellence and good works; it is faith alone, recognizing simply the completeness of the great sacrifice for sin, and the trueness of the Father's testimony to that completeness; as Paul writes to the Thessalonians, "our testimony among you was believed." It is not faith as a piece of money or a thing of merit; but faith taking God at his word, and giving him credit for speaking the honest truth, when he declares that "Christ died for the ungodly," and that the life which that death contains for sinners, is to be had without money, and without price."
But let us learn the things concerning this faith, from the lips of God himself. I lay great stress on this in dealing with inquirers. For the more that we can fix the sinner's eye and conscience upon God's own words, the more likely shall we be to lead him aright, and to secure the quickening presence of that Almighty Spirit who alone can give sight to the blind. One great difficulty which the inquirer finds in such cases, is that of unlearning much of his past experience and teaching. Hence the importance of studying the divine words themselves, by which the sinner is made wise unto salvation. For they both unteach the false and imperfect, and teach the true and the perfect.
Let us mark how frequently and strongly God has spoken respecting faith and believing. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." "Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." "The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood...to declare his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." "He that believeth shall be saved." "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life; for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life." "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life." "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." "He that believeth on me shall never thirst." "This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life." "He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." "These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through his name." "By him all that believeth are justified from all things." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." "To him gave all the prophets witness, that through his name whoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." "It pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe." "This is his commandment, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us." "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son." "He that believeth not shall be damned."
These are some of the many texts which teach us what the link is between the sinner and the great salvation. They show that it is our belief of God's testimony, concerning his own free love, and the work of his Son, that makes us partakers of the blessings which that testimony reveals. They do not indeed ascribe any meritorious or saving virtue to our act of faith. They show us that it is the object of faith, - the person, or thing, or truth of which faith lays hold, - that is the soul's peace and consolation. But still they announce most solemnly the necessity of believing, and the greatness of the sin of unbelief. In them God demands the immediate faith of all who hear his testimony. Yet he gives no countenance to the self-righteousness of those who are trying to perform the act of faith, in order to qualify themselves for the favor of God; whose religion consists in performing acts of a certain kind; whose comfort arises from thinking of these well-performed acts; and whose assurance comes from the summing up of these at certain seasons, and dwelling upon the superior quality of many of them.
In some places the word trust occurs where perhaps we might have expected faith. But the reason of this is plain; the testimony which faith receives, is testimony to a person and his good will, in which case, belief of the testimony and confidence in the person are things inseparable. Our reception of God's testimony is confidence in God himself, and in Jesus Christ his Son. Hence it is that the Scripture speaks of trust or confidence as that which saves us, as if it would say to the sinner, "Such is the gracious character of God, that you have only to put your case into his hands, however bad it be, and entrust your soul to his keeping, and you shall be saved."
In some places we are said to be saved by the knowledge of God or of Christ; that is simply knowing God as he has made himself known to us in Jesus Christ. (Isa. liii.11; 1 Tim. ii.4; 2 Pet. ii.20). Thus Jesus spoke, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." And as if to make simplicity more simple, the Apostle, in speaking of the facts of Christ's death, and burial, and resurrection, says, "By which ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you."[23]
The God connects salvation with believing, trusting, knowing, remembering. Yet the salvation is not in our act of believing, trusting, knowing, or remembering; it is in the thing or person believed on, trusted, known, remembered. Nor is salvation given as a reward for believing and knowing. The things believed and known are our salvation. Nor are we saved or comforted by thinking about our act of believing and ascertaining that it possesses all the proper ingredients and qualities which would induce God to approve of it, and of us because of it. This would be making faith a meritorious, or, at least, a qualifying work; and then grace would be no more grace. It would really be making our faith a part of Christ's work, - the finishing stroke put to the great understanding of the Son of God, which, otherwise, would have been incomplete, or, at least, unsuitable for the sinner, as a sinner. To the man that makes his faith and his trust his rest, and tries to pacify his conscience by getting up evidence of their solidity and excellence, we say, miserable comforters are they all! I get light by using my eyes; not by thinking about my use of them, nor by a scientific analysis of their component parts. So I get peace by, and in believing; not by thinking about my faith, or trying to prove to myself how well I have performed the believing act. We might as well extract water from the desert sands as peace from our own act of faith. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ will do everything for us; believing in our own faith, or trusting in our own trust, will do nothing.
Thus faith is the bond between us and the Son of God; and it is so, not because of anything in itself, but because it is only through the medium of truth, as known and believed, that the soul can get hold of things or persons. Faith is nothing, save as it lays hold of Christ; and it does so by laying hold of the truth or testimony concerning him. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," says the apostle. "Ye shall know the truth," says the Lord, "and the truth shall make you free," and again, "because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not...And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?" We have also such expressions as these: "Those that know the truth;" "those that obey not the truth;" "The truth as it is in Jesus;" "belief of the truth;" "acknowledging of the truth;" "the way of truth;" "we are of the truth;" "destitute of the truth;" "sanctify them through thy truth;" "I speak forth the words of truth;" "the Spirit of truth will guide you into all truth." Most memorable in connection with this subject, are the Lord's warnings in the parable of the sower, specially the following: - "The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear: then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." The words, too, of the beloved disciple are no less so: - "He that saw it bare record, and his record is true; and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe;" and, again, "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."
This truth regarding Christ and his sacrificial work, the natural man hates, because he hates Christ himself. "They hated me," says the Lord; nay, more, they hated me without a cause." It is not error that man hates, but truth; and hence the necessity for the Holy Spirit's work to remove that hatred, - to make the sinner even so much as willing to know the truth or the True One. Yet there is no backwardness on the part of God to give that Spirit; - and the first dawnings of inquiry and anxiety show that something beyond flesh and blood is at work in the soul.
But though it needs the power of the divine Spirit to make us believing men, this is not because faith is a mysterious thing, a great exercise or effort of soul, which must be very accurately gone through in order to make it acceptable, but because of our dislike to the truth believed, and our enmity to the Being in whom we are asked to confide. Believing is the simplest of all mental processes; yet not the less is the power of God needed. Let not the inquirer mystify or magnify faith in order to give it merit or importance in itself, so that by its superior texture or quality it may justify him; yet never, on the other hand, let him try to simplify it for the purpose of making the Spirit's work unnecessary. The more simple that he sees it to be, the more will he see his own guilt, in so deliberately refusing to believe, and his need of the divine Helper to overcome the fearful opposition of the natural heart to the simple reception of the truth.
The difficulty of believing has its real root in pure self-righteousness; and the struggles to believe, the endeavors to trust, of which men speak, are the indications of this self-righteousness. So far are these spiritual exercises from being tokens for good, they are often mere expressions of spiritual pride, - evidences of the desperate strength of self-righteousness. It is worse than vain, then, to try to comfort an anxious soul by pointing to these exercises or efforts as proofs of existing faith. They are proofs either of ignorance or of unbelief, - proofs of the sinner's determination to do anything rather than believe that all is done. Doubts are not the best evidences of faith; and attempts at performing this great thing called faith are mere proofs of blindness to the finished propitiation of the Son of God.
To do some great thing called faith, in order to win God's favour, the sinner has no objection; nay, it is just what he wants, for it gives him the opportunity of working for his salvation. But he rejects the idea of taking his stand upon a work already done, and so ceasing to exercise his soul in order to effect a reconciliation, for which all that is needed was accomplished eighteen hundred years ago, upon the cross of Him who "was made sin for us, though he knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
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