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(The following is an excerpt from Spiritual Equipment for the Last Days, a book by Charles Usher. It was originally published by Marshall Brothers, LTD., London, England, July 1920.)
We are in the last hours of this dispensation. The hand of the clock is approaching the hour of twelve. It is the dark hour of midnight, but the darkest hour is just before the dawn.
The Church is rapidly drifting into a state of apostasy, further and further away from God.
The War has left the world chaotic and the Church paralysed.
Dark forces have been liberated which are producing as evil an effect upon the Church as upon the world.
The late conflict has left problems for the Church to face, as difficult to handle as those with which the world is battling.
The Cross of Christ is the light that will illuminate the present darkness.
We need a fresh revelation of sin, for it is through sin that we have lost our way, and it is through Christ's death on the Cross that we are won back and restored to God.
See I Peter iii. 18 — "Christ...hath once suffered for sins...that He might bring us to God."
The reason why many lose the sense of the sinfulness of sin is that they get away from the reality of Christ's atoning death, for it is only at the Cross that we get a vision of the depths and misery of sin.
Calvary is a revelation of man's hatred to God's authority — a hatred which manifested itself in the blackest, darkest deed ever committed.
We are told that the Cross is the "Touchstone of Faith"; that is blessedly true! but it is also true that it is the criterion of the human heart. It reveals man in his true character.
The Church has lost sight of the Cross, and has therefore lost sight of the awfulness of sin. She has wandered from the place where sin is seen in God's light, and where the soul is led to cry out, "I have crucified my Lord."
What astonishes one in these days is the sin in the Church. How awful it is that Christians can sin and be unmoved by it!
God's people are sinning — sinning in the heart, sinning in the mind, sinning in the pulpit, sinning in the pew, — sinning in spite of Calvary and of all that the Bible reveals of the horror and degradation of sin!
Child of God! go back to Calvary and take the sinner's place. Let the Cross melt the hardness and cause the tears to flow!
Sin brings separation.
This is a Divine law which we need to know, not only theoretically but experimentally, and the Cross is the only place where we learn that lesson thoroughly.
Listen to the words of Christ as He hangs on Calvary's tree, — "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Mark xv. 34).
This is not the expression of One suffering physical death merely, but of One passing through spiritual separation from God. The sinless Christ had never been separated from His Father. Throughout the countless ages of Eternity they were One.
This blessed oneness was seen throughout His earthly life, and it was that which sustained Him and enabled Him to bear the contradiction of sinners against Himself.
But on the Cross, Christ lifted the load of our sin upon Himself and went into the awful darkness of separation in order to reconcile us to God.
It is this spiritual separation which Christ endured instead of us, which constitutes the meaning of the reconciliation and makes the death of Jesus unique.
Christ was forsaken in that dark hour FOR ME. Oh! child of God, if you forget this, you lose the spirit of that which makes the Cross the power of God unto salvation!
We need to come back to this aspect of the death of Jesus until its spirit takes possession of us, and the very principle of Calvary becomes established in our lives.
How reluctant we are to own that not only was it necessary for us to come to the Cross for reconciliation when we were in sin, but that after we become Christians we need the atoning death of Jesus to keep us from departing from God.
We often talk of "grace" in cold, theological terms, but as we come into personal relationship to the death of Jesus, grace is revealed in all its loveliness, and we are fired with a passionate love for Christ.
"Do we leave the Cross to go on to union with the risen Christ?" is the question that many of God's people are asking; and when one tells them of the need of a continual application of the death of Christ to the life, they say, "But I am in the risen Christ, and it is a living Christ we need, not a dead Christ." Much of this misunderstanding is due to dealing with this blessed truth in the letter rather than in the spirit; "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Cor. iii. 6).
The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Calvary. Christ's death on the Cross was the highest expression of the life of Christ, and as you partake of His life, the spirit of Christ's crucifixion becomes the principle of your life.
Paul had not gone beyond the Cross when he sought for a deeper union with the risen Lord, but he saw that the deeper the union with the living Christ the deeper must he sink into His death (see Phil. iii. 10).
To be risen with Christ and to abide in Him by a living faith means that you share the death of Christ.
The condition for a triumphant Christian life is UNION WITH CHRIST.
The only way of overcoming sin is by a life of union with Jesus Christ.
Our blessed Lord teaches us this very clearly in John xv. He says, "Without ME ye can do nothing," and one of the early lessons of the believer is that he is absolutely dependent upon his Lord for everything. He learns the helplessness of being without Christ.
The message of Christ to the sinner is "Come unto Me"; His message to the believer is "Abide in Me."
"He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (I Cor. vi. 17). But how does that joining take place?
To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ implies a belief into Christ. The faith moves Christward and finds its anchorage in Christ Himself, and thus the believer is brought into vital contact with HIM.
Let us go to God's Word in the third chapter of John's Gospel. Here we get clearly the Lord's teaching of regeneration or the new birth.
First we are told our need of it (see verse 3); then we are told its nature — that it is a spiritual nature or birth (see verses 5 and 6); but in verses 14 and 15 we see the way into it — by believing in Christ; that word "in" should be translated "into." See verse 14 — "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."
Calvary was necessary before the sinner could believe in Christ; the crucified Saviour draws all men unto Him. See John xii. 32, 33 — "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die."
Satan's desire is to get the believer away from the Cross, and he is often most successful when he offers an inducement to seek a life of union with the Risen Lord. But the devil knows that there is no real union apart and away from the Cross, and so he gives a counterfeit experience instead.
Paul teaches us clearly in Romans vi. that to be joined to the Risen Christ and to abide in Him by a living faith means that we must share His death. "Know ye not that so many of us [as, sic] were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?" (Rom. vi. 3).
He also teaches us that a deeper union with Christ is only possible as we have an ever deeper acquaintance of the Cross. See Philippians iii. 10 — "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death." This is what we need to know, not in theory or sentiment, but in actual experience, and the result will be a life of power, of victory over sin, Satan, sickness and death, and the world, and this is only possible as we get back to the Cross.
To say that there is no need for a continual application of the blood of Christ to the life shows a superficial knowledge of the meaning of His death. It is blessedly true that the blood that has been shed on the Cross avails for all time for our complete atonement, but that does not exhaust the work of Christ's death. There is the need of continual cleansing from sin.
A saint of God once asked me a very startling question — "When did you have a bout of confession of sin last?" I was arrested by the question and could not answer. I therefore went to God about it, and discovered that I had been making the common mistake of relying upon the blood to automatically cleanse my sin; also I had lost sight of my sinnership. May I apply that question to you? When did you have a bout of confession last? "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John i. 9).
One of the things which hinders God from working in us is the activity of the evil natural life, which is continually getting us out of the Spirit and accounts for the failure to walk in the Spirit. Our spirits are being continually affected by this evil influence, and try as we may we cannot control our spirits and walk in the calm of God. This uncrucified evil nature is also the material which Satan and his evil spirits play upon and are able to fan into a flame, and is therefore the cause of much of the conflict which we have with the powers of darkness, and is "ground" for their continual attacks.
We may have learned how to overcome them by the application of the blood, but they will return again and again to the conflict as long as there is "ground."
The Cross is the REMEDY. "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. v. 24). But how? by an absolute surrender of the evil natural life to the death of Christ, and by a perpetual attitude of abiding in Christ, and thus sharing the benefits of His death, the result being liberation from the power of sin and evil nature in order that we may walk in newness of life.
In Romans viii. we have one of the clearest descriptions of the life in the Spirit in the whole Bible; but we observe that on the very threshold of the chapter we have these words — "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." There is no possibility of entering into the spiritual life except through union with Christ — that union is one of death and life. Any attempt to obtain spiritual life apart from the Cross ends in failure or in counterfeit.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Cross; the Cross is the highest expression of the Spirit; it was "through the Eternal Spirit" Christ offered Himself to God (see Heb. ix. 14).
There is a great danger of the soul who knows death union with Christ failing to see the value of cleansing.
Cleansing has to do with our walk with God.
Sin is not only a ruling principle but it is a defilement.
We must first be clear upon our basis of identification with Christ in death, or the evil nature will continually defile the soul in spite of our continual claiming of cleansing. Some souls know the blessing of cleansing, but are not able to maintain it, because they rest upon their experience rather than upon the Divine basis of union with Jesus Christ in death and resurrection. It is Christ's death that causes the evil nature to cease its activity. As the believer abides by faith in Christ, the death of Christ cuts him off from bondage to sin as a master.
But the question arises, — "Is there need for cleansing if I abide in Christ and reckon myself dead indeed to sin?" Yes, because it is a faith attitude which you may fail to keep. Through lack of watchfulness you may yield to your evil nature and thus become defiled, hence the need for cleansing. Any sense of defilement will keep you away from the presence of God. It is not enough to say, "I am abiding in Christ's death and therefore I am free."
Sin committed must be confessed to God and cleansed away by the application of the blood of Christ. The death of Christ was once for all, but the blood is for perpetual application.
This is typically shown in the Old Testament type of the red heifer (see Num. xix. 2-22). The heifer was slain; the ashes were kept for application in cases of defilement. There was one atoning sacrifice made for the sinner, but yet necessitating the application of the "ashes" when needed. So with the sacrifice of Christ.
No one ever gets to the place where he does not need to confess his sins, and claim the blood to cleanse.
Defilement may come from without as well as from within. Our contact with the world defiles us. The very moral atmosphere that we breathe is contaminating.
Cleanliness of heart and life is essential to communion and fellowship with God.
We learn this very clearly from Psalm xxiv. 3, 4 — "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully."
"CLEAN HANDS" refer to the things we touch.
In Numbers xix., we see that if a man "touched" any dead thing — whether intentionally, through neglect, or unconsciously — he became at once ceremonially unclean, and was cut off from the privilege of the redeemed worshipper.
This is a type of something far deeper than the physical. It points to God's jealousy over His people's lives, and shows how souls lose communion with God through touching that which is sinful in thought or deed.
Which of us can say that we never touch that which defiles us either consciously or unconsciously? Therefore there is need of a continual application of the blood of sprinkling.
"A PURE HEART." This has reference to the fountain whence spring the issues of life (see Prov. iv. 23 and Matt. xv. 18, 19).
Exceeding great and precious promises are given to us, "that by these we might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Pet. i. 4).
It is only in the divine nature that we can approach God; this divine nature should rule, and it can only rule as the old is kept on the cross by faith.
The cleansing of the Blood does not deal with our evil nature, but crucifixion does; — "knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him" (Rom. vi. 6, R.V.); "they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh" (Gal. v. 24).
But cleansing removes the defilement due to any activity of the evil nature, which severs communion and makes it impossible to "stand" before God. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. v. 8).
"WHO HATH NOT LIFTED UP HIS SOUL TO VANITY."
The soul is the seat of self-love — pride — the "I" in us that wants to be seen and known and heard; also, the religious pride that says in effect "I thank God that I am not as other men are." This religious pride creeps into the most spiritual souls and they are defiled.
It manifests itself in an attitude of isolation from others, in a censorious spirit that seeks to put others right and in sitting in judgment on the saints.
But if these souls learn to walk in the light, as He is in the light, they will have fellowship one with another, that is, with all the saints, and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse them from all sin.
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves" (I John i. 8); a disposition of self-justification condemns us.
"If we confess our sins" is an acknowledgement of our inherent sinnership and of our need of cleansing.
No one who is living consciously in the presence of God will say "I have not sinned," but the expression of a saved sinner before Him is "I confess my sins."
Then faith in the blood is the plea, and fellowship with the saints the result...
When Jesus Christ went to the Cross, He not only atoned for our sins but He defeated our spiritual enemy Satan. This was a most important part of Christ's work at Calvary, for not only is man in bondage to sin within but to Satan without. To lose sight of this aspect of Jesus Christ's work is to greatly weaken the position in the conflict with evil. It is only in the victory of Calvary that the child of God can successfully face the present activity of Satanic power that is abroad to-day.
Satan has flung his forces right across the path of the Church in her advance heavenward, and is thus delaying the return of Christ to reign as King upon the earth. These forces are spiritual and evil, and can only be antagonized by spiritual weapons.
But some one will ask, "How can the devil delay the return of Christ?"
By keeping the Church in defeat.
When Christ comes, the overcomers are to reign with Him over the earth — but they must have learnt to overcome and to rule in spirit here and now through their union with Jesus Christ.
Many of God's people are so taken up with earthly things that the realm of the spiritual is absolutely foreign to them.
Others, who are more spiritually minded, are being continually defeated because they are poorly equipped to face the conflict with these evil powers. The devil is able to make perpetual inroads into their work, harassing them in their labours, and they, not knowing the source from which the attack comes, submit, and thus are defeated. Not only does the foe interfere with their work, but their personal life is made the object of his malignant hatred, — trouble in the home, divisions, misunderstandings, follow one upon another until an atmosphere is created, which becomes a continual drainage upon them.
Doubtless all God's children know something of this in their experience.
Are these things sent into our lives for us to submit passively to? or is it intended that we should overcome them?
The reason why we do not resist them is that we fail to recognize the true cause of the attacks. We have left Satan, who is the silent, subtle source of our trouble, out of our reckoning, but as our eyes are opened to detect the enemy, we realize that we are called into a personal spiritual warfare against the powers of darkness. We also get a wider vision and a divine interpretation of the evil agencies which are opposing the Church and ruling the world, and we realize that they are super-natural and Satanic, and must be resisted by the child of God in union with the risen Lord.
But how can the devil and his host be conquered by the child of God?
Only through vital union with Jesus Christ and a spiritual knowledge of Calvary as the place of Satan's complete overthrow. How carefully the foe has sought to hide this! how subtly he has contrived to get the believer away from the place of his ignominy and defeat!
How clearly we are taught in John xii. 31, 32, that the lifting up of Christ is the casting down of Satan, — "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." Lifted up — where? on a Throne? No! on a Cross, as verse 33 plainly tells us — "This, He said, signifying what death He should die."
In Colossians ii. 15, we read, "Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it," and the whole argument of Paul in the Colossian Epistle is — "why should we be subject to their power when Christ has so gloriously conquered?" Why?
Christ's death is the complete overthrow of Satan and his hosts, but in order for us to have the victory wrought into us, we must get back to the Cross and learn to wield it against the powers of darkness, which are feverishly labouring for the enthronement of Satan in this world.
While the child of God stands in triumph they are hindered in the accomplishment of their desire.
As the saint sees this, he will understand that his own personal conflict is only part of the general warfare that is raging.
The Devil is approaching his Waterloo! Child of God, put on your heavenly armour: learn to wear it now.
Be a veteran in the army of the Lord, and not a raw recruit!
Surely the days of sham fighting are over; a real war is raging.
Thy foes are strong, but thou art stronger in thy risen Lord. Be not afraid of their faces, for thou hast looked upon the marred face of Jesus! and soon, ah! soon, thou shalt see His face shining as the sun when He shall come in His glory to reign over this poor distracted world.
