Jeff Evans
Dear Friends,
There are some books written years ago which one can read today and still feel the warmth of the author’s affection for Christ. John Bunyan’s writings are that way. In fact, he was so captivated by Jesus, that he could not stop speaking about him in public places, which got him shut up in an English jail for 12 years. He could have walked out of that jail at any time if he had simply promised (and followed through on that promise) not to speak about Jesus (preach) in public places.
Bunyan is best known for his phenomenally popular allegory on the Christian life entitled, “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Yet, he wrote many other very helpful works as well, including, “The Intercession of Christ” – from which today’s selection comes. As you read, I believe you will also sense the passion, gratitude, and warmth of his love for Jesus coming through so clearly. May that same warmth of affection for Jesus blow over your heart as well. Enjoy.
“Christ is not only the Beginner, but the Completer of our salvation. He is, as the Holy Spirit calls him, ‘the Author and Finisher of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2). Or, as he calls him again, ‘The Author of our eternal salvation’ (Hebrews 5:9); for salvation throughout, from beginning to end, and first to last, is through him.
His hands have laid the foundation of it in his own blood, and his hands will finish it by his intercession.* As he has firmly laid the foundation, so he shall bring forth the headstone with shoutings! And we shall cry, ‘Grace, grace!’ in the end, for salvation belongs only to the Lord!
Many begin with grace, and end with works, and think this is the only way… But to be saved and brought to glory; to be carried through this dangerous world, from our first longings after Christ until we set our feet within the gates of paradise, this is the work of our Mediator, High Priest and Intercessor.
It is he that fetches us again when we have run away.
It is he that lifts us up when the devil and sin have thrown us down.
It is he that breathes life into us when we have grown cold.
It is he that comforts us when we despair.
It is he that obtains fresh pardon when we have fallen into sin.
It is he that purges our consciences from guilt when they become loaded down with it.
I know that rewards await in heaven those believers in Christ who now dwell and do well on earth. But these are not rewards of merit, they are rewards of grace. We are saved by Christ, brought to glory by Christ, and all our works are not in any other way made acceptable to God except by the person, personal excellencies, and works of Christ!
For he not only saves us, he saves our services too. They would all be cast back as dung in our faces, were they not rinsed and washed in the blood, were they not sweetened and perfumed in the incense, and then conveyed to God himself through the clean and sanitized hand of Jesus Christ – through whom they rise to God as a sweet savor in his nostrils.”
*To avoid confusion, the word “intercession” should not simply be seen as Jesus ‘praying’ for us, but as Jesus (the One who has paid the price to free us from all condemnation) intervening for us in every way as our Advocate, Counsellor, Comforter, Helper (like a personal lawyer) at our side as we stand before the Father.
To believe in Jesus is to be aware that apart from him, and the merits of what HE did for us, we would be utterly lost! There would be no hope for us, not one glimmer of hope for redemption. For as Paul tells us, Jesus IS our, “righteousness, holiness and redemption” (I Cor. 1:30-31). Those things not only come to us through him, but He IS those things for us! When God looks at the believer, he sees Jesus in them and accepts them, and approves of them, for Jesus’ sake. And Paul tells us why: “So that no one may boast before [God].”
ONLY when we realize we are 100% indebted to God for our salvation: to the Father for his great love in sending Jesus, to the substitutionary work of his Son Jesus for dying for all our sins, to the gracious work of the Holy Spirit in making us alive when we were dead in sin, and to the present and ongoing intercession of Jesus in heaven – only then will our hearts be utterly stunned and amazed that, “He saved a wretch like [us].” Only then will there be such a passion for Jesus in our hearts that we simply won’t be able to stop talking about him without a noticeable inner warmth coming through in all we say about Him.
As we go through the Christian life it should become ever clearer to us, with every passing day, that it’s all God, all mercy, all grace, all Jesus, all the Holy Spirit. And if anything is from us that thing was supplied, given to us, or sustained by him (Acts 17:25-28) – which means he gets all the credit, and therefore all the glory goes to him.
Grateful for that Unspeakable Gift of His Grace, Pastor Jeff
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