WALKING WITH CHRIST

THE APOSTLE PAUL urged the new believers in Colosse to walk with the Lord they had come to love. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” Colossians 2:6. “Live your lives in union with Him,” is the rendering of the New English Bible.
We have noticed that justification is the work of a moment, that the blood of Christ applied to the believer’s heart and life cleanses him from every stain of sin here and now. That in Christ we have a standing of perfection before God. That through the experience of justification God reckons us to be righteous. He attributes to us the character of Christ, and in so doing He forgets the men and women that we were. Justification sets us on the road to heaven; supplies us with a title to the kingdom of glory.
After receiving Him by faith, we must walk with Him by faith, which is to live “in union with Him.”
There is an inscription on the wall of an old English abbey which reads as follows: “I am on the cross for thee. Thou who sinnest cease from sin. Cease, I pardon; fight, I help; conquer, I crown.”
Speak to those who have been really converted and are rejoicing in the forgiveness of sins, and they will tell you that Christ is giving them victory over sin. He has not only saved them from the consequence of past sin, but He is now giving them victory over its power. A person who knows forgiveness for sin ceases from sin, then co-operates with the Holy Spirit, and never gives up till life’s course is run and the crown of life is bestowed.
Redemption does not patch up the old life; rather it imparts a new one. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
People have said to me: “Show me a miracle and I will believe. I would like to see water turned into wine.” I can show you that in a slow process. A visit to a vineyard reveals God taking moisture out of the earth and placing it in grapes that can be made into wine. But I can show you a greater miracle still. I can show you a home where wine and whiskey have been turned into food for little children who, prior to their father’s conversion, lived in a hovel without the necessities of life. In John 8:36 we read: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Through the years of my ministry I have seen God working this miracle of grace in human hearts. I have seen people cleansed by the blood of Christ and freed from debasing habits. For the gospel not only brings pardon for an evil past, it is “the power of God unto salvation” now and for ever.
Someone has defined character as “God’s workshop where divine creations take form and they go out bearing His mark upon them to witness to the world of His skill and power.”
This process of sanctification is the work of a lifetime. While life lasts, it does not end. We must be sanctified today, tomorrow, and the day following until Jesus comes.
We read of people in the church at Corinth who were once gripped by loathsome habits. “But,” Paul says of them after Christ had changed their lives, “ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.” 1 Corinthians 6:11. How did this come about? Notice the end of the verse, “by the Spirit of our God.” As E. G. White declares: “The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. . . . Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of the divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Though the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.” — “The Desire of Ages,” page 671.
In Romans 6 the Apostle Paul tells Christians that they must reckon themselves dead to sin. When we are tempted to do wrong, we should say, “No, I cannot do this thing, or walk again in crooked paths. I am dead to such things. Christ is now in control of my life. I am walking in Him.”
We should be like the little girl, who said, “When Satan knocks at the door of my heart, I say, ‘Jesus, You open the door.’ And when Jesus opens the door, Satan immediately says, ‘Sorry, I have come to the wrong place.’ “
With Christ in control we can have victory over every temptation. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.”
Christ’s redemptive power has been well described in the following words: “You are a sinner. You cannot atone for your past sins; you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins and give yourself to God. You will serve Him. Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfil His word to you. If you believe the promise — believe that you are forgiven and cleansed — God supplies the fact. You are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it. Do not wait to feel that you are made whole, but say, ‘I believe it; it is so, not because I feel it, but because God has promised.’ . . . It is the will of God to cleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to live a holy life. . . .’There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’ Romans 8:1.” — “Steps to Christ,” page 51.
“But,” you say, “I have tried so often and failed.” Think of Peter. He did the seemingly impossible. He walked on water. But the moment he took his eyes off Christ, the Source of his power, he began to sink. So likewise we can do the seemingly impossible through the power of Christ. He “is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 24.
So long as life lasts it will be possible for us to sin. But there is no excuse for sin. We read in 1 John 3:9: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” The thought in the original Greek is, “He who is born of God is not habitually guilty of sin.” Walking with Christ it is not our practice to sin. We may be overtaken in sin on the spur of the moment, caught unawares. But when that happens, praise God, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1.
Jesus has given us a wonderful picture of God’s love for sinners in the parable of the prodigal son. This is the only place in the Bible where God is depicted as being in a hurry. The father ran to meet his son. So God is ever eager to meet the prodigal son or daughter returning home. In Psalms 37:23, 24 we read: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.”
How often we have held the chubby hand of a baby and encouraged him to take his first step. What excitement there was when he walked unaided! So, likewise, the Lord delights in our progress. Should we stumble and fall, He says, “Get up, My son, My daughter, and try again. In Psalms 103:13, 14 He assures us: “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.”
There is only one successful way to walk toward the kingdom, and that is “in union with Him.” I suggest the following prayer for you:
Prayer: Father, Thou hast shown us the way again। To some it may be a new way. Help them to know that as they commit their lives into Thy care and keeping, Thou wilt keep them from falling and give them victory in place of defeat. In appreciation of Thy love we desire to serve Thee faithfully. So lead us on, Lord, until we are safe home in the glory land, we pray in His precious name. Amen.

*”A Man shall be as an hiding place from the wind,
and a covert from the tempest.” Isaiah 32:2.
A PLACE TO HIDE
MANY YEARS AGO I saw a picture hanging on the wall of a home in which I was visiting. It made a deep impression upon my childish mind. I do not remember all the details nor the title, but I do recall that the painting depicted an approaching storm.
I can still see the black clouds overhead and the trees bending before the first fierce gusts of wind. Two horses, one white and one black, their nostrils distended with fear, their tails and manes standing out in the wind, were galloping across the field to safety. In the foreground a little group of people with bowed forms, blanched faces, and terror portrayed in every look and action, were running before the approaching storm in search of a hiding place.
I have thought of that picture many times in recent years, for it seems to depict so vividly the tragic hour to which we have come in the history of the world.
Jesus’ disciples one day asked Him a question that is of vital interest to you and me. “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3.
The whole of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew is taken up with His answer. Luke also records it in the twenty-first chapter of his Gospel. He quotes Jesus as saying: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” Verses 25, 26.
The conditions Jesus said would occur just before His second advent are here today. Fear fills all hearts. Men fear the future; they fear another world war; they fear the atomic and hydrogen bombs. They are concerned about the possible extinction of the human race. But the message of our Lord to His followers in these uncertain days is, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27. Again, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20. “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28.
Isaiah, the gospel prophet, draws attention to the only safe shelter from the problems and dangers that bring fear to the human heart. He declares: “A Man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Isaiah 32:2.
The testimony of God’s people in all ages is that Christ, our blessed Lord and Redeemer, is well able to shelter His people from every type of “fallout” — physical or spiritual — that the devil may bring upon them. Those who daily walk with the Lord have nothing to fear for the future.
If Christ could take a little boy’s lunch and feed 5,000 men, besides women and children, why should His followers worry about where their next meal is coming from? When people were sick, He took them by the hand and led them from their sick-beds in the glow of perfect health. When others were dead, He raised them to life again. He is able to meet every emergency.
We need a hiding place from many things. We need it from an accusing conscience. Recently I read of a young man who had confessed to poisoning his foster-father with arsenic. He told how he had planned the murder over a period of seven years because he hated him so much. His mother had been charged with the murder, but the case had been dismissed. For fifteen years and more this young man had hidden his secret, then he confessed to the police.
He is alleged to have said, “I have nightmares, and recall the past so often in my sleep that I am cracking under the strain. I want to live the remaining years of my life with peace of mind. I want to forget the past and the only way I know is to confess the truth.”
Conscience troubles people for many reasons, and the only place where peace may be found is in Jesus Christ.
I once read of a parliament of religions that was held in the United States. The great religions of the world were represented by able speakers. One by one they propounded their respective philosophies to a great audience. When the representative of Christianity arose to speak he quickly gained the attention of his audience by his novel approach.
“I want to introduce to you,” he said, “a woman in great sorrow. Her hands are stained with blood. She has been tormented for ten long years. She has had no peace day or night.” Then, turning to the speakers who occupied the dais with him, he said, “Is there anything in your religions, in your philosophies, that can bring peace to this poor woman’s troubled conscience?”
There was silence. No one could offer any help. “Then I will ask someone else,” said Dr. Smith. Cupping his hands before the vast crowd, he shouted, “John, can you hear me? Will you tell this woman how she can get rid of this awful sin? Listen!” he said, as he raised his hand, “John is speaking: ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ “ 1 John 1:9.
Jesus alone can forgive and cleanse.
“Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain;
He washed it white as snow.”
We also need Him as a hiding place from the power of sin within us. He can take away the overmastering appetite for alcohol and tobacco, the overpowering passions that cause me to debase themselves. He can kill the passion for gambling to which untold thousands are enslaved. He can set you free from all that would destroy you — body, soul, and spirit. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” John 8:36.
We need Him, too, as a hiding place from all the devil’s temptations. Satan sets his traps so skillfully for unwary feet! “Be sober, be vigilant,” urges the Apostle Peter, “because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. Only Jesus can keep us safe from this adversary.
It is difficult to understand how people can contend that there is no devil. Why, the old serpent, as he is called in Revelation 12:9, has left the imprint of his slimy tail upon all the pages of history. How often we have seen him with subtlety take a beautiful young woman and ruin her life; take a fine young man from a respected family, debase and ruin him, destroy everything that was decent in him and leave him in the gutter, an outcast of society. We have also seen him take the devoted church member, not just a simple soul, but the educated and cultured, and deceive him with the most fantastic theories in the field of theology and finally and completely wreck his faith in God and His church.
We need a hiding place for our children, our loved ones and ourselves, too, from the subtle power and cunning of the devil. We have observed through the years that he baits his hook well, hauls countless millions into his well-filled boat, and leaves them to torture and burn under the merciless sun of their conscience and to ultimately die in despair.
What refuge shelters you today? May we all say to the Lord at this moment,
“Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, O leave me not alone!
Still support and comfort me;
All my trust in Thee is stayed,
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenceless head
With the shadow of Thy wing.”
Prayer: Father in heaven, we realize again our great need of a hiding place that Thou hast provided for us in Thy dear Son and our Saviour. We thank Thee that the past cannot condemn us when we are found in Him: that the devil and our adversaries cannot harm us while we are in Him, and that we have nothing to fear for the future while He is our refuge. Keep us ever sheltered in Him till the glad day of His return, we pray in His precious name. Amen.


ENTERING THE JUDGMENT WITH HIM
NO DOUBT there are many people in this world who hope that death ends everything for them. But, we ask, what do the Scriptures say? Will there be a day of reckoning for human beings? In Hebrews 9:27 we read: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” There it is, friend, whether we believe it or not, the judgment for each one of us is coming just the same.
We read in the Bible that there is a day of judgment for all men. This day has been appointed by God. It is a day during which the whole world will be judged by Christ “in righteousness.” And finally, this judgment day for all men is just as certain as Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Let us notice the text: “Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31.
But, says someone, I have always understood that the righteous, because of their faith in Christ, will escape the judgment. They will not escape the searching investigation of the judgment; but, praise God, if they enter the judgment with Christ as their Judge-Advocate, they may escape its penalties and rejoice in its rewards.
Years ago, when I was a lad attending the little church in our village, we often repeated the Apostles’ Creed in which there occurs the following statement of belief: “He will come to judge the quick and the dead.”
Yes, in the day of God’s judgment all — righteous and wicked, living and dead — must give an account of their deeds. Jesus declared, as recorded in Matthew 12:36, 37, “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”
The doctrine of the judgment, you see, is a Bible doctrine, and like the second coming of Christ it is an absolute certainty. It is, according to Paul, just as certain as Christ’s resurrection from the dead. That great fact upon which the Christian church is built was confirmed by many miracles and the eyewitness account of at least 500 persons who beheld Him after He arose. See 1 Corinthians 15:6.
In the Book of Revelation, John depicts an angel flying in the midst of heaven announcing to all the world that “the hour of His [God’s] judgment is come.” When the great prophetic clock in heaven indicated the appointed time of the judgment as foretold in Acts 17:31, two great events commenced simultaneously — the beginning of the work of judgment in heaven, and the announcement of that work on earth. Bible students found that the time-period of Daniel 8:14, beginning with the year 457 B.C., reached to the year 1844, thus indicating the time for the commencement of the judgment. Is it not a significant thing that such a message has been going to the nations since the year 1844 when, according to the prophecy, the judgment hour message was due?
Now it is clear from the Scriptures that the judgment is divided into three phases: First, the investigative section which precedes the Second Advent and deals with all those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Second, the judgment of the wicked which takes place during the millennium. And third, the time when the decisions of that judgment are executed at the end of the thousand years.
We read in 1 Peter 4:17 “that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us [ the house of God, or the church ], what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God [ the wicked ] ?” Some people agree that the wicked will be judged, but find it difficult to believe that judgment touches the house of God. The Bible makes it clear that all who have had their names inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life will come into review in the solemn judgment that is in session right now, and which could conclude at any time! Commencing away back with Adam, continuing with all who have had their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life down through the centuries, the judgment of the house of God will end with the investigation of the cases of the living.
When that work concludes, probation closes and the decree of Revelation 22:11 goes forth” “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.”
The second phase of the judgment deals with the wicked, whose names are not found in the Book of Life. We note this in 1 Corinthians 6:2: “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” We read further in 1 Corinthians 6:3 that the saints will also judge angels. The Bible declares that there comes a time when the saints will sit on seats of judgment and consider the cases of the wicked. When will this take place? We repeat, during the millennium. Note Revelation 20:4, 5: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”
Now these passages of Scripture reveal that those who come up in the first resurrection, and go to heaven to be with Christ during the millennium, will be seated on thrones of judgment. Some might be reasoning, if the wicked have not already accepted the provisions of the gospel, are they not doomed already? And if an individual’s name has been blotted out of the Book of Life, will he not be doomed to die? So why the necessity to judge the wicked? Well, there is at least one thing that the judgment of the wicked will undoubtedly do — it will demonstrate to the universe that God’s ways are just and true. Say, for instance, you reached heaven and discovered that someone you regarded as a sincere Christian was not there, this could cause doubt to enter your mind. But there will not be any doubts in the minds of God’s people respecting His judgment. Why? Because all will have the opportunity of going through the records, and discovering to their complete satisfaction just why certain individuals are finally lost. At the conclusion of this phase of the judgment we shall be able to say that all God’s ways are just and true. (Revelation 15:3).
The third phase of the judgment, when the wicked are raised to hear their doom, takes place at the end of the millennium and fulfils John 5:27-29 and Revelation 20:11-15. Notice: “As the Son of man He has also been given the right to pass judgment. Do not wonder at this, because the time is coming when all who are in the grave shall hear His name and move forth: those who have done right will rise to life; those who have done wrong will rise to hear their doom. I cannot act by Myself. I judge as I am bidden and My verdict is just.” ( New English Bible ).
John the Revelator depicts this last sad scene when the wicked hear their doom, in Revelation 20:11-15; “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. . . . And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
During the investigative judgment, which extends from 1844 to the close of probation, it will be determined whose names will be retained in the Lamb’s Book of Life, who will be worthy of a part in the first resurrection, and who will merit translation at His coming. In Revelation 22:12 we read: “And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Before we can receive awards there must of necessity be a judging.
This is what the Bible teaches, for I read in Luke 20:35, “But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, . . .” Can you see it? Before Christ comes it is determined by the investigative judgment who are worthy of resurrection to eternal life.
The Bible declares that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:10). None will escape the judgment, for we read: “And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” Romans 2:3 We may be able to escape many things in this life’s experience. There are numerous thieves and murderers who have covered up their tracks so well that to date they have escaped the tribunals of man. Much of the crime that is committed is done under the cover of darkness. Many things are done in secret, and men delight in the thought that they have fooled everybody. They might have deceived others, but they will not fool God!
The coloured people of the South in U.S.A. have a song they sing, the words of which go something like this:
“He sees all we do,
He hears all we say.
My God’s a-writing all the time.”
Yes, God is writing, and some day we will have all the secrets of our lives revealed to the universe, if we do not allow our Saviour to deal with them now! We read in Romans 2:16 of a time “when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.”
Let us now notice the basis of the judgment, shall we? We read in Daniel 7:10 that “the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” It is clear, therefore, from the Scriptures, that we shall be judged out of the records in the books of heaven.
Friend, there is no need to have any sin remaining on the books of record unconfessed and unforgiven to condemn you in the judgment. You can have those sins pardoned now through your confession of Christ as your Saviour. You can have them removed now from your personal record and charged to our Lord and Saviour. If they are charged to His account now, as a result of your confession to Him, they will not condemn you in the judgment. We must be sure that no unconfessed sins are piling up against our names in the books of heaven.
We repeat again, we have no righteousness of our own that would recommend us to God. He has told us in Acts 17:31 that He will judge us in righteousness, and if we have the righteousness of Christ when we appear in the judgment, we shall be accounted worthy to enter God’s kingdom. If we don’t have Christ’s righteousness in that day, we shall be found wanting.
I am so glad that the Lord Jesus with His precious blood covers all our sins, that we can pass them over to Him and He will cleanse us from every stain of sin. The stains are removed now in the experience of justification by faith. In Christ we can have a standing before God of perfection. Right here and now we can rejoice over this glorious fact. How thrilling to know that the sin confessed no longer witnesses against us, but is charged to Christ our Saviour, that in this judgment hour we can through the merit of Christ’s atonement appear before God as though we had not sinned! If we are in Him we need not fear the issues of the judgment. Thank God we can safely leave our cases in the hands of the most capable Advocate in the universe.
I remember reading one time of a minister who dreamt that he had died and stood before the judgment bar of God. He said that in his dream he heard God say to him, “Have you always been true?”
“No,” he replied.
“Have you always been kind?”
“No.”
“Have you always been just?”
“No.”
And as he continued through the long list of questions, the minister said “No” to them all.
“Then,” he said, “I thought the end had come and judgment was to be passed. I bowed my head and waited for sentence, when I was conscious of a light before me. I looked up and saw a face — a face fairer than all the sons of men. I looked at His hands and saw the marks, then I saw who it was, and I heard Him say, ‘Father, this man stood for Me down in the world. I will stand for him here.’”
This illustration may not be entirely true to Scripture, but thank God we do have an Advocate, a Mediator, in the courts above, Jesus Christ the righteous.
“Arise, my soul, arise:
Shake off thy guilty fears;
The holy sacrifice
In my behalf appears.
Before the Throne my Saviour stands;
My name is written on His hands.

“The Father hears Him pray,
His dear anointed One;
He cannot turn away
The presence of His Son.
His spirit answers to the blood,
And tells me I’m a child of God.”
— C. Wesley.
Friend, we may escape the penalties of the judgment only through the meritorious work of Christ our Saviour. You may have been the victim of circumstances, you may have lost all that makes life worth living, you may think your case is hopeless; but we say unto you in the words of Scripture, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” He will blot them out, and He will hurl them from you as far as the East is from the West.
I am so glad for the assurance that if we commit our case to Him, He will bring us through the judgment uncondemned. I am not concerned about the past, for I have confessed it. My great desire is to keep my sins confessed and covered by the precious blood of Christ, and like the great Apostle Paul, to be found only in Him in that great day.
Some day soon probation will close for all mankind. What will the records reveal for you when that days dawns? May you, too, be found in Him is my sincere prayer. If you are in Him then you will be eternally secure.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, we thank Thee for Christ our Advocate, for the blessed assurance that we are accepted in the Beloved. May not one of us be found wanting when our cases come in review in the courts above. Help us to keep our sins confessed and covered, that at last by Thy unfailing grace we may reach the eternal kingdom, we pray in His precious name. Amen.