Frances Ridley Havergal :: The Proof of Christ’s Ability to Save

TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY - THE PROOF OF CHRIST'S ABILITY TO SAVE

"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Hbr 7:25)

See what is the proof that the Lord Jesus Christ is able to save you thus, 'to the uttermost.' It is that He ever liveth to make intercession. For whom? For them 'that come unto God by Him.' Or, as He Himself said, in that wonderful prayer when He lifted the veil from His own Divine communing with the Father, and let us hear His mighty intercession: 'Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word,' (Jhn 17:20)-thus again identifying 'coming' with believing. Then, if you come, the perpetual intercession of our ascended High Priest will be for you, always for you. (Hbr 4:14) Only think that this is what Jesus is now living for,-'liveth to make intercession' (Hbr 7:25) for you! Should we ever have dared to imagine such grace and love? Should we ever have conceived that such a privilege could be ours?

Only think what security there must be in it! (Jhn 10:28) If the Lord Jesus is praying for you, can you perish? If He is praying for you, will not the Father's answer of blessing be beyond anything you would ask for yourself? Is not this enough to answer all your misgivings as to what you will find and how you will get on when you have come?

There is a solemn side to it. He not only says nothing about making intercession for those who do not come, but He plainly and positively says, 'I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me;' (Jhn 17:9) the proof of having been given to Christ being the coming to Him, for 'all that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me.' Then face the terrible position which is yours if you will not come! Christ will not pray for you! you shut yourself out from the prayer of Him whom the Father heareth always. He prays not for all alike, but only for those who receive His words. He says, 'I pray for them; I pray not for the world.' You dare not and cannot explain this away. It is no mere inference, no question of differing 'views,' but spoken by Him whose words can never pass away. Will you not 'come,' and share in this unspeakable privilege of Christ's intercession?

We must not overlook the fact that it is for those who 'come unto God by Him.' Your coming to Jesus is also coming to your Father. In our right earnestness to have clear views of the Trinity, we are liable to forget the Unity of the Godhead. 'I and My Father are one,' (Jhn 10:30) saith the Lord Jesus; and this blessed and glorious unity is our key to many an apparent difficulty. Yet there is a Divine order in the approach, which we invert at our eternal peril. It must be 'by Him,' or it is no coming at all. For He hath said, 'No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. (Jhn 14:6) The redemption of Christ is for them 'who by Him do believe in God.' You cannot be made nigh to God except by the blood of Christ. You cannot reach the Father except through the Son, for it is through Him and in Him that we alone have access. (Eph 2:18) You cannot offer thanks, any more than prayer, to God, except in the same way, for it is 'by Him' that we are to offer it. In one word, you cannot be saved any other way at all, except by Jesus, and it is no use talking about being simply saved by God's mercy, for God's own Word says, 'There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,' (Act 4:12) so that fallacy is disposed of forever. So 'diminish not a word'; (Deu 12:32) do not venture to leave out the words 'by Him,' but come in God's own appointed way, and you shall be saved in His own grand and perfect way, 'to the uttermost!'