Before me on my table lies a paper of four pages, headed “Christ is all and in all.” It is just a collection of Scripture passages, arranged and combined, to set forth the Lord Jesus Christ as He meets the needs of the sinner. “Thou that believest on Him unto eternal life (1 Tim. i. 16),” so begins this paper, “meditate upon these things: Thy sins (Luke xv. 18)—Christ’s cross (1 Pet. ii. 24): thy guilt (Rom. iii. 19)—Christ’s righteousness (Phil. iii. 9): thy weakness (Rom. vii. 18)—Christ’s strength (2 Cor. xii 9): thy temptations (1 Pet. i. 6)—Christ’s tenderness (Heb. iv. 15)... Remember this:—When thou hast sinned—Christ is thy Advocate (1 John ii. 1): when thou doubtest—Christ is the Truth (John xiv. 6): when thou changest—Christ is the Same (Heb. xiii. 8): when thou diest—Christ liveth (Job xix. 25): when thou art buried—Christ is the Resurrection (John xi. 25): when the world allureth—Christ overcame (John xvi. 33).” And so on, through one group and paragraph after another. “Think what thou hast with Christ”; “Think what thou hast in Christ”; “Think what thou art in Christ”: such are some of the titles under which are grouped the words of hope, and strength, and great salvation. Then the texts of inference are given in turn: “Therefore—Abide in Christ (John xv. 4): Walk in Christ (Col. ii. 6): Speak in Christ (2 Cor. ii. 17): Work in Christ (Rom. xvi. 9): Occupy for Christ (Luke xix. 13): Rejoice in Christ (Phil. iii. 3): Suffer with Christ (1 Pet. iv. 1): Wait for Christ (1 Thess. i. 10): Watch for Christ (Matt. xxiv. 42).” So, with a group of promises about the longed-for Coming of the Lord, and a few lines of entreaty to “search the Scriptures diligently that thou mayest increase in the knowledge of Christ,” (“feeding thy soul in the Word,” “being filled with the Spirit,” and remembering that “there is no knowledge but in the anointing,”) the paper closes.[1]
This little document has lately, after a long mislaying, been in my use again, and it has been a silent comforter” indeed, with the comfort which means strength for our exceeding weakness. It is an unpretending little thing in its form; very far from what is called scientific; just a collection of isolated Scripture texts, intended for the use of one who on the one hand knows himself to be a sinner, and on the other has had some sight of a Saviour, and who also believes simply that the Bible is the Word of God.
The very idea of the “isolated text” is now in some quarters deprecated, if not condemned; because of what is undoubtedly the fact—that the context of a text must not be forgotten. So this paper, “Christ is All,” will certainly not command every Christian student’s approval. Yet I dare to say that it has been to me like a clear voice from heaven, at a time of no small internal exercise and trial both of thought and feeling. Its “isolated” quotations, I cannot but remember, are in the very manner of our Lord and His Apostles.[2] And just because its sole purpose is to set forth the glory of Jesus Christ, it leads us with sure steps over the field of Scripture; for His own voice on the day of His Resurrection has told us that in all the Scriptures are “things concerning Himself.” To me, called as I am by duty to studies more or less accurate, and sometimes to the painful task of reading some work on religion which while as able as possible seems strangely devoid of Jesus Christ—this little paper has spoken with a sort of self-evidencing power, as it brings before me “Jesus only with myself.” It is a message to the very heart of life from the very heart of God; for it is altogether a presentation of the Name of His Son. It takes the soul up to a region far above “the strife of tongues,” and “the pride of man,” and the speciousness of keen but superficial reasoning—to a place where it is possible to “abide satisfied,” “quiet from the fear of evil.”
[1] By the Rev. J. E. Sampson, Barrow Cottage, York. [Now out of print (1926).]
[2] The New Testament is really full of illustrations of this.
