The Missionary Magazine Article (1899)

The Missionary Magazine, Vol. 11 (1899)

April 1899

"Fourth Sabbath Reading. - Sabbath, April 22, 1899. 'Ye Are Bought with a Price'" The Missionary Magazine 11, 4 , pp. 176, 177.

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FOURTH SABBATH READING. - SABBATH, APRIL 22, 1899
A. T. JONES

WE are the Lord's and not our own. It is written: "Ye are bought with a price." 1 Cor. vi: 20. And the price is, "the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter i: 19. For he "gave Himself for us." Titus ii: 14.

This price was paid for every soul that is on earth, and for every one who ever was or ever shall be on earth; for "He died for all." Having died for all; having paid the wondrous price for all; having given Himself for all; - having thus bought and paid the price for all, it is certainly a fact that all are His. Therefore it is written: "Know ye not that . . . ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor. vi: 19, 20.

He not only gave Himself for us, but for all there is of us - yes, even for our sins. For again it is written that He "gave Himself for our sins," Gal. i: 4. And He did it "that He might deliver us from this present evil world;" that He might "purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works;" that He might present us "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy," in one word "that He might bring us to God." 1 Peter iii: 18.

He so loves us that He wants to save us. But He can not save us in our sins. He will save us from our sins. And as our whole self is sin and sin only, in order to get us, in order to buy us, He had to buy our sins also. So in giving Himself for us, He gave Himself for our sins too. And as we are His, because He bought us with that great price, so also our sins are His, for He bought them with the same great price. And what will He do with these sins? O, He will forgive them! 1 John i: 9. He will make them as white as snow. Isa. i: 18. He will put them away. Heb. ix: 26. He will cast them into the depths of the sea. Micah vii: 19. He will remove them from us as far as the east is from the west. Ps. ciii: 12. He will cast them all behind His back. Isa. xxxviii: 17. And when they are all cast behind His back, He and His own throne will stand between us and them, as the pledge that we are free from them; and the rainbow round about the throne will be the sign - the token - of the everlasting covenant round about the throne will be the sign - the token - of the everlasting covenant that our sins and iniquities will be remembered no more. Heb. viii: 12.

"Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God

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through Jesus Christ our Lord. . . . Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you." "Sin shall not have dominion over you," - is that promise worth anything to you, brethren? It is worth all that God is worth to the one who reckons himself to be dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus Christ, and who yields himself unto God, and his members unto God as instruments for God to use. To this one God has declared, "sin shall not have dominion over you." Thank the Lord for this blessed promise of freedom from sin and all the power of sin. And this promise He will make a fact in the life and experience of every one who reckons thus and yields to God. You furnish the reckoning, He will furnish the fact. You yield to Him, and He will use you. You yield to Him your members, and He will use them only as instruments of righteousness. And so, "sin shall not have dominion over you," for God is stronger than sin.

When you yourself are the Lord's, then whose are those things that are in your possession? Whose are the children? Whose is the money? Whose are the houses, the lands, the cattle? Whose? Can you tell? Are they yours or His? How can they be yours, when you yourself are not your own? When you yourself are the Lord's, whose are all these things but the Lord's? Of course they are His. They are His just as much as you are. And they are His just as certainly as you are. "The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of hosts." Haggai ii: 8. "Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills . . . And the wild beasts of the fields are Mine." Ps. 1: 10, 11. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Ps. xxiv: 1. "All the earth is Mine." Ex. xix: 5. Is not the earth the purchased possession also of the Lord, to be made new for the saints' inheritance?

So then all these things are the Lord's as well as yourself? Will you yield these to Him, as well as yourself? Will you recognize His ownership of these, as well as of yourself? In all these, will you let Him have His own, or will you withhold it? Ah! be careful, lest in withholding any of these, you withhold yourself. In all these, will you let Him do what He will with His own? Will you let Him have your children to use as He will, or will you refuse and use them as you will? Will you count the money as all His own? and let Him use it as He will, let Him do what He will with His own? or will you withhold it and use it as you will? And so with the houses and lands and all? Will you count them all the Lord's held only subject to His will and His call? Will you recognize constantly that all these things are the Lord's, and not your own just as you recognize that you are the Lord's and not your own? As certainly as you are the Lord's indeed, so certainly are all these things the Lord's indeed.