Virginia Brandt Berg (1898-1968)
The Cross upon which Jesus died
Is a shelter in which we can hide,
And its grace so free
Is sufficient for me
And deep is its fountain,
As wide as the sea.
There's room at the Cross for you.
Though millions have already come,
There's still room for one,
Yes, there is room at the Cross for you!
"There's room at the Cross for you!" -- Isn't it wonderful when you think that there's room for each one of us! For He's no respecter of persons and He loves you and He wants to draw you to Himself.
There is no one any dearer in His sight than you. You are His own. You are the apple of His eye. He that touches you touches Him, He said so in His Word! You know this precious passage, but I want to refer to it for a special reason tonight: (Jn.14)
"Let not your heart be troubled: Ye believe in God, believe also in Me." This is Christ comforting His disciples, and He's telling them that He's the way, the truth and the light, and that He's at One with His Father, and He's persuading us to be at One also with Him.
"In My Father's house are many mansions: If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." -- Jn.14:2-4
I want to call your attention to these passages here in the 12th and 13th verses: "I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall ye do, because I go unto My Father.
"And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son." And "If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep My commandments.
"And I will pray the Father and He shall give thee another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the World cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you." -- And here's the verse I particularly want to call your attention to at this time:
"I will not leave you comfortless" -- I will not leave you comfortless! That's a passage that we need so very much today, because many of the Lord's people are passing through times of severe personal trial and testing. It's trying also when we meet people every day that are complaining of their calamities and of the World conditions.
Well, there are many things that we shall not understand until the day when everything shall be made manifest, but we know that Rom.8:28 is true! I believe it! I've seen it work so many times, that "all things work together for good to them that love the Lord." It doesn't make any difference about World conditions and wars, or the fear that's upon other people!
To "them who are called according to His purpose," God promises in Romans 8:28 that all things, everything shall "work together for good!" Of course if you view the trial that's permitted as a calamity, and you let self-pity begin to operate in your life, of course then it's very difficult for the Lord to work in your heart, and then the Devil will do all he can to bring about defeat.
Nothing makes us turn our eyes away from the Lord quicker than self-pity! We're down at once into a lower plane, the "self" plane, when we begin to have self-pity over anything that's come in our lives. The Holy Spirit is hindered in His working, and we can't see God in our experience when we begin to complain and act like we're pitiful martyrs of some kind.
The workings of the flesh begin at once and you find yourself even blaming other people! That's exactly what the Devil wants you to do! You find yourself all vexed and anxious and worried and burdened about things, and looking inward instead of upward! Then the irritation and discouragement spring up and you're so vexed and so anxious, everything seems wrong, just everything seems wrong!
You're coming under the power of the Enemy when you get into this condition! That's the strategy of Satan in these last days, he's after getting God's people, God's children, self-occupied and anxious about things, and discouraged and suspicious of each other.
He wants you to put a question mark over God's dealings: He wants to get you down on the lower plane where the Holy Spirit can't operate, and where you can't see that it's the Enemy of God, and it's not flesh and blood. He doesn't want you to see that it's himself, Satan, that's working. There's so much depression today, so much depression all around us, but a Christian shouldn't be depressed!
A depressed Christian is just like a prisoner of war under the power of the Devil, unable to work efficiently for the Lord. He's so helpless he can't resist the wiles of the Enemy, and he certainly can't prevail for other people when he's in that condition! Now the Devil knows that, and that's exactly what he's after in every attack of this depression that comes upon you.
I think it's pitiful when you see this spirit of the World entering into the heart of a Child of God, this awful anxiety and depression, and being under such pressures. You hear people talk about being under pressure, under pressure all the time! Well, there's the Word of God just the same, God's Word hasn't changed, the Lord hasn't changed, and that's no place for a Christian to be.
You've got to refuse all such anxiety and all discouragement. You've got to definitely put your foot down and say, "I will not get into such a condition! I'm going to lift my eyes off of self and the World. -- I don't belong to this World anyhow, I'm just a pilgrim and a stranger passing through here!"
If you've got that pilgrim attitude and you keep your eyes right on the Lord and live in His Word, then you'll be doubly on the watch, and when some of these trials and testings come, you'll be like Paul: None of these things moved him, he said!
You can't get into this depressed spirit just because the World is so depressed! That is an instrument of the Devil: He's using that! Now if you find yourself that way sometimes lately, you've got to take some positive action!
Instead of creating yourself a spiritual vacuum in the negative all the time and accepting this kind of defeat, saying "Oh, I feel so depressed" -- I've had so many people say that to me: "I feel so depressed, I'm under such pressure" --
You must lift your eyes to Jesus! With all these promises in God's Word and all the wonderful things the Lord wants to do for you, insist on your rights in Christ Jesus, in the times in which you live! God's Word says in Colossians, "For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God" and, "See those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. -- Col.3
Your life is hid away with the Lord and you don't have to accept that kind of defeat! Be determined! Just be determined that God helping you, nothing shall rob you of your trust in the Lord and of your stand of faith, that you're going to keep faith in Him, and you will not let the Devil put this depression over on you!
It may belong to the World, and I'll confess that there's enough in the World today with all that's happening to bring a depression upon those that can be so depressed, but that's not for the child of God!
Can't you lift your head and say, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day"? That's for you! That's the place of victory!
God help you to do that, that you might be able to show to others what the Christian really is heir to, what the Christian has in Christ Jesus! It's for you, dearly beloved, there's victory for you! Amen.