The Believer's Lesson Book by
George Everard from Beneath the Cross 1877 May I never boast
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the
world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Galatians
6 14 The cross of Christ is the believer's lesson book. The agonies
and death which he bore for our sake should be the subject of
our constant meditation. Nowhere, as in the cross and
in the scenes connected with it, do we see such revelations
of the heart of Christ. Mercy shines forth in her beauty,
seeking pardon for his cruel murderers, compassionating the
daughters of Jerusalem, and saving sinners of the deepest dye. Justice,
too, stands forth in unsullied glory. In paying the debt of
human guilt, in bearing the penalty of a broken law, Christ is seen
to be a just God as also a Savior. In our Lord's suffering and death,
there is precious instruction for the believer in almost every
matter belonging to the Christian life. What are the perils you
are likely to meet with, and how best to overcome them? What
should be your life in secret before God, and what should be
your path in the world? What is your strength in the
hour of temptation and in the season of sorrow? How to crucify
the world and how to glorify God in the position which you
occupy? All this may be learned in fellowship
with our suffering Redeemer. Beneath the cross, likewise,
you may best learn to cultivate every Christian grace and virtue,
meekness and courage, zeal and love, prayer and patience and
forbearance, and submission to the will of God. All of these
are the fruits of a believing view of Christ's death. You may
learn, too, to conquer sin by the sight of that which it cost
Christ to save you from it. The nail and the spear may be
driven through the sins which have been most cherished. You
may thus be enabled to crucify the flesh with the affections
and lusts. And beneath the cross You may
learn another lesson. You may learn how to die. Through
death, Christ has destroyed the power of death. The sting is
gone. To him who believes, death is
life, for it is departing to be with Christ, which is far
better. Therefore, let us often betake
ourselves to Calvary. Let memory recall and ponder
those hours on which our everlasting salvation depends. Let our faith
bridge over the centuries that have passed between. Let us go
and stand in thought beside the faithful women who were last
at the cross and first at the grave. Let us look again and
yet again and discover new lessons of instruction and fresh grounds
for the deepest contrition, as also for everlasting joy and
thankfulness beneath the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let
us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12, 2.