Mary Liddiard | Page 4

His Holy Spirit to instruct our minds, to
support us and help us to withstand the deceits of Satan."
"Then I think it must be Satan who makes my people fight with each
other, and do all sorts of things that you tell me God's Book says are so
wrong," exclaimed Lisele. "I must try and persuade my father to
worship Jehovah, and then, perhaps, the Holy Spirit you tell me of will
prevent him from spending his life in fighting and killing people. It has
always seemed to me a very bad thing to do, and that it would be much
better if people would live together in peace, and dance and sing and
amuse themselves without the constant fear of being attacked by their
enemies and killed."
"Undoubtedly, my dear girl, if anyone turns to Jehovah, trusting to
Jesus Christ, and seeks the aid of the Holy Spirit whom He has
promised to send, he will be enabled to do His will. God cannot lie.
Everything He has promised He will fulfil," answered my mother. "I
pray that you will be enabled to explain this matter to the chief, your
father."
"Yes! yes! that I will," cried Lisele. "Till this moment I did not
understand it. I thought that it must be a very difficult thing to serve
Jehovah, and that those who had done anything to offend Him were to
toil and work to the end of their days, and even then have very little
chance of being received into favour."
"Satan tries to persuade man that such is the case, that he may turn his
eyes away from the all-sufficient atonement made by Christ on Calvary,
and prevent him from trusting to that, and that alone," said my mother.
"Satan hates the atonement, because it is that which destroys his power,
and he cares nothing when people try to be good, and try to please God,
trusting to themselves, provided they have no faith in the atoning
sacrifice of Christ, in the all-cleansing power of His blood," observed
my mother. "If you will reflect, my dear girl, on the fact that God made
us and gives us all the blessings we enjoy, and that consequently we
owe Him everything, you will see that nothing we do can make amends
to Him for the sins we have committed, because if we were to devote
every moment of our lives to His service we should only be doing our

duty. Then again, a sin which has been committed cannot be undone;
so it is written against us in the great book prepared for the day of
judgment. God is so pure and holy that even the heavens are not clean
in His sight, and He is so just that He cannot forgive sin; we only mock
Him when we ask Him to forgive us our sins, if we plead our own
merits, because, as I have shown you, we cannot possibly have any
merits to plead--all our merits are but as filthy rags, they cannot cover
up our vileness and sinfulness. But then Jehovah is all merciful as well
as just, and He has, therefore, formed that blessed plan of salvation,
the gospel plan, just suited to our wants, by which we can take
advantage of the all perfect merits of Jesus Christ, and make them our
own--our vileness being covered up by His righteousness, our
nakedness clothed with His pure and spotless robes, so that Jehovah
does not see our sins; they are put away as far as the east is from the
west; they are blotted out of the great book of remembrance. This is
done immediately the sinner trusts in the Saviour. It is not to be done.
All the work was done on Calvary, when Jesus cried, `It is finished!' All
that God requires is that the sinner should take advantage of that work
finished by Jesus, by trusting to Him alone, thus becoming completely
qualified for heaven. May God, the Holy Spirit, enable you to
understand this truth."
The Indian girl sat down, and for some time appeared lost in thought;
then starting up with the impetuous manner which her ardent
disposition made her assume, she asked, in her native tongue, "Then if I
believe that Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of Jehovah, left the glories of
heaven, and became man, and suffered a fearful death on the cross, His
precious blood being then shed, and that He suffered this punishment
instead of me, and that God's justice is thereby satisfied, am I no longer
to fear punishment? Does God no more look at my sins? Am I received
into His favour? Oh then how grateful ought I to be to God, how much
ought I to love Jehovah's kind Son, how ought I