In the previous chapter we covered who the Lord Jesus is. In this chapter we will see what the Lord Jesus has done for us. The Lord Jesus is God becoming a man to be our Savior. Since He is our Savior, He has delivered us from a threefold problem. In order to know what the Lord Jesus has done for us, we must have a clear picture of this problem.
When we begin to consider our threefold problem, it is easy to realize that our behavior is improper. The primary reason that we express our need for God is that we want to be saved from our improper behavior. We are all improper to some degree. There is no difference between a robber or a gentleman, because everyone has stolen from others or taken advantage of others.
Once I was preaching the gospel and speaking about stealing. In the audience there was a young boy who was in junior high school. When he heard this word, he disagreed. He shook his head and inwardly argued, saying, “Others may have stolen, but I am from a well-disciplined family, and I have never stolen anything.” The Spirit was upon me during my preaching, and I pointed my finger at him and said, “Even though you say that you have never stolen anything, you stole a piece of chalk from school and took it home.” Even though he had actually stolen a piece of chalk, he reasoned within himself that this did not matter. I continued to speak, saying, “You took the chalk home and drew circles on the ground.” When he heard this word, he began to shake in his seat because he was shocked that I knew these things. Actually, I did not know; it was God, the One who searches man’s heart, who knew.
Similar things happened in England to a famous evangelist, Dr. F. B. Meyer. One day when he was preaching, he pointed into the audience and said, “Look at yourself, young man! You have stolen three pounds and eighteen shillings from your master. If you do not repay these three pounds and eighteen shillings, you will never have peace.” Indeed, there was a young man sitting in front of him who had stolen three pounds and eighteen shillings from his employer. When he heard this word, he was very frightened because he thought that only he knew about his theft. Yet, to his surprise, Dr. Meyer pointed out the sin that he had committed. The young man had no peace when he returned home, and “three pounds and eighteen shillings” filled his mind as he was lying on his bed. When he woke up from his sleep, “three pounds and eighteen shillings” was still ringing in his ears. He knew that if he did not return this exact amount, he would never have peace. Then he wrote a check for three pounds and eighteen shillings and put it in his pocket. On that very day it so happened that a believer invited the young man to have dinner with him and Dr. Meyer. This was quite marvelous. After dinner the young man said to the believer who invited him, “Yesterday, Dr. Meyer pointed out my offense. Even though I have written a check for three pounds and eighteen shillings, I have been childish and reluctant to mail it, but as soon as I saw Dr. Meyer, I had no peace to eat this meal. Now I want to put this check in an envelope, seal it before him, and mail it to my employer.” This shows that no one should consider himself to be absolutely proper. When the Spirit shines on us, we will see our darkness.
There was a famous Chinese evangelist named John Sung. One day as he was preaching the gospel in Hankow, he pointed to a young lady in the audience and said, “You concubine.” She became quite scared because she was indeed a concubine. There were probably over a thousand people there that day. Dr. Sung did not know who she was, and yet he pointed his finger at her in the audience. After leaving the meeting, she cursed Dr. Sung and was also angry with the person who had brought her to hear the sermon. She said, “What bad luck! Why did you bring me here to be scolded in front of everyone?” She was very angry, but the angrier she became, the more the Holy Spirit worked in her. The Holy Spirit convicted her that she did not fear God even though she was committing sin. She ceased her cursing and was convicted of her need to repent. Then she knelt down and prayed, confessing in tears that she was a sinner, and she was saved.
I know of many such gospel stories. Seven or eight years ago I went to Amoy to preach the gospel, and I spoke about the Samaritan woman who met the Lord Jesus by the well in Sychar in John 4. When she came to draw water, the Lord Jesus asked her to give Him a drink (v. 7), and He said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (v. 10). Then she asked the Lord for this water. Although the Lord was moved with compassion, He also knew about her sinful life. Nevertheless, He did not rebuke her; rather, He gently said, “Go, call your husband and come here” (v. 16). She tried to cover her sin by saying, “I do not have a husband” (v. 17). She spoke the truth, but her intention was to deceive. However, the Lord Jesus also knew her true situation and said, “You have well said, I do not have a husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly” (vv. 17-18). This woman had one husband after another, and the man she was currently with was not even her husband. This shows that we are born dissatisfied. The woman at the well was not satisfied with her first husband, and so she changed husbands repeatedly. Her history of going from one man to another was an expression of her dissoluteness. Her actions were similar to a person who continually drinks because his thirst cannot be satisfied.
While I was preaching, there was a friend of a sister in the audience. When the friend heard this word, her face turned red, and she glared at the sister beside her. Although the sister’s friend had not changed husbands six times, she had changed four times. Consequently, she turned to the sister and angrily said, “You have told my story to this Mr. Lee.” She thought that I was speaking about this matter because the sister had told me. The sister replied, “I have never told Mr. Lee anything about you. He was merely telling a story from the Gospel of John in the Bible.”
In our preaching of the gospel, we encounter many situations such as this. Since man’s behavior is improper, it cannot escape the light of God’s examination. When God examines us, everyone has a problem. We should carefully consider our improper ways. Our words are improper, our actions are improper, our thoughts are improper, and our attitudes are improper. Every aspect of our behavior is improper.