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Title: The Great Commission. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. IV

Author: Charles Henry Mackintosh

Release date: August 24, 2012 [eBook #40575]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Júlio Reis, Moisés S. Gomes, Julia Neufeld and
        the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
        http://www.pgdp.net


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT COMMISSION. MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS OF C. H. MACKINTOSH, VOL. IV ***




Produced by Júlio Reis, Moisés S. Gomes, Julia Neufeld and
the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net







  MISCELLANEOUS
  WRITINGS

  of C.H.M.

  The Great
  Commission

  _Miscellaneous Writings of_
  C. H. MACKINTOSH

  _Volume IV_

  LOIZEAUX BROTHERS
  _New York_




CONVERSION: WHAT IS IT?




PART I.


The first chapter of first Thessalonians presents a very striking and
beautiful picture of what we may truly call _genuine conversion_. We
propose to study the picture in company with the reader. If we are not
much mistaken, we shall find the study at once interesting and
profitable. It will furnish an answer, distinct and clear, to the
question which stands at the head of this article, namely, What is
Conversion?

Nor is this by any means a small matter. It is well, in days like
these, to have a divine answer to such a question. We hear a good deal
now-a-days about cases of conversion; and we would heartily bless God
for every soul truly converted to Him.

We need hardly say we believe in the absolute, the indispensable, the
universal necessity of divine conversion. Let a man be what he may; be
he Jew or Greek, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, Protestant or
Roman Catholic; in short, whatever be his nationality, his
ecclesiastical position, or his theological creed, he _must_ be
converted, else he is on the broad and direct road to an everlasting
hell.

There is no one born a Christian, in the true sense of that word.
Neither can anyone be educated into Christianity. It is a fatal
mistake, a deadly delusion, a deceit of the arch-enemy of souls, for
anyone to think that he can be a Christian either by birth or
education, or that he can be made a Christian by water baptism, or by
any religious ceremony whatsoever. A man becomes a Christian only by
being divinely converted. We would earnestly press on the attention of
all whom it may concern, the urgent and absolute necessity in every
case of true conversion to God.

This cannot be overlooked. It is the height of folly for anyone to
attempt to ignore or to make light of it. For an immortal being--one
who has a boundless eternity stretching away before him--to neglect
the solemn question of his conversion, is the wildest fatuity of which
anyone can possibly be guilty. In comparison with this most weighty
subject, all other things dwindle into utter insignificance. The
various objects that engage the thoughts and absorb the energies of
men and women in the busy scene around us, are but as the small dust
of the balance in comparison with this one grand, momentous question
of the soul's conversion to God. All the speculations of commercial
life, all the schemes of money-making, the absorbing question of
profitable investment, all the pursuits of the pleasure hunter--the
theatre, the concert, the ball-room, the billiard-room, the
card-table, the dice-box, the race-course, the hunting-ground, the
drinking saloon--all the numberless and nameless things that the poor
unsatisfied heart longs after, and grasps at--all are but as the
vapor of the morning, the foam on the water, the smoke from the
chimney-top, the withered leaf of autumn--all vanish away, and leave
an aching void behind. The heart remains unsatisfied, the soul
unsaved, because unconverted.

And what then? Ah, yes; what then! Tremendous question! What remains
at the end of all this scene of commercial excitement, political
strife and ambition, money-making and pleasure-hunting? Why, then the
man has to face death! "It is appointed unto men once to die." There
is no getting over this. There is no discharge in this war. All the
wealth of the universe could not purchase one moment's respite at the
hand of the ruthless foe. All the medical skill which earth affords,
all the fond solicitude of affectionate relatives and friends, all
their tears, all their sighs, all their entreaties cannot stave off
the dreaded moment, or cause the king of terrors to sheathe his
terrible sword. Death cannot be disposed of by any art of man. The
moment _must_ come when the link is to be snapped which connects the
heart with all the fair and fascinating scenes of human life. Fondly
loved friends, charming pursuits, coveted objects, all must be given
up. A thousand worlds could not avert the stroke. Death must be looked
at straight in the face. It is an awful mystery--a tremendous fact--a
stern reality. It stands full in front of every unconverted man,
woman, and child beneath the canopy of heaven; and it is merely a
question of time--hours, days, months, or years,--when the boundary
line must be crossed which separates time, with all its empty, vain,
shadowy pursuits, from eternity with all its stupendous realities.

And what then? Let Scripture answer. Nothing else can. Men would fain
reply according to their own vain notions. They would have us believe
that after death comes annihilation. "Let us eat and drink, for
to-morrow we die." Empty conceit! Vain delusion! Foolish dream of the
human imagination blinded by the god of this world! How could an
immortal soul be annihilated? Man, in the garden of Eden, became the
possessor of a never-dying spirit. "The Lord God breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and man became a _living_ soul"--not a
dying soul. The soul must live forever. Converted or unconverted, it
has eternity before it. Oh, the overpowering weight of this
consideration to every thoughtful spirit! No human mind can grasp its
immensity. It is beyond our comprehension, but not beyond our belief.

Let us hearken to the voice of God. What does Scripture teach? One
line of holy Scripture is quite sufficient to sweep away ten thousand
arguments and theories of the human mind. Does death annihilate? Nay!
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

Mark these words, "_After this_ the judgment." And this applies only
to those who die in their sins, only to unbelievers. For the
Christian, judgment is passed forever, as Scripture teaches in
manifold places. It is important to note this, because men tell us
that, inasmuch as there is eternal life only in Christ, therefore all
who are out of Christ shall be annihilated.

Not so says the word of God. There is judgment after death. And what
will be the issue of the judgment? Again Scripture speaks in language
as clear as it is solemn. "And I saw a great white throne, and Him
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away;
and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book,
which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, _according to their works_.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hades
delivered up the dead which were in them; and _they were judged every
man according to their works_.... This is the second death"--the lake
of fire. "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. xx.)

All this is as plain as words can make it. There is not the slightest
ground for demur or difficulty. For all whose names are in the book of
life there is no judgment at all. Those whose names are not in that
book shall be judged according to their works. And what then?
Annihilation? Nay; but "the lake of fire;" and that forever and
forever.

How overwhelming is the thought of this! An unconverted person,
whoever and whatever he is, has death, judgment, and the lake of fire
before him, and every throb of his pulse brings him nearer and nearer
to those awful realities. It is not more sure that the sun shall rise,
at a certain moment, to-morrow morning, than that the reader must, ere
long, pass into eternity; and if his name is not in the book of
life--if he is not converted--if he is not in Christ, he will
assuredly be judged according to his works, and the certain issue of
that judgment will be the lake of fire, through the endless ages of
eternity.

The reader may perhaps marvel at our dwelling at such length on this
dreadful theme. He may feel disposed to ask, "Will this convert
people?" If it does not convert them, it may lead them to see their
need of conversion. It may lead them to see their imminent danger. It
may induce them to flee from the wrath to come. Why did the blessed
apostle reason with Felix on the subject of "judgment to come"? Surely
that he might persuade him to turn from his evil ways and live. Why
did our blessed Lord Himself so constantly press upon His hearers the
solemn reality of eternity? Why did He so often speak of the deathless
worm and the unquenchable fire? Surely it was for the purpose of
rousing them to a sense of their danger, that they might flee for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before them.

Are we wiser than He? Are we more tender? Have we found out some
better mode of converting people? Are we to be afraid of pressing upon
our readers or our hearers the same solemn theme which our Lord so
pressed upon the men of His time? Are we to shrink from offending
polite ears by the plain declaration that all who die unconverted must
inevitably stand before the great white throne, and pass into the lake
of fire? God forbid! It must not be. We solemnly call upon the
unconverted reader to give his undivided attention to the
all-important question of his soul's salvation. Let nothing induce him
to neglect it. Let neither cares, pleasures, nor duties so occupy him
as to hide from his view the magnitude and deep seriousness of this
matter. "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul?"

O reader, if thou art unsaved, unconverted, let us earnestly entreat
thee to ponder these things, and rouse thee to a sense of thy need of
being savingly converted to God. This is the only way of entering His
kingdom. So our Lord Christ distinctly tells us; and we trust you know
this at least, that not one jot or tittle of His holy sayings can ever
pass away. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but His word can never
pass away. All the power of earth and hell, men and devils, cannot
make void the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Either of two things for
thee--_conversion here, or eternal damnation hereafter_.

Thus it stands, if we are to be guided by the word of God; and, in
view of this, is it possible for us to be too earnest, too vehement,
too importunate in urging upon every unconverted soul with whom we
may come in contact, either with voice or pen, the indispensable
necessity, this very moment, of fleeing from the wrath to come,
fleeing to that blessed Saviour who died on the cross for our
salvation; who stands with open arms to receive all who come; and who
declares in His own sweet and precious grace, "HIM THAT COMETH UNTO
ME, I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT?"




PART II.


In our previous paper, we have sought to set forth the absolute need,
in every case, of conversion. Scripture establishes this point in such
a way as to leave no possible ground of doubt for anyone who bows to
its holy authority. "Except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven" (Matt. xviii.
3).

This applies, in all its moral force and deep solemnity, to every son
and daughter of fallen Adam. There is not so much as a solitary
exception, throughout the thousand millions that people this globe.
Without conversion, there is--there can be no entrance into the
Kingdom of God. Every unconverted soul is outside the Kingdom of God.
It matters not, in the smallest degree, who I am, or what I am; if I
am unconverted, I am in "the kingdom of darkness," under the power of
Satan, in my sins, and on the way to hell.

I may be a person of blameless morals; of spotless reputation; a high
professor of religion; a worker in the vineyard; a Sunday-school
teacher; an office-bearer in some branch of the professing church; an
ordained minister; a deacon, elder, pastor or bishop; a most
charitable individual; a munificent donor to religious and benevolent
institutions; looked up to, sought after, and reverenced by all
because of my personal worth and moral influence. I may be all this
and more; I may be, and I may have, all that it is possible for a
human being to be or to have, and yet be unconverted, and hence
outside the Kingdom of God, and in the kingdom of Satan, in my guilt,
and on the broad road that leads straight down to the lake that burns
with fire and brimstone.

Such is the plain and obvious meaning and force of our Lord's words in
Matt. xviii. 3. There is no possibility of evading it. The words are
as clear as a sunbeam. We cannot get over them. They bear down, with
what we may truly call tremendous solemnity, upon every unconverted
soul on the face of the earth. "Except ye be converted, ye _cannot_
enter the Kingdom of heaven." This applies, with equal force, to the
degraded drunkard that rolls along the street, worse than a beast, and
to the unconverted Good Templar or teetotaler who prides himself on
his sobriety, and is perpetually boasting of the number of days,
weeks, months, or years during which he has refrained from all
intoxicating drink. They are both alike outside the Kingdom of God;
both in their sins; both on the way to eternal destruction.

True it is that the one has been converted from drunkenness to
sobriety--a _very great_ blessing indeed, in a moral and social point
of view--but conversion from drunkenness to a temperance society is
not conversion to God; it is not turning from darkness to light; it is
not entering the Kingdom of God's dear Son. There is just this
difference between the two, that the teetotaler may be building upon
his temperance, pluming himself upon his morality, and thus deceiving
himself into the vain notion that he is all right, whereas, in
reality, he is not. The drunkard is palpably and unmistakably wrong.
Everybody knows that no drunkard can inherit the Kingdom of God; but
neither can an unconverted teetotaler. Both are outside. Conversion to
God is absolutely indispensable for the one as well as the other; and
the same may be said of all classes, all grades, all shades, all
castes and conditions of men under the sun. There is no difference as
to this great question. It holds good as to all alike, be their
outward character or social status what it may--"Except ye be
converted, _ye cannot_ enter the Kingdom of heaven."

How important, then--yea, how momentous the question for each one,
"_Am I converted?_" It is not possible for human language to set forth
the magnitude and solemnity of this inquiry. For any one to think of
going on, from day to day, and year to year, without a clear and
thorough settlement of this most weighty question, can only be
regarded as the most egregious folly of which a human being can be
guilty. If a man were to leave his earthly affairs in an uncertain,
unsettled condition, he would lay himself open to the charge of the
grossest and most culpable neglect and carelessness. But what are the
most urgent and weighty temporal affairs when compared with the
salvation of the soul? All the concerns of time are but as the chaff
of the summer threshing-floor, when compared with the interests of
the immortal soul--the grand realities of eternity.

Hence it is, in the very highest degree, irrational for any one to
rest for a single hour without a clear and settled assurance that he
is truly converted to God. A converted soul has crossed the boundary
line that separates the saved from the unsaved--the children of light
from the children of darkness--the Church of God from this present
evil world. The converted soul has death and judgment behind him, and
glory before. He can be as sure of heaven as though he were already
there; indeed as a man in Christ he belongs there already. He has a
title without a blot, a prospect without a cloud. He knows Christ as
his Saviour and Lord; God as his Father and Friend; the Holy Ghost as
his blessed Comforter, Guide and Teacher; heaven as his bright and
happy home. Oh! the unspeakable blessedness of being converted. Who
can utter it? "Eye hath not seen, or ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us [believers] by His
Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of
God" (1 Cor. ii. 9, 10).

And now let us inquire what this conversion is, whereof we speak.
Well, indeed, will it be for us to be divinely instructed as to this.
An error here will prove disastrous in proportion to the interests at
stake.

Many are the mistaken notions in reference to conversion. Indeed we
might conclude, from the very fact of the vast importance of the
subject, that the great enemy of our souls and of the Christ of God
would seek, in every possible way, to plunge us into error respecting
it. If he cannot succeed in keeping people in utter carelessness as to
the subject of conversion, he will endeavour to blind their eyes as to
its true nature. If, for example, a person has been roused, by some
means or other, to a sense of the utter vanity and unsatisfactoriness
of worldly amusements, and the urgent necessity of a change of life,
the arch-deceiver will seek to persuade such an one to become
religious, to busy himself with ordinances, rites and ceremonies, to
give up balls and parties, theatres and concerts, drinking, gambling,
hunting and horse-racing; in a word, to give up all sorts of gaiety
and amusement, and engage in what is called a religious life, to be
diligent in attending the public ordinances of religion, to read the
Bible, say prayers, and give alms, to contribute to the support of the
great religious and benevolent institutions of the country.

Now, this is not conversion. A person may do all this, and yet be
wholly unconverted. A religious devotee whose whole life is spent in
vigils, fastings, prayers, self-mortifications and alms deeds, may be
as thoroughly unconverted, as far from the Kingdom of God as the
thoughtless pleasure hunter, whose whole life is spent in the pursuit
of objects as worthless as the withered leaf or the faded flower. The
two characters, no doubt, differ widely--as widely perhaps, as any
two could differ. But they are both unconverted, both outside the
blessed circle of God's salvation, both in their sins. True, the one
is engaged in "wicked works," and the other in "dead works;" they are
both out of Christ; they are unsaved; they are on the way to hopeless,
endless misery. The one, just as surely as the other, if not savingly
converted, will find his portion in the lake that burneth with fire
and brimstone.

Again, conversion is not a turning from one religious system to
another. A man may turn from Judaism, Paganism, Mahometanism, or
Popery, to Protestantism, and yet be wholly unconverted. No doubt,
looked at from a social, moral, or intellectual standpoint, it is much
better to be a Protestant than a Mahometan; but as regards our present
thesis, they are both on one common platform, both unconverted. Of
one, just as truly as the other, it can be said, unless he is
converted, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Conversion is not
joining a religious system, be that system ever so pure, ever so
sound, ever so orthodox. A man may be a member of the most respectable
religious body in Christendom, and yet be an unconverted, unsaved man,
on his way to eternal perdition.

So also as to the theological creeds. A man may subscribe to any of
the great standards of religious belief, the Thirty-nine Articles, the
Westminster Confession, John Wesley's Sermons, Fox and Barclay, or any
other creed, and yet be wholly unconverted, dead in trespasses and
sins, and on his way to that place where a single ray of hope can
never break in upon the awful gloom of eternity.

Of what use, we may lawfully inquire, is a religious system or a
theological creed to a man who has not a single spark of divine life?
Systems and creeds cannot quicken, cannot save, cannot give eternal
life. A man may work on in religious machinery like a horse in a mill,
going round and round, from one year's end to another, leaving off
just where he began, in a dreary monotony of dead works. What is it
all worth? what does it all come to? where does it all end? _Death!_
Yes; and what then? Ah! that is the question. Would to God the weight
and seriousness of this question were more fully realized!

But further, Christianity itself, in all its full-orbed light, may be
embraced as a system of religious belief. A person may be
intellectually delighted--almost entranced with the glorious doctrines
of grace, a full, free gospel, salvation without works, justification
by faith; in short, all that goes to make up our glorious New
Testament Christianity. A person may profess to believe and delight in
this; he may even become a powerful writer in defence of Christian
doctrine, an earnest eloquent preacher of the gospel. All this may be
true, and yet the man be wholly unconverted, dead in trespasses and
sins, hardened, deceived and destroyed by his very familiarity with
the precious truths of the gospel--truths that have never gone beyond
the region of his understanding--never reached his conscience, never
touched his heart, never converted his soul.

This is about the most appalling case of all. Nothing can be more
awful, more terrible, than the case of a man professing to believe and
delight in, yea, actually preaching the gospel of God, and teaching
all the grand characteristic truths of Christianity, and yet wholly
unconverted, unsaved, and on his way to an eternity of ineffable
misery--misery which must needs be intensified to the very highest
degree, by the remembrance of the fact that he once professed to
believe, and actually undertook to preach the most glorious tidings
that ever fell on mortal ears.

O! reader, whoever thou art, do, we entreat of thee, give thy fixed
attention to these things. Rest not, for one hour, until thou art
assured of thy genuine, unmistakable conversion to God.




PART III.


Having thus far seen the absolute necessity, in every case, of
conversion, and having, in some measure, sought to point out what
conversion is _not_, we have now to inquire what it _is_. And here we
must keep close to the veritable teaching of holy Scripture. We can
accept nothing less, nothing different. It is greatly to be feared
that very much of what passes, now-a-days, for conversion is not
conversion at all. Many so-called cases of conversion are published
and talked of, which cannot stand the test of the word of God. Many
profess to be converted, and are accredited as such, who prove to be
merely stony-ground hearers. There is no depth of spiritual work in
the heart, no real action of the truth of God on the conscience, no
thorough breaking with the world. It may be the feelings are wrought
upon by human influence, and certain evangelical sentiments take
possession of the mind; but _self_ is not judged; there is a clinging
to earth and nature; a lack of that deep-toned earnestness and genuine
reality which so remarkably characterize the conversions recorded in
the New Testament, and for which we may always look where the work of
conversion is divine. We do not here attempt to account for all these
superficial cases; we merely refer to them in order that all who are
engaged in the blessed work of evangelization may be led to consider
the matter in the light of holy Scripture, and to see how far their
own mode of working may call for holy correction. It may be there is
too much of the merely human element in our work. We do not leave the
Spirit of God to act. We are deficient in faith, in the power and
efficacy of the simple work of Christ itself. There may be too much
effort to work on the feelings, too much of the emotional and the
sensational. Perhaps, too, in our desire to reach results--a desire
which may be right enough in itself--we are too ready to accredit and
announce, as cases of conversion, many which, alas! are merely
ephemeral.

Will this lessen our earnestness? The very reverse; it will intensify
our earnestness immensely. We shall be more earnest in pleading with
God in secret, and in pleading with our fellows in public.

We shall feel more deeply the divine seriousness of the work, and our
own utter insufficiency. We shall ever cherish the wholesome
conviction that the work must be of God from first to last. This will
keep us in our right place, that of self-emptied dependence upon God,
who is the Doer of all the works that are done upon the earth. We
shall be more on our faces before the mercy-seat, both in the closet
and in the assembly, in reference to the glorious work of conversion;
and then, when the golden sheaves and mellow clusters appear, when
genuine cases of conversion turn up--cases which speak for themselves,
and carry their own credentials with them to all who are capable of
judging--then verily shall our hearts be filled with praise to the God
of all grace who has magnified the name of His Son Jesus Christ in the
salvation of precious souls.

How much better is this than to have our poor hearts puffed up with
pride and self-complacency by reckoning up our cases of conversion!
How much better, safer and happier to be bowed in worship before the
throne, than to have our names heralded to the ends of the earth as
great preachers and wonderful evangelists! No comparison, in the
judgment of a truly spiritual person. The dignity, reality, and
seriousness of the work will be realized; the happiness, the moral
security, and the real usefulness of the workman will be promoted; and
the glory of God secured and maintained.

Let us see how all this is illustrated in 1 Thessalonians i. "Paul,
and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the assembly of the Thessalonians in
God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace be unto you, and
peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks
to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
remembering without ceasing your work of _faith_ and labor of _love_,
and patience of _hope_"--the grand elements of true Christianity--"in
our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; knowing,
brethren, beloved of God, your election." How did he know it? By the
clear and unquestionable evidence afforded in their practical
life--the only way in which the election of any one can be known. "For
our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also _in power_, and in
the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; _as ye know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake_."

The blessed apostle was, in his daily life, the exponent of the gospel
which he preached. He _lived_ the gospel. He did not demand or exact
aught of them. He was not burdensome to them. He preached unto them
the precious gospel of God freely; and in order that he might do so,
he wrought with labor and travail, night and day. He was as a loving,
tender nurse, going in and out among them. There were with him no
high-sounding words about himself, or his office, or his authority, or
his gifts, or his preaching, or his wonderful doings in other places.
He was the loving, lowly, unpretending, earnest, devoted workman,
whose work spoke for itself, and whose whole life, his spirit, style,
deportment, and habits, were in lovely harmony with his preaching.

How needful for all workmen to ponder these things! We may depend upon
it that very much of the shallowness of our work is the fruit of the
shallowness of the workman. Where is the power? Where is the
demonstration of the Spirit? Where is the "much assurance?" Is there
not a terrible lack of these things in our preaching? There may be a
vast amount of fluent talking; a great deal of so-called cleverness;
and much that may tickle the ear, act on the imagination, awaken a
temporary interest, and minister to mere curiosity. But oh! where is
the holy unction, the living earnestness, the profound seriousness?
And then the living exponent in the daily life and habits--where is
this? May the Lord revive His work in the hearts of His workmen, and
then we may look for more of the results of the work.

Do we mean to teach that the work of conversion depends upon the
workman? Far away be the monstrous notion! The work depends wholly and
absolutely on the power of the Holy Ghost, as the very chapter now
lying open before us proves beyond all question. It must ever hold
good, in every department and every stage of the work, that it is "not
by might nor by power; but by My Spirit, saith the Lord."

But what kind of instrument does the Spirit ordinarily use? Is not
this a weighty question for us workmen? What sort of vessels are "meet
for the Master's use?" Empty vessels--clean vessels. Are we such? Are
we emptied of ourselves? Are we cured of our deplorable
self-occupation? Are we "clean?" Have we clean hands? Are our
associations, our ways, our circumstances, clean? If not, how can the
Master use us in His holy service? May we all have grace to weigh
these questions in the divine presence! May the Lord stir us all up,
and make us more and more vessels such as He can use for His glory!

We shall now proceed with our quotation. The whole passage is full of
power. The character of the workman on the one hand, and of the work
on the other, demands our most serious attention.

"And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the
word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: so that ye were
ensamples [or models] to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is spread
abroad; so that we need not to speak anything, for they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you."

This was real work. It carried its own credentials with it. There was
nothing vague or unsatisfactory about it--no occasion for any reserve
in forming or expressing a judgment respecting it. It was clear,
distinct, and unmistakable. It bore the stamp of the Master's hand,
and carried conviction to every mind capable of weighing the evidence.
The work of conversion was wrought, and the fruits of conversion
followed in delightful profusion. The testimony went forth far and
wide, so that the workman had no need to speak about his work. There
was no occasion for him to reckon up and publish the number of
conversions at Thessalonica. All was divinely real. It was a thorough
work of God's Spirit as to which there could be no possible mistake,
and about which it was superfluous to speak.

The apostle had simply preached the Word in the power of the Holy
Ghost, in much assurance. There was nothing vague, nothing doubtful
about his testimony. He preached as one who fully believed and
thoroughly entered into what he was preaching about. It was not the
mere fluent utterance of certain known and acknowledged truths--not
the cut and dry statement of certain barren dogmas. No; it was the
living outpouring of the glorious gospel of God, coming from a heart
that felt profoundly every utterance, and falling upon hearts prepared
by God's Spirit for its reception.

Such was the work at Thessalonica--a blessed divine work--all real,
the genuine fruit of God's Spirit. It was no mere religious
excitement, nothing sensational, no high pressure, no attempt to "get
up a revival." All was beautifully calm. The workman, as we are told
in Acts xvii., "came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the
Jews; and as his manner was, he went in unto them, and three sabbath
days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures"--Precious, powerful
reasoning! would to God we had more of it in our midst!--"opening and
alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from
the dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ."

How simple! Preaching Jesus out of the Scriptures! Yes, here lay the
grand secret of Paul's preaching. He preached a living Person, in
living power, on the authority of a living Word, and this preaching
was received in living faith, and brought forth living fruit, in the
lives of the converts. This is the preaching that God has ordained and
uses. It is not sermonizing, not religious talk, but the preaching of
Christ by the Holy Ghost speaking through men who are themselves under
the power of what they are preaching. God grant us more of this!




PART IV.


The last two verses of our chapter (1 Thess. i.) demand our very
special attention. They furnish a remarkable statement of the real
nature of conversion. They show, very distinctly, the depth,
clearness, fulness, and reality of the work of God's Spirit in those
Thessalonian converts. There was no mistaking it. It carried its own
credentials with it. It was no uncertain work. It did not call for any
careful examination ere it could be accredited. It was a manifest,
unmistakable work of God, the fruits of which were apparent to all.
"They themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto
you, and how _ye turned to God from idols_, to serve the living and
true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the
dead, Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come" (vers. 9, 10).

Here, then, we have a divine definition of conversion--brief, but
comprehensive. It is a turning _from_, and a turning _to_. They turned
from idols. There was a complete break with the past, a turning of the
back, once and forever, on their former life and habits; a thorough
surrender of all those objects that had ruled their hearts and
commanded their energies. Those dear Thessalonians were led to judge,
in the light of divine truth, their whole previous course, and not
only to judge it, but to abandon it unreservedly. It was no
half-and-half work. There was nothing vague or equivocal about it. It
was a marked epoch in their history--a grand turning-point in their
moral and practical career. It was not a mere change of opinion, or
the reception of a new set of principles, a certain alteration in
their intellectual views. It was far more than any or all of these
things. It was the solemn discovery that their whole past career had
been one great, dark, monstrous lie. It was the real heart conviction
of this. Divine light had broken in upon their souls, and in the power
of that light they judged themselves and the entire of their previous
history. There was an out-and-out surrender of that world which had
hitherto ruled their hearts' affections; not a shred of it was to be
spared.

And what, we may ask, produced this marvelous change? Simply the word
of God brought home to their souls in the mighty power of the Holy
Ghost. We have referred to the inspired account of the apostle's visit
to Thessalonica. We are told that "he reasoned with them out of the
Scriptures." He sought to bring their souls into direct contact with
the living and eternal word of God. There was no effort to act on
their feelings and imagination. All this the blessed workman judged to
be utterly valueless. He had no confidence whatever in it. His
confidence was in the word and Spirit of God. He assures the
Thessalonians of this very thing in the most touching manner, in chap.
ii. of his epistle. "For this cause," he says, "thank we God without
ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of
us, ye received it _not as the word of men_, but, as it is in truth,
_the word of God_, which effectually worketh also in you that
believe."

This is what we may call a vital and cardinal point. The word of God,
and that alone, in the mighty hand of the Holy Ghost, produced these
grand results in the case of the Thessalonians, which filled the heart
of the beloved apostle with unfeigned thanksgiving to God. He rejoiced
that they were not linked on to him, but to the living God Himself, by
means of His word. This is an imperishable link. It is as enduring as
the Word which forms it. The word of man is as perishable as himself;
but the word of the Lord endureth forever. The apostle, as a true
workman, understood and felt all this, and hence his holy jealousy, in
all his ministry, lest the souls to whom he preached should, in any
way, lean upon him instead of on the One whose messenger and minister
he was.

Hear what he says to the Corinthians: "And I, brethren, when I came
unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you _the testimony of God_. For I determined not to know anything
among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in
weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my
preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but _in
demonstration of the Spirit_ and of power; that your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but _in the power of God_" (1 Cor. ii.
1-5).

Here we have true ministry--"the testimony of God," and "the
demonstration of the Spirit"--the Word and the Holy Ghost. Nothing
else is of any value. All mere human influence, human power, and the
results produced by human wisdom or energy, are perfectly
worthless--yea, positively mischievous. The workman is puffed up by
the apparent results of his work paraded and talked of, and the poor
souls that are acted upon by this false influence are deceived, and
led into an utterly false position and false profession. In a word,
the whole thing is disastrous in the extreme.

Not so when the word of God, in its mighty moral power, and the energy
of the Holy Ghost, are brought to bear on the heart and conscience.
Then it is we see divine results, as in the case of the Thessalonians.
Then indeed it is made apparent, beyond all question, who is the
workman. It is not Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, but God Himself, whose
work accredits itself, and shall stand forever; all homage to His holy
name! The apostle had no need to reckon up and publish the results of
his work at Thessalonica, or rather God's work by his means. It spoke
for itself. It was genuine. It bore, with unmistakable distinctness,
the stamp of God upon it, and this was quite enough for Paul; and it
is quite enough for every true-hearted, self-emptied workman. Paul
preached the Word, and that Word was brought home, in the quickening
energy of the Holy Ghost, to the hearts of the Thessalonians. It fell
into good ground, took root, and brought forth fruit in abundance.

And let us mark the fruit. "_Ye turned from idols._" Here we have, in
one word, the whole life of every unconverted man, woman, or child on
the face of the earth. It is all wrapped up and presented to our view
in the one expression, "_idols_." It is not by any means necessary to
bow down to a stock or a stone in order to be an idolater. Whatever
commands the heart is an idol; the yielding of the heart to that thing
is idolatry, and the one who so yields it is an idolater. Such is the
plain, solemn truth in this matter, however unpalatable it may be to
the proud human heart. Take that one great, crying, universal sin of
"covetousness." What does the inspired apostle call it? He calls it
"idolatry." How many hearts are commanded by money! How many
worshipers bow down before the idol of gold! What is covetousness?
Either a desire to get more, or the love of what we have. We have both
forms in the New Testament. The Greek has a word to represent both.
But whether it be the desire to grasp, or the desire to hoard, in
either case it is idolatry.

And yet the two things may be very unlike in their outward
development. The former, that is, the desire to get more, may often be
found in connection with a readiness to spend; the latter, on the
contrary, is generally linked with an intense spirit of hoarding.
There, for example, is a man of great business capacity--a thorough
commercial genius--in whose hand everything seems to prosper. He has a
real zest for business, an unquenchable thirst for making money. His
one object is to get more, to add thousand to thousand, to strengthen
his commercial foundation, and enlarge his sphere. He lives, thrives,
and revels in the atmosphere of commerce. He started on his career
with a few pence in his pocket, and he has risen to the proud position
of a merchant prince. He is not a miser. He is as ready to scatter as
to obtain. He fares sumptuously, entertains with a splendid
hospitality, gives munificently to manifold public objects. He is
looked up to and respected by all classes of society.

But he loves to get more. He is a covetous man--an idolater. True, he
despises the poor miser who spends his nights over his money-bags,
"holding strange communion with his gold;" delighting his heart and
feasting his eyes with the very sight of the fascinating dust,
refusing himself and his family the common necessaries of life; going
about in rags and wretchedness, rather than spend a penny of the
precious hoard; who loves money, not for what it can get or give, but
simply for its own sake; who loves to accumulate, not that he may
spend, but that he may hoard; whose one ruling desire is to die worth
so much wretched dust--strange, contemptible desire!

Now these two are apparently very different, but they meet in one
point; they stand on one common platform; they are both covetous, and
they are both idolaters.[1] This may sound harsh and severe, but it
is the truth of God, and we must bow down before its holy authority.
True it is that nothing is apparently more difficult to bring home to
the conscience than the sin of covetousness--that very sin which the
Holy Ghost declares to be idolatry. Thousands might see it in the case
of the poor degraded miser, who nevertheless would be shocked by its
application to a merchant prince. It is one thing to see it in others,
and quite another to judge it in ourselves. The fact is, that nothing
but the light of the word of God shining in upon the soul, and
penetrating every chamber of our moral being, can enable us to detect
the hateful sin of covetousness. The pursuit of gain--the desire to
have more--the spirit of commerce--the ability to make money--the
desire to get on--all this is so "highly esteemed amongst men," that
very few, comparatively, are prepared to see that it is positively "an
abomination in the sight of God." The natural heart is formed by the
thoughts of men. It loves, adores and worships the objects that it
finds in this world; and each heart has its own idol. One worships
gold, another worships pleasure, another worships power. Every
unconverted man is an idolater; and even converted men are not beyond
the reach of idolatrous influences, as is evident from the warning
note raised by the venerable apostle, "Little children, keep
yourselves from idols" (1 John v. 21).

  [1] The two Greek words to which we have alluded in the text are,
  {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} (pleonexia--the desire to get more), and
  {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} (philarguria--the love of money). Now it is the
  former that occurs in Col. iii. 5--"Covetousness, which is idolatry;"
  and there it stands in the terrible category with some of the very vilest
  sins that stain the pages of human history.

Reader, will you permit us to put a plain, pointed question to you,
ere we proceed further? Are you converted? Do you profess to be so? Do
you take the ground of being a Christian? If so, have you turned from
idols? Have you really broken with the world, and with your former
self? Has the living word of God entered your heart, and led you to
judge the whole of your past life, whether it has been a life of
gayety and thoughtless folly, a life of busy money-making, a life of
abominable vice and wickedness, or a life of mere religious
routine--Christless, faithless, worthless religion?

Say, dear friend, how is it? Be thoroughly in earnest. Be assured
there is an urgent demand for out-and-out earnestness in this matter.
We cannot hide from you the fact that we are painfully conscious of
the sad lack of thorough decision amongst us. We have not, with
sufficient emphasis or distinctness, "turned from idols." Old habits
are retained; former lusts and objects rule the heart. The temper,
style, spirit and deportment do not bespeak conversion. We are sadly
too like our former selves--too like the openly and confessedly
worldly people around us.

All this is really terrible. We fear it is a sad hindrance to the
progress of the gospel and the salvation of souls. The testimony falls
powerless on the ears of those to whom we speak, because we do not
seem as though we ourselves really believe what we are talking about.
The apostle could not say to us, as he said to his dear Thessalonian
converts, "From you sounded out the word of the Lord ... so that we
need not to speak anything." There is a want of depth, power and
markedness in our conversion. The change is not sufficiently apparent.
Even where there is a work, there is a tameness, feebleness and
vagueness about it truly deplorable and discouraging.

But more of this in our next, if the Lord will.




PART V.


We are now called to consider what we may term the positive side of
the great subject of conversion. We have seen that it is a turning
_from_ idols--a turning from all those objects which ruled our hearts
and engaged our affections--the vanities and follies, the lusts and
pleasures which made up the whole of our existence in the days of our
darkness and blindness. It is, as we read in Acts xxvi. 18, a turning
_from_ darkness, and from the power of Satan; and, as we read in Gal.
i. 4, a turning _from_ this present evil world.

But conversion is much more than all this. It would, in one sense, be
but a poor thing if it were merely a turning "_from_ sin, the world,
and Satan." No doubt it is a signal mercy to be delivered, once and
forever, from all the wretchedness and moral degradation of our former
life; from the terrible thraldom of the god and prince of this world;
from all the hollowness and vanity of a world that lieth in the arms
of the wicked one; and from the love and practice of sin--the vile
affections which once held sway over us. We cannot be too thankful for
all that is included in this side of the question.

But, we repeat, there is very much more than this. The heart may feel
disposed to inquire, "What have we gotten in lieu of all we have given
up? Is Christianity merely a system of negations? If we have broken
with the world and self--if we have given up our former pleasures and
amusements--if, in short, we have turned our back upon what goes to
make up life in this world, what have we instead?"

1 Thessalonians i. 9 furnishes, in one word, the answer to all these
inquiries--an answer full, clear, distinct, and comprehensive. Here it
is--"Ye turned to GOD."

Precious answer! Yes, unspeakably precious to all who know aught of
its meaning. What have I got instead of my former "idols?" God!
Instead of this world's vain and sinful pleasures? God! Instead of its
riches, honors, and distinctions? God! Oh, blessed, glorious, perfect
Substitute! What had the prodigal instead of the rags of the far
country? The best robe in the Father's house! Instead of the swine's
husks? The fatted calf of the Father's providing! Instead of the
degrading servitude of the far country? The Father's welcome, his
bosom, and his table!

Reader, is not this a blessed exchange? Have we not, in the familiar,
but ever charming history of the prodigal a most touching and
impressive illustration of true conversion in both its sides? May we
not well exclaim, as we gaze on the inimitable picture, "What a
conversion! What a turning from and turning to!" Who can utter it?
What human tongue can adequately set forth the feelings of the
returned wanderer when pressed to the Father's bosom and bathed in the
light and love of the Father's house? The rags, the husks, the swine,
the slavery, the cold selfishness, the destitution, the famine, the
misery, the moral degradation--all gone, and gone forever; and instead
thereof the ineffable delight of that bright and happy home, and,
above all, the exquisite feeling that all that festive joy which
surrounded him was wakened up by the very fact of his return--that it
made the Father glad to get him back!

But we shall, perhaps, be told that all this is but a figure. Yes; but
a figure of what? Of a precious, a divine reality; a figure of what
takes place in every instance of true conversion, if only it be looked
at from a heavenly standpoint. It is not a mere surrender of the
world, with its thousand and one vanities and follies. It is this, no
doubt; but it is very much more. It is being brought to God, _brought
home_, brought to the Father's bosom, brought into the family;
made--not in the language of a barren formulary, but in the power of
the Spirit, and by the mighty action of the Word--a child of God, a
member of Christ, and an heir of the kingdom.

This, and nothing less, is conversion. Let the reader see that he
thoroughly understands it. Let him not be satisfied with anything
short of this grand reality--this turning from darkness to light, from
the power of Satan, and from the worship of idols, to God. The
Christian is, in one sense, as really brought to God now as if he were
actually in heaven. This may seem strong, but it is blessedly true.
Hear what the apostle Peter says as to this point: "Christ hath once
suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to"--what?
Heaven when we die? Nay; but "to bring us to God" _now_. So, also, in
Rom. v. we read, "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be
saved by His life! And not only so, but we also _joy in God_, through
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the
reconciliation."

This is an immense principle. It is not within the compass of human
language to set forth all that is involved in being "turned," or
"brought to God." Our adorable Lord Jesus Christ brings all who
believe in His name into God's presence, in all His own perfect
acceptability. They come in all the credit, and virtue, and value of
the blood of Jesus, and in all the fragrance of His most excellent
name. He brings us into the very same position with Himself. He links
us with Himself, and shares with us all He has, and all He is, save
His Deity, which is incommunicable. We are perfectly identified with
Him. "Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see
Me; _because I live, ye shall live also_." Again, "Peace I leave with
you, _my peace I give unto you_; not as the world giveth, give I unto
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." "These
things have I spoken unto you, that _my joy might remain in you_, and
that your joy might be full." "Henceforth I call you not servants, for
the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you
friends, for _all things that I have heard of my Father I have made
known unto you._"

So, also, in that marvelous prayer in John xvii., we read, "I have
given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me; and they have received
them, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have
believed that Thou didst send Me. I pray for them; I pray not for the
world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And
all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in them."
"I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because
_they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." "As Thou
hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the
world." "And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that
they may be one, even as We are one_: I in them, and Thou in Me, that
they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou
hast sent Me, _and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me_. Father, _I
will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am_;
that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me; for thou
lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the
world hath not known Thee, but I have known Thee, and these have known
that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared unto them Thy name, and
will declare it; that _the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in
them, and I in them_."

Now it is utterly impossible to conceive anything higher or more
blessed than this. To be so thoroughly identified with the Son of God,
to be so wholly one with Him as to share in the very same love
wherewith He is loved by the Father, to partake of His peace, His joy,
His glory--all this involves the very highest possible measure and
character of blessing with which any creature could be endowed. To be
saved from the everlasting horrors of the pit of hell; to be pardoned,
washed, and justified; to be reinstated in all that Adam lost; to be
let into heaven on any ground or in any character whatsoever, would be
marvelous mercy, goodness, and loving-kindness; but to be brought to
God in all the love and favor of His own beloved Son, to be intimately
associated with Him in all His position before God--His acceptability
now--His glory by and by--this, truly, is something which only the
heart of God could think of, and only His mighty power accomplish.

Well, reader, all this is involved in the conversion whereof we speak.
Such is the magnificent grace of God, such the love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, enemies in our
minds by wicked works, serving divers lusts and pleasures, worshiping
idols, the blind, degraded slaves of sin and Satan, children of wrath,
and going straight to hell.

And the best of it all is, that it both glorifies the name and
gratifies the heart of God to bring us into this place of
inconceivable blessedness, love, and glory. It would not satisfy the
love of His heart to give us any lower place than that of His own Son.
Well might the inspired apostle exclaim, in view of all this
stupendous grace, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ; according as He hath chosen us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before Him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of
His will, _to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath
made us accepted in the Beloved_, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His
grace" (Eph. i.).

What depth of love, what fulness of blessing, have we here! It is the
purpose of God to glorify Himself, throughout the countless ages of
eternity, in His dealings with us. He will display, in view of all
created intelligences, the riches of His grace, in His kindness toward
us, by Christ Jesus. Our forgiveness, our justification, our perfect
deliverance, our acceptance--all the blessings bestowed upon us in
Christ--are for the display of the divine glory throughout the vast
universe forever. It would not meet the claims of God's glory, or
answer the affections of His heart, to have us in any other position
but that of His own well-beloved and only begotten Son.

All this is marvelous. It seems too good to be true. But it is worthy
of God, and it is His good pleasure so to act toward us. This is
enough for us. It may be, and most assuredly is, too good for us to
get, but it is not too good for God to give. He acts toward us
according to the love of His heart, and on the ground of the
worthiness of Christ. The prodigal might ask to be made as one of the
hired servants, but this could not be. It would not be according to
the Father's heart to have him in the house as a servant. It must be
as a son or not at all. If it were a question of desert, we do not
deserve the place of a servant any more than that of a son. But,
blessed be God, it is not according to our deserts at all, but
according to the boundless love of His heart, and to the glory of His
holy name.

This, then, is conversion. Thus we are _brought to God_. Nothing short
of this. We are not merely turned from our idols, whatever they were,
but we are actually brought into the very presence of God, to find our
delight in Him, to joy in Him, to walk with Him, to find all our
springs in Him, to draw upon His exhaustless resources, to find in Him
a perfect answer to all our necessities, so that our souls are
satisfied, and that forever.

Do we want to go back to the idols? Never! Have we any hankering after
our former objects? Not if our hearts are realizing our place and
portion in Christ. Had the prodigal any longings after the husks and
the swine when folded in the father's bosom, clothed in the father's
house, and seated at the father's table? We do not, and cannot,
believe it. We cannot imagine his heaving a single sigh after the far
country when once he found himself within the hallowed circle of that
bright and blissful home of love.

We speak according to the divine standard. Alas! alas! many profess to
be converted, and seem to go on for a season; but ere long they begin
to grow cold, and get weary and dissatisfied. The work was not real.
They were not really brought to God. Idols may have been given up for
a time, but God Himself was never reached. They never found in Him a
satisfying portion for their hearts--never knew the real meaning of
communion with Him--never tasted heart-satisfaction, heart-rest, in
Christ. Hence, in process of time, the poor heart began to long once
more for the world, and back they went, and plunged into its follies
and vanities with greater avidity than ever.

Such cases are very sad, very disappointing. They bring great reproach
on the cause of Christ, and are used as a plea for the enemy, and as a
stumbling-block for anxious inquirers. But they leave the question of
divine conversion just where it was. The soul that is truly converted
is one who has not merely been turned from this present evil world,
and all its promises and pretensions, but who has been led by the
precious ministry of the Holy Ghost to find in the living God, and in
His Son Jesus Christ, all he can possibly want for time and eternity.
Such an one has divinely done with the world. He has broken with it
forever. He has had his eyes opened to see, through and through, the
whole thing. He has judged it in the light of the presence of God. He
has measured it by the standard of the cross of Christ. He has weighed
it in the balances of the sanctuary, and turned his back upon it
forever, to find an absorbing and a commanding object in the Person of
that blessed One who was nailed to the accursed tree, in order to
deliver him, not only from everlasting burnings, but also from this
present evil world.




PART VI.


The more we dwell on 1 Thess. i. 9, the more we are struck with its
marvelous depth, fulness, and power. It seems like sinking a shaft
into an inexhaustible mine. We have dwelt a little on that very
fruitful and suggestive clause, "_Turned to God from idols_." How much
is wrapped up in it! Do we really understand the force and fulness of
it? It is a wonderful thing for the soul to be brought to God--to know
Him now as our resource in all our weakness and need--the spring of
all our joys--our strength and shield--our Guide and Counsellor--our
all in all--to be absolutely and completely shut up to Him, wholly
dependent upon Him.

Reader, do you know the deep blessedness of all this in your own soul?
If you are a child of God, a truly converted soul, then it is your
happy privilege to know it, and you ought not to be satisfied without
it. If we are "turned to God," what is it for but to find in Him all
we can possibly want for time and eternity? Nothing can ever satisfy
the human soul but God Himself. It is not within the compass of earth
to meet the cravings of the heart. If we had the wealth of the
universe, and all that that wealth could procure, the heart would
still want more; there would still be an aching void which nothing
under the sun could fill.

Look at the history of Solomon. Hear him recording his own experience.
"I, the preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem; and I gave my
heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are
done under heaven; this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men
to be exercised therewith. I have seen all the works that are done
under the sun, and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That
which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting
cannot be numbered. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am
come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that
have been before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart had great experience
of wisdom and knowledge. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to
know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is vexation of
spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth
knowledge increaseth sorrow. I said in my heart, Go to, now, I will
prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure; and behold, this also
is vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad, and of mirth, what doeth it?
I sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart
with wisdom, and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that
good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all
the days of their life. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I
planted me vineyards; I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted
trees in them of all kind of fruits; I made me pools of water, to
water there with the wood that bringeth forth trees. I got me servants
and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also, I had great
possessions of great and small cattle, above all that were in
Jerusalem before me. I gathered me also silver and gold, and the
peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men singers
and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical
instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more
than all that were before me in Jerusalem; also, my wisdom remained
with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I
withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my
labor; and this was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all
the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had
labored to do; and behold, _all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and
there was no profit under the sun_" (Eccle. i., ii.).

Such is the withering commentary upon all earth's resources as given
by the pen of one who had all that earth could give--of one who was
allowed to drain to the very dregs every cup of human and earthly
pleasure. And what was it all? "Vanity and vexation of spirit." "All
things are full of labor; man cannot utter it; the eye is not
satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing." The poor
human heart can never be satisfied with the resources of earth.
Creature streams can never quench the thirst of the immortal soul.
Material things cannot possibly make us truly happy, even if they were
permanent. "All is vanity and vexation of spirit."

The truth of this must be proved by every human heart. Sooner or later
all must find it out. Men may turn a deaf ear to it now; they may
refuse to listen to the Spirit's warning voice; they may vainly
imagine that this poor world can yield them substantial comfort and
happiness; they may eagerly grasp at its riches, its honors, its
distinctions, its pleasures, its material comforts; but they will find
out their mistake. And oh, how dreadful to find it out _too late_! How
terrible to open one's eyes in hell, like the rich man in the parable!
What human language can set forth the horrors of a soul shut out
forever from the presence of God, and consigned to outer darkness, to
the place of weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth? It is
overwhelming to think of it. What will it be to realize it? What will
it be to find oneself in the tormenting flames of hell, at the other
side of that impassable gulf where a single ray of hope can never
break through the deep gloom of eternity?

Oh that men would think of all this in time! that they might flee from
the wrath to come, and lay hold on the blessed hope set before them in
the gospel; that they might "turn to God." But alas! the god of this
world blinds their minds, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine into them. He engrosses
them with present things--business, money-making, pleasures, cares,
lusts, anything and everything but the one thing, in comparison with
which all earthly things are but as the small dust of the balance.

But we have digressed from our special theme, to which we must return.

We are particularly anxious to press upon the Christian reader the
immense importance of seeking to find all his resources in the living
God. We have only for a moment turned aside from this point, in order
to sound a warning note in the ear of any unconverted, careless one
who may happen to take up this paper. We earnestly entreat the latter
to turn to God. We entreat the former to seek a deeper acquaintance
with the One to whom, by grace, he has turned. We have the two things
before us in penning these papers on the great subject of
"conversion." We can truly say, we long to see precious souls
converted to God, and we long to see converted souls happy in God.

We are increasingly convinced of the practical importance of
Christians proving in their daily life that they have found thorough
rest of heart in God. It has immense weight with worldly people. It is
a grand point gained when we are able, through grace, to tell the
world that we are independent of it; and the only way to do this is to
live in the abiding sense of what we have in God. This would impart a
moral elevation to our entire course and character. It would deliver
us completely from that strong tendency to lean on human props and to
betake ourselves to creature streams which we have all more or less to
lament, and which must assuredly issue in disappointment to us and
dishonor to God.

How prone we are on all occasions to look to our fellow-men for
sympathy, succor and counsel instead of looking directly and
exclusively to God! This is a serious mistake. It is in principle to
forsake the Fountain of living waters, and hew out for ourselves
broken cisterns which can hold no water. What can we expect? What must
be the issue? Barrenness and desolation. Our God, in very faithfulness
to us, will cause our fellow-man to fail us, in order that we may
learn the folly of leaning upon an arm of flesh.

Hear what the prophet says on this great practical question: "Thus
saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh
flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall
be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh,
but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt
land, and not inhabited."

But mark the contrast. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord,
and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the
waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not
see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be
careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit" (Jer. xvii.).

O reader, it is a grand reality to lean on the arm of the living
God--to find in Him our relief and our resource at all times, in all
places, and under all circumstances. He never fails a trusting heart.
He will never disappoint us. He may see fit to keep us waiting for an
answer to our call, but the time we spend in waiting is well spent,
and when the answer comes our hearts are filled with praise, and we
are able to say, "Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid
up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that
trust in Thee before the sons of men" (Psa. xxxi. 19).

It is a great thing to be able to trust God before the sons of men, to
confess His sufficiency for our every exigence. But it must be a
reality, and not mere profession. It is no use to talk of leaning on
God while at the same time we are, in one way or another, looking to
some poor mortal to help us. This is a sad delusion. But, alas! how
often we fall under its power! We adopt the language of dependence
upon God, but in reality we are looking to man, and letting him know
our wants. We deceive ourselves and dishonor God, and the end is
disappointment and confusion of face.

Reader, let us look closely and honestly at this matter. Let us see to
it that we understand the meaning of those precious words, "Turned to
God." They contain the very essence of true happiness and true
holiness. When the heart is really turned to God it has found the
true, the divine secret of peace, rest, and full satisfaction; it
finds its all in God, and has no occasion whatever to turn to the
creature. Am I in any perplexity? I can look to God for guidance. He
has promised to guide me with His eye. What perfect guidance! Can man
do better for me? Surely not. God sees the end from the beginning. He
knows all the bearings, all the belongings, all the roots and issues
of my case. He is an infallible guide. His wisdom is unerring, and,
moreover, He loves me perfectly. Where could I find a better guide?

Am I in want? I can go to God about it. He is the Possessor of heaven
and earth. The treasures of the universe are at His disposal. He can
help me if He sees it to be good for me; and if not, the pressure will
be much better for me than the relief. "My God shall supply all your
need, according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus." Is not this
enough? Why look to a creature stream? Why turn from such a God and go
with our wants to a human being? It is in reality giving up, so far,
the ground of faith, the life of simple dependence on God. It is
actually dishonoring our Father. If I apply to my fellow for help, it
is tantamount to saying that God has failed me. It is really betraying
my loving Father who has taken me up, body, soul and spirit, to do for
me for time and eternity. He has pledged Himself to provide for all my
wants, be they ever so many, ever so great, ever so varied. "He that
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He
not, with Him, also _freely_ give us _all things_?" His word is, "Call
upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt
glorify Me."

True, God uses the creature to meet our need; but this is a totally
different matter. The blessed apostle could say, "God who comforteth
those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus." Paul
was looking to God for comfort, and God sent Titus to comfort him. Had
Paul been looking to Titus, he would have been disappointed.

Thus it is in every case. Our immediate and exclusive reference must
be to God in all our need. "We have turned _to God_ from idols;" and
hence in every exigence He is our sure resource. We can go to Him for
counsel, for succor, for guidance, for sympathy, for all. "My soul,
wait thou _only_ upon God, for my expectation is from Him. He _only_
is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be moved."

Will this most blessed habit of looking only to God lead us to
undervalue the channels through which His precious grace flows to us?
The very reverse. How could I undervalue one who comes to me directly
from God, as His manifest instrument, to meet my need? Impossible. But
I value him as a channel, instead of applying to him as a source. This
makes all the difference. We must never forget that true conversion
means our being brought to God; and most surely, if we are brought to
God, it is in order that we should find in Him a perfect covering for
our eyes, a perfect object for the heart, a perfect resource in all
our exigencies, from first to last. A truly converted soul is one who
is turned from all creature confidences, human hopes, and earthly
expectations, to find all he wants in the living and true God, and
that forever.




PART VII.


We are now called to consider a deeply practical point in our subject.
It is contained in the clause, "_To serve the living and true God_."
This is full of interest to every truly converted soul, every true
Christian. We are called "to serve." Our whole life, from the moment
of our conversion to the close of our earthly career, should be
characterized by a spirit of true, earnest, intelligent service. This
is our high privilege, not to say our hallowed duty. It matters not
what our sphere of action may be, what our line of life, or what our
calling; when we are converted, we have just got one thing to do,
namely, to serve God. If there be anything in our calling which is
contrary to the revealed will of God--contrary to the direct teaching
of His word--then we must at once abandon it, cost what it may. The
very first step of an obedient servant is to step out of a false
position, be it what it may.

We are called to serve God, and everything must be tried by this
standard. The Christian has to ask himself this one question, "Can I
fulfil the duties of this situation to the glory of God?" If not, he
must abandon it. If we cannot connect the name of God with our calling
in life, then, assuredly, if we want to walk with God, if we aim at
serving Him, if it be our one desire to be found well-pleasing in His
sight, then we must give up that calling and look to Him to open some
path for us in which we can walk to His praise.

This He will do, blessed be His name. He never fails a trusting soul.
All we have to do is to cleave to Him with purpose of heart, and He
will make the way plain before us. It may seem difficult at first. The
path may appear narrow, rough, lonely; but our simple business is to
stand for God, and not to continue for one hour in connection with
anything contrary to His revealed will. A tender conscience, a single
eye, a devoted heart, will settle many a question, solve many a
difficulty, remove many a barrier. Indeed, the very instincts of the
divine nature, if only they be allowed to act, will guide in many a
perplexity. "The light of the body is the eye; therefore, when thine
eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light." When the purpose
of the heart is true to Christ, true to His name and cause, true to
the service of God, the Holy Spirit opens up the precious treasures of
divine revelation to the soul, and pours a flood of living light upon
the understanding, so that we see the path of service as clear as a
sunbeam before us, and we have only got to tread it with a firm step.

But we must never, for one moment, lose sight of the grand fact that
we are converted to the service of God. The outcome of the life which
we possess must ever take the form of service to the living and true
God. In our unconverted days we worshiped idols, and served divers
lusts and pleasures; now, on the contrary, we worship God in the
Spirit, and we are called to serve Him with all our ransomed powers.
We have turned to God, to find in Him our perfect rest and
satisfaction. There is not a single thing in the entire range of a
creature's necessities, for time and eternity, that we cannot find in
our own most gracious God and Father. He has treasured up in Christ,
the Son of His love, all that can satisfy the desires of the new life
in us. It is our privilege to have Christ dwelling in our hearts by
faith, and to be so rooted and grounded in love as to be able to
comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth,
and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that we may be filled with all the fulness of God.

Thus filled, satisfied and strengthened, we are called to dedicate
ourselves, spirit, soul and body, to the service of Christ; to be
steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. We
should have nothing else to do in this world. Whatever cannot be done
as service to Christ ought not to be done at all. This simplifies the
matter amazingly. It is our sweet privilege to do everything in the
name of the Lord Jesus, and to the glory of God. We sometimes hear
people speak of "a secular calling," as contrasted with what is
"sacred." We question the correctness of such a distinction. Paul made
tents and planted churches, but in both he served the Lord Christ. All
that a Christian does ought to be sacred, because it is done as
service to God. If this were borne in mind, it would enable us to
connect the very simplest duties of daily life with the Lord Himself,
and to bring Him into them in such a way as to impart a holy dignity
and interest to all that we have to do, from morning till night. In
this way, instead of finding the duties of our calling a hindrance to
our communion with God, we should actually make them an occasion of
waiting on Him for wisdom and grace to discharge them aright, so that
His holy name might be glorified in the most minute details of
practical life.

The fact is that the service of God is a much simpler matter than some
of us imagine. It does not consist in doing some wonderful things
beyond the bounds of our divinely appointed sphere of action. Take the
case of a domestic servant. How can she serve the living and true God?
She cannot go about visiting and talking. Her sphere of action lies in
the shade and retirement of her master's house. Were she to run about
from house to house, she would be actually neglecting her proper work,
her divinely appointed business. Harken to the following sound and
wholesome words: "Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own
masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again:
not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the
doctrine of God our Saviour in all things" (Titus ii. 9, 10).

Here we see that the servant, by obedience, humility and honesty can
adorn the doctrine of God just as effectually, according to her
measure, as an evangelist ranging the world over in the discharge of
his high and holy commission.

Again, we read, "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters
according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your
heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as
_the servants of Christ_, doing the will of God from the heart; with
good-will doing _service_, as to the Lord, and not to men; knowing
that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of
the Lord, whether he be bond or free" (Eph. vi.).

How lovely is all this! What a fine field of service is opened up for
us here! How beautiful this "fear and trembling!" Where do we see it
nowadays? Where is the holy subjection to authority? Where the
singleness of eye? Where the willing-hearted service? Alas! we see
headiness and high-mindedness, self-will, self-pleasing, and
self-interest. How must all these things dishonor the Lord, and grieve
His Holy Spirit! How needful that our souls should be roused to a
sense of what becomes us as those who are called to serve the living
and true God! Is it not a signal mercy to every true Christian to know
that he can serve and glorify God in the most commonplace domestic
duties? If it were not so, what would become of ninety-nine out of
every hundred Christians?

We have taken up the case of an ordinary domestic servant in order to
illustrate that special line of practical truth now under our
consideration. Is it not most blessed for us to know that our God
graciously condescends to connect His name and His glory with the very
humblest duties that can devolve upon us in our ordinary domestic
life? It is this which imparts dignity, interest and freshness to
every little act, from morning till night. "Whatsoever ye do, do it
_heartily_, as unto the Lord, and not unto men." Here lies the
precious secret of the whole matter. It is not working for wages, but
serving the Lord Christ, and looking to Him to receive the reward of
the inheritance.

Oh that all this were more fully realized and illustrated amongst us!
What moral elevation it would give to the entire Christian life! What
a triumphant answer it would furnish to the infidel! What a withering
rebuke to all his sneers and cavils! Better by far than ten thousand
learned arguments. There is no argument so forcible as an earnest,
devoted, holy, happy, self-sacrificing Christian life, and this life
can be displayed by one whose sphere of action is bounded by the four
walls of a kitchen.[2]

  [2] It is remarkable that both in Eph. vi. and Col. iii. the address
  to servants is far more elaborate than to any of the other classes. In
  Titus ii. servants are specially singled out. There is no address to
  husbands, none to masters, none to children. We do not attempt to
  account for this, but we cannot help noticing it as a very interesting
  fact; and most assuredly it teaches us what a very important place is
  assigned in Christianity to one who, in those early days of the
  Church's history, occupied the place of a slave. The Holy Ghost took
  special pains to instruct such an one as to how he was to carry
  himself in his most trying sphere of work. The poor slave might think
  himself shut out from the service of God. So far from this, he is
  sweetly taught that by simply doing his duty as in the sight of God he
  could adorn the doctrine of God his Saviour, and bring glory to the
  name of Jesus. Nothing can exceed the grace that shines in this.

And not only does the practical life of a true Christian afford the
very best possible answer to the skeptic and the infidel, but it also
meets in a most satisfactory manner the objections of those who talk
about works, and insist upon putting Christians under the law, in
order to teach them how to live. When people challenge us as to our
not preaching up works, we simply ask them, "For what should we preach
works?" The unconverted man cannot do any works, save "wicked works,"
or "dead works." "They that are in the flesh"--unconverted
people--"cannot please God." Of what possible use can it be to preach
works to such? It can only cast dust in their eyes, blind their minds,
deceive their hearts, and send them down to hell with a lie in their
right hand.

_There must be genuine conversion to God._ This is a divine work from
first to last. And what has the converted man got to do? He certainly
has not to work for life, because he has it, even life eternal, as
God's free gift, through Jesus Christ our Lord. He has not to work for
salvation, because he is saved already--"saved in the Lord with an
everlasting salvation." What, then, is he called to do? "To serve the
living and true God." How? When? Where? In everything; at all times,
and in all places. The converted man has nothing else to do but to
serve God. If he does anything else, he is positively untrue,
unfaithful to that blessed Lord and Master who, ere ever He called him
to serve, endowed him with the life, and the grace, and the power,
whereby alone the service can be rendered.

Yes, reader, the Christian is called to serve. Let us never forget
this. He is privileged to "present his body as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God, which is his reasonable (his intelligent)
service." This settles the whole question. It removes all
difficulties; it silences all objections; it puts everything in its
right place. It is not a question of what I am doing, but how I do
it--not where I am, but how I conduct myself. Christianity as
displayed in the New Testament is the outcome of the life of Christ in
the believer; it is Christ reproduced in the Christian's daily life,
by the power of the Holy Ghost. Everything the Christian touches,
everything he does, everything he says, his whole practical life, from
Lord's-day morning till Saturday night, should bear the impress and
breathe the spirit of that great practical clause on which we have
been dwelling--"serving the living and true God." May it be so more
and more! May all the Lord's beloved people, everywhere, be really
stirred up to seek more earnest, out-and-out, whole-hearted
devotedness to Christ and His precious service!




PART VIII


The last words of our chapter--1 Thess. i.--now claim our attention.
They furnish a very striking and forcible proof of the clearness,
fulness, depth and comprehensiveness of the apostle's testimony at
Thessalonica, and also of the brightness and reality of the work in
the young converts in that place. It was not only that they turned
from idols to God, to serve the living and true God. This, through
grace, they did; and that, too, with uncommon power, freshness, and
fervor.

But there was something more; and we may assert, with all possible
confidence, that there would have been a grand defect in the
conversion and in the Christianity of those beloved disciples if that
had been lacking. _They were converted "to wait for the Son of God
from the heavens."_

Let the reader give to this very weighty fact his most devout
attention. The bright and blessed hope of the Lord's coming formed an
integral part of the gospel which Paul preached, and of the
Christianity of those who were converted by his ministry. That blessed
servant preached a full gospel. He not only declared that the Son of
God had come into the world to accomplish the great work of
redemption, and lay the everlasting foundation of the divine glory and
counsels, but that He had gone back to the heavens, and taken His
seat as the victorious, exalted and glorified Man, at the right hand
of the throne of God; and that He is coming again; first, to receive
His people to Himself, and conduct them into the very innermost circle
of His Father's house--the place prepared for them: and then to come
forth _with_ them, to execute judgment upon His enemies--gather out of
His kingdom all that offend, and all that do iniquity, and set up His
glorious dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of
the earth.

All this was included in the precious gospel which Paul preached, and
which the Thessalonian converts received. We find an indirect but very
interesting intimation of this in a passage in Acts xvii., where the
inspired writer records what the infidel Jews thought and said about
the apostle's preaching. "But the Jews which believed not, moved with
envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and
gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted
the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And
when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto
the rulers of the city, crying, _These that have turned the world
upside down_ are come hither also; whom Jason hath received; and these
all do contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, _saying that there is another
king, Jesus_."

Such were the ideas which these poor, ignorant, prejudiced unbelievers
gathered from the preaching of the Lord's beloved servants; and we can
see in them the elements of great and solemn truths--the complete
upturning of the present system of things, and the establishment of
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. "I will
overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until He
come whose right it is; and I will give it Him" (Ezek. xxi. 27).

But not only did the Lord's coming and kingdom occupy a prominent
place in the _preaching_ of the apostle, it also shines brilliantly
forth in all his _teaching_. Not only were the Thessalonians converted
to this blessed hope, they were built up, established and led on in
it. They were taught to live in the brightness of it every hour of the
day. It was not a dry, barren dogma, to be received and held as part
of a powerless, worthless creed; it was a living reality, a mighty
moral power in the soul--a precious, purifying, sanctifying, elevating
hope, detaching the heart completely from present things, and causing
it to look out, moment by moment--yes, reader, we repeat it with
emphasis, moment by moment--for the return of our beloved Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, who loved us, and gave Himself for us.

It is interesting to notice that in the two epistles to the
Thessalonians there is far more allusion to the Lord's coming than in
all the other epistles put together. This is all the more remarkable
inasmuch as they were the very earliest of Paul's epistles, and they
were written to an assembly very young in the faith.

If the reader will just glance rapidly through these two most precious
writings, he will find the hope of the Lord's return introduced in
every one of the eight chapters, and in connection with all sorts of
subjects. For example, in chap. i. we have it presented as the grand
object to be ever kept before the Christian's heart, let his position
or his relationship be what it may--the brilliant light shining at the
end of his long pilgrimage through this dark and toilsome world. "Ye
turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God; and to
wait for"--what? The time of their death? No such thing, no allusion
to such a thing. Death, for the believer, is abolished, and is never
presented as the object of his hope. For what, then, were the
Thessalonian disciples taught to wait? "For God's Son from heaven,
whom He raised from the dead."

And then mark the beauteous addition! "Jesus, which delivered us from
the wrath to come." This is the Person for whom we are waiting; our
precious Saviour; our great Deliverer; the One who undertook our
desperate case; who took, on our behalf, the cup of wrath from the
hand of infinite Justice and exhausted it forever; who cleared the
prospect of every cloud, so that we can gaze upward into heaven, and
onward into eternity, and see nothing but the brightness and
blessedness of His own love and glory, as our happy home throughout
the everlasting ages.

Oh, beloved Christian reader, how blessed to be looking out, morning,
noon, eventide, and midnight, for the coming of our gracious
Deliverer! What a holy reality to be ever waiting for the return of
our own loving and beloved Saviour and Lord! How separating and
elevating, as we rise each morning to start on our daily course of
duty--whatever that duty may be, whether the scrubbing of a floor or
the preaching of the gospel--to cherish the bright and blessed hope
that, ere the shades of evening gather round us, we may be summoned to
ascend in the folds of the cloud of glory to meet our coming Lord!

Is this the dream of a wild fanatic or a visionary enthusiast? Nay, it
is an imperishable truth, resting on the very same foundation that
sustains the entire fabric of our most glorious Christianity. Is it
true that the Son of God has trod this earth of ours in the person of
Jesus of Nazareth? Is it true that He lived and labored here, amid the
sins and sorrows of poor, fallen humanity? Is it true that He sighed,
and wept, and groaned, under the sense of the widespread desolation
which sin had wrought in this world? Is it true that He went to the
cross, and there offered Himself without spot to God, in order to
vindicate the Divine Majesty; to answer all the claims of the throne
of God; to destroy all the works of the devil; to make a public show
of all the powers of hell; to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself; to bear the sins of all those who, from the beginning to the
end of time, should, through grace, believe in His name? Is it true
that He lay for three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth, and on the first day of the week rose triumphant from the
grave, as the Head of the new creation, and ascended into the heavens,
after He had been seen by at least five hundred witnesses? Is it true
that fifty days after His resurrection He sent down the Holy Ghost, in
order to fill and fit His apostles to be His witnesses to the ends of
the earth? Is it true that from the day of Pentecost to this very hour
He has been acting on His people's behalf as an Advocate with the
Father, a great High Priest with God; interceding for us in all our
failures, sins and shortcomings, and sympathizing with us in all our
infirmities and in all our sorrows; and presenting continually our
sacrifices of prayer and praise, in all the fragrance of His own
glorious Person?

Are all these things true? Yes, thank God, they are all divinely true,
all set forth in the pages of the New Testament, with most marvelous
fulness, clearness, depth, and power; all rest on the solid foundation
of Holy Scripture--a foundation which not all the powers of earth and
hell, men and devils, can ever touch.

Well, then, the blessed hope of the Lord's coming rests on precisely
the same authority. It is not more true that our Lord Jesus Christ lay
as a babe in the manger of Bethlehem, that He grew up to man's estate,
that He went about doing good, that He was nailed to the cross and
laid in the tomb, that He is now seated on the throne of the Majesty
in the heavens, than that He will come again to receive His people to
Himself. He may come to-night. No one can tell when He will come, but
at any moment He may come. The only thing that detains Him is His
long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. For eighteen long centuries has He waited
in lingering love, mercy, and compassion; and during all that time
salvation has been ready to be revealed, and God has been ready to
judge; but He has waited, and He still waits, in long-suffering grace
and patience.

But He will come, and we should ever live in the hope of His coming.
Thus the apostle taught his beloved Thessalonians to live. Thus he
lived himself. The blessed hope was intimately bound up with all the
habits and feelings of his daily life. Was it a question of reaping
the fruit of his labors? Hear what he says: "For what is our hope, or
joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye, in the presence of our
Lord Jesus Christ, _at His coming_?" He would see them all then and
there. No enemy will be allowed to hinder that meeting. "We would have
come unto you, even I Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us."
Very wonderful! Very mysterious! Yet so it was. Satan hindered an
angel of God in the discharge of his business in the days of Daniel;
and he hindered an apostle of Christ in the accomplishment of his
loving desire to see his brethren at Thessalonica. But, thanks be to
God, he will not be able to hinder the joyful meeting of Christ and
His saints for which we wait. What a moment that will be! What
precious reunions! What sweet recognitions! What affectionate
greetings of dear old friends! But, far above all, Himself! His smile!
His welcome! His soul-stirring "Well done!"

What a precious, soul-sustaining hope! Need we wonder at the prominent
place it occupied in the thoughts and the teachings of the blessed
apostle? He recurs to it on all occasions, and in connection with
every subject. Is it a question of progress in the divine life and
practical godliness? Thus he puts it: "And the Lord make you to
increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all, even
as we do toward you; to the end He may establish your hearts
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, _at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints_."

Let the reader specially mark the last clause of this touching and
beautiful quotation. "_With all His saints._" What admirable wisdom
shines here! The apostle was about to touch directly upon an error
into which the Thessalonian believers had fallen in reference to their
departed friends. They feared that those who had fallen asleep would
not participate in the joy of the Lord's coming. This error is
completely demolished by that brief sentence, "with _all_ His saints."
Not one will be absent from that joyous meeting, that festive scene.
Blessed assurance! Triumphant answer to all who would have us believe
that none will share the joy of our Lord's coming save those who see
this, that, and the other! "With _all_ his saints," spite of their
ignorance and their errors, their wanderings and their stumblings,
their shortcomings and their failures. Our blessed Saviour, the
everlasting Lover of our souls, will not shut any of us out at that
blissful moment.

Is all this matchless grace to make us careless? God forbid! Nay, it
is the abiding sense of it which alone can keep us alive to our holy
responsibility to judge everything in us and in our ways which is
contrary to the mind of Christ. And not only so, but the hope of our
Lord's return, if it be kept bright and fresh in the heart, _must_
purify, sanctify and elevate our entire character and course as
nothing else can. "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth
himself, even as He is pure." It is morally impossible for any one to
_live_ in the hope of seeing his Lord at any moment and yet have his
heart set upon worldly things--upon money-making, self-indulgence,
pleasure, vanity, folly. Let us not deceive ourselves. If we are daily
looking out for the Son of God from heaven, we must sit loose to the
things of time and sense. We may hold the doctrine of the Lord's
coming as a mere dogma in the intellect; we may have the entire range
of prophetic truth mapped out before our mind's eye, without its
producing the smallest effect upon the heart, the character, or the
practical life. But it is another thing altogether to have the whole
moral being, the entire practical career, governed by the bright and
blessed hope of seeing the One who loveth us and hath washed us from
our sins in His own most precious blood.

Would there were more of this amongst us! It is to be feared that many
of us have lost the freshness and power of our true and proper hope.
The truth of the Lord's coming has become so familiar as a mere
doctrine that we can flippantly speak of it, and discuss various
points in connection with it, and argue with people about it, and all
the while our ways, our deportment, our spirit and temper give the lie
to what we profess to hold.

But we shall not pursue this sad and humbling side of the subject. May
the Lord look upon us, and graciously heal, restore and lift up our
souls! May He revive in the hearts of all His beloved people the
proper Christian hope--the hope of seeing the bright and Morning Star.
May the utterance of the whole heart and the utterance of the whole
life be, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

Here we must close this paper. We had hoped to run through the two
epistles to the Thessalonians in company with our readers, in order to
prove and illustrate the statement that the hope of the Lord's return
was bound up in the heart of the apostle, with all the scenes,
circumstances and associations of Christian life. But we must allow
the reader to do this for himself. Sufficient, we trust, has been said
to show that true conversion, according to apostolic teaching, cannot
stop short of the blessed hope of the Lord's coming. A truly converted
person is one who has turned from idols--has broken with the
world--broken with his former self--turned to God, to find in Him all
he can possibly want for time and eternity, to serve Him, and Him
only--and, finally, "to wait for the Son of God from heaven." Such we
conceive to be the true and proper answer to the question, "What is
conversion?"

Reader, art _thou_ converted? If not, what then? If thou art, does thy
life declare it?




SIMON PETER:

HIS LIFE AND ITS LESSONS




PART I.


We propose, in dependence upon the Spirit's guidance, to write a few
papers on the life and ministry of the blessed servant of Christ whose
name stands at the head of this paper. We shall trace him through the
Gospels, through the Acts, and through the Epistles, for he appears in
all the three grand divisions of the New Testament. We shall meditate
upon his call, upon his conversion, his confession, his fall, his
restoration; in a word, we shall glance at all the scenes and
circumstances of his remarkable history, in which we shall find, if we
mistake not, many valuable lessons which we may well ponder. May the
Lord the Spirit be our Guide and Teacher!

For the earliest notice of Simon Peter, we must turn to the first
chapter of the Gospel of John. Here we find, at the very outset, a
scene full of interest and instruction. Amongst those who had been
gathered by the powerful ministry of John the Baptist there were two
men who heard him deliver his glowing testimony to the Lamb of God. We
must quote the words: "Again the next day after John stood, and two of
his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold
the Lamb of God."

These words fell with peculiar power upon the hearts of two of John's
disciples. Not that the words were specially addressed to them; at
least, we are not told so. But they were words of life, freshness, and
power--words welling up from the depths of a heart that had found an
object in the person of Christ. On the preceding day, John had spoken
of the work of Christ. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world." And again, "The same is he which baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost."

But let the reader note particularly John's testimony to the _person_
of the Lamb of God. "John stood," riveted, no doubt, by the object
which filled the vision of his soul. "And looking upon Jesus, as he
walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God." It was this that went right
to the very heart of the two disciples who stood beside him, and so
affected them that they left their master to follow this new and
infinitely more glorious Object that had been presented to their
notice.

There is always immense moral power in the testimony that emanates
from an absorbed heart. There is nothing formal, official, or
mechanical, in such testimony. It is the pure fruit of heart
communion; and there is nothing like it. It is not the mere statement
of true things about Christ. It is the heart occupied and satisfied
with Christ. It is the eye riveted, the heart fixed, the whole moral
being centred and absorbed in that one commanding object that fills
all heaven with His glory.

This is the kind of testimony we so much want both in our private life
and in our public reunions. It is this that tells, with such marvelous
power, on others. We never can speak effectively for Christ, unless
our hearts are filled with Him. And so it is also, in reference to our
meetings. When Christ is the one absorbing object of every heart,
there will be a tone and an atmosphere which must tell in some way or
other on all who enter the place. There may not be much gift, not much
teaching--very little charm in the singing, for persons of musical
taste; but oh! there is heart-enjoyment of Christ. His name is as
ointment poured forth. Every eye is fixed on Him; every heart is
centred in Him; He is the commanding object--the satisfying portion.
The unanimous voice of the assembly seems to say, "Behold the Lamb of
God," and this must produce its own powerful effect, either in
attracting souls to Him, or in convincing them that the people in that
assembly have gotten something of which they know nothing at all.

But let us note particularly the effect produced on the two disciples
of John. "They heard him speak and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus
turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?
They said unto Him, Rabbi--which is to say, being interpreted,
Master--where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They
came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day; for it was
about the tenth hour." Thus the blessed testimony of the Baptist led
them to follow Jesus, and as they followed on, fresh light was poured
upon their path, and they found themselves, at length, in the very
abode of that One of whom they had heard their master speak.

Nor was this all, though it was much--with their own hearts' deepest
longings satisfied. There was now that delightful going out after
others which must, in every instance, be the result of close personal
acquaintance and occupation with the Person of Christ. "One of the two
which heard John, and followed Jesus, was Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him,
We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
And he brought him to Jesus."

Here is something which we may well ponder. See how the circle of
blessing widens! See the result of a single sentence uttered in truth
and reality! It might seem to a carnal observer as though John had
lost by his testimony. Far from it. That honored servant found his joy
in pointing souls to Jesus. He did not want to link them on to
himself, or to gather a party round himself. "John bare witness of
Him, and cried saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh
after me is preferred before me." And again, "This is the record of
John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I
am not the Christ. And they ask him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he
saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then
said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them
that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of
one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as
said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the
Pharisees." What a fine moral lesson for Pharisees to be set down to!
"And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if
thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John
answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth One
among you, whom ye know not. He it is, who coming after me is
preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose."

It is not very likely that the man who could give such answers, and
bear such a testimony, would be, in the smallest degree, affected by
the loss of a few disciples. But, in good truth it was not loosing
them when they followed Jesus and found their abode with Him. Of this
we have the very finest evidence that could be furnished, from John's
own lips, in reply to those who evidently thought that their master
might possibly feel at being left in the shade. "They came unto John,
and said unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom
thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all come to Him.
John answered and said, _A man can receive nothing, except it be given
him from heaven_. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not
the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is
the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and
heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice:
_this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must
decrease_" (John iii. 26-30).

Noble words! It was the joy of this most illustrious servant--this
greatest of woman-born, to hide himself behind his Master, and find
all his personal springs in Him. As to himself, he was but a voice. As
to his work, he was only baptizing with water, he was not worthy to
loose the latchet of his Master's shoe.

Such was John. Such the man whose glowing testimony led the brother of
Simon Peter to the feet of the Son of God. The testimony was clear and
distinct, and the work deep and real in the souls of those who
received it.

It does the heart good to note the simple, earnest, forcible words of
Simon's brother, Andrew. He is able to say, without reserve or
hesitation, "_We have found_ the Messias." It was this that led him to
look after his brother. He lost no time. Saved and blessed himself, he
would, at once, begin to lead his brother into the same blessing.

How simple! How morally lovely! How divinely natural! No sooner had he
found the Messias, than he went in search of his brother to tell him
of his joy. It must ever be thus. We cannot doubt for a moment, that
the actual finding Christ for ourselves is the true secret of looking
after others. There is no uncertainty in Andrew's testimony--no
wavering--no doubting or fearing. He does not even say, "I hope I have
found." No; all is clear and distinct; and, we may say, with all
possible assurance, it would not have done Simon Peter much good had
it been anything else. An uncertain sound is not much use to any one.

It is a grand point to be able to say, "_I have found Christ_."
Reader, can you say it? Doubtless, you have heard of Him. It may be
you have heard from the lips of some ardent lover of Jesus, "Behold
the Lamb of God." But have you followed that blessed One? If so, you
will long to find some one to whom you can speak of your newly found
treasure, and bring him to Jesus. Begin at home. Get hold of your
brother, or your sister, or your companion, your fellow-student, your
fellow-shopman, your fellow-workman, your fellow-servant, and whisper
lovingly, but clearly and decidedly, into his ear, "I have found
Jesus. Do come, taste and see how gracious He is. Come! oh do come to
Jesus." Remember this was the way that the great apostle Peter was
first called. He first heard of Jesus from the lips of his own brother
Andrew. This mighty workman--this great preacher who was blessed, on
one occasion, to three thousand souls--who opened the Kingdom of
heaven to the Jew in Acts iii. and to the Gentile in Acts x.--this
blessed servant was brought to Christ by the hand of his own brother
in the flesh.




PART II.


The notice which we have of our apostle, in John i., is very brief
indeed, though, doubtless, there is much wrapped up in it. "Andrew
first findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, We have
found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he
brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, He said, Thou art
Simon, the son of Jonas: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by
interpretation, A stone."

Now, we have no record here of any deep spiritual work in the soul of
Simon. We are told his name in the old creation, and his name in the
new; but there is no allusion whatever to those deep exercises of soul
of which we know he was the subject. For these we must ask the reader
to turn for a few moments to Luke v., where we have a marvelous piece
of divine workmanship.

"And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the
word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships
standing by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them, and
were washing their nets. And He entered into one of the ships, which
was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the
land. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship."

Mark especially the moral grace that shines here. "He _prayed_ him
that he would thrust out _a little_ from the land." Though Lord of all
creation--Possessor of heaven and earth--He nevertheless, as the
lowly, gracious Man, courteously owns Simon's proprietorship, and
asks, as a favor, that he would thrust out _a little_ from the shore.
This was morally lovely, and we may rest assured it produced its own
effect upon the heart of Simon.

"Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into
the deep, and let down your nets for a draught." Simon was about to be
well paid for the loan of his boat. "And Simon, answering, said unto
Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing;
nevertheless, at Thy word, I will let down the net." There was power,
as well as grace, in that word! "And when they had this done, they
enclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their net brake. And they
beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they
should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships,
so that they began to sink." Neither their nets nor their ships were
able to sustain the fruit of divine power and goodness. "When Simon
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me;
for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

Here, then, we have the great practical effect produced in Peter's
soul by the combined action of grace and power. He is brought to see
himself in the light of the divine presence, where alone self can be
truly seen and judged. Simon had heard the word of Jesus addressed to
the multitude on the shore. He had felt the sweet grace and moral
beauty of His way towards himself. He had marked the display of divine
power in the astonishing draught of fish. All told powerfully upon his
heart and conscience, and brought him on his face before the Lord.

Now this is what we may call a genuine work of conviction. Simon is in
the place of true self-judgment--a very blessed place indeed--a place
from which all must start if they are to be much used in the Lord's
work, or if, indeed, they are ever to exhibit much depth or stability
in the divine life. We need never look for any real power or progress
unless there is a deep and solid work of the Spirit of God in the
conscience. Persons who pass rapidly into what they call peace, are
apt to pass as rapidly out of it again. It is a very serious thing
indeed to be brought to see ourselves in the light of God's presence,
to have our eyes opened to the truth of our past history, our present
condition, and our future destiny. Simon Peter found it so in his day,
and so have all those who have been brought to a saving knowledge of
Christ. Hearken to Isaiah's words, when he saw himself in the powerful
light of the divine glory. "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a
man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: _for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts_." So also
in the case of the patriarch, Job. "I have heard of Thee by the
hearing of the ear; but now _mine eye_ _seeth Thee_. Wherefore _I
abhor myself_, and repent in dust and ashes."

These glowing utterances reveal a deep and genuine work in both the
patriarch and the prophet. And surely our apostle occupied the same
moral ground when he exclaimed, from the very depths of a broken
heart, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." If Simon is to
be called Cephas, he must be thoroughly broken up, and brought to the
end of himself. If he is to be used to catch men, he must learn, in a
divine way, man's true condition. If he is to teach others that "all
flesh is as grass," he must learn the application of this great truth
to his own heart.

Thus it is in every case. Look at Saul of Tarsus. What mean those
three days of blindness, during which he neither did eat nor drink?
May we not confidently affirm that they were serious days, perhaps the
most serious in the entire history of that remarkable man? They were,
doubtless, days in the which he was led down to the most profound
depths of his moral being, the deepest roots of his history, his
nature, his character, his conduct, his religion. He was led to see
that his whole life had been a terrible mistake, an awful lie; that
his very career as a religious man had been one of mad rebellion
against the Christ of God. All this, we may feel assured, passed in
solemn and soul-subduing review before the soul of this deeply,
because divinely, convicted man. His repentance was no superficial
work; it was deep and thorough; it left its impress upon the whole of
his after course, character, and ministry. He, too, like Simon, was
brought to the end of himself, and there he found an Object that not
only met his deepest need, but also perfectly satisfied all the
cravings and aspirations of his renewed being.

Now, we must confess we delight in contemplating a spiritual work of
this kind. It is truly refreshing to dwell upon conversions of this
type. We greatly fear that in much of the work of our time there is a
sad lack of depth and spiritual power, and, as a consequence, a lack
of stability in the Christian character, of depth and permanency in
the Christian course. It may be that those of us who are engaged in
the work of evangelization are feeble and shallow in the divine life
ourselves, that we are not near enough to Christ to understand how to
deal with souls; that we do not know how to present the truth from
God's side of it; that we are more desirous of showing out how the
sinner's need is met, than how the glory of God is secured and
maintained. We do not, perhaps, sufficiently press the claims of truth
and holiness upon the consciences of our hearers. There is a want of
fulness in the presentation of the truth of God, too much harping upon
one string; there is a barrenness and dreary monotony in the
preaching, arising from lack of abiding near the fountain head, and
drinking into our own souls from the inexhaustible springs of grace
and truth in the Person and work of Christ. Perhaps, too, we are more
occupied with ourselves and our preaching than with Christ and His
glory; more anxious to be able to parade the results of our work, than
to be a sweet savour of Christ to Godward.

We cannot but feel the weight and seriousness of these considerations
for all who take part in the work of the gospel. We certainly do need
to be more in the presence of God in reference to our service, for we
cannot, by any possibility, hide from ourselves the fact, in reference
to the preaching of this our day, that the fruit is small in quantity,
and poor in quality. We desire to bless God for any display of His
grace and power in souls; though we are by no means able to accredit
as genuine much that is boastfully paraded in the way of conversion.
What we long for is a deep, genuine unmistakable work of the Holy
Ghost; a work which will prove itself, beyond all contradiction, by
its permanent results in the life and character. It is one thing to
reckon up and publish a number of cases of conversion, and quite
another to see these cases made good in actual fact. The Holy Ghost
can, and does, tell us at times in the page of inspiration the number
of souls converted. He tells us of three thousand on one occasion. He
can do so, because He knows perfectly all about it. He can read the
heart. He can distinguish between the spurious and the genuine. But
when men undertake to count up and publish the number of their
converts, we must receive their statements with considerable reserve
and caution.

Not that we would be suspicious. God forbid; yea, we would earnestly
cultivate a hopeful temper of soul. Still, we cannot but feel that it
is better, in every case, to let the work speak for itself. All that
is really divine is sure to be found, even though it be after many
days; whereas, on the other hand, there is immense danger, both for
the workman and his work, in an eager and hasty reckoning up and
publishing of results.

But we must return to the lake of Gennesaret, and dwell for a moment
on the lovely grace that shines forth in our Lord's dealing with Simon
Peter. The work of conviction was deep and real. There could be no
mistaking it. The arrow had entered the heart, and gone right to its
very centre. Peter felt and owned that he was a man full of sin. He
felt he had no right to be near such an one as Jesus; and yet we may
truly say he would not for worlds have been anywhere else. He was
perfectly sincere in saying, "Depart from me," though we cannot but
believe he had an inward conviction that the blessed One would do
nothing of the kind. And if he had, he was right. Jesus could never
depart from a poor broken-hearted sinner--no, never. It was His
richest, deepest, joy to pour the healing balm of His love and grace
into a wounded soul. It was His delight to heal the broken heart. He
was anointed for that work, and it was His meat and His drink to do
it, blessed forever be His holy name!

"And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt
catch men." Here was the divine response to the cry of a contrite
heart. The wound was deep, but the grace was deeper still. The
soothing hand of a Saviour-God applied the precious balm. Simon was
not only convicted, but converted. He saw himself to be a man full of
sin, but he saw the Saviour full of grace; nor was it possible that
his sin could be beyond the reach of that grace. Oh, no, there is
grace in the heart of Jesus, as there is power in His blood, to meet
the very chief of sinners. "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch
men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook
_all_, and followed Him."

This was real work. It was a _bona fide_ case, as to which there could
be no question; a case of conviction, conversion, and consecration.




PART III.


We closed our last paper with these suggestive words, "_They forsook
all, and followed Him_"--words expressive, at once, of thorough
separation from the things of time and of nature, and of whole-hearted
consecration to Christ and His interests.

Both these we see in Simon Peter. There was a deep and blessed work
wrought in his soul at the lake of Gennesaret. He was given to see
himself, in the light of the divine presence, where alone self can be
really seen and judged. We have no reason to suppose that, viewed from
a human standpoint, Simon was worse than his neighbors. On the
contrary, it is more than probable, that so far as his outward life
was concerned, it was more blameless than that of many around him. He
was not, like the great apostle of the Gentiles, arrested at the very
height of a mad career of rebellion against Christ and His cause. He
is introduced to us, by the inspired historian, in the pursuit of his
quiet and honest calling as a fisherman.

But then Scripture expressly informs us that, "There is no difference,
for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. iii.).
And it repeats this statement, in chap. x. of the same epistle, basing
it upon another footing, "There is no difference between the Jew and
the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
Him."

Reader, see that you really understand this most important doctrine.
It is not that there are not broad lines of distinction, in a moral
and social point of view, between men. Most assuredly there are such.
There is, for example, a vast difference between the wretched drunkard
who comes home, or is carried home, night after night, worse than a
beast, to his poor broken-hearted wife and squalid, starving children,
and a sober, industrious man, who realizes his responsibility as a
husband and a father, and seeks to fulfil the duties attaching to such
relationships.

Now, we judge it would be a very great mistake indeed to ignore such a
distinction as this. We believe that God, in His moral government of
the world, recognizes it. Contrast, for a moment, the drunkard's home
with that of the sober man. Yea, contrast their whole career, their
social position, their course and character. Who can fail to recognize
the amazing difference between the two? There is a certain way of
presenting what is called, "The no-difference doctrine" which, to say
the least of it, is far from judicious. It does not allow the margin
which, as we believe, Scripture suggests, wherein to insert great
social and moral distinctions between men and men--distinctions which
only blindness itself can refuse to see. If we look at the present
government of God, we cannot but see that there is a very serious
difference indeed between one man and another. Men reap as they sow.
The drunken spendthrift reaps as he sows; and the sober, industrious,
honest man reaps as he sows. The enactments of God's moral government
are such as to render it impossible for men to escape, even in this
life, the consequences of their ways.

Nor is this all. Not only does God's present government take
cognizance of the conduct of men, causing them to reap, even here, the
due reward of their deeds but when Scripture opens to our view, as it
does in manifold places, the awful judgment to come, it speaks of
"books being opened." It tells us that men "shall be judged _every man
according to their works_." In short, we have close and accurate
discrimination, and not a promiscuous huddling of men and things.

And further, be it remembered, that the word of God speaks of degrees
of punishment. It speaks of "few stripes" and "many stripes." It uses
such words as "more tolerable" for one than another.

What mean such words, if there be not varied grounds of judgment,
varied characters of responsibility, varied measures of guilt, varied
degrees of punishment? Men may reason; but "the Judge of all the earth
will do right." It is of no possible use for people to argue and
discuss. Every man will be judged and punished according to his deeds.
This is the teaching of Holy Scripture; and it would be much better
and safer and wiser for men to submit to it than to reason against it,
for they may rest fully assured of it that the judgment-seat of Christ
will make very short work of their reasonings. Impenitent sinners will
be judged and punished according to their works: and, although men
may affect to believe that it is inconsistent with the idea of a God
of love that any of His creatures should be condemned to endure
eternal punishment in hell, still sin must be punished; and those who
reason against its punishment have only a one-sided view of God's
nature and character. They have invented a god of their own who will
connive at sin. But it will not do. The God of the Bible, _the God
whom we see at the cross_, the God of Christianity will, beyond all
question, execute judgment upon all who reject His Son; that judgment
will be according to every man's works; and the result of that
judgment will, inevitably, be "The lake that burneth with fire and
brimstone," forever and forever.

We deem it of the utmost importance to press on all whom it may
concern the line of truth on which we have been dwelling. It leaves
wholly untouched the real truth of the no-difference doctrine; but, at
the same time, it qualifies and adjusts the mode of presenting that
truth. It is always well to avoid an ultra one-sided way of stating
things. It damages truth and stumbles souls. It perplexes the anxious,
and gives a plea to the caviler. The full truth of God should always
be unfolded, and thus all will be right. Truth puts men and things in
their right places, and maintains a holy moral balance which is
absolutely priceless.

Is it then asserted that there is a difference? Not as regards the
question of righteousness before God. On this ground, there is not a
shadow of difference, for "all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God." Looked at in the light of that glory, all human
distinctions vanish. All are lost, guilty and condemned. From the very
lowest strata of society--its deepest dregs, up to the loftiest
heights of moral refinement, men are seen, in the light of the divine
glory, to be utterly and hopelessly lost. They all stand on one common
ground, are all involved in the one common ruin. And not only so, but
those who plume themselves on their morality, refinement, orthodoxy,
and religiousness, are further from the Kingdom of God than the vilest
of the sons and daughters of men, as our Lord said to the chief
priests and elders, "Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the
harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you" (Matt. xxi.).

This is very humbling to human pride and pretension. It is a doctrine
to which none will ever submit until they see themselves as Simon
Peter saw himself in the immediate presence of God. All who have ever
been there will fully understand those self-condemning words, "Depart
from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." These were accents flowing
from the depths of a truly penitent and contrite soul. There is what
we may venture to call a lovely inconsistency in them. Simon had no
such thought as that Jesus would depart from him. He had, we may feel
assured, an instinctive sense that that blessed One who had spoken
such words to him, and shown such grace, could not turn away from a
poor broken-hearted sinner. And he judged rightly. Jesus had not come
down from heaven to turn His back upon any one who needed Him. "He
came to seek and to save that which is lost." "This is a faithful
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners." "Him that cometh unto Me, I will _in no wise_
cast out." A Saviour-God had come down into this world, not, surely,
to turn away from a lost sinner, but to save him and bless him, and
make him a blessing. "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men."

Such was the grace that shone upon the soul of Simon Peter. It removed
his guilt, hushed his fears, and filled him with joy and peace in
believing. Thus it is in every case. Divine pardon follows human
confession--follows it with marvelous rapidity. "I said, I will
confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the
iniquity of my sin." God delights to pardon. It is the joy of His
loving heart to cancel our guilt, and fill our souls with His own
blessed peace, and to make us the messengers of His grace to others.

Not that we are called in the same way, or to the same work, as our
apostle; but surely we are called to follow the Lord, and cleave to
Him, with purpose of heart. This is the blessed privilege and sacred
duty of every saved soul on the face of the earth; we are imperatively
called upon to break with the world, and follow Christ.

It is not a question of abandoning our proper calling in life, as in
Simon's case. Few indeed and far between are the cases in which such
a course of action is fitting. Many, alas! have assayed to do this,
and have entirely broken down, simply because they were not called of
God _to_ it, or sustained of God _in_ it. We are convinced that, as a
rule, it is better for every man to work with his hands or his brains
at some bread-winning calling, and preach and teach as well, if gifted
to do so. There are exceptions, no doubt, to the rule. There are some
who are so manifestly called, fitted, used, and sustained of God, that
there can be no possible mistake as to their course. Their hands are
so full of work, their every moment so engrossed with ministry in
speaking or writing, teaching publicly and from house to house, that
it would be a simple impossibility for them to take up what is termed
a secular calling--though we like not the phrase. All such have to go
on with God, looking only to Him, and He will infallibly maintain them
unto the end.

Still, admitting, as we are bound to do fully, the exceptions to the
rule, we are nevertheless convinced that, as a rule, it is better in
every way for men to be able to preach and teach without being
chargeable to any. It gives moral weight, and it furnishes a fine
testimony against the wretched hirelingism of Christendom so
demoralizing to souls, and so damaging, in every way, to the cause of
Christ.

But, Christian reader, we have to distinguish between abandoning our
lawful calling and breaking with the world. The former may be quite
wrong; the latter is our bounden duty. We are called to rise up, in
the spirit of the mind and in the firm purpose of the heart, out of
all merely worldly influences, to break every worldly link, and lay
aside every weight, in order to follow our blessed Lord and Master. We
are to be absolutely and completely for Him in this world, as He is
for us in the presence of God. When this is really the case with us,
it matters not whether we are sweeping a crossing or evangelizing a
continent. All is done to Him. This is the one grand point. If Christ
has His due place in our hearts, all will be right. If He has not,
nothing will be right. If there is any under current in the soul, any
secondary object, any worldly motive, any selfish aim or end, there
can be no progress. _We must make Christ and His cause our absorbing
object._




PART IV.


The more deeply we ponder the history of professing Christians,
whether as furnished by the pen of inspiration, or as coming within
the range of personal observation, the more fully we must see the vast
importance of a complete break with the world, at the outset. If there
be not this, it is vain to look for inward peace, or outward progress.
There may be a measure of clearness as to the doctrines of grace, the
plan of salvation, as it is called, justification by faith, and the
like. But unless there is the thorough judgment of self, and the
complete surrender of this present evil world, peace and progress must
be out of the question. How can there be peace where _self_, in some
one or other of its thousand shapes, is fostered? And how can there be
progress where the heart is hankering after the world, halting between
two opinions, and vacillating between Christ and present things?
Impossible. As well might a racer expect to get on in the race while
still lingering about the starting post, and encumbering himself with
heavy weights.

Is it then, that peace is to be found by denying self and giving up
the world? Most certainly not. But neither can peace ever be found
while self is indulged and the world retained. True peace is found
_only_ in Christ--peace of conscience in His finished work--peace of
heart in His blessed Person. All this is clear enough. But how comes
it to pass that hundreds of people who know, or profess to know, these
things have no settled peace, and never seem to take a single step in
advance? You meet them, week after week, month after month, year after
year, and there they are in the same position, in the same state, and
with the same old story, chronic cases of self-occupation, stereotyped
world-borderers, "ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth." They seem to delight in hearing the gospel
clearly preached, and truth fully unfolded. In fact, they cannot
endure anything else. But, for all that, they are never clear, bright
or happy. How can they be? They are halting between two opinions; they
have never broken with the world; they have never surrendered a whole
heart to Christ.

Here, we are persuaded, lies the real secret of the whole matter as
regards that class of persons now before us. "A double-minded man is
unstable in all his ways." A man who tries to keep one eye on the
world, and the other on Christ, will be found to have no eye for
Christ, but both eyes for the world. It must be so: Christ must be all
or nothing; and hence it is the very height of absurdity to talk of
peace or progress, where Christ is not the absorbing object of the
soul. Where He is, there will never be any lack of settled peace; and
there will be progress. The Holy Ghost is jealous for the glory of
Christ, and He can never minister comfort, consolation, or strength to
a heart divided between Him and the world. It could not be. He is
grieved by such unfaithfulness; and instead of being the minister of
comfort, He must be the stern reprover of indulged selfishness,
worldliness, and vacillation.

Let us look at the case of our apostle. How refreshing it is to
contemplate his thorough-going style! His starting was of the right
sort. "He forsook all and followed Christ." There was no halting here,
at all events; no vacillating between Christ and present things.
Boats, nets, fish, natural ties, all are unhesitatingly and
unreservedly surrendered, not as a matter of cold duty or legal
service, but as the grand and necessary result of having seen the
glory and heard the voice of the Son of God.

Thus it was with Simon Peter, at the opening of his remarkable career.
All was clear and unequivocal, whole-hearted and decided, so far as
the starting was concerned; and we must bear this in mind, as we
pursue his after history. No doubt, we shall find mistakes and
stumblings, failure, ignorance, and sin; but, underneath, and in spite
of all this, we shall find a heart true to Jesus--a heart divinely
taught to appreciate the Christ of God.

This is a grand point. Blunders may well be borne with, when the heart
beats true to Christ. Some one has remarked that, "The blunderers do
all the work." If this be so, the reason is that those blunderers have
real affection for their Lord; and that is precisely what we all want.
A man may make a great many mistakes, but if he can say when
challenged by his Lord, "Thou knowest that I love Thee," he is sure to
come right in the end; and not only so, but, even in the very midst
of his mistakes, our hearts are much more drawn to him than to the
cold, correct, sleek professor, who thinks of himself, and seeks to
make the best of both worlds.

Simon Peter was a true lover of Christ. He had a divinely given sense
of His preciousness, of the glory of His Person, and the heavenly
character of His mission. All this comes out, with much force and
freshness, in his varied confessions of Christ, even before the day of
Pentecost. We shall glance at one or two of these, not with any view
to chronological order, but simply to illustrate and prove the lovely
devotedness of this true-hearted servant of Christ.

Let us turn to Matt. xvi. "When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea
Philippi, he asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the
Son of man, am?" Weighty question! Upon the answer to this question
hangs the whole moral condition and future destiny of every human
being under the sun. All really depends upon the heart's estimate of
Christ. This it is, which like a great moral indicator, reveals a
man's true state, character, bent and object, in all things. It is not
merely a question of his outward life, or of his profession of faith.
The former may be blameless, and the latter orthodox; but, if
underneath all this blameless morality and orthodox profession, there
be not one true pulsation of the heart for Christ, no divinely wrought
sense of what, and who, and whence He is, then verily all the morality
and the orthodoxy are but the trappings with which a guilty,
hell-deserving sinner adorns himself in the eyes of his fellows, or
with which he deceives himself as to the awful eternity which lies
before him. "What think ye of Christ?" is the all-deciding question;
for God the Holy Ghost has emphatically declared that, "If any
man"--no matter who or what he be--"love not the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be Anathema Maranatha" (1 Cor. xvi. 22).

How awful is this! And how remarkable to find it at the close of such
an epistle as the first to the Corinthians! How forcibly it declares
to all who will only bend their ears to listen, that love to Christ is
the basis of all sound doctrine, the motive spring of all true
morality! If that blessed One be not enthroned at the very centre of
the heart's affections, an orthodox creed is an empty delusion; and an
unblemished reputation is but dust cast in a man's eyes to prevent him
seeing his true condition in the sight of God. The Christians at
Corinth had fallen into many doctrinal errors and moral evils, all
needing rebuke and correction; but when the inspiring Spirit
pronounces His awful anathema, it is levelled, not at the introducers
of any one special error, or moral pravity, but at "any man who loves
not the Lord Jesus Christ."

This is peculiarly solemn at all times; but specially so for the day
in which our lot is cast, when the Person and glory of Christ are so
little thought of or cared for. A man may actually blaspheme Christ,
deny His deity or His eternal Sonship, and yet be received into
professing Christian circles, and allowed to preside at so-called
religious meetings. Surely all this must be dreadful in the sight of
God, whose purpose it is "that all men should honor the Son even as
they honor the Father;" and that every knee should bow, and every
tongue confess to Jesus as Lord of all. God is jealous for the honor
of His Son; and the man that neglects, rejects, and blasphemes that
blessed One will yet have to learn and own the eternal justice of that
most solemn decree, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let
him be Anathema Maranatha."

How momentous, therefore, the question put by our Lord Christ to His
disciples, "Whom do _men_ say that I, the Son of man, am?" Alas, alas!
"men" knew nothing, cared nothing about Him. They knew neither who He
was, what He was, nor whence He was. "Some say that thou art John the
Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."
In a word, there was endless speculation, because there was utter
indifference and thorough heartlessness. The human heart has not so
much as a single true thought about Christ, not one atom of affection
for Him. Such is the awful condition of the very best of men until
renewed by divine grace. They know not, they love not, they care not
for the Son of God--the Beloved of the Father's heart--the Man on the
throne of heaven's majesty. Such is their moral condition, and hence
their every thought, word, and act is contrary to God. They have not a
single feeling in common with God, for the most distinct of all
reasons, that the One who is everything to Him is nothing to them.
Christ is God's standard, and every one and everything must be
measured by Him. The heart that does not love Christ has not a single
pulsation in unison with the heart of God; and the life that does not
spring from love to Christ however blameless, respectable, or splendid
in the eyes of men, is a worthless, objectless, misspent life in the
judgment of God.

But how truly delightful to turn from all the heartlessness and
indifference of "men," and harken to the testimony of one who was
taught of God to know and own who the Son of man was! "Simon Peter
answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Here was the true answer. There was no vain speculation here, no
uncertainty, no may be this, or may be that. It was divine testimony
flowing from divinely given knowledge. It was not yea and nay, but yea
and amen to the glory of God. We may rest fully assured that these
glowing words of Simon Peter went up, like fragrant incense, to the
throne of God, and refreshed the heart of the One who sat there. There
is nothing in all the world so precious to God as a heart that, in any
measure, appreciates Christ. Let us never forget this!

"And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My
Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art
Peter; and upon this Rock I will build My Church; and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it."

Here we have the very first direct allusion to the Church, or Assembly
of Christ; and the reader will note that our Lord speaks of it as yet
future. He says, "I _will_ build My Church." He was the Rock, the
divine foundation; but ere a single stone could be built on Him, He
must die.

This is a grand cardinal truth of Christianity--a truth which our
apostle had yet to learn, notwithstanding his brilliant and beautiful
confession. Simon Peter was not yet prepared for the profound mystery
of the cross. He loved Christ, and he had been taught of God to own
Him in a very full and blessed manner; but he had yet much to learn
ere he could take in the soul-subduing truth that this blessed Son of
the living God must die, ere even he, as a living stone, could be
built upon Him. "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His
disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things
of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be
raised again the third day."

Here the solemn truth begins to break through the clouds. But Simon
Peter is not prepared for it. It withered up all his Jewish hopes and
earthly expectations. What! The Son of the living God must die! How
could it be? The glorious Messiah be nailed to a cross! "Then Peter
took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, (or
pity Thyself) Lord, this shall not be unto Thee."

Such is man! Such was even Simon Peter! He would fain turn the blessed
Lord away from the cross! He would, in his ignorance, frustrate the
eternal counsels of God, and play into the hands of the devil! Poor
Peter! What a rock he would be for the Church to be built upon! "The
Lord turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan, thou art
an offence unto Me; for thou savorest not the things that be of God,
but those that be of men."

Withering words? Who would have thought that "Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona," should so speedily be followed by, "Get thee behind Me,
Satan?"




PART V.


We must still linger a little over the deeply interesting and
instructive scene in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew. It brings
before us two great subjects, namely, "The Church," and "The Kingdom
of Heaven." These things must never be confounded. As to the first, it
is only to be found in the New Testament. Indeed, as has often been
remarked, verse 18 of our chapter contains the very first direct
allusion in the volume of God to the subject of the Church, or
assembly, of Christ.

This, though familiar to many of our readers, may present a difficulty
to others. Many Christians and Christian teachers strongly maintain
that the doctrine of the Church is distinctly unfolded in Old
Testament Scripture. They consider that the saints of the Old
Testament belonged to the Church; in fact, that there is no
difference, whatever; all form one body; all stand on one common
ground; and that to represent the Lord's people in New Testament times
as in a higher position, or endowed with higher privileges than
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is a delusion. It seems strange to such to
assert that Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, did not belong to the
Church--were not members of the body of Christ--were not endowed with
the selfsame privileges as believers now. Trained from their earliest
days to believe that all God's people, from the beginning to the end
of time, stand on the same ground, and form one common body, they find
it impossible to admit of any difference. It seems to them presumption
on the part of Christians to assert that they are in any respect
different from God's beloved people of old--those blessed worthies of
whom we read in Hebrews xi., who lived a life of faith and personal
devotedness, and who are now in heaven with their Lord.

But the all-important question is, "What saith the Scripture?" It can
be of no possible use to set up our own thoughts, our own reasonings,
our own conclusions, in opposition to the word of God. It is a very
easy matter for men to reason, with great apparent force, point, and
cleverness, about the absurdity and presumption of the notion that
Christians are in a better and higher place, and more privileged, than
God's people of old.

But this is not the proper way in which to approach this great
subject. It is not a question of the difference _personally_ between
the Lord's people at different periods. Were it so, where should we
find, amongst the ranks of Christian professors, any one to compare
with an Abraham, a Joseph, a Moses, or a Daniel? Were it a question of
simple faith, where could we find in the entire history of the Church
a finer example than the father of the faithful? Were it a question of
personal holiness, where could we find a brighter illustration than
Joseph? For intimacy with God, and acquaintance with His ways and
mind, who could go beyond Moses? For unswerving devotedness to God
and His truth, could we find a brighter example than the man who went
down into the lions' den rather than not pray toward Jerusalem?

However, let it be distinctly understood that it is not by any means a
personal question, or a comparison of people, but of dispensational
position. If this be clearly seen, it will, we doubt not, remove out
of the way a great deal of the difficulty which many pious people seem
to feel in reference to the truth of the Church.

But above and beyond all this stands the question, What does Scripture
teach on the subject? If any one had spoken to Abraham about being a
member of the body of Christ, would he have understood it? Could that
honored and beloved saint of God have had the most remote idea of
being linked by an indwelling Spirit to a living Head in heaven?
Utterly impossible. How could he be a member of a body which had no
existence? And how could there be a body without a Head? And when do
we first hear of the Head? When the Man Christ Jesus, having passed
through death and the grave, ascended into the heavens, and took His
seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Then, and not until
then, did the Holy Ghost come down to form the Body, and link it by
His presence to the glorified Head above.

This, however, is rather anticipating a line of argument which is yet
to come before us. Let us here put another question to the reader. If
any one had spoken to Moses about a body composed of Jews and
Gentiles,--a body whose constituent parts had been drawn from among
the seed of Abraham and the cursed race of the Canaanites,--what would
he have said? May we not safely assert that his whole moral being
would have shrunk with horror from the thought? What! Jews and
Canaanites--the seed of Abraham and uncircumcised Gentiles--united in
one body? Impossible for the lawgiver to take in such an idea. The
fact is, if there was one feature which more strongly than another
marked the Jewish economy, it was the rigid separation by divine
appointment of Jew and Gentile. "Ye know," says Simon Peter, "how that
it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or to
come unto one of another nation."

Such was the order of things under the Mosaic economy. It would have
been a flagrant transgression on the part of a Jew to climb over that
middle wall of partition which separated him from all the nations
around; and hence the thought of a union between Jew and Gentile could
not possibly have entered into any human mind; and the more faithful a
man was to the existing order of things under the law, the more
opposed he must have been to any such thought.

Now, in the face of all this, how can any one seek to maintain that
the truth of the Church was known in Old Testament times, and that
there is no difference whatever between the position of a Christian
and that of an Old Testament believer? The fact is that even Simon
Peter himself found it extremely difficult to take in the idea of
admitting the Gentiles into the Kingdom of Heaven. Though he was
entrusted with the keys of that kingdom, he was very reluctant indeed
to use them for the admission of the Gentiles. He had to be expressly
taught by a heavenly vision, ere he was prepared to fulfil the
commission with which he was charged by his Lord in Matthew xvi.

No, reader, it is of no possible use to stand against the plain
testimony of Scripture. The truth of the Church was not--could not--be
known in Old Testament times. It was, as the inspired apostle tells
us, "hid in God"--hid in His eternal counsels--"not made known to the
sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit,[3] that the Gentiles should be _fellow-heirs_, and of
_the same body_, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the
gospel." (Eph. iii.)

  [3] The "prophets," in this passage, are those of the New Testament.
  This is evident from the expression, "_Now revealed_." He could not
  speak of a thing being "now revealed" to men who had been dead for
  hundreds of years. Besides, had the apostle meant Old Testament
  prophets, the order would assuredly have been "Prophets and apostles."
  We have a similar expression in Eph. ii. 20: "Built upon the
  foundation of the apostles and prophets." He does not say, "prophets
  and apostles." The truth is that the apostles and prophets formed the
  first layer of the foundation of the Church of which Jesus Christ is
  the chief Corner-stone; and this is an additional proof that the
  Church had no existence save in the secret counsels of God until our
  Lord Christ, having accomplished the work of redemption, ascended into
  the heavens, and sent down the Holy Ghost to baptize believers--Jews
  and Gentiles--into one body.

The reader may also refer with real profit and interest to Rom. xvi.
25, 26: "Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my
gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to _the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world
began_, but _now is made manifest_, and by the scriptures of the
prophets (literally, by the prophetic writings, that is, of the New
Testament), according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made
known to all nations for the obedience of faith."

We can only reach the great mystery of the Church by walking over the
broken-down middle wall of partition. "Wherefore remember, that ye
being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh
made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now, in
Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh _by the
blood of Christ_. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and
hath broken down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in His
flesh the enmity, the law of commandments in ordinances, for to make
in Himself of twain one new man, making peace; and that He might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby; and came and preached peace to you which were afar
off, and to them that were nigh. For through Him we both have access
by one Spirit unto the Father." (Eph. ii. 11-18.)

Thus, from all that has passed before us, the reader will, we trust,
fully see why it is that our Lord in His word to Simon Peter speaks of
the Church as a future thing. "Upon this rock _I will build_ my
Church." He does not say, "I have been," or, "I am, building my
Church." Nothing of the kind. It could not be. It was still "hid in
God." The Messiah had to be cut off and have nothing--nothing, for the
present, as regards Israel and the earth. He must be rejected,
crucified, and slain, in order to lay the foundation of the Church. It
was utterly impossible that a single stone could be laid in this new,
this wondrous building until "the chief Corner-stone" had passed
through death and taken His place in the heavens. It was not in
incarnation, but in resurrection, that our Lord Christ became Head of
a body.

Now our apostle was not in the least prepared for this. He did not
understand one jot or tittle of it. That Messiah should set up a
kingdom in power and glory--that He should restore Israel to their
destined pre-eminence in the earth--all this he could understand and
appreciate--he was looking for it. But a suffering Messiah--a rejected
and crucified Christ--of this he could not hear just then. "Be it far
from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee." These were the words
which drew forth that withering rebuke with which we closed our last
paper, "Get thee behind Me, Satan; thou art an offence unto Me; for
thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men."

We may gather the gravity of his error from the severity of the
rebuke. Peter had much to learn, much to go through, ere he could
grasp the great truth which His Lord was putting before him. But he
did grasp it, by the grace of God, and confess it, and teach it with
power. He was led to see not only that Christ was the Son of the
living God, but that He was a rejected Stone, disallowed of men, but
chosen of God and precious; and that all who through grace come to Him
must share His rejection on earth as well as His acceptance in heaven.
They are perfectly identified with Him.




PART VI.


At the close of John vi. we have a very clear and beautiful confession
of Christ from the lips of our apostle--a confession rendered all the
more touching and forcible by the circumstances under which it was
delivered.

Our blessed Lord, in His teachings in the synagogue at Capernaum, had
unfolded truth which puts the poor human heart to the test, and
withers up all the pretensions of man in a very remarkable manner. We
cannot here attempt to enter upon the subject of our Lord's discourse,
but the effect of it is thus recorded:--"From that time many of His
disciples went back, and walked no more with Him." They were not
prepared for the reception of such heavenly doctrine. They were
offended by it, and they turned their backs upon that blessed One who
alone was worthy of all the affections of the heart, and of the homage
and devotion of the whole moral being. "_They went back, and walked no
more with Him._"

Now we are not told what became of these deserters, or whether they
were saved or not. No such question is raised. We are simply told that
they abandoned Christ, and ceased to be any longer publicly identified
with His name and His cause. How many, alas! have since followed their
sad example! It is one thing to profess to be the disciples of
Christ, and another thing altogether to stand with firm purpose of
heart on the ground of public testimony for His name, in thorough
identification with a rejected Lord. It is one thing for people to
flock to Christ because of the benefits which He bestows, and it is
quite another to cleave to Him in the face of the world's scorn and
contempt. The application of the doctrine of the cross very speedily
thins the ranks of professors. In the chapter before us we see at one
moment multitudes thronging enthusiastically around the Man who could
so marvelously supply their need, and the next moment abandoning Him,
when His teaching offended their pride.

Thus it has been, thus it is, and thus it will be until that day in
the which the despised Stranger of Nazareth shall reign from pole to
pole, and from the river to the ends of the earth. We are ready enough
to avail ourselves of the benefits and blessings which _a loving
Saviour_ can bestow upon us, but when it becomes a question of
following _a rejected Lord_ along that rough and lonely path which He
has trodden for us in this sinful world, we are disposed, like those
of old, to go back, and walk no more with Him.

This is very sad and very humiliating. It proves how little we know of
His heart, or of what that heart desires from us. Jesus longs for
fellowship. He does not want patronage. It does not meet the desire of
His heart to be followed, or admired, or gazed at, because of what He
can do or give. He delights in a heart taught of God to appreciate
His Person, for this glorifies and gratifies the Father. He retired
from the gaze of an excited and tumultuous throng who would fain make
Him a king, because they had eaten of the loaves and were filled; but
He could turn, with touching earnestness, to the little band of
followers who still remained, and challenge their hearts with the
question, "Will ye also go away?"

How deeply affecting! How it must have touched the hearts of all, save
that one who had no heart for aught but money--who was "a thief" and
"a devil!" Alas! alas! a moment was approaching when all were to
forsake Him and fly--when He was to be left absolutely _alone_,
forsaken of men, forsaken of God--utterly and awfully deserted.

But that moment was yet future; and it is peculiarly refreshing to
harken to the fine confession of our beloved apostle, in reply to the
deeply affecting inquiry of his Lord. "Then Simon Peter answered Him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we
believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living
God."

Well indeed might he say, "To whom shall we go?" There was not another
throughout the wide universe of God to whom the heart could turn. He
alone could meet their every need, satisfy their every right desire,
fill up every chamber of the heart. Simon Peter felt this, and hence,
with all his mistakes, his failures, and his infirmities, his loving
and devoted heart turned with earnest affection to his beloved Lord.
He would not abandon Him, though little able to rise to the height of
His heavenly teaching. There was a link binding him to Jesus Christ
which nothing could snap. "Lord, to whom shall we go?"--whither shall
we betake ourselves?--on whom could we reckon beside? True, there may
be trial and difficulty in the path of true discipleship. It may prove
a rough and a lonely path. The heart may be tried and tested in every
possible way. There may be deep and varied sorrow--deep waters, dark
shadows; but in the face of all we can say, "To whom shall we go?"

And mark the singular fulness of Peter's confession. "Thou _hast_ the
words of eternal life;" and then, "Thou _art_ that Christ, the Son of
the living God." We have the two things, namely, what He _has_, and
what He _is_. Blessed be His name, Christ has all we can possibly want
for time and eternity. Words of eternal life flow from His lips into
our hearts. He causes those who follow Him to "inherit substance." He
bestows upon them "durable riches and righteousness." We may truly say
that, in comparison of what Christ has to give, all the riches,
honors, dignities, and pleasures of this world are but dross. They all
pass away as the vapors of the morning, and leave only an aching void
behind. Nothing that this world has to offer can possibly satisfy the
cravings of the human soul. "All is vanity and vexation of spirit."
And not only so--it must be given up. If one had all the wealth of
Solomon, it lasts but a moment in comparison with that boundless
eternity which lies before every one of us. When death approaches, all
the riches of the universe could not purchase one moment's respite.
The last great enemy gives no quarter. He ruthlessly snaps the link
that connects man with all that his poor heart prizes and loves upon
earth, and hurries him away into eternity.

And what then? Yes, this is the question. Who can answer it? Who can
attempt to picture the future of a soul that passes into eternity
without God, without Christ, without hope? Who can describe the
horrors of one who, all in a moment, opens his eyes to the fact--the
tremendous fact--that he is lost, lost forever--hopelessly, eternally,
lost? It is positively too dreadful to dwell upon it. And yet it must
be looked at; and if the reader is still of the world, still
unconverted, careless, thoughtless, unbelieving, we would earnestly
entreat of him now, just now, to give his earnest attention to the
weighty and all-important question of his soul's salvation--a
question, in comparison with which all other questions dwindle into
utter insignificance. "What shall it profit a man, if he should gain
the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul?" It is, beyond all question, the most egregious
folly that any one can be guilty of to put off the grand business of
his soul's salvation.

And if any one inquire what he has to do in this business, the answer
is _Nothing_--"nothing, either great or small." Jesus has the words
of eternal life. He it is who says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, _hath_
everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but _is passed_
from death unto life."

Here is the hinge on which the whole matter moves. Harken to the words
of Christ. Believe in Him that sent His blessed Son. Put your trust in
God, and you shall be saved; you shall have eternal life, and never
come into judgment.

Nor is this all. Simon Peter, in his lovely confession, does not
confine himself to what Christ has to give, precious and blessed as
that is, but he also speaks of what He is. "Thou art that Christ, the
Son of the living God." This is full of deepest interest for the
heart. Christ not only gives us eternal life, but He also becomes the
object of our heart's affections--our satisfying portion, our
unfailing resource, our infallible Guide and Counselor, our constant
reference, in all our need, in all our pressure, in all our sorrows
and difficulties. We need never go to any one else for succor,
sympathy, or guidance. We have all we want in Him. He is the eternal
delight of the heart of God, and He may well be the delight of our
hearts here and hereafter, now and forever.




PART VII.


The close of Matt. xiv. presents a scene in the life of our apostle on
which we may dwell with profit for a few moments. It furnishes a very
fine illustration of his own touching inquiry, "Lord, to whom shall we
go?"

Our Lord having fed the multitude, and sent His disciples across the
sea, retired into a mountain, to be alone in prayer. In this we have a
striking foreshadowing of the present time. Jesus has gone on high.
Israel is for the present set aside, but not forgotten. Days of
trouble will come--rough seas and stormy skies will fall to the lot of
the remnant; but their Messiah will return, and deliver them out of
all their troubles. He will bring them to their desired haven, and all
will be peace and joy for the Israel of God.

All this is fully unfolded on the page of prophecy, and is of the
deepest interest to every lover of God and His word; but for the
present we can merely dwell upon the inspired record concerning Simon
Peter, and seek to learn the lesson which that record so forcibly
teaches. "And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into
a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the
multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up
into a mountain apart to pray; and when the evening was come, He was
there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed
with waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the
night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples
saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a
spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto
them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter
answered Him, and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on
the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the
ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind
boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying,
Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst
thou doubt?"

This brief passage presents to our view in a very forcible way some of
the leading features of Simon Peter's character. His zeal, his energy,
his real devotedness of heart, no one can for a moment call in
question; but these very qualities--beautiful as they surely are--led
him not unfrequently into a position of such prominence as to render
his weak points all the more conspicuous. A man of less zeal, less
energy, would have remained on board the ship, and thus avoided
Peter's failure and breakdown. Perhaps, too, men of cooler temperament
would condemn as unwarrantable rashness Peter's act in leaving the
ship, or pronounce it a piece of forwardness which justly deserved a
humiliating rebuff.

All this may be so; but we are free to confess that the zeal, energy
and devotedness of this beloved servant of Christ have far more
powerful charms for the heart than the cool, calculating,
self-considering spirit which, in order to avoid the shame and
humiliation of a defeat, refuses to take a bold and decided step for
Christ. True it is that Peter in the interesting scene now before us
completely broke down. But why did he? Was it because he left the
ship? No; but because he ceased to look in simple faith to Jesus. Here
lay the root of his failure. Had he only kept his eye on the Master,
he could have walked on the water though ever so rough. Faith can walk
on rough water as easily as on smooth. Nature cannot walk on either.
It is not a question of the state of the water, but the state of the
heart. Circumstances have nothing to do with faith, except, indeed,
that when difficult and trying, they develop its power and brightness.
There was no reason whatever, in the judgment of faith, why Peter
should have failed in his walk on the water. Faith looks not at the
things that are seen and temporal, but at the things which are unseen
and eternal. It endures as seeing Him who is invisible. "Faith is the
evidence of things _not seen_." It lifts the heart above the winds and
waves of this rough world, and keeps it in perfect peace, to the
praise of Him who is the Giver of faith, as of "every good and perfect
gift."

But our beloved apostle utterly failed in faith on the occasion now
before us. He, as we, alas! so often do, took his eye off the Lord
and fixed it on his surroundings, and as a consequence he immediately
began to sink. It must ever be so. We cannot get on for a single
moment save as we have the living God as a covering for our eyes. The
grand motto for the life of faith is, "Looking off unto Jesus." It is
this alone which enables us to "run the race set before us," be the
way rough or smooth. When Peter came down out of the ship, it was
either Christ or drowning. He might well say at such a moment, "Lord,
to whom shall I go?" Whither could he turn? When on board the ship, he
had its timbers between him and death, but when on the water he had
nothing but Jesus.

And was not He enough? Yes, verily, if only Peter could have trusted
Him. This is the point. All things are possible to him that believeth.
Storms are hushed into a perfect calm, rough seas become like glass,
lofty mountains are leveled, when faith brings the power of God to
bear. The greater the difficulties, the brighter the triumphs of
faith. It is in the furnace that the real preciousness of faith is
displayed. Faith has to do with God, and not with men or things. If we
cease to lean on God, we have nothing but a wild, watery waste--a
perfect chaos--around us, where nature's resources must hopelessly
fail.

All this was proved by Simon Peter when he came down out of the ship
to walk on the water; and every child of God and every servant of
Christ must prove it in his measure, for Peter's history is full of
great practical lessons for us all. If we want to walk above the
circumstances of the scene through which we are passing--if we would
rise superior to its influences--if we would be able to give an
answer, clear, distinct, and decided, to the skepticism, the
rationalism and the infidelity of the day in which we live--then,
assuredly, we must keep the eye of faith firmly fixed on "the Author
and Perfecter of faith." It is not by logical skill or intellectual
power we shall ever meet the arguments of the infidel, but by an
abiding sense, a living and soul-satisfying apprehension, of the
all-sufficiency of Christ--Himself--His work--His word--to meet our
every need, our every exigence.

But it may be the reader feels disposed to condemn Peter for leaving
the ship. He may think there was no need for his taking such a step.
Why not abide with his brethren on board the vessel? Was it not
possible to be quite as devoted to Christ in the ship as on the water?
And, further, did not the sequel prove that it would have been far
better, and safer, and wiser, for Peter to remain where he was, than
to venture forth on a course which he was not able to pursue?

To all this we reply that our apostle was evidently governed by an
earnest desire to be nearer to his Lord. And this was right. He saw
Jesus walking on the water, and he longed to be with Him. And,
further, he had the direct authority of his Lord for leaving the ship.
We fully and freely grant that without this it would have been a
fatal mistake to leave his position; but the moment that word "Come"
fell on his ear he had a divine warrant for going forth upon the
water--yea, to have remained would have been to miss great blessing.

Thus it is in every case. We must have authority before we can act in
anything. Without this, the greater our zeal, energy, and apparent
devotedness, the more fatal will be our mistake, and the more mischief
we shall do to ourselves, to others, and to the cause of Christ. It is
of the very last possible importance in every case, but especially
where there is a measure of zeal, earnestness, and energy, that there
should be sober subjection to the authority of the Word. If there be
not this, there is no calculating the amount of mischief which may be
done. If our devotedness flow not in the channel of simple obedience,
if it rush over the embankments formed by the word of God, the
consequences must be most disastrous.

But there is another thing which stands next in importance to the
authority of the _divine Word_, and that is the abiding realization of
the _divine presence_. These two things must never be separated if we
want to walk on the water. We may be quite clear and settled in our
own minds, having distinct authority for any given line of action; but
if we have not with equal distinctness the sense of the Lord's
presence with us--if our eyes are not continually on the living
God--we shall most assuredly break down.

This is very serious, and demands the gravest consideration of the
Christian reader. It was precisely here that Peter failed. He did not
fail in obedience, but in realized dependence. He acted on the word of
Jesus in leaving the ship, but he failed to lean on the arm of Jesus
in walking on the water; hence his terror and confusion. Mere
authority is not enough; we want power. To act without authority is
wrong. To act without power is impossible. The authority for starting
is the word. The power to proceed is the divine presence. The
combination of the two must ever yield a successful career. It matters
not in the smallest degree what the difficulties are if we have the
stable authority of Holy Scripture for our course, and the blessed
support of the presence of God in pursuing it. When God speaks, we
must obey; but in order to do so, we must lean on His arm. "Have not I
commanded you?" "Lo, I am with you."

Here are the two things so absolutely essential to every child of God
and every servant of Christ. Without these, we can do nothing; with
them, we can do all things. If we have not a "Thus saith the Lord," or
"It is written," we cannot enter upon a path of devotedness; and if we
have not His realized presence, we cannot pursue it. It is quite
possible to be right in setting out, and yet to fail in going on.

It was so in the case of Simon Peter, and it has been so in the case
of thousands since. It is one thing to make a good start, and another
thing to make good progress. It is one thing to leave the ship, and
another thing to walk on the water. Peter did the former, but he
failed in the latter. This beloved servant of Christ broke down in his
course; but where did he find himself? In the arms of a loving
Saviour. "Lord, save me!" How touching! How deeply affecting! He casts
himself upon a well-known love--a love which was yet to meet him in
far more humiliating circumstances. Nor was he disappointed. Ah, no!
Blessed be God, no poor failing creature can ever appeal to that love
in vain. "And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught
him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou
doubt?" Exquisite grace! If Peter failed to reach his Lord, his Lord
did not fail to reach him. If Peter failed in faith, Jesus could not
fail in grace. Impossible. The grace of our Lord Jesus is exceeding
abundant. He takes occasion from our very failures to display His rich
and precious love. Oh, how blessed to have to do with such a tender,
patient, loving Lord! Who would not trust Him and praise Him, love Him
and serve Him?




PART VIII.


We have now to follow our beloved apostle into the darkest and most
humbling scene in his entire history--a scene which we could hardly
understand or account for if we did not know something of the infinite
depths of divine grace on the one hand, and, on the other hand, of the
terrible depths into which even a saint of God or an apostle of Christ
is capable of plunging if not kept by divine power.

It seems very wonderful to find on the page of inspiration the record
of the fall of such an eminent servant of Christ as Simon Peter. We,
in our wisdom, would judge it best to draw the curtain of silence over
such an event. Not so the Holy Ghost. He has seen fit to tell us
plainly of the errors, and failures, and sins, of such men as Abraham,
Moses, David, Peter, and Paul, in order that we may learn holy lessons
from such records--lessons of human frailty, lessons of divine grace,
lessons full of solemn warning, and yet of most precious consolation
and encouragement. We learn what we are, and we learn what God is. We
learn that we cannot trust ourselves for a single moment; for, if not
kept by grace, there is no depth of sin into which we are not capable
of falling; but we learn to trust the eternal stability of that grace
which has dealt with the erring ones and sinning ones of other days,
and to lean with ever-growing confidence on the One who is "the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever."

Not one of the four evangelists omits the fall of Peter. Let us open
at Matt. xxvi.; "And when they had sung a hymn they went out into the
mount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended
because of Me this night; for it is written, I will smite the
Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But
after I am risen again I will go before you into Galilee. Peter
answered and said unto Him, Though all shall be offended because of
Thee, yet will I never be offended."

In these few words Peter lets out the real root of the whole matter.
That root was self-confidence--alas! alas! no uncommon root amongst
us. We do not in the least question Peter's sincerity. We feel
perfectly sure he meant all he said; and, further, that he had not the
most remote idea of what he was about to do. He was ignorant of
himself, and we generally find that ignorance and self-confidence go
together. Self-knowledge destroys self-confidence. The more fully self
is known, the more it must be distrusted. If Peter had known himself,
known his tendencies and capabilities, he never would have uttered the
words which we have just penned. But so full was he of self-confidence,
that when his Lord told him expressly what He was about to do, he
replied, "Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee."

This is peculiarly solemn. It is full of instruction for us all. We
are all so ignorant of our own hearts that we deem ourselves incapable
of falling into certain gross sins. But we should, every one of us,
bear in mind that if not kept each moment by the grace of God, we are
capable of anything. We have materials in us for any amount or
character of evil; and whenever we hear any one saying, "Well, I
certainly am a poor, failing, stumbling creature, but I am not capable
of doing the like of that," we may feel assured he does not know his
own heart; and not only so, but he is in imminent danger of falling
into some grievous sin. It is well to walk humbly before our God,
distrusting self, and leaning on Him. This is the true secret of moral
safety at all times. Had Peter realized this, it would have saved him
his terrible downfall.

But Peter was self-confident, and, as a consequence, he failed to
watch and pray. This was another stage in his downward journey. Had he
only felt his utter weakness, he would have sought for strength
divine. He would have cast himself on God for grace to help in time of
need. Look at the blessed Master! He, though God over all, blessed
forever, yet being a Man, having taken the place of the creature, and
fully entering into His position, was agonizing in prayer while Peter
was fast asleep. Yes, Peter slept in the garden of Gethsemane while
his Lord was passing through the deepest anguish He had yet tasted,
though deeper still lay before Him. "Then cometh Jesus with them unto
a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here,
while I go and pray yonder. And He took with Him Peter and the sons of
Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith He unto
them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; tarry ye here,
and watch with Me. And He went a little further, and fell on His face,
and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. And He cometh
unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and _saith unto Peter_,
What! could ye not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye
enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh
is weak."

What tender grace! What readiness to make allowance! What moral
elevation! And yet He felt the sad want of sympathy, the cold
indifference to His sore agony. "I looked for some to take pity, but
there was none; and for comforters, but I found none." How much is
involved in these words! He looked for comforters. That perfect human
heart craved sympathy; but, alas! there was none for Him. Even Peter,
who declared himself ready to die with Him, fell asleep in view of the
agonies of Gethsemane.

Such is man--yea, the very best of men! Self-confident, when he ought
to be self-distrusting--sleeping, when he ought to be watching; and,
we may add, fighting, when he ought to be submitting. "Then Simon
Peter, having a sword, drew it, and smote the high priest's servant,
and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus." How
incongruous, how utterly out of place, was a sword in company with the
meek and lowly Sufferer! "Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy
sword into the sheath: the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I
not drink it?" Peter was entirely out of the current of his Master's
spirit. He had not a thought in common with Him in reference to His
path of suffering. He would fain defend Him with carnal weapons,
forgetting that His kingdom was not of this world.

All this is peculiarly solemn. To find a dear and honored servant of
Christ failing so grievously is surely sufficient to teach us to walk
very softly. But, alas! we have not yet reached the lowest point in
Peter's downward course. Having used his sword in defence of his
Master, we next find him "following afar off." "Then took they Jesus,
and led Him, and brought Him to the high priest's house. And _Peter
followed afar off_. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of
the hall, and were set down together, _Peter sat down among them_."

What company for an apostle of Christ! "Can a man touch pitch, and not
be defiled by it? Can one walk on burning coals, and his feet not be
burned?" It is terribly dangerous for the Christian to sit down among
the enemies of Christ. The very fact of his doing so proves that
decline has set in, and made serious progress. In Peter's case the
stages of decline are strongly marked. First, boasting in his own
strength; secondly, sleeping when he ought to have been praying;
thirdly, drawing his sword when he ought to have been meekly bowing
his head; fourthly, following afar off; fifthly, making himself
comfortable in the midst of the open enemies of Christ.

Then comes the last sad scene in this terrible drama. "And as Peter
was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high
priest; and when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him,
and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied,
saying, _I know not, neither understand I, what thou sayest_. And he
went out into the porch; and the cock crew. And a maid saw him again,
and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. _And he
denied it again._ And a little after, they that stood by said again to
Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy
speech agreeth thereto. But _he began to curse and to swear, I know
not this man of whom ye speak_. And the second time the cock crew. And
Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the
cock crow twice thou shalt deny Me thrice. And when he thought
thereon, he wept." (Mark xiv. 66-72.)

Luke adds a most touching clause: "_And the Lord turned and looked
upon Peter._ And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had
said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And
Peter went out, and wept bitterly."

How deeply affecting is all this! Only think of a saint of God, and an
apostle of Christ, cursing and swearing that he did not know his
Lord! Does the reader feel disposed to question the fact that Peter
was, spite of all this, a genuine saint of God? Some do question it,
but their questioning is a gross mistake. They find it hard to
conceive such a thing as a true child of God falling so terribly. It
is because they have not yet thoroughly learnt what flesh is. Peter
was as really a saint of God in the palace of the high priest as he
was on the mount of transfiguration. But he had to learn himself, and
that, too, by as humiliating and painful a process as any soul could
well be called to pass through. Doubtless, if any one had told Peter,
a few days before, that he would ere long curse and swear that he did
not know his Lord, he would have shrunk with horror from the thought.
He might have said, like one of old, "Is thy servant a dog that he
should do this thing?" Yet so it was. We know not what we may do until
we are in the circumstances. The great thing for us all is to walk
humbly with our God day by day, deeply sensible of our own utter
weakness, and clinging to Him who is able to keep us from falling. We
are safe only in the shelter of His presence. Left to ourselves, we
are capable of anything, as our apostle found to his deep sorrow.

But the Lord was watching over His poor erring servant. He never lost
sight of him for a single moment, He had His eye upon the whole
process. The devil would have smashed the vessel in hopeless fragments
if he could. But he could not. He was but an instrument in the divine
hand to do a work for Peter which Peter had failed to do for himself.
"Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift
you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and
when thou art converted (or restored), strengthen thy brethren."

Here we are permitted to see the root of the matter. Peter needed to
be sifted, and Satan was employed to do the work--just as in the case
of Job, and the man in 1 Cor. v. It seems very wonderful, very
mysterious, very solemn, that Satan should be so used. Yet so it is.
God uses him "for the destruction of the flesh." He cannot touch the
spirit. That is eternally safe. But it is terrible work to get into
Satan's sieve. Peter found it so, and so did Job, and so did that
erring Corinthian.

But oh, the _grace_ of those words! "I have prayed for thee"--not that
he might not fall, but, having fallen, that his faith might not fail,
his confidence might not give way. Nothing can surpass the grace that
shines out here. The blessed One knew all that was to happen--the
shameful denial--the cursing and swearing; and yet, "I have prayed for
thee that thy faith fail not"--that thy confidence in the eternal
stability of my grace may not give way.

Perfectly marvelous! And then, the _power_ of that look! "The Lord
turned, and looked upon Peter." It was this that broke Peter's heart,
and drew forth a flood of bitter, penitential tears.




PART IX.


We are now called to consider the intensely interesting subject of
Simon Peter's restoration, in which we shall find some points of the
utmost practical importance. If in his fall we learn the frailty and
folly of man, in his restoration we learn the grace, wisdom, and
faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fall was, indeed, deep,
terrible, and humiliating. The restoration was complete and marvelous.
We may rest assured that Simon Peter will never forget either the one
or the other; nay, he will remember them with wonder, love, and
praise, throughout the countless ages of eternity. The grace that
shines in Peter's restoration is the same which is displayed in his
conversion. Let us glance at some of the salient points. It can be but
the merest glance, as our space is limited. And first let us look at


THE PROCURING CAUSE.

This we have given us with peculiar force by the pen of the inspired
evangelist Luke. "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath
desired to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat." If Satan had
been suffered to have his way, poor Simon would have been hopelessly
ruined. But no; he was merely employed as an instrument, as he had
been in Job's case, to do a needed work, and, when that work was done,
he had to retire. He dare not go one hair's breadth beyond his
appointed sphere. It is well to remember this. Satan is but a
creature--crafty, wily, powerful, no doubt, but a creature who can
only go as far as he is permitted by God. Had Peter walked softly, had
he humbly and earnestly looked for divine help, had he been judging
himself in secret, there would have been no need of Satan's sifting.
Thanks be to God, Satan has no power whatever with a soul that walks
humbly with God. There is perfect shelter, perfect safety, in the
divine presence; and there is not an arrow in the enemy's quiver that
can reach one who leans in simple confidence upon the arm of the
living God. Here our apostle failed, and hence he had to pass through
a very severe process indeed, in order that he might learn himself.

But, oh, the power and preciousness of those words, "_I have prayed
for thee_!" Here assuredly lay the secret--here was the procuring
cause of Simon's restoration. The prayer of Jesus sustained the soul
of His erring servant in that terrible hour when the enemy would fain
have crushed him to powder. What could Satan do in opposition to the
all-powerful intercession of Christ? Nothing. That wonderful prayer
was the ground of Peter's safety, when, to human view, all seemed
hopelessly gone.

And for what did our Lord pray? Was it that Peter might not commit the
awful sin of denying Him? Was it that he might not curse and swear?
Clearly not. What then? "I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail
not."

Can aught exceed the grace that shines here? That gracious, loving,
faithful Lord, in view of Peter's terrible sin--knowing all he was
about to do, all the sad forgetfulness--could actually plead for him
that, spite of all, his confidence might not give way--that he might
not lose the sense of the eternal stability of that grace which had
taken him up from the depth of his ruin and guilt.

Matchless grace! Nothing can surpass it in brightness and blessedness.
Had it not been for this prayer, Peter's confidence must have given
way. He never could have survived the awful struggle through which his
soul passed when thinking of his dreadful sin. When he came to
himself, when he reflected upon the whole scene, his expressions of
devotedness, "Though all should deny Thee, yet will I never deny
Thee"--"Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee"--"I
am ready to go with Thee to prison and to death"--to think of all
these words, and yet that he should deny his beloved Lord with cursing
and swearing, was overpowering.

It is a dreadful moment in the soul's history when one wakes up to the
consciousness of having committed sin--sin against light, knowledge,
and privilege--sin against divine grace and goodness. Satan is sure to
be specially busy at such a crisis. He casts in the most terrible
suggestions--raises all manner of questions--fills the heart with
legal reasonings, doubts, and fears--causes the soul to totter on the
foundation.

But, thanks and praise to our God, the enemy cannot prevail. "Hitherto
shalt thou come, and no further." The all-prevailing intercession of
our divine Advocate sustains the faith so sorely tried, carries the
soul through the deep and dark waters, restores the broken link of
communion, heals the spiritual wounds, lifts up the fallen one, brings
back the wanderer, and fills the heart with praise and thanksgiving.
"I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not; and when thou art
restored, strengthen thy brethren." Here we have set before us in the
most touching way _the procuring cause_ of Simon Peter's restoration.
We shall now look for a moment at


THE PRODUCING MEANS.

For this, too, we are indebted to the evangelist Luke. Indeed it is
through him the inspiring Spirit has given us so much of what is
exquisitely human--so much of what goes straight to our very hearts,
in subduing power--so much of God coming out in loveliest human form.

We have already noticed Peter's gradual descent--his sad progress,
from one stage to another, in moral distance and culpable
decline--forgetting to watch and pray--following afar off--warming
himself at the enemy's fire--the cowardly denial--the cursing and
swearing. All this was down! down! down! shamefully and awfully down.
But when the erring, straying, sinning one had reached the very lowest
point, then comes out, with heavenly lustre, the grace that shines in
the procuring cause and the producing means of his restoration. The
former we have in Christ's _prayer_; the latter in Christ's _look_.
"The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word
of the Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou
shalt deny Me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly."

Yes, here it is; "The Lord _looked_"--"Peter remembered"--Peter
wept--"wept bitterly." What a look! What a remembrance! What a
weeping! What human heart can conceive, what tongue express, what pen
portray, all that is wrapped up in that one look? We can well believe
that it went right home to the very centre of Peter's soul. He will
never forget that marvelous look, so full of mighty moral power--so
penetrating--so melting--so soul-subduing.

"Peter went out, and wept bitterly." This was the turning point. Up to
this all was darkly downward. Here divine light breaks in upon the
deep moral gloom. Christ's most precious prayer is having its answer,
His powerful look is doing its work. The fountain of the heart is
broken up, and penitential tears flow copiously forth, demonstrating
the depth, reality, and intensity of the work within.

Thus it must ever be, and thus it will ever be when the Spirit of God
works in the soul. If we have sinned, we must be made to feel, to
judge, and to confess our sin--to feel it deeply, judge it thoroughly,
and confess it fully. It will not do merely to say, in levity,
flippancy, or mere formality, "I have sinned." There must be reality,
uprightness, and sincerity. God desires truth in the inward parts.
There was nothing light, flippant, or formal about our beloved apostle
in the hour of his fall and repentance. No, all was intensely real. It
could not but be so with such a procuring cause, and such a producing
means. The prayer and look of Peter's Lord displayed their precious
results in Peter's restoration.

Now the reader will do well to notice that the prayer and look of our
Lord Jesus Christ set forth, in a very striking and beautiful manner,
the two grand aspects of Christ's present ministry as our Advocate
with the Father. We have the value and prevalency of His intercession,
and the power and efficacy of His word in the hands of the Holy Ghost,
that "other Advocate." Christ's _prayer_ for Peter answers to His
intercession for us. His _look_ upon Peter answers to His word brought
home to us in the power of the Holy Ghost. When we sin--as, alas! we
do in thought and deed--our blessed and adorable Advocate speaks to
God on our behalf. This is the procuring cause of our repentance and
restoration. But He speaks to us on God's behalf. This is the
producing means.

We shall not dwell upon the great subject of the advocacy here, having
recently sought to unfold it in our papers on "The All-sufficiency of
Christ." We shall close this paper with a brief reference to two or
three of the moral features of Peter's restoration--features which,
be it well remembered, must be looked for in every case of true
restoration. In the first place there is


THE STATE OF THE CONSCIENCE.

Now, as to the full and complete restoration of Peter's conscience
after his terrible fall, we have the most unquestionable evidence
afforded in his after history. Take the touching scene at the sea of
Tiberias, as given in John xxi.[4] Look at that dear, earnest,
thorough man, girding his fisher's coat around him, and plunging into
the sea, in order to get to the feet of his risen Lord! He waits
neither for the ship nor for his companions, but in all the lovely
freshness and liberty of a divinely restored conscience, he rushes to
his Saviour's feet. There is no tormenting fear, no legal bondage, no
doubt, darkness, or distance. His conscience is perfectly at rest. The
prayer and the look--the two grand departments of the work of
advocacy--had proved effectual. Peter's conscience was all right,
sound, and good; and hence he could find his home in the presence of
his Lord--his holy, happy home.

  [4] We have no record of Peter's first meeting with his Lord, after
  the resurrection.

Take another striking and beautiful evidence of a restored conscience.
Look at Peter in Acts iii. There he stands in the presence of
assembled thousands of Jews, and boldly charges them with having
"denied the Holy One and the Just"--the very thing which he himself
had done though under circumstances very different. How could Peter do
this? How could he have the face to speak so? Why not leave it to
James or John to prefer this heavy charge? The answer is blessedly
simple. Peter's conscience was so thoroughly restored, so perfectly at
rest, because perfectly purged, that he could fearlessly charge the
house of Israel with the awful sin of denying the Holy One of God. Was
this the fruit of moral insensibility? Nay, it was the fruit of divine
restoration. Had any one of the congregation gathered in Solomon's
porch undertaken to challenge our apostle as to his own shameful
denial of his Lord, we can easily conceive his answer. The man who had
"wept bitterly" over his sin would, we feel assured, know how to
answer such a challenge. Not that his bitter weeping was the
meritorious ground of his restoration; nothing of the kind, it only
proved the reality of the work of repentance in his soul. Moral
insensibility is one thing, and a restored conscience, resting on the
blood and advocacy of Christ, is quite another.

But there is another thing involved in a true work of restoration, and
that is


THE STATE OF THE HEART.

This is of the very utmost importance in every instance. No
restoration can be considered divinely complete which does not reach
the very depths of the heart. And hence, when we turn back to the
scenes on the shore of the sea of Tiberias, we find the Lord dealing
very closely and very powerfully with the state of Peter's heart. We
cannot attempt to expatiate, much as we should like to do so, on one
of the most affecting interviews in the entire volume of God. We can
do little more than quote the inspired record, but that is quite
enough.

It is deeply interesting to notice that there is no allusion--not the
most remote--to past scenes, during that wonderful dinner, provided,
cooked, and dispensed by the risen Lord! But "when they had dined,
Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more
than these?" Here Simon is recalled by the words of his faithful Lord
to his self-confident profession. He had said, "Though all shall be
offended, yet will not I." Then the searching question, three times
repeated, evidently calls back the threefold denial.

Peter's _heart_ is touched--the moral _root_ of the whole matter is
reached. This was absolutely necessary in Peter's case, and it is
absolutely necessary in every case. The work of restoration can never
be thorough unless the roots of things are reached and judged. Mere
surface work will never do. It is of no use to crop the sprouts; we
must get down to the depths, the hidden springs, the moral sources,
and judge them in the very light of the divine presence.

This is the true secret of all genuine restoration. Let us ponder it
deeply. We may rest assured it demands our most solemn consideration.
We are all too apt to rest satisfied with cropping off the sprouts
that appear above the surface of our practical daily life, without
getting at the roots; and the sad consequence is that the sprouts
quickly appear again, to our sorrow and shame, and the dishonor of our
Lord's name. The work of self-judgment must be more profound if we
would really make progress. We are terribly shallow, light, and
flippant. We greatly lack depth, seriousness, and moral gravity. We
want more of that heart-work which was wrought in Simon the son of
Jonas on the shore of the sea of Tiberias. "Peter was grieved because
He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me?" The knife of the
divine Operator had reached the root of the moral disease, and that
was enough. It was needful, but it was enough; and the grieved and
self-judged Simon Peter has only to fall back upon the great fact that
his Lord knew all things. "Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest
that I love Thee." It is as though he had said, "Lord, it demands the
eye of Omniscience itself to discern in the heart of the poor erring
one a single spark of affection for Thee."

Reader, this truly is real work. We have before us a thoroughly
restored soul--restored in conscience, restored in heart. And if it be
asked, "What remains?" the answer is, We see a servant


RESTORED TO HIS WORK.

Some would tell us that if a man falls, he can never recover his
position; and no doubt, under _government_, we must reap as we sow.
But _grace_ is another thing altogether. Government drove Adam out of
Eden, and never replaced him there, but grace announced the victorious
Seed of the woman. Government kept Moses out of Canaan, but grace
conducted him to Pisgah's top. Government sent a perpetual sword upon
David's house, but grace made the son of Bathsheba the wisest and
wealthiest of Israel's kings.

This distinction must never be lost sight of. To confound grace and
government is to commit a very grave mistake indeed. We cannot attempt
to enter upon this weighty subject here, having done so in one of our
earlier volumes. But let the reader seek to understand it, and bear it
ever in mind.

As to Simon Peter, we not only see him restored to the work to which
he was called at the first, but to something even higher. "Feed My
lambs--shepherd My sheep"--is the new commission given to the man who
had denied his Lord with an oath. Is not this something beyond
"catching men?" "When thou art restored, strengthen thy brethren." Can
anything in the way of service be more elevated than shepherding
sheep, feeding lambs, and strengthening brethren? There is nothing in
all this world nearer or dearer to the heart of Christ than His sheep,
His lambs, His brethren: and hence He could not have given Simon Peter
a more affecting proof of His confidence than by committing to his
care the dearest objects of His deep and tender love.

And then mark the closing words, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
when thou wast _young_, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither
thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be _old_, thou shalt stretch forth
thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou
wouldest not. This spake He, signifying by what death he should
glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He saith unto him, FOLLOW
ME."

What weighty words are these! Who can tell their depth, power, and
significance? What a contrast between Simon, "_young_," restless,
forward, blundering, boastful, self-confident; and Peter, "_old_,"
subdued, mellowed, passive, crucified! What a difference between a man
walking whither he would, and a man following a rejected Lord along
the dark and narrow pathway of the cross, home to glory!




CONCLUSION.


We could not close this series of papers without glancing, however
cursorily, at the way in which our apostle discharged his various
commissions. We see him "catching men;" opening the kingdom of heaven
to the Jew and to the Gentile; and, finally, feeding and shepherding
the lambs and sheep of the flock of Christ.

Elevated services these, for any poor mortal to be called to, and more
especially for one who had fallen so deeply as Simon Peter. But the
remarkable power with which he was enabled to fulfil his blessed
service proved beyond all question the reality and completeness of his
restoration. If, at the close of the Gospels, we see Peter restored in
heart and conscience, in the Acts and in his epistles we see him
restored to his work.

We cannot attempt to go into details; but a point or two must be
briefly noticed. There is something uncommonly fine in Peter's address
in the third chapter of Acts. We can only quote a sentence or two:
"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our
fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and
_denied Him_ in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let
Him go. But _ye denied the Holy One and the Just_."

What a splendid evidence we have here of Peter's complete restoration!
It would have been utterly impossible for him to charge his audience
with having denied the Holy One if his own soul had not been fully and
blessedly restored. Alas! he, too, had denied his Lord; but he had
repented, and wept bitterly. He had been down in the depths of
self-judgment, just where he desired to see every one of his hearers.
He had been face to face with his Lord, just where he longed to see
them. He had been given to taste the sweetness, the freeness, the
fulness, of the pardoning love of God, to prove the divine efficacy of
the atonement and the prevalency of the advocacy of Christ. He was
pardoned, healed, restored; and as such he stood in their presence a
living and striking monument of that grace which he was unfolding to
them, and which was amply sufficient for them as it had proved for
him. "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out."

Who could more distinctly and emphatically utter such precious words
than the erring, restored and forgiven Peter? If any one of his
audience had ventured to remind the preacher of his own history, what
would he have said in reply? Doubtless he would have had little to say
about himself, but much, very much, to say about that rich and
precious grace which had triumphed over all his sin and failure--much,
very much, about that precious blood which had canceled forever all
his guilt, and given perfect peace to his conscience--much, very much,
about that all-prevailing advocacy to which he owed his full and
perfect restoration.

Peter was just the man to unfold to others those glorious themes in
which he had so thoroughly learnt to find his strength, his comfort,
and his joy. He had proved in no ordinary way the reality and
stability of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was no mere empty
theory, no mere doctrine or opinion, with him. It was all intensely
real to him. His very life and salvation were bound up in it. He knew
the heart of Christ in a very intimate way. He knew its infinite
tenderness and compassion, its unswerving devotedness in the face of
many stumbles, shortcomings, and sins; and hence he could bear the
most distinct and powerful testimony to the whole house of Israel to
the power of the name of Jesus, the efficacy of His blood, and the
deep and infinite love of His heart. "His name, through faith in His
name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know; yea, the faith
which is by Him hath given him _this perfect soundness_ in the
presence of you all."

What power in these words! How refreshing is the testimony to the
peerless name of Jesus! It is perfectly delightful at all times, but
specially so in this infidel day in which our lot is cast--a day so
marked by the determined and persistent effort of the enemy to exclude
the name of Jesus from every department.

Look where you will, whether it be in the domain of science, of
religion, of philanthropy, or moral reform, and you see the same
sedulous and diligently pursued purpose to banish the name of Jesus.
It is not said so in plain terms, but it is so nevertheless.
Scientific men, the professors and lecturers in our universities, talk
and write about "the forces of nature" and the facts of science in
such a way as practically to exclude the Christ of God from the whole
field of nature. Scripture tells us, blessed be God, that by the Son
of His love "All things were created that are in heaven, and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or
principalities or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him:
and He is before all things, and _by Him all things consist_." And
again, speaking of the Son, the inspiring Spirit says, "Who being the
brightness of God's glory, and the express image of His person, and
_upholding all things by the word of His power_, when He had by
Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high." (Col. i., Heb. i.)

These passages lead us to the divine root of the matter. They speak
not of "the forces of nature," but of the glory of Christ, the power
of His hand, the virtue of His word. Infidelity would rob us of
Christ, and give us, instead, "the forces of nature." We vastly prefer
our own beloved Lord. We delight to see His name bound up,
indissolubly, with creation in all its vast and marvelous fields. We
vastly prefer the eternal record of the Holy Ghost to all the
finely-spun theories of infidel professors. We rejoice to see the name
of Jesus bound up in every department of religion and philanthropy. We
shrink with ever-increasing horror from every system, every club,
every order, every association, that dares to shut out the glorious
name of Jesus from its schemes of religion and moral reform. We do
solemnly declare that the religion, the philanthropy, the moral
reform, which does not make the name of Jesus its Alpha and its Omega,
is the religion, the philanthropy and the moral reform of hell. This
may seem strong, severe, ultra, and narrow-minded, but it is our deep
and thorough conviction, and we utter it fearlessly, in the presence
of all the infidelity and superstition of the day.

But we must return to our apostle's discourse, which has wakened up
those glowing sentiments in the very depths of the soul.

Having charged home their terrible sin upon the consciences of his
hearers, he proceeds to apply the healing, soothing balm of the
gospel, in words of marvelous power and sweetness: "And now, brethren,
I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But
those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all His
prophets that Christ should suffer, _He hath so fulfilled_." Nothing
can exceed the grace of this. It recalls the words of Joseph to his
troubled brethren: "It was not you that sent me hither, but God." Such
is the exquisite grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, such the infinite
love and goodness of our God.

"Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the time of refreshing shall come from (or by) the presence
of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was
preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of
restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all
His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the
fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your
brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He
shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul which
will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.
Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as
many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the
children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our
fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds
of the earth be blessed. _Unto you first_ God, having raised up His
Son Jesus, _sent Him to bless you_, in turning away every one of you
from his iniquities."

Thus did this dear and honored apostle, in the power of the Holy
Ghost, throw wide open the kingdom of heaven to the Jews, in pursuance
of his high commission as recorded in the sixteenth chapter of the
Gospel of Matthew. It is what we may well call a splendid testimony,
from first to last. Most gladly would we linger over it; but our
limited space forbids. We can only commend it to the earnest study of
the reader, and pass on, for a few moments, to the tenth chapter of
Acts which records the opening of the kingdom to the Gentile.

We assume that the reader understands the truth in reference to the
keys of the kingdom of heaven being committed to Peter. We shall not
therefore occupy his time or our own in combating the ignorant
superstition which attributes to our apostle what we may rest assured
he would have rejected with intense and holy horror, namely, the power
to let souls into heaven. Detestable folly! which, while it
obstinately refuses Christ, who is God's _only_ way to heaven, will
blindly build upon some poor sinful mortal like ourselves who himself
was a debtor to the sovereign grace of God and the precious blood of
Christ for his entrance into the Church on earth and into heaven
above.

But enough of this. All intelligent Christians understand that the
apostle Peter was commissioned, by his Lord and ours, to open the
kingdom of heaven to both Jew and Gentile. To him were committed the
keys, not of the Church, nor yet of heaven, but of "the kingdom of
heaven;" and we find him using them in Acts iii. and x.

But he was by no means so alert in taking up the latter as he was in
taking up the former. Prejudice--that sad hindrance then, now, and
always--stood in the way. He needed to have his mind enlarged to take
in the divine purpose in respect to the Gentiles. To one trained amid
the influences of the Jewish system, it seemed one thing to admit Jews
into the kingdom, and quite another to admit Gentiles. Our apostle had
to get further instruction in the school of Christ ere his mind could
take in the "no difference" doctrine. "Ye know," he says to
Cornelius, "how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew
to keep company or come unto one of another nation." Thus had it been
in days gone by; but now all was changed. The middle wall was broken
down--the barriers were swept away; "God hath shewed me that I should
not call any man common or unclean." He had seen, in a vessel which
came from heaven, and returned thither, "_all manner_ of fourfooted
beasts," and a voice from heaven had commanded him to slay and eat.
This was something new to Simon Peter. It was a wonderful lesson he
was called to learn on the housetop of Simon the tanner. He was there,
for the first time, taught that "God is no respecter of persons," and
that what God hath cleansed no man may call common.

All this was good and healthful for the soul of our apostle. It was
well to have his heart enlarged to take in the precious thoughts of
God--to see the old barriers swept away before the magnificent tide of
grace flowing from the heart of God over a lost world--to learn that
the question of "clean" or "unclean" was no longer to be decided by an
examination of hoofs and habits (Lev. xi.)--that the same precious
blood of Christ which could cleanse a Jew could cleanse a Gentile
also; and, moreover, that the former needed it just as much as the
latter.

This, we repeat, was most valuable instruction for the heart and
understanding of Simon Peter; and if the reader wants to know how far
he took it in and appreciated it, he has but to turn to Acts xv. and
read the apostle's own commentary upon the matter. The Church had
reached a solemn crisis. Judaizing teachers had begun their terrible
work. They would fain bring the Gentile converts under the law. The
occasion was intensely interesting and deeply important--yea, solemnly
momentous. The very foundations were at stake. If the enemy could but
succeed in bringing the Gentile believers under the law, all was gone.

But, all praise to our ever-gracious God, He did not abandon His
Church to the power or wiles of the adversary. When the enemy came in
like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord raised up a standard against him.
A great meeting was convened--not in some obscure corner, but at
Jerusalem, the very centre and source of all the religious influence
of the moment--the very place, too, from whence the evil had emanated.
God took care that the great question should not be decided at Antioch
by Paul and Barnabas, but at Jerusalem itself, by the unanimous voice
of the apostles, elders, and the whole Church, governed, guided and
taught by God the Holy Ghost.

At this great meeting our apostle delivered himself in a style that
stirs the very deepest springs of our spiritual life. Hear his words:
"And when there had been much disputing"--Alas! how soon the miserable
disputing began--"Peter rose up and said unto them, Men, brethren, ye
know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the
Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the
Holy Ghost even as He did unto us, and put _no difference between us
and them_, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, _why tempt
ye God_ to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our
fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that by the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved _even as they_."

This is morally grand. He does not say, "They shall be saved even as
we." No; but "We shall be saved even as they"--on the same ground,
after the same model, in the same way. The Jew comes down from his
lofty dispensational position, only too thankful to be saved, just
like the poor Gentile, by the precious grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How those words of the apostle of the circumcision must have refreshed
and delighted the heart of Paul as he sat at this never-to-be-forgotten
meeting! Not that Paul sought in any way the countenance, the support,
or authority of man. He had received his gospel and his commission,
not from Peter, but from Peter's Lord; and from Him, too, not as the
Messiah on earth, but as the risen and glorified Son of God in heaven.
Still, we cannot doubt that the testimony of his beloved
fellow-laborer was deeply interesting and cordially welcome to the
apostle of the Gentiles. We can only say, Alas! alas! that there
should have been aught in the after-course of that fellow-laborer in
the smallest degree inconsistent with his splendid testimony at the
conference. Alas! that Peter's conduct at Antioch should vary so much
from his words at Jerusalem. See Gal. ii.

But such is man, even the best of men, if left to himself. And the
higher the man is, the more mischief he is sure to do if he makes a
stumble. We shall not, however, dwell on the sad and painful scene at
Antioch, between those two most excellent servants. They are both now
in heaven, in the presence of their beloved Lord, where the
remembrance of past failure and sin only enhances the value of that
blood which cleanseth from all sin, and of that grace which reigns,
through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Holy Ghost has thought proper to record the fact that our apostle
failed in frankness and integrity at Antioch; and further, that the
blessed apostle of the Gentiles had to withstand him to the face; but
we are not going to expatiate upon it. We would profit by it, as well
we may, for it is full of deep instruction and solemn warning. If such
a one as the apostle Peter, after all his experience, his fall and
restoration, his long course of service, his intimate acquaintance
with the heart of Christ, all the instruction he had received, all his
gifts and knowledge, all his powerful preaching and teaching--if such
a one as this could, after all, dissemble through fear of man, or to
hold a place in man's esteem, what shall we say for ourselves? Simply
this:

    "O Lamb of God, still keep me close to Thy pierced side;
    'Tis only there in safety and peace I can abide.
    When foes and snares surround me, when lusts and fears within,
    The grace that sought and found me, alone can keep me clean."

May the Lord greatly bless to our souls our meditation on the history
of Simon Peter! May his life and its lessons be used of the Holy Ghost
to deepen in our souls the sense of our own utter weakness and of the
matchless grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.




CHRISTIAN PERFECTION:

WHAT IS IT?


There are few thoughtful students of the New Testament who have not,
at some time or another, felt a little perplexed as to the real force
and application of the word "perfect," which is of frequent
occurrence. This word is used in such a variety of connections that it
is deeply important we should be clear as to what the Holy Ghost means
by it in each particular case. We believe the context will, generally
speaking, guide as to a right understanding of the just sense and
application of the word in any given passage. We are aware that the
subject of "Christian Perfection" has given rise to much theological
strife and controversy; but we must at the outset assure our readers
that it is not by any means our intention to take up the question in a
controversial way; we shall merely seek to bring under their notice
the various passages in the New Testament in which the word "perfect"
occurs, or at least some of the leading instances of its use, trusting
the Lord to use what He may give us to write, for the glory of His
name and the profit of those precious souls for whom we ever desire to
write. We shall not trace the word in the order in which it occurs,
but rather in that order which the real need of the soul would
naturally suggest. In this way we shall find that the first great
aspect of Christian perfection is presented to us in the ninth verse
of the ninth chapter of Hebrews, and may be denominated


PERFECTION AS TO THE STATE OF THE CONSCIENCE.

"Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered
both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the
service _perfect_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) as pertaining to the
conscience." The apostle, in this passage, is drawing a contrast
between the sacrifices under the Mosaic economy, and the sacrifice of
Christ. The former could never give a perfect conscience, simply
because they were imperfect in themselves. It was impossible that the
blood of a bullock or of a goat could ever give a perfect conscience.
Hence, therefore, the conscience of a Jewish worshiper was never
perfect. He had not, if we may use the expression, reached his moral
end as to the condition of his conscience. He could never say that his
conscience was perfectly purged, because he had not yet reached a
perfect sacrifice.

With the Christian worshiper, however, it is different. He has,
blessed be God, reached his moral end. He has arrived at a point, so
far as the state of his conscience is concerned, beyond which it is
utterly impossible for him to go. He cannot get beyond the blood of
Jesus Christ. He is perfect as to his conscience. As is the sacrifice,
so is the conscience that rests thereon. If the sacrifice is
imperfect, so is the conscience. They stand or fall together. Nothing
can be simpler, nothing more solid, nothing more consolatory, for any
awakened conscience. It is not at all a question of what I am; _that_
has been fully and forever settled. I have been found out, judged, and
condemned in myself. "In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good." I
have got to the end of myself, and there I have reached the blood of
Christ. I want no more. What could be added to that most precious
blood? Nothing. I am perfect, as to the state of my conscience. I do
not want an ordinance, a sacrament, or a ceremony, to perfect the
condition of my conscience. To say so, to think so, would be to cast
dishonor upon the sacrifice of the Son of God.

The reader will do well to get a clear and firm hold of this
foundation-point. If there be any darkness or uncertainty as to this,
he will be wholly unable to understand or appreciate the various
aspects of "Christian Perfection" which are yet to pass in review
before us. It is quite possible that many pious people fail to enjoy
the unspeakable blessing of a perfect conscience by reason of
self-occupation. They look in at self, and not finding aught there to
rest upon--who ever did?--they deem it presumption to think of being
perfect in any respect whatever. This is a mistake. It may be a pious
mistake, but it is a mistake. Were we to speak of perfection in the
flesh (what many, alas, are vainly aiming at), then, verily, true
piety might recoil with just horror from the presumptuous and silly
chimera. But, thank God, our theme is not perfection in the flesh,
through any process of improvement, moral, social, or religious. This
would be poor, dreary, depressing work indeed. It would be setting us
to look for perfection in the old creation, where sin and death reign.
To look for perfection amid the dust of the old creation were a
hopeless task. And yet how many are thus engaged! They are seeking to
_improve man and mend the world_; and yet, with all this, they have
never reached, never understood--yea, they actually deny--the very
first and simplest aspect of Christian perfection, namely, perfection
as to the state of the conscience in the presence of God.

This latter is our thesis, and we want the anxious reader to
understand it in its simplicity, in order that he may see the solid
foundation of his peace laid down by the very hand of God Himself. We
want him, ere he lays aside this paper, to enter into the joyful sense
of sins perfectly forgiven, and his conscience perfectly purged by the
blood of Jesus. The entire matter hinges upon the question of the
sacrifice. What has God found in that sacrifice? Perfection. Well,
then, that perfection is for you, anxious one, and you should at once
and forever enjoy it. Remember, it is not a question as to what you
are, nor yet as to what you think about the blood of Christ. No, dear
friend: the question is, What does God think about the blood of His
own Son? This makes all so clear. Say, is it clear to you? Can you now
rest in it? Is your conscience set free by being brought in contact
with a perfect sacrifice? Oh that it may be so! May God's Spirit now
show you the fulness and perfectness of Christ's atoning work with
such clearness, vividness and power that your whole being may be
emancipated, and your heart filled with praise and thanksgiving!

It makes the heart bleed to think of the thousands of precious souls
kept in darkness and bondage when they ought to be walking in the
light and liberty which flow from a perfectly purged conscience. So
many things are mixed up with the simple testimony of the Word and
Spirit of God as to the value of Christ's work that it is wholly
impossible for the heart to get liberated. You will get a little bit
of Christ, and a little bit of self; a little bit of grace, and a
little bit of law; a little bit of faith, and a little bit of works.
Thus the soul is kept hovering between confidence and doubt, hope and
fear, just as one or other of the ingredients predominates in the
mixture, or happens to be tasted at the moment. How rare is the gem of
full, free, present, and eternal salvation! We would fain cause that
gem to sparkle in all its divine and heavenly lustre under the gaze of
the reader at this moment. Then shall the chains of his spiritual
bondage drop off. If the Son shall make him free he shall be free
indeed, and thus be able to rise in the power of this freedom and
trample the legal system beneath his feet.

The more we ponder the question now before us--and we have pondered it
a good deal--the more we are convinced that the true secret of all
the error, confusion and perplexity in which so many are involved in
reference to it will be found in the fact that they do not clearly
understand death and resurrection--the new birth--the new creation.
Were this grand truth only laid hold of in power it would make all
clear as to the state of the conscience. So long as I am seeking to
tranquilize my conscience by efforts after self-improvement, so long I
must be either miserable or self-deceived. It does not matter in the
least what means I adopt in carrying on the process; the issue must be
one and the same. If I attempt to take up the profession of
Christianity for the purpose of bettering _self_--improving nature or
mending my condition in the old creation--I must be a total stranger
to the bliss of a perfect conscience. "All flesh is as grass." The old
creation lies under the withering influences of sin and its curse. A
risen Christ is the Head of the new creation--"the beginning of the
creation of God"--"the first-begotten from among the dead" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}
{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}).

Here in very deed is perfection for the conscience. What more do I
want? I see the One who hung upon the cross, charged with the full
weight of all my sins, now crowned with glory and honor at the right
hand of God, amid the full blaze of heaven's majesty. What can be
added to this? Do I want ordinances, rites, ceremonies, or sacraments?
Surely not. I dare not add aught to the death and resurrection of the
eternal Son of God. The ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper
symbolize and celebrate that grand reality; and, so far, they are
precious to the Christian--most precious. But when, instead of being
used to symbolize and celebrate death and resurrection, they are used
to displace it,--used as patches upon the old creation, as crutches
for the old man,--they must be regarded as a snare, a curse, from
which may the Lord deliver the souls of His people!

We would fain dwell upon this our first point because of its immense
importance in this day of ordinances, traditionary religion, and
self-improvement. We should like to ponder it--to elaborate,
illustrate and enforce it--in order that the reader may get a clear,
full, bold grasp of it. But we look to God the Holy Ghost to do His
own work in this matter; and if He will graciously bring the heart
under the power of the truth which has been so feebly unfolded, then
indeed will there be both ability and leisure to look at the second
great aspect of Christian perfection, namely,


PERFECTION AS TO THE OBJECT OF THE HEART.

Here, again, we are ushered into the new creation. Christ died to give
me a perfect conscience. He lives to give me a perfect object. But it
is very clear that until I have tasted the deep blessedness of the
former, I can never be properly occupied with the latter. I must have
a perfect conscience ere my heart can be at leisure to go out after
the person of Christ. How few of us really taste the sweetness of
communion with a risen Christ! How little do any of us know of that
fixedness of heart upon Him as our one paramount, engrossing,
undivided object! We are occupied with our own things. The world
creeps in, in one way or another; we live in the region of nature; we
breathe the atmosphere--the dark, heavy, murky atmosphere--of the old
creation; self is indulged; and thus our spiritual vision becomes
dimmed, we lose our sense of peace, the soul becomes disturbed, the
heart unhinged, the Holy Ghost grieved, the conscience exercised. Then
the eye is turned in upon self and back upon its actings. The time
that else might be spent in holy and happy occupation with our Object
is, and must be, devoted to the business of self-judgment--heavy, but
needed work!--in order to get back into the enjoyment of what we
should never have lost, even a perfect conscience.

Now, the moment the eye is turned off from Christ darkness must set
in--ofttimes darkness that may be felt. It is only as the eye is
single that the body is full of light. And what, beloved reader, is a
single eye but having Christ for our one object? It is thus that light
divine pours in upon us, until every chamber of our moral being
becomes lighted up, and we become lights for others, "as when the
bright shining of a candle doth give thee light." In this way the soul
is kept happily free from obscurity, perplexity, and anxiety. It finds
all its springs in Christ. It is independent of the world, and can
move on, singing--

    "Salvation in that name is found,
      Cure for my grief and care;
    A healing balm for every wound:
      All, all I want is there."

It is impossible for words to convey the power and blessedness of
having Jesus ever before the heart as an object. It is perfection, as
we have it in Philippians iii. 15, where the apostle says, "Let us
therefore, as many as be _perfect_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}), be thus minded:
and if in anything ye be differently minded ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}), God
shall reveal even this unto you." When Christ stands before the heart
as our absorbing and satisfying object, we have reached our moral end
so far as an object is concerned; for how can we ever get beyond the
person of Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily, and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge?
Impossible. We cannot get beyond the blood of Christ, for the
conscience; neither can we get beyond the person of Christ, for the
heart; we have therefore reached our moral end in both; we have
perfection as to the state of the conscience, and as to the object of
the heart.

Here, then, we have both peace and power--peace for the conscience,
and power over the affections. It is when the conscience finds sweet
repose in the blood that the emancipated affections can go forth and
find their full play around the person of Jesus. And oh, what tongue
can tell, what pen unfold, the mighty moral results of gazing upon
Christ? "But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. iii. 18). Observe,
"_Beholding ... are changed_." There is no legal bondage--no restless
effort--no anxious toiling. We gaze, and gaze, and--what then?
Continue to gaze, and as we gaze we become morally assimilated to the
blessed Object, through the transforming power of the Holy Ghost. The
image of Christ is engraved upon the heart, and reflected back in ten
thousand ways in our practical career, from day to day.

Reader, remember, this is the only true idea of Christianity. It is
one thing to be a religious man, it is quite another to be a
Christian. Paul was a religious man before his conversion; but he was
a Christian afterwards. It is well to see this. There is plenty of
religion in the world, but, alas, how little Christianity! And why?
Simply because Christ is not known, not loved, not cared for, not
sought after. And even where His work is looked to for salvation--where
His blood is trusted for pardon and peace--how little is known or
thought of Himself! We are ready enough to take salvation through the
death of Jesus, but oh, beloved reader, how far off do we keep from
His blessed Person! How little does He get His true place in our
hearts! This is a serious loss. Indeed, we cannot but believe that the
pale, flickering light of modern profession is the fruit of habitual
distance from Christ, the central sun of Christianity. How can there
possibly be light, heat, or fruitfulness, if we wander amid the gloomy
vaults and dark tunnels of this world's pleasures, its politics, or
its religion? It is vain to expect it. And even where we make
salvation our object--when we are occupied with our spiritual
condition, feeding upon our experiences and looking after our frames
and feelings--we must become weak and low, inasmuch as these things
are certainly not Christ.

There are many who, as we say, have retired from the world, have given
up its balls, its parties, its theatres, its exhibitions, its
concerts, its flower shows, its numberless and nameless vanities, who,
nevertheless, have not found their object in a risen and glorified
Christ. They have retired from the world, but have gone in upon
themselves. They are seeking an object _in their religion_; they are
engrossed with forms of pietism; they are feeding upon the workings of
a morbid conscience or a superstitious mind; or they are trafficking
in the experience of yesterday. Now, these persons are just as far
from happiness--as far from the true idea of Christianity, as the poor
pleasure-hunters of this world. It is quite possible to give up
pleasure-hunting and become a religious mope--a morbid, melancholy
mystic--a spiritual hypochondriac. What do I gain by the change?
Nothing; unless, indeed, it be a vast amount of self-deception. I have
retired from the world around, to find an object in the world
within--a poor exchange!

How different is this from the true Christian! There he stands, with
a tranquilized conscience and an emancipated heart, gazing upon an
Object that absorbs his whole soul. He wants no more. Talk to him
about this world's pleasure? Ask him, has he been to this or that
Exhibition? What is his calm and dignified reply? Will he merely tell
you of the sin, the harm, of such things? Nay; what then? "I have
found my _all_ in Christ. I have reached my moral end. I want no
more." This is the Christian's reply. It is a poor affair when we come
to talk of the harm of this or that. It often happens that persons who
speak thus are occupied, not with Christ, but with their own
reputation, their character, their consistency with themselves. Of
what use is all this? Is it not self-occupation, after all? What we
want is to keep the eye fixed on Christ; then the heart will follow
the eye, and the feet will follow the heart. In this way our path will
be as the shining light, shining more and more until it becomes lost
in the blaze of the perfect and everlasting day of glory.

May God, in His infinite mercy, grant to the writer and reader of
these pages to know more of what it is to have reached our moral end,
both as to the state of the conscience and as to the object of the
heart!

       *       *       *       *       *

In considering the subject of Christian perfection, it might seem
sufficient to say that the believer is perfect in a risen Christ:
"Complete in Him which is the head of all principality and power."
This, surely, comprehends everything. Nothing can be added to the
completeness which we have in Christ. All this is blessedly true; but
does it not still hold good that the inspired writers use the word
"perfect" in various ways? And is it not important that we should
understand the sense in which the word is used? This, we presume, will
hardly be questioned. We cannot suppose for a moment that any
thoughtful reader of Scripture would be satisfied to dismiss the
matter without prayerfully seeking to understand the exact force and
just application of the word in each particular passage in which it
occurs. It is plain that the word "perfect" in Heb. ix. 9 is not
applied in the same way as it is in Phil. iii. 15. And is it not
right--is it not profitable--is it not due to our own souls and to the
sacred volume--to seek, through grace, to understand the difference?
For our part, we cannot question it; and in this confidence we can
happily pursue our examination of the subject of Christian perfection
by calling the reader's attention, in the third place, to


PERFECTION IN THE PRINCIPLE OF OUR WALK.

This is unfolded to us in Matt. v. 48: "Be ye therefore perfect
({~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}), even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect." "How," it may be asked, "can we be perfect as our Father
which is in heaven? How can we reach to such an elevated point as
this? How can we attain to so lofty a standard? We can understand our
being perfect as to the conscience, inasmuch as this perfection is
based upon what Christ has done for us. And we can also understand
our being perfect as to the object of the heart, inasmuch as this
perfection is based upon what Christ is to us. But to be perfect as
our Father in heaven seems entirely beyond us." To all this it may be
said that our blessed Lord does not ask us to do impossibilities. He
never issues a command without furnishing the needed grace to carry it
out. Hence, therefore, when He calls upon us to be perfect as our
Father, it is plain that He confers upon us a holy privilege, that He
invests us with a high dignity, and it is our place to seek to
understand and appropriate both the one and the other.

What, then, is meant by our being perfect as our Father in heaven? The
context of Matt. v. 48 furnishes the answer: "But I say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;
that ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}) ye may be the sons ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}) of your Father which is in
heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and
sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.... Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

Here we have a lovely phase of Christian perfection, namely,
perfection in the principle of our walk. We are called to walk in
grace toward all, and in so doing to be imitators of God as dear
children. Our Father sends His sunshine and His showers even upon His
enemies. He deals in grace with all. This is our model. Are we formed
upon it? Reader, search and see. Are you perfect in the principle of
your walk? Are you dealing in grace with your enemies and those who
are in your debt? Are you demanding your rights? Are you, in
principle, taking your fellow by the throat, and saying, "Pay me that
thou owest?" If so, you are not "perfect as your Father." He is
dealing in grace, and you are dealing in righteousness. Were He to act
as you are acting, the day of grace would close, and the day of
vengeance open. Had He dealt with you as you are now dealing with
others, you should long since have been in that place where hope is
unknown.

Let us ponder this. Let us see to it that we are not misrepresenting
our heavenly Father. Let us aim at perfection in the principle of our
daily walk. It will cost us something. It may empty the purse, but it
will fill the heart; it may contract our pecuniary resources, but it
will enlarge our spiritual circle. It will bring us into closer
contact and deeper fellowship with our heavenly Father. Is not this
worth something? Truly it is. Would that we felt its worth more
deeply! Would that we felt more of the dignity conferred upon us in
our being called to represent, in this evil, selfish, dark world, our
heavenly Father, who pours in rich profusion His blessings upon the
unthankful and the unholy. There is no use in preaching grace if we do
not act it. It is of little avail to speak of God's dealing in
long-suffering mercy if we are dealing in high-handed justice.

But, it may be said by some, "How ever could we carry out such a
principle? We should be robbed and ruined. How could business be
carried on if we are not to enforce our rights? We should be imposed
upon and plundered by the unprincipled and the designing." This is not
the mode in which to arrive at a just conclusion on our point. An
obedient disciple never says, "How?" The question is, "Does the Lord
Jesus call upon me to be perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect?"
Assuredly. Well, then, am I aiming at this when I summon my
fellow-creature to a bar of justice? Is this like my Father? Is this
what He is doing? No; blessed be His name! He is on a throne of grace.
He is reconciling the world. He is not imputing trespasses. This is
plain enough. It only needs full subjection of heart. Let us bow our
souls beneath the weight of this most glorious truth. May we gaze upon
this most lovely aspect of Christian perfection, and seek to aim at
the attainment of it. If we pause to reason about results, we shall
never reach the truth. What we want is, that moral condition of soul
that fully owns the power and authority of the Word. Then, though
there may be failure in detail, we have always a touchstone by which
to test our ways, and a standard to which to recall the heart and
conscience. But if we reason and argue--if we deny that it is our
privilege to be perfect in the sense of Matt. v. 48--if we justify our
going to _law_ when our Father is not going to law, but acting in the
most unqualified _grace_, we deprive ourselves of that perfect model
on which our character and ways should ever be formed.

May God the Holy Spirit enable us to understand, to submit to, and
carry out in practical life, this perfect principle! It is most
lamentable to see the children of God adopting in daily life a course
of acting the direct opposite of that adopted by their heavenly
Father. We ought to remember that we are called to be His moral
representatives. We are His children by spiritual regeneration, but we
are called to be His sons in moral assimilation to His character and
practical conformity to His ways. "Do good to them that hate you ...
_that ye may be_ the sons of your Father which is in heaven." Striking
words! In order to our being morally and characteristically the sons
of God, we are called to do good to our enemies. This is what He does,
and we are called to be like Him. Alas, how little we enter into this!
How unlike we are! Oh for a more faithful representation!

Time and space would fail us to dwell, as we should like to do, upon
this deeply practical part of our subject; we must therefore pass on,
in the fourth place, to the consideration of


PERFECTION IN THE CHARACTER OF OUR SERVICE.

"I have not found thy works perfect ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}) before God"
(Rev. iii. 2). The English reader should be informed that the word
here rendered "perfect" is not the same as that used in the three
passages already referred to. It is usually translated "fulfilled"--
"finished"--"accomplished." Its use in reference to the works of the
Church of Sardis teaches us a deeply solemn and heart-searching
lesson. There was a name to live; but the works were not fulfilled
under the immediate eye of God. There is nothing more dangerous to a
Christian than to have "_a name_." It is a positive snare of the
devil. Many a professor has fallen by means of being occupied with a
name. Many a useful servant has been destroyed by the effort to keep
up a name. If I have gotten a reputation in any department of
service--as an active evangelist--a gifted teacher--a clear and
attractive writer--a man of prayer--a man of faith--a person of
remarkable sanctity, or great personal devotedness--a benevolent
person--a name for anything, in short--I am in imminent danger of
making shipwreck. The enemy will lead me to make my reputation my
object instead of Christ. I shall be working to keep up a name instead
of the glory of Christ. I shall be occupied with the thoughts of men
instead of doing all my work under the immediate eye of God.

All this demands intense watchfulness and rigid censorship over
myself. I may be doing the most excellent works, but if they are not
fulfilled in the presence of God they will prove a positive snare of
the devil. I may preach the gospel--visit the sick--help the poor--go
through the entire range of religious activity--and never be in the
presence of God at all. I may do it for a name--do it because others
do it, or expect me to do it. This is very serious, beloved reader.
It demands real prayer--self-emptiness--nearness to and dependence
upon God--singleness of eye--holy consecration to Christ. Self
continually intrudes upon us. Oh this self, self, self, even in the
very holiest things; and all the while we may appear to be very active
and very devoted. Miserable delusion! We know of nothing more terrible
than to have a religious name without spiritual life, without Christ,
without a sense of God's presence possessing the soul.

Reader, let us look closely into this. Let us see that we begin,
continue, and end our work under the Master's eye. This will impart a
purity and a moral elevation to our service beyond all price. It will
not cripple our energy, but it will tend to raise and intensify our
action. It will not clip our wings, but it will guide our movements.
It will render us independent of the thoughts of men, and fully
deliver us from the slavery of seeking to maintain a name, or keep up
a reputation--miserable, degrading bondage! May the good Lord grant us
full deliverance from it! May He give us grace to fulfil our works,
whatever they may be, few or many, small or great, in His own blessed
presence!

Having said thus much in reference to the _character_ of our service,
we shall close with a few lines on


PERFECTION IN OUR EQUIPMENT FOR SERVICE.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: that the man of God may be _perfect_ ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~})
thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. iii. 16,
17). Here, again, we have a different word, and one which only occurs
in this one place in the entire New Testament. It is most expressive.
It signifies _present readiness_ for any exigence. The man who is
acquainted with, and subject to the word of God, is ready for every
emergency. He has no need to go and cram for an occasion--to consult
his authorities--to make himself up on a point. He is _ready now_. If
an anxious inquirer comes, he is ready; if a curious inquirer comes,
he is ready; if a skeptic comes, he is ready; if an infidel comes, he
is ready. In a word, he is always ready. He is perfectly equipped for
every occasion.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Lord be praised for all these aspects of Christian perfection!
What more do we want? Perfection as to the conscience; perfection in
object; perfection in walk; perfection in the character of service;
perfection in our equipment. What remains? What wait we for? Just
this--perfection in glory--perfect conformity in spirit, and soul, and
body, to the image of our glorified Head in heaven!

May the Lord so work on our hearts by His Spirit, producing that which
is well-pleasing in His sight, that we may stand "perfect and complete
in all the will of God!"

                                                            C. H. M.




THE TRIBE OF LEVI ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES.


  First Class.

  GERSHON, meaning,        _A stranger, or exile_.

  LAEL        "            _Dedicated, or belonging to God_.

  ELIASAPH    "            _God hath added_.

  SHIMEI      "            _Renowned_.

  LIBNI       "            _White_.


Second Class.

  KOHATH      "            _Assembly_.

  HEBRON      "            _Association, communion_.

  AMRAM       "            _Exalted people, or of the exalted One_.

  IZHAR       "            _Oil_.

  UZZIEL      "            _The strength of God_.


Third Class.

  MERARI      "            _Bitter_.

  MAHLI       "            _Sick, sickly_.

  MUSHI       "            _Yielding, forsaking_.

  ABIHAIL     "            _Father of strength_.

  ZURIEL      "            _My rock is God_.




THE HISTORY OF THE TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED


There are few exercises more profitable for the Christian than that of
reflecting upon the character of God as unfolded in the history of the
saints and fathers of ancient times recorded in the scriptures of the
Old Testament: and indeed this might be expected from the very nature
of the subject, which is such that, whatever be its extent, it unfolds
principles to us which stand intimately connected with all that is
important for us to know or be established in. Thus, whether we get
the dealings of God on a limited scale, as with any one of the fathers
_personally_, or more widely extended, as with the seed of Israel
afterwards, it is nevertheless the same lesson we are called upon to
learn, namely, _God and man_. Now, this is what should enhance
exceedingly the value of the Old Testament to the Christian; almost
the great body of its teaching is of the above character: and not only
so, but it also (as looked at in this point of view) guards
effectually against the mere exercise of imagination; for when we
consider the history of any man or people, it is not necessary that we
should decide positively what is _shadowed out_ therein;[5] it is
enough for us to see that we have before us a more or less extensive
development of the character and actings of God and man; and this,
without ever descending beneath the surface of Scripture, cannot fail
of being instructive and edifying to the soul.

  [5] In many of the Old Testament narratives, however, the instruction
  is so manifestly typical that even the most cautious reader, if at all
  familiar with Scripture, cannot refuse to look at it in that point of
  view.

But, of all the histories of the Old Testament embodying instruction
of the above character, I believe there are few more copious, deep and
varied than that which is about to engage our attention. If the
narrative of a soul taken up by sovereign and eternal grace from the
pit of corruption and deep depravity, carried through the various
stages which grace and truth had enacted for sinful man, until at last
he is set down in the very sanctuary of God and established in the
enjoyment of the covenant of life and peace forever; if, I say, such a
narrative would possess charms and present attractions to us, then
does the history of Levi abound in this. It is only a matter of
astonishment that a history fraught with such rich and varied
instruction has not occupied more of the thoughts of those luminaries
of the Church whose writings have been a source of comfort and
instruction to all who have been taught to value the truth of God.

Yet, much as I see in the history of Levi, and much as I admire what I
do see, I could not think of directing the reader's thoughts to the
subject without informing him that I purpose doing little more than to
bring before his mind in a connected way the various scriptures which
treat of this most interesting question; however, these scriptures are
so plain and striking that no one who is at all familiar with
Scripture truths can fail to enter into them. Now, as I purpose, with
the Lord's blessing and grace, to follow the history of Levi through
all the scriptures in which it is brought before us, I will commence
with

     HIS BIRTH,

     As recorded in GENESIS xxix. 34.

     "And she (Leah) conceived again, and bare a son: and said,
     Now this time will my husband be _joined_ unto me, because I
     have borne him three sons: therefore was his name called
     Levi" (that is, 'joined;' see margin).

Here, then, we are presented with the birth and name of this most
remarkable character--a name of wondrous significance as looked at in
connection with his after history, whether in nature's wild and
lawless extravagance, in which we find him "_joined_" with his brother
in the perpetration of a deed of blood and murder (Gen. xxxiv.), or in
the day when he was called to drink deeply and largely of the cup of
God's electing grace, when "_joined_" with Aaron in "the work of the
tabernacle" (Num. viii.).

     GENESIS xxxiv. 25, 26.

     "And it came to pass on _the third day_, when they were
     sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi,
     Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the
     city boldly, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor
     and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took
     Dinah out of Shechem's house and went out."

As the Spirit of God in Jacob has furnished us with a striking
commentary on the above piece of cruelty, we will consider the
scripture in which the commentary is given, namely:

     GENESIS xlix. 5-7.

     "Simeon and Levi _are brethren_; instruments of cruelty are
     in their habitations. O my soul, _come not thou into their
     secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou
     united_: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their
     self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger,
     for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel; _I
     will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel_."

We have here a truly humbling view of human nature as looked at in the
light of the holiness of God. It is as if the Lord would say to us,
Look here! behold a man clothed in nature's blackest garb, and
presenting nature's most forbidding aspect. Examine him closely, in
order that you, seeing what _man is_ when stripped of all that false
clothing which ignorance or vain self-righteousness would put upon
him, may know the rich aboundings of My grace, which can avail to lift
even such a one into the loftiest heights of communion--heights which
human conception would utterly fail to mount, but which My grace,
through the blood of the cross, can make available to the very chief
of sinners.

In reading such a description as that which the above passage presents
to us, how needful it is for the sinner to bear in mind that it is
not only in the light of _God's holiness_ that he is called to look at
himself, but also in the light of _His grace_. When this is learned he
needs not be afraid to penetrate deeply into the dark recesses of his
heart's corruption; for if God in grace _fill_ the scene, the sinner
(so far as his own righteousness is concerned) must necessarily be
_out_ of the scene; and then it is no longer a question of what _we_
think about sin, but how _God_ will deal with it in grace, and that is
simply to put it away forever--yea, to bury it forever in the waters
of His forgetfulness: thus it will be placing _our sin_ side by side
with _God's grace_; which is what the gospel invites us to do, and
which, moreover, is the only way to arrive at a proper settlement of
the question of sin. On the other hand, where this saving principle is
not known--not believed--the sinner will undoubtedly seek to make the
load of his guilt as light as possible, in order that he may have as
little to do as he may. This will ever lead to the most unutterable
and intolerable bondage; or if not to this, to that which is much
worse, even to detestable religious pride, which is of all things most
truly abominable in the sight of God.

Reader, if you have not as yet got the question of sin settled between
your conscience and God, ponder, I do beseech you, what I have now
stated; for to know this principle in spirit is life eternal. Christ
has, _once for all_, borne sin's deepest curse in His own body on the
tree, and now even _Levi_ can lift up his head; for although he be by
nature only conversant with "_instruments of cruelty_," things which
must have kept God forever at a distance from "his secret and his
assembly;" although he be by nature _cruel_, _fierce_, _self-willed_,
_scattered_, _and divided_, yet God can, in the exercise of His mercy,
make him conversant with "the instruments of the tabernacle," bring
him into the enjoyment of the covenant of _life_ and _peace, in union_
with the great head of the priestly family, and, in the power of this
blessed union, cause him to have his "_lights and perfections with his
Holy One_" (Deut. xxxiii. 8; Mal. ii. 4, 5). However, we must not
anticipate the teaching of passages which are yet to come under our
notice; I will therefore close my remarks on this part of our subject
by requesting my reader to compare attentively the character of Levi,
as above recorded, with that which the apostle Paul, quoting from the
Psalms, has given of man generally, whether Jew or Gentile: "There is
_none_ righteous, no, not one; there is _none_ that understandeth,
there is _none_ that seeketh after God. They are _all_ gone out of the
way, they are _together_ become unprofitable; there is none that doeth
good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their
tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips,
whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: _their_ FEET ARE SWIFT
TO SHED BLOOD: _destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way
of peace have they not known_: there is no fear of God before their
eyes" (Rom. iii. 10-18).

     EXODUS xxxii. 25-29.

     "And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron
     had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
     then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is
     on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons
     of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said
     unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man
     his sword by his side and go in and out from gate to gate
     throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and
     every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the
     children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and
     there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
     For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to the
     Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother;
     that He may bestow upon you a blessing this day."

Here a new scene opens to us, and we are called to witness the dawning
of a new day upon Levi; a day, moreover, which may justly lead us to
anticipate great things. It is true we get him here likewise with his
sword by his side, but, oh, for what a different purpose, and in what
a different cause! It is not now in anger and self-will slaying a man,
but in holy jealousy and care for the honor of the Lord God of Israel,
and in simple obedience to His command; and although this may, and
will, lead to the very cutting off of a brother, a son, or a friend,
Levi cares not; for the word is, "Consecrate yourselves to the Lord,
that He may bestow upon you a blessing." This was enough for Levi; and
although by nature he was vile and utterly unfit either for the
fellowship or service of God, yet is he now the foremost in jealous
vindication of His holy name and worship against those who would seek
to "turn their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass."
Nor is Levi now seen "_joined_" with his brother Simeon--no, he might
join in league with him in the days of his wickedness for the
perpetration of deeds of blood; but here, as I before observed, we get
the opening of a new scene, and therefore he is seen "joined" with the
Lord and His servant Moses for the execution of righteous judgment
upon idolatry.

And henceforth, in following the footsteps of Levi, we shall find
that, instead of being "swift to shed blood," they are to be "swift"
in following the movements of the cloud, and "swift" in performing the
service of the tabernacle.

It would, of course, be quite foreign to our subject to dwell upon the
sad and humbling scene that called out the above act of service on the
part of Levi. Suffice it to say that it was, as we know, on the part
of Aaron and the camp, a ceasing to exercise faith in the fact that
Moses was _alive_ in the presence of God for them. The consequence of
which was an entire forgetfulness of the mighty Hand and stretched out
Arm that had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, and of their
present position _in the wilderness_; hence, as might be expected,
"the people _sat down to eat and drink_ and rose up to play." May the
Lord preserve us from like forgetfulness; and, seeing "those things
were written for our admonition," may we be truly admonished thereby
not to "lust after evil things."

We shall now pass on to the next scripture, where we get the Lord's
own thoughts upon the above act of service, namely,

     DEUTERONOMY xxxiii. 8-11.

     "And of Levi he (Moses) said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim
     be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and
     with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; who
     said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him;
     neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own
     children: for they have observed Thy word and kept Thy
     covenant. They shall teach Jacob Thy judgments, and Israel
     Thy law; they shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt
     sacrifice upon Thine altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and
     accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of
     them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that
     they rise not again."

In this passage we have real Levite service brought before us in the
words, "who said unto his father and mother, I have not seen him,"
etc. The _true_ and _decided_ servant of God will ever have to
experience something of this; indeed, the measure thereof will just be
in proportion to the faithfulness and power of his walk: "flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;" therefore every heir of that
kingdom must show himself in readiness to deny all the claims which
"flesh and blood" would make on him, whether in himself or in others.
Most happily does the address to "the queen," in Ps. xlv., connect
itself with this point: "_Harken_, O daughter, and _consider_, and
_incline thine ear; forget also thine own people_ and thy father's
house; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy
Lord, and worship thou Him" (vers. 10, 11). We have all to watch
against a tendency to be influenced by the claims of flesh and blood,
in our testimony for Christ. He Himself has said on this subject that
"no man having put his hand to the plow and _looking back_, is fit for
the kingdom of God" (Luke ix. 62). And, as some one has observed, it
was upon this point that the prophet Elisha's character seemed a
little defective, for when Elijah cast his mantle over him, or, in
other words, when he had put upon him the high honor of making him a
prophet of the Lord God, Elisha's heart seemed to yearn after home,
and he said, "Let me, I pray thee, _kiss my father and my mother_, and
_then_ I will _follow thee_" (1 Kings xix. 20). Now this was most
natural, and, as some would say, amiable and affectionate; but, oh,
amiability and natural affection have often hindered people from
entering as they should into the Lord's service; and although it is
one of the marks of the latter-day apostasy to be "without natural
affection," yet does Moses, in the above-cited passage, ask the Lord
to bless Levi, because "he said unto his father and his mother, I have
not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his
own children." How grossly inconsistent would it have been for Levi to
have said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother," when called to enter
upon the Lord's work; and not less so is it for us to allow the claims
of "flesh and blood" to interfere with our true hearted Levite service
to our God, who has done so much for _us_.

But let us carefully observe the blessed consequences of this decision
of character on the part of Levi. These are, first, "They shall _teach
Jacob_ Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law." Secondly, "They shall put
incense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon _Thine altar_."
Thirdly, "Bless his substance." Fourthly, "Accept the work of his
hands." Fifthly, "Smite through the loins of them that rise against
him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again." All these
fruits are distinct, and yet intimately connected, as springing from
the same source, namely, simple, devoted and uncompromising obedience
to the Lord. As to the first of these fruits, how true it is that it
is only the man who himself endeavors to walk in power before God that
can speak with effect to the hearts and consciences of others; nothing
else will do--nothing else will tell, either upon the hearts or in the
lives of Christians. There may be, and, alas, is much of mere
systematic teaching and preaching of things which the mere intellect
may have received, and which, by a natural fluency of language, we may
be able to give out; but all such teaching is vain, and had much
better be avoided in the sight of God. True, it might often give to
our public assemblies an appearance of barrenness and poverty which
our poor, proud hearts could ill brook; but would it not be far better
to keep silence than to substitute mere carnal effort for the blessed
energy of the Holy Spirit?

True ministry, however, the ministry of the Spirit, will always
commend itself to the heart and conscience. We can always know the
source from which a man is drawing who speaks in "the words which the
Holy Ghost teacheth," and with the ability which God giveth; and while
we should ever pray to be delivered from the mere effort of man's
intellect to handle the truth of God amongst us, we should diligently
cultivate that power to teach which stands connected, as in Levi's
case, with the denial of the claims of flesh and blood, and with
entire devotedness to the Lord's service.

In the second consequence above referred to we have a very elevated
point: "They shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice
upon Thine altar." This is worship. We put incense before God when we
are enabled, in the power of communion, to present in His presence the
sweet odor of Christ in His person and work. This is our proper
occupation as members of the chosen and separated tribe.

But it is particularly instructive to look at both the above mentioned
consequences in connection; i.e., the Levites in ministry to their
brethren, and the Levites in worship before God: it was as acceptable
in the sight of God, and as divine an exercise of his functions, for a
Levite to instruct his brethren as it was for him to burn incense
before God. This is very important. We should never separate these two
things. If we do not see that it is the same Spirit who must qualify
us to speak _for_ God as to speak _to_ Him, there is a manifest want
of moral order in our souls. If we could keep this principle clearly
before our minds, it would be a most effectual means of maintaining
amongst us the true dignity and solemnity of ministry in the Word:
having lost sight of it has been productive of very sad consequences.
If we imagine for a moment that we can teach Jacob by any other power
or ability than that by which we put incense before God, or if we
imagine that one is not as acceptable before God as the other, we are
not soundly instructed upon one of the most important points of truth;
for, as some one has observed, "Let us look at this point illustrated
in the personal ministry of Christ, and we shall no longer say that
teaching by the Holy Ghost is inferior to praise by the same, for
surely the apostleship of Christ when He came _from God_ was as sweet
in its savor to God as His priesthood when _He went to God_ to
minister to Him in that office. The candlestick in the holy place
which diffused the light of life--God's blessed name--was as valuable,
at least in His view, as the altar in the same place, which presented
the perfume of praise."

We now come to speak of the third point, namely, "Bless, Lord, his
substance." This is just what we might have expected; an _increase_ of
blessing will ever be the result of real true-hearted devotedness to
Christ. "Every branch in Me that beareth fruit He purgeth, that it may
bring forth more fruit;" "The diligent soul shall be made fat;" and
"To him that hath shall _more_ be given." Levi had exhibited much
diligence of soul in the Lord's service--he had shown himself in
readiness to vindicate His name in strong and decided opposition to
every mere human thought and affection; and now the Lord will show
Levi that He is not unrighteous to forget his work and labor of love,
"for He will bless his substance." We find the apostle Paul bringing
forward the same principle to his son Timothy when he tells him to
"meditate on these things; _give thyself wholly_ to them, that _thy
profiting may appear to all_." Here he connects the "profiting" with
the "giving himself wholly:" this will ever be the case; and if we
would experience more than we do the meaning and power of the words,
"Bless, Lord, his substance," we must first endeavor to enter into the
meaning of what goes before, namely, "who said to his father and to
his mother, I have not known him," etc. "Every one that hath forsaken
houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold,
and shall inherit everlasting life" (Matt. xix. 29).

Not less striking is the connection between what has just been stated
and our fourth point, namely, "Accept the work of his hands." This I
conceive to be a point of the greatest importance to us, and one which
involves a question upon which we frequently display much want of
intelligence. We often find it difficult to reconcile the idea of
salvation through free grace with that of an increase of blessing and
power for walking in obedience; and yet we find the two things
constantly maintained in Scripture; thus we read, "He that hath My
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that
loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and _will
manifest Myself_ to him." And, again, "If a man love Me, he will keep
My words; and My Father will love him, _and We will come unto him and
make Our abode with him_" (John xiv. 21, 23).

This is very clear and decided upon the subject: we see here that the
manifestation of the Son is made to depend on our keeping the
commandments of Christ. Grace takes up a sinner and leads him into the
knowledge of the full forgiveness of his sins through faith in the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ: but all this is simply a means to an
end: it is, in a word, to set him down in a position of responsibility
to Christ, which position he by nature could never have sustained,
because "the carnal mind is enmity against God; it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be." If, then, a man be put into a
place of responsibility, it is clear that the more faithfully and
diligently he maintains that place, the more enlarged will be his
communion.

A father may have two children, the one obedient, the other the very
reverse; now, they are both his children; neither the obedience of the
one nor the disobedience of the other can interfere in the least with
the relationship existing between them; but can we have a question as
to which of them would enjoy most of the father's presence and
affection? Surely not; a father likes to be obeyed, and will love the
obedient child. There may be extraordinary cases where, from a warped
judgment or a blind and unmeaning partiality, the disobedient, lawless
son may have more of the heart of the parent than the other; but this
is not so with God: His judgment is clear and unerring: He can
accurately distinguish between the one that honors Him and the one
that despises Him: the former "He will honor," the latter He will
"lightly esteem." The Lord does not ask a sinner _dead_ in trespasses
and sins to serve Him, for all such a one could do would be polluted
with sin--his very prayers are polluted--his meditations are
polluted--his acts of benevolence are polluted; in a word, he is all
polluted, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, and
therefore can do nothing acceptable in the sight of God. But the Lord
quickens those that are dead in trespasses and sins, and then teaches
them to "walk worthy of Him as dear children," and to be fruitful in
every good word and work, to the praise of His name: and when we do
this He graciously condescends to "accept the work of our hands." But
not only does Scripture abound with precepts which confirm what has
been above stated, it also affords numerous examples and illustrations
of the same; thus, for instance, the case of Abraham and Lot, in the
opening of the book of Genesis. These were both servants of God, but
yet how differently they walked! one loved God; the other loved the
well-watered plains of Sodom: and the consequence was, that while the
Lord Himself could meet with Abraham, and sup with him, and, moreover,
unfold to him His counsels with reference to Sodom, He merely sends
_angels_ to Sodom, and we can plainly perceive in their manner toward
Lot their marked disapproval of his circumstances, for when he invites
them into his house, they reply, "_Nay, but we will abide in the
street all night_."

This is plain: the angels of the Lord would rather abide all night in
the streets of guilty Sodom than go in to a child of His who was not
walking in obedience; nor does the fact that they afterwards consented
to go in at all interfere with the point which I am seeking to
establish; no, their answer speaks volumes of the most solemn and
practical instruction to us; they enter into _Lot's house_, it is
true; but if they do, it is only to counteract the sad effects of
_Lot's sin_. May we, then, seek, by prayer and communion with God, to
keep ourselves in the path of obedience, so that we may prove in our
soul's happy experience the meaning of the prayer in our text, "Accept
the work of his hands."

We have now arrived at the fifth and last point in this branch of our
subject, namely, "Smite through the loins of them that rise against
him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again." This is
properly the last point, when there shall be neither "adversary nor
evil occurrent," we shall rest from our labor and conflict, and enter
into possession of that upon which hope now feeds; therefore, when it
can be said of our enemies "that they rise not again," we shall be
happy indeed.

However, there is much of practical value in this point in the
connection in which it stands here, i.e., as _a consequence_ of
obedience; there is nothing that gives the soul such marvelous power
over enemies as an obedient, holy walk. Every step we take in real
obedience to Christ is, so far, a victory gained over the flesh, and
the devil; and every fresh victory ministers fresh power for the
conflict which follows; thus we grow. And on the other hand, every
battle _lost_ only serves to weaken us, while it gives power to our
enemies to attack us again. Thus we see that the man whose heart is
truly devoted to the Lord will have power to teach--power to worship;
he will increase in substance, for Christ causes those that love Him
"to inherit _substance_" (Prov. viii.). He will enjoy more of God's
favor and of the light of His countenance, for "them that honor Me I
will honor;" and, finally, he will have enlarged power over all
enemies. All these are the fruits of that true Levite devotedness
which will enable a man to say "to his father, and to his mother, I
have not seen him;" or, in other words, those fruits can only be
enjoyed by one who is ready to "leave all and follow Christ." This
being the case, then, we can have little difficulty in accounting for
the poverty in gifts of ministry--the poverty in worship--the
meagreness of growth--the many interruptions in the enjoyment of
divine favor--the almost total lack of power over enemies of which we
have all to complain. Many seek to satisfy themselves by saying that
we cannot expect the same power in gifts and worship now as that which
fell to the lot of the saints in the apostolic day, and this, of
course, we are not going to deny; but then, the question is, Have we
as much power and freshness in these things as we might have? I
believe we have not--and why? Is not Levi's God our God? Yes, He is,
blessed be His name, and the same everlasting and abundant fountain of
blessing as ever He was, but we, alas, are _far behind_ in the matter
of Levi's true devotedness; and this is the root of it all, for it
remains unalterably true that "to him that hath shall _more_ be
given," and "we cannot serve two masters." This is true--solemn--and
practical.

We are now called to consider a scripture which will unfold to us at
once the wondrous secret of how a sinner so degraded as Levi could
hold a place of such elevation and nearness to God as that which he
afterwards occupied. There is nothing in a sinner by nature with which
God could hold any intercourse; therefore, if ever He brings any one
into a place of blessing and high communion, He does so in _pure
grace_, and thus _excludes_ "boasting" altogether, for "no flesh shall
glory in His presence." Those who look upon it as presumption in a
sinner to speak of holding a place of such nearness to God, seem to
lose sight of this completely. It could never be _pride_ that would
lead any one into a place where _he_ would be broken to pieces, and be
shown that he was altogether corrupt and worthless; if God were to
elevate _flesh_, and bring flesh into a place of nearness to Himself,
then indeed there would be some force in the objection on the ground
of presumption; but God does no such thing: the flesh is so far gone
in ruin that it cannot be improved, and therefore God declares in the
Cross His mind about the flesh, namely, that it is a condemned thing;
but He, by the same Cross, gives the poor sinner _life_, and in the
power of _that life_, and not in the power of life in the flesh, He
brings the sinner into His presence and sets him down at His table; so
that it is not the presumption of a poor prodigal that assigns the
place which he is to occupy, but the _grace_ and boundless
lovingkindness of the father: thus, God says to Noah, "The end of all
flesh is come before Me," and what then? "Make thee an ark of gopher
wood"--and in that ark is Noah raised up beyond the region of
judgment, and a judged world, into a place of undisturbed communion.
Now, we shall find the very same principles developed in God's
dealings with Levi, in the scripture which is about to engage our
attention. I shall first consider their cleansing; and, secondly,
their position and service. First, their cleansing as recorded in

     NUMBERS viii. 5-14.

     "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites
     from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And
     thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle
     water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their
     flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make
     themselves clean. Then let them take a young bullock with
     his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil; and
     another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.
     And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of
     the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly
     of the children of Israel together: and thou shalt bring the
     Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall
     put their hands upon the Levites: and Aaron shall offer the
     Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of
     Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord. And
     the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the
     bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering,
     and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make
     an atonement for the Levites. And thou shalt set the Levites
     before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an
     offering unto the Lord. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites
     from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be
     Mine."

This passage furnishes us with a very rich and blessed branch of our
interesting subject. We were enabled to see, in looking at Levi by
nature, that such was his character that God would have no fellowship
with him whatever, and that, so far as Levi was concerned, he should
abide forever in _his own habitation_, in company with the
"instruments of cruelty" which were therein. But God will not leave
him there, and therefore God must Himself provide the remedy--God
Himself must cleanse this self-willed, cruel and fierce man. And here
we are invited to recall a thought which occurred to the mind in the
opening of this paper, viz., that man's sin must ever be brought into
the presence of God's grace. Levi had nothing else to look to; his
sin was such as to preclude every thought of human remedy; the law
condemned Levi's nature; and God had pronounced him unfit for His
presence. And what, then, had Levi to do? Could he set himself with
heart and soul to keep the law? Impossible: the law had not only
condemned his works, but pronounced the curse of God upon his very
nature. The law said, "Thou shalt do no murder;" and having said this,
it added, "_Cursed_ is every one that continueth not in all things
that are written in the book of the law, to do them." But Levi had
murder in his nature, therefore Levi's nature was cursed.

What, then, could Levi do? Might he not cast himself over upon the
mercy of God, with the hope that He would deal lightly with his sins?
No; by no means: God had given forth His solemn and unalterable
decree, "O my soul, come not thou into their secret;" God could not
come into a habitation wherein were "instruments of cruelty."

Thus, then, Levi was completely shut up, without a single means of
escape; the law nailed him down to this one point, "Answer my
demands." And all that Levi had towards the discharge of these demands
was, "anger, fierceness, murder, self-will, cruelty," etc.: poor
resources, alas! Nor would the law of God enter into any composition
with the sinner; it should have "the uttermost farthing," or else the
word was, "_cursed art thou_." Therefore Levi, _as a man alive in the
flesh_, or, in other words, Levi, as seeking to get life through the
law, was judged, condemned, and set aside, and it only remained for
him to take thus the place of _one dead_, in order that God might _in
grace_ quicken him into new life, which God was ready and willing to
do, and which, as we shall see, He graciously did, according to His
own marvelous thoughts, and in His own way.[6] Levi, then, had just to
see himself as one that was, in God's account, _dead_, as we read,
"for they (i.e., the Levites) are wholly given unto me from among the
children of Israel; _instead_ of such as open every womb, even
_instead_ of the first-born of all the children of Israel, have I
taken them unto me: for all the first-born of the children of Israel
are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every first-born
in the land of Egypt, _I sanctified them for myself_; _and I have
taken the Levites for all the first-born of the children of Israel_"
(chap. viii. 16-18).

  [6] The reader will, of course, bear in mind that what is stated about
  Levi in this paper is to be regarded as _typical_ of that which the
  believer now knows in _reality_ through the Holy Ghost.

The Lord passed through the land of Egypt with the sword of justice
unsheathed, to smite _all_ the first-born, nor would Israel's
first-born have escaped, had not the sword fallen upon the neck of the
spotless victim; and thus, as some one has beautifully observed,
"There was death in every house, not only in the houses of the
Egyptians, but also in those of the Israelites: in the former, it was
the _death of Egypt's first-born_; in the latter, the death of God's
Lamb."

The Levites, then, were taken _instead_ of those upon whom the sword
of the destroying angel should have fallen; or, in other words, _the
Levites were_, _typically_, _a dead and risen people_, and thus were
no longer looked at in the circumstances of nature, but of _new life_
through grace, in which they were placed by God Himself. And here let
me observe that this is the path which every sinner must travel if he
would know experimentally anything of Levi's after history. There is
no other way in which to escape from the judgment of the law on the
one hand, or from the horrid workings of indwelling corruption on the
other, than simply to see ourselves "_dead_" to both, and "_alive_
unto God through Jesus Christ." "How shall we," says the apostle,
"that are _dead to sin_ live any longer therein? Know ye not that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His
death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that,
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. vi. 2-4). And,
again, "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become _dead_ to the _law_
by the body of Christ, that ye should be _married to another_, even to
Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto
God" (chap. vii. 4). But not only are death and resurrection the only
possible means by which a sinner can escape the condemnation of the
law and the tyrannical sway of sin, they are also the only means by
which he can acceptably serve God. The flesh, or carnal mind, cannot
serve God, for it is not subject to His law, neither indeed can be;
therefore we infer that the sources of that life by which we can serve
God are not to be found in the flesh, but only in union with the Lord
Jesus in resurrection. "If a man abide not _in me_, he is cast forth
as a branch and is withered" (John xv. 6). Consequently, when God
would bring Levi into a place of nearness and service to Himself, He
shows him to us as passing through those circumstances which, in the
clearest manner, illustrate _death and resurrection_; for they are
taken instead of those that were as dead, but who escaped through the
death of the lamb: and then, having thus passed through the
circumstances of death, they are told in chap. viii. to "_put off the
old man and put on the new_"--for that is the meaning of the "washing
of water," and "shaving of the flesh," etc. This is in full keeping
with what the apostle states to his son Titus: "For we ourselves also
were sometime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and
pleasures, _living in malice and envy_, hateful, and hating one
another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour
toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved us, by the _washing of
regeneration_, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus iii. 3-6).

But in order that we may have a clearer and more comprehensive view of
the ground upon which the Levites stood before God, I would refer, in
as brief and concise a manner as I can, to the offerings connected
with their consecration: these were the burnt offering, the meat
offering, and the sin offering; all, as we shall see, showing out the
Lord Jesus Christ in His varied aspects.[7] And first, the burnt
offering: the principles unfolded in this offering are brought out in
the first chapter of Leviticus, where we read, "If his offering be a
burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he
shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation before the Lord" (ver. 3).

  [7] It may be well just to observe here that in considering the
  offerings above referred to I have merely looked at them with
  reference to the question of Levi's history.

Here, then, is something real for the soul to feed on and rejoice in.
We have in the burnt offering the Lord Jesus Christ, in all His
fulness and perfections, as offering Himself "_without spot to God_,"
and also as accepted before God _for us_. In this He was found to be
"_a male without blemish_;" so much so, that the One in whose sight
the very heavens are not clean, could say, "In whom I am well
pleased;" and again, "Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth."

But further, this unblemished offering presents Himself voluntarily at
the door of the tabernacle. "No man," says the Lord Jesus, speaking of
His life, "taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again: this
commandment have I received of My Father." And truly, in tracing the
way of the blessed Jesus through this defiled world, we can recognize
this feature of the burnt offering in a very striking manner. From
first to last His course was marked with all the steadiness and divine
uninterrupted calmness of true devotedness to God. The billows of dark
and fierce temptation might roll and toss themselves with a rage and
fury which would have crushed one less than God. The devil might stir
up all his deadly malice against Him; man might display all his
enmity--enmity which could only be outdone by the eternal friendship
of this devoted One. His disciples, moreover, may refuse to "watch
with Him one hour." Death may arm himself with all his ghastly
terrors, and pour out a cup mixed with hell's bitterest ingredients;
and further, display his deadly sting in all its infernal keenness and
power to wound. The grave may conjure up all its unutterable horrors
to make one grand struggle for "_victory_," but _all_ in vain. The
answer of this unblemished voluntary offering to all these was, "My
meat and my drink is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish
His work." He had His eye upon one object, and that was "the joy that
was set before Him." He looked forward to the moment when He would be
able to draw forth from the inexhaustible treasuries of eternal love
the rich and princely fruits of His hard-bought victory, and pour
them forth in divine profusion upon the "travail of His soul;" even
the Church, which He loved, and purchased with His own precious blood.
He eagerly anticipated "the morning without clouds," when, surrounded
by the myriads of His ransomed brethren, He will sound forth in
everlasting strains the mighty answer to all the foul aspersions of
the enemy as to the love of God toward the sinner. All these
attractions, I say, He had before Him, and therefore He marched onward
in the greatness of His strength; "He _steadfastly_ set His face to go
to Jerusalem." Lord Jesus Christ, invigorate our poor cold hearts to
sound forth the eternal honors of Thine adorable name; and may our
lives be more and more the decided evidence of our hearts--love to
Thee, for "Thou alone art worthy!" All this is surely most blessed for
us; but, blessed as it is, it is not all; there are other strokes from
the pencil of the Divine Artist, calculated, in the highest degree, to
captivate our spiritual tastes, yea, more, to feed our souls. "He
shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and _it shall
be accepted for him_, to make atonement for him" (ver. 4). Here, then,
is grace! Levi, the self-willed, cruel, fierce, and blood-shedding
Levi, is accepted in all the perfectness and acceptableness of this
"unblemished male" before God: whatever of excellency, whatever of
value, whatever of purity, God beheld in this offering, that did He
likewise behold in Levi as "accepted _in_ the offering." Thus, look at
Levi _apart from_ the offering, and you will find him such that God
could not come into _his_ assembly: but look at him as _in the
offering_, and you find him, through grace, as pure and as perfect as
the offering itself. Nothing could surpass this most excellent grace.
The grace that could take up a sinner from such a pit of corruption as
that in which Levi lay groveling, and lead him into such high
elevation, deserves the highest note of praise; and, blessed be God,
it shall, ere long, have it from all who, like Levi, have felt its
sacred power.

However, we must not enter too minutely into the detail of this burnt
offering, and there are just two points further to which I will refer.
The first is presented to us in ver. 6: "And he shall flay the burnt
offering, and cut it into his pieces." Here we see at once to what a
process of strict, jealous and uncompromising scrutiny the Lord Jesus
exposed Himself in offering Himself before God. It was not enough that
the animal should be APPARENTLY "without blemish," for the skin, or
_outward surface_, might look very well, and at the same time the
offering be not at all fit for God's altar; therefore the _outward
surface_ must be removed, in order that this offering may be examined
in all its sinews, joints and veins, and thus be found, as to _the
springs of action_, _the structure of his frame_, and the source and
channels of the life that animated him, a perfectly unblemished
offering. But further, "_he shall cut it into his pieces_," i.e., take
the offering asunder, and examine its various parts, in order that it
may not only form a perfect whole, but that each distinct joint may
be found perfect. Thus, in whatever aspect we look at the Lord Jesus,
we get divine perfection. He could say to God, "Thou hast tried Me,
and shalt find nothing;" and God could answer, "I am well pleased." He
could say of the devil, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath
nothing _in Me_;" and the devil could reply, "I know Thee, who thou
art, the _Holy One of God_." He could say to men, "Which of you
convinceth Me of sin?" and man could answer, "Truly this was a
_righteous man_." Thus, I say, our divine burnt-offering, who
voluntarily presented Himself at God's altar, and there poured forth
His most precious blood, was found, in every feature and in every
aspect, pure and perfect in the very highest sense of the word, and
confessed so by heaven, earth, and hell.[8]

  [8] We may also observe, in the act of cutting the offering into his
  pieces, this important truth, that in whatever relationship of life we
  contemplate the Lord Jesus, we find the same unsullied perfection;
  whether we consider Him as a public or as a private character, in one
  position or another, all is alike. Not so with man--here there must be
  failure in one way or another. If a man is a good public character, he
  may be the very plague of the family circle, and _vice versa_. And,
  surely, in all this we learn the glorious truth which shall shortly be
  owned by all created intelligences, that "He _alone_ is worthy."

All, therefore, having been found pure, and fit for God's altar, it
becomes the happy place of _Aaron's sons_ to send up before God the
sweet savor of this most acceptable offering, as we read: "And the
_sons_ _of Aaron_ the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay
the wood in order upon the fire. And _the priests_, Aaron's _sons_,
shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that
is on the fire which is upon the altar. But _his inwards and his legs_
shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn _all_ on the altar,
to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor
unto the Lord" (vers. 7-9). The fat of the offering was God's peculiar
part; no one could with impunity touch that; yea, the punishment for
so doing was the same as for eating blood; i.e., it was as wrong and
as daringly presumptuous for a man to intrude upon God's portion of
the offering as it was for him to assume life in his own right, which
latter was an open denial of the state of death and ruin in which he
was by reason of sin. God, then, I say, claimed the fat. He alone
could feed upon the inward excellency and peerless perfections of
Jesus, just as in the case of the unmeasured ointment in Exodus xxx.,
where we see, as well as in the above cited passage, that the infinite
mind of God could alone appreciate the infinite value of Christ. But
we find _the head_ burnt in connection with the fat, showing us, I
suppose, that both the hidden energies of the Lord Jesus and the seat
of His understanding were equally suited to be a sweet savor unto God.
Lastly, the inwards and legs were washed and burned upon the altar,
showing us that the secret thoughts, purposes and counsels of the Lord
Jesus, as well as the outward development of these in His _walk_, were
perfectly pure and fit for the altar: and, in connection with this
last point, one cannot help dwelling with comfort upon the marvelous
contrast between the Lord Jesus and His poor people. How often may our
_outward walk_, typified by "the legs," appear quite right in the eye
of man, when, at the same time, perhaps, in the eye of God, our
"_inwards_" may be full of gross impurity. But it is well for us that
such was not the case with our great Head: in Him _all was alike_, for
_all was pure_. May our hearts, dear Christian reader, enter more and
more fully, under the teaching of the Spirit, into the intrinsic
excellency of the Lord Jesus; and may we be enabled daily, standing at
the altar before God, to send up in His presence the savor of all
this!

As to the meat offering, we need not enter minutely into it. It was
composed, as we know, of that which sprang from _the earth_, and such
as aptly shadowed out "the Man Christ Jesus," the frankincense thereon
marking the entire devotedness of all the actings of Christ's human
nature to God His Father. Nothing was done by Him to meet man's eye,
or man's approbation; nothing was done to produce mere effect; no,
_all was directly before God_. Whether we trace the footsteps of the
Lord Jesus, while, for thirty years, _He was subject_ to His parents
at home; or while, for three years, He was engaged in public ministry
amongst the Jews--all was alike: all showed forth the pure
frankincense that marked Him, in all things, as God's peculiar and
devoted servant. We may observe further that this meat offering was
_baked_ with oil, and _anointed_ with oil; thus showing forth, I
suppose, the incarnate Son of God, who was first "_conceived_ of the
Holy Ghost" (Matt. i. 20), and then "_anointed_ with the Holy Ghost"
(Matt. iii. 16; Acts x. 38).

We now come to speak of the sin offering, and may the Lord graciously
refresh our spirits while dwelling for a little on the blessed
principles unfolded therein. The sin offering is brought before us in
Leviticus iv., from whence we may select one case for our present
purpose. "If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin
of the people, then _let him_ bring for his sin which he hath sinned a
young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering. _And
he shall bring_ the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation before the Lord, and shall lay his hand upon the
bullock's head and kill the bullock before the Lord" (vers. 3, 4).

The reader will, no doubt, observe a marked difference between the
above passage and that in which the burnt offering was referred to;
and the difference so far mainly consists in this, that in the last
cited passage the words "_voluntary will_" are not found, and this was
quite to be looked for. In the burnt offering we were enabled to
recognize the Lord Jesus Christ _offering_ Himself voluntarily before
God, in which aspect of His blessed work He could say, "No man taketh
it (My life) from Me, _I lay it down of Myself_." In other words, He
offered Himself "of His own voluntary will at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord." But in the sin
offering it is quite different: "_He shall be brought_" and "_He shall
be killed_;" i.e., instead of _coming_, _He shall be brought_; and
instead of laying down His life of _Himself_, His life _shall be taken
from Him_. These, I say, are important distinctions, and such as arise
from the very nature of the two offerings. In the burnt offering the
Lord Jesus is seen offering Himself in all the unblemished perfectness
which belonged to Him; and in this His soul had great delight, because
He was presenting that before God which was so acceptable to Him. But
in the sin offering the Lord Jesus is seen standing in connection with
that which His pure and spotless soul must have deeply abhorred and
keenly resented--abhorred and resented, indeed, in a way of which we
cannot form the faintest idea. He is seen, in a word, as standing in
connection with _sin_: yea, more, as "made sin" (2 Cor. v. 21). _Thus_
it was that the prophet, through the Spirit, viewed Him when he said,
"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with _His
stripes_ we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the
iniquity of us all" (Isa. liii. 5, 6).

Now I believe that by looking at the two offerings in connection we
get a very deep and wondrous view of sin's dark and dreadful enormity
in the sight of God: for sin in this point of view appears sinful
just according to the measure of Christ's perfectness in God's
account. If in the burnt offering we were enabled to see that such was
the beauty and excellency of Christ that His _whole man_ could go up
before God as a sweet savor, and that God could "find nothing in Him"
but perfection, as a necessary consequence then we must see in the sin
offering the blackness and heinousness of sin, which could oblige God
to hide His face from "His elect, in whom His soul delighted."

This brings us to the next point connected with the sin offering,
viz., "He shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head" (ver. 4). Here
we have at once the secret of the deep and profound mystery of the
three hours' darkness.

It was before observed that God had to hide His face from the Lord
Jesus on the cross, but how are we to account for such a mysterious
circumstance? Simply by the words, "he (the sinner) shall lay his hand
upon the bullock's head." If, in contemplating the burnt offering, we
were struck by the fact that all the perfectness of the offering was
communicated to the "fierce and cruel" Levi, so here we are called
upon to adore the grace that devised the wondrous plan whereby that
could be effected, which was by imputing to the offering all the sin
and defilement of Levi, and dealing with the sin of Levi in the person
of the sin offering, in order that Levi himself might be dealt with in
the person of the burnt offering.

And all this, be it observed, is conveyed to us in the action of "the
laying on of hands." This action was performed in both cases; i.e.,
Levi laid his hands on the head of the burnt-offering, and Levi laid
his hands on the head of the sin offering. As to the _act_, it was the
same in each case; but oh, how different the results! they were, in a
word, as different as life and death, heaven and hell, sin and
holiness. In fact, we cannot conceive a wider contrast than that which
is observable in the results of this action, to all appearance the
same in each case. We may, perhaps, be able to form some idea of it by
considering that the act of imposition of hands was at once the
imputation of _sin_ to one "_who knew no sin_," but was "holy,
harmless, undefiled," and whose very nature abhorred _all sin_. And,
on the other hand, it was the imputation of _perfect righteousness_ to
one who was by nature "a cruel, fierce, and self-willed murderer."[9]
Furthermore, the act of imposition of hands obliged the One who from
before all worlds dwelt in the bosom of the Father to travel far away
into the cold and barren regions of death and darkness, where the
genial and life-giving rays of His Father's countenance, which He
alone could truly appreciate, had never penetrated; and standing upon
the confines of which, He cried out, "_If it be possible_, let this
cup pass from Me!" and again, when these gloomy regions, with their
ten thousand unutterable horrors, burst upon His spotless soul, "My
God, My God, WHY HAST THOU forsaken Me?" And, on the other hand, it
enabled the one who dwelt in "the habitations of cruelty," into whose
"assembly" God could not come, to stand in the very blaze of the light
of God's throne. These considerations, I say, may perhaps assist our
conceptions in some measure upon this astounding truth. Now, the
apostle states the same truth in the didactic language of the New
Testament when he says, "He (God) hath _made Him_ to be _sin for us_,
that _we_ might be _made the righteousness_ of God _in Him_" (2 Cor.
v. 21). That is, He hath made the One whose perfectness is seen in the
burnt offering to be judged _as sin_, and treated as such in the sin
offering, in order that _we_, who deserved the treatment of the sin
offering, might be treated as accepted in the burnt offering.

  [9] I would observe here that in speaking of "the imputation of
  righteousness," I by no means desire to be understood as giving any
  countenance to the prevailing theory of "the imputed righteousness of
  Christ." Of this expression, so much in use in the theology of the
  present day, it would be sufficient to say that it is nowhere to be
  found in the oracles of God. I read of "the righteousness of God"
  (Rom. iii. passim), and, moreover, of the imputation of righteousness
  (Rom. iv. 11), but never of "the righteousness of Christ." It is true,
  we read of the Lord Jesus being "_made of God_ unto us righteousness"
  (Jer. xxiii. 6), but these passages do not support the above theory. I
  would further add that the moral effect of this idea will be found to
  be decidedly pernicious, because it of _necessity_ supposes the
  believer as standing apart from the Lord Jesus, whereas the doctrine
  of Scripture is that the believer is "made the righteousness of God IN
  HIM" (2 Cor. v. 21). And again, "we are IN HIM that is true, even in
  _His Son Jesus Christ_" (1 Jno. v. 20).

I would also observe here that there is much force and value in the
word "_made_:" it shows out most fully that righteousness was just as
foreign to the nature of man as sin was to the nature of Christ. Man
had no righteousness of his own, or, in other words, he knew no
righteousness, and therefore he had to be "_made_" righteousness.
Christ "_knew no sin_," and therefore had to be "_made sin_" in order
that we might be _made_ righteousness, even "the righteousness of God
_in Him_." But further, we learn from the passage to which we are
referring that the Lord Jesus having been "made sin for us," is not
more real, not more true, not more palpable, than that the believer is
"_made righteousness_ in Him."

If there be any truth or reality in the record concerning the cross
and passion of the Lord Jesus, then, it is plain that the moment a
soul acts faith upon Christ in His death and resurrection, that moment
he is accepted in all the acceptableness of Christ. His consciousness
of this is, of course, quite another question: a truth and the
realization of a truth are quite distinct.

The measure of our realization will be in proportion to the measure of
our communion with God. If we are satisfied to move at a cold and
heartless distance from God, our consciousness of the power and value
of any truth will, as a consequence, be meagre and shallow: while,
therefore, it is not to be forgotten that the root and source of all
life and communion is the truth stated in the passage to which we are
alluding, it is manifest that the more we walk in communion with Him
who gives us the life, the more shall we enjoy both Himself and the
life which He gives. Dear Christian reader, let us pray that the cross
and passion of the Lord Jesus may sink so deeply into our hearts that
we may have on the one hand such a view of the loathsomeness of sin as
shall lead us to abhor it with a holy abhorrence "all the days of our
life," and on the other hand such a view of the amazing love of God as
shall constrain us "to live not unto ourselves but unto Him who died
for us and rose again."

Thus, then, we see that the laying on of hands shows forth nothing
less than _a change of places_ on the part of the sinner and the
Saviour. The sinner was _out_ of the favor of God: "O my soul, come
not thou into their habitation." The Saviour was _in_ the favor of
God, "_daily His delight_," dwelling in His bosom from before all
worlds. But the amazing plan of redemption _shows us the Saviour out
of the favor of God_, _and God forsaking Him_, _while at the same time
a condemned malefactor is brought at once into the very presence of a
loving and pardoning God_. Amazing, deep, inconceivable, eternal love!
unfathomable wisdom! love which soars far aloft above the most
gigantic conception! wisdom which has written everlasting contempt
upon all the power and base designs of the great enemy of God and man!
For, ere Levi could be introduced into the enjoyment of the "covenant
of _life_ and _peace_" (Mal. ii. 5), a spotless Victim must stand the
shock of the king of terrors and all his thunders. But who is this
Victim? We ask not, "Who is this King of glory?" but _Who_ is this
Victim? The answer to this question it is which gives to the plan of
redemption its grandest and most divine characteristic. The Victim was
none less than the Son of God Himself! Yes! here was love, here was
wisdom. The Son of God had to stoop because man had exalted himself.
And surely we may say, If God had not entered upon the work, _all_,
_all_ were lost, and that forever. No mere mortal could have entered
into that dark scene where sin was being atoned for; no one but the
Son of God could have sustained the weight which, in the garden and on
the cross, rested on the shoulders of the "One that was mighty." And
here we might refer to the Lord's language to His disciples when He
was about to enter into conflict with the adversary: "Hereafter I will
not talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath
nothing in Me" (John xiv. 30). Why could He not "talk much with them?"
Because He was just going to enter upon the work of atonement, in
which they could do nothing, because the prince of this world, had he
come, would have had _plenty in them_; but then, the moment He, as it
were, in spirit passes through that sorrowful hour, He says, "_Arise_,
let us go hence;" i.e., although we could not move a single step in
the achievement of the victory, yet we could enjoy the fruits of it;
and not only so, but _display_ the fruits of it in a life of service
and fruit-bearing to God, which forms the subject of teaching in the
next chapter.

Here, then, is what gives peace to the awakened conscience of the
sinner. God Himself has done the work. God has triumphed over all
man's wickedness and rebellion, and now every soul who feels his need
of pardon and peace can draw near in faith and holy confidence and
reap the fruits of this wondrous triumph of grace and mercy.

And now, dear reader, if _you_ have not as yet made these wondrous
fruits your own; if you have not as yet cast the whole burden of your
sins on God's eternal love as seen in the cross, I ask you, Why do you
stand aloof? Why do you doubt? Perhaps you feel the hardness of your
heart, perhaps you are ready to say that you feel yourself even now
unmoved by the contemplation of all the deep sorrow endured by the Son
of God. Well, what of that? If it be a question of _your_ guilt, you
may go much farther than even this, for in that hour of which we have
been speaking you stood unmoved, looked on with cold and heartless
indifference, while all creation owned the wondrous fact. Yea, more,
you yourself crucified the incarnate God, you spat in His face, and
plunged your spear into His side. Do you shrink back and say, "Oh, not
so bad!" I say _it was the act of the human heart_; and if you have a
human heart, it was your act. But the Scriptures at once decide this
point, for it is written, "For of a truth against Thy holy child
Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, _with
the Gentiles_ and the people of Israel, were gathered together" (Acts
iv. 27). This passage, I say, proves that all the world were
_representatively_ around the cross. But why insist on this? Simply to
show forth the riches of the grace of God, which can only be seen in
all its effulgent lustre in the cross; and therein it is seen mounting
far above all man's sin and malignant rebellion; for when man, in the
fiendish pride of his heart, could plunge his spear into the side of
incarnate Deity, God's cry was--BLOOD! and through _that blood
"remission of sins, beginning at Jerusalem_." Thus, "where _sin_
abounded, _grace_ did _much more abound_," and "grace REIGNS through
righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord."

Enough, I trust, has been said to show the grounds upon which the
Levites stood before God. These grounds were free and _eternal
grace_--grace exercised toward them through the blood, which is the
only channel through which grace can flow. Man has been found to be
_utterly ruined_ before God, and therefore it must be a question
either of salvation through _free grace_, or eternal damnation; for
"by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh living be justified."
But then, while man is by nature utterly unfit to render anything like
an acceptable righteousness or service to God, yet, when God gives us
_new life_ through grace, He, of course, looks for the development of
that life. In other words, grace brings the soul into circumstances of
responsibility and service, and it is as we meet those circumstances
that God is glorified in us and our souls grow in the knowledge of
God. Thus it was in the case of the leper: up to a certain point in
his history he had nothing to do, _the priest_ was the sole actor. But
when the priest had done his part; when, by virtue of _the blood_
which had been shed, he had pronounced him "clean," the leper had
_then_ to begin to "_wash himself_" (Lev. xiv. 8). Now we shall find
that the history of Levi develops all these principles most fully.

We have hitherto been engaged with Levi's condition and character by
nature and also the wondrous remedy devised by grace to meet him in
his lost estate, and not only to save him _from_ that estate but also
to raise him up to an elevation which could never have entered into
the heart of man, even into the very tabernacle of God. We shall now,
with God's blessing and grace, proceed to examine that high elevation
to which we have referred, and also the service which it involved, as
put before us in

     NUMBERS iii.

     "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, _Bring the tribe of
     Levi near_, and present them before Aaron the priest, that
     they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge,
     and the charge of the whole congregation before the
     tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the
     tabernacle. And they shall keep _all the instruments of the
     tabernacle_ of the congregation, and the charge of the
     children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And
     thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron, and to his sons:
     they are wholly given unto him out of the children of
     Israel" (vers. 5-9).

Here, then, God's marvelous purposes of grace toward Levi fully open
before us, and _truly_ marvelous they are indeed. We see that the
sacrifices were but a means to an end; but both the means and the end
were in every way worthy of each other. The means were, in one word,
"death and resurrection," and _all included therein_. The end was,
_nearness_ to God, and _all included therein_.

Looking at Levi by nature, there could not be any point farther
removed from God than that at which he stood; but _grace_ in exercise,
through the blood, could _lift him up_ out of that ruin in which he
stood, and "bring him nigh," yea, bring him into association with the
great head of the priestly family, there to serve in the tabernacle.
Thus, we read, "You _hath He quickened who were dead_ in trespasses
and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.... _But God_,
who is _rich in mercy_, for His _great love_ wherewith _He loved us_,
even _when we were dead in sins_, hath quickened us _together with
Christ_ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. ii.
1-6). And again, "But _now_, _in Christ Jesus_, ye who sometime were
_afar off_, are _made nigh_ by the blood of Christ" (ver. 13).

When _nature_ is left free to work, it will ever go as far away from
_God_ as it can. This is true since the day when man said, "I heard
_Thy voice_, and I was _afraid_ and I hid myself" (Gen. iii. 10). But
when grace is left free and sovereign to work, it will ever bring the
soul "nigh." Thus it was with Levi. He was by nature "_black as the
tents of Kedar_;" by grace, "comely as the curtains of Solomon:" by
_nature_ he was "_joined_" in a covenant of murder; by _grace_
"joined" in a covenant of "life and peace." The former, because he was
"_fierce and cruel_;" the latter, because he feared and was afraid of
the Lord's name. (Comp. Gen. xlix. 6, 7; Mal. ii. 5.) Furthermore,
Levi was by _nature_ conversant with the "instruments of cruelty;" by
_grace_, with "_the instruments of God's tabernacle_:" by _nature_ God
could not come into _Levi's assembly_; by _grace_, Levi is brought
into _God's assembly_: by nature, "his feet were swift _to shed
blood_;" by grace, _swift_ to follow the movements of the cloud
through the desert, in real, patient service to God. In a word, Levi
had become a "_new creature_," and "old things had passed away," and
therefore he was no longer to "live unto himself," but unto Him who
had done such marvelous things for him in grace.

I would further observe, on the last cited passage, that the Levites
are, in the first place, declared to be God's property, and then they
are "WHOLLY GIVEN UNTO AARON." Thus we read: "_Thine they were_, _and
Thou gavest them Me_, and they have kept Thy word" (John xvii. 6). And
again, "All that _the Father giveth Me_ shall come to Me" (John vi.
37).

I would now look a little into the detail of their service, in which,
I doubt not, we shall find much to edify and refresh us.

We find that although the whole tribe of Levi were, _as to standing_,
"_joined with Aaron_," yet, as to _service_, they were divided into
classes. "All had not the same office;" and this is what we might have
expected, for, although in the matter _of life_ and _standing_ they
were all _on a level_, yet, in the development of that life, and in
the manifestation of the power of that standing, they would, no doubt,
display different measures; and not only so, but there would also be
seen an assignment to each of distinct position and line of service,
which would serve to distinguish him from his brethren in a very
marked and decided manner. And here I would observe that I know of
nothing connected with the walk and service of the Christian which
demands more attention than this point to which I am now alluding,
viz., _unity_ in the matter of life and standing, and at the same time
the greatest variety in the manifestation of character and in the line
of service. A due attention to this important point would save us from
much of that "unwise" comparing of ourselves and our service with the
persons and services of others, which is most unholy, and, as a
consequence, most unhealthy.[10] And not only would it lead thus to
beneficial results in a negative point of view, it would also have a
most happy effect in producing and cultivating originality and
uniqueness of Christian character. But while there was this diversity
in the line of service amongst the Levites, it is also to be
remembered that there was _manifested unity_. The Levites were _one
people_, and seen as such; they were "_joined_" with Aaron in the work
of the tabernacle; moreover, THEY HAD ONE STANDARD, round which they
_all_ rallied, and that was "the tabernacle of the congregation," the
well known type of Christ in His character and offices. And, indeed,
this was one of the ends which God had in view in calling out the
Levites by His grace from amongst the people of Israel; it was that
they should stand in marked association with Aaron and his sons, and
in that association bear the tabernacle and all pertaining thereto on
their shoulders, through the barren wilderness around.[11]

  [10] It is worthy the serious attention of the Christian reader who
  may desire the unity of the Church, that the tribe of Levi in the
  desert was a truly striking example of what may be termed "unity in
  diversity." Gershon was in one sense totally different from Merari,
  and Merari was totally different from Kohath; and yet Gershon, Merari
  and Kohath were _one_: they should not, therefore, contend about their
  service, because they were _one_; nor yet would it have been right to
  confound their services, because they were totally different. Thus,
  attention to _unity_ would have saved them from contention, and
  attention to _diversity_ would have saved them from confusion. In a
  word, all things could only be "done decently and in order" by a due
  attention to the fact of there being "unity in diversity."

  [11] I say "one of the ends," for we should ever remember that the
  grand object before the divine mind in redemption is to show in the
  ages to come His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus; and this
  object will be secured even though our poor puny services had never
  been heard of.

God did not call out the Levites _merely_ that they might escape the
sad effects of God's absence from their assembly; or, in other words,
God had more than THEIR blessing and security in view in His dealings
with them. He designed that they should serve in the tabernacle, and
thus be to His praise and glory. We shall, however, I trust, see this
principle upon which I am dwelling in a clearer and stronger point of
view as we proceed in our subject.

We find that Levi had three sons, viz., "Gershon, and Kohath, and
Merari" (Num. iii. 17). These formed the heads of the three classes
alluded to, and we shall find that the nature of the service of each
was such as of necessity to impart that tone of character signified by
their very name. Thus: "Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and
the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites.
And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be
Eliasaph, the son of Lael. And the charge of the sons of Gershon in
the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle and the
tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the court, and the
curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by
the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service
thereof" (vers. 21-26).

Here was Gershon's work, to carry through the waste and howling
wilderness the tabernacle and its coverings. This was indeed _true
Levite service_, but it was most blessed service, and its antitype in
the Church now is what we should much seek after, because it is that
which alone puts the Christian into his right place in the world,
i.e., the place of a STRANGER. There could be but little
attractiveness in the rams' skins and badgers' skins; but, little as
there was, it was, nevertheless, the high privilege of the Gershonite
to take them all up and bear them cheerfully on his shoulders across
the trackless sands. What, then, are we to understand by the covering
of the tabernacle? I believe, in a word, it shadowed out the character
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was that which would meet the eye. There
might be, and were, other services among the Levites of a very blessed
nature, but surely it was most elevated service to carry through the
desert that which so strikingly prefigured the character of Christ.

This is what makes the saint "a stranger" (as the name Gershon
imports) in the world. If we are walking in _the manifestation of the
character of the Lord Jesus_, and in so doing realize our place as _in
the wilderness_, we may rest assured it will impart a very decided
tone of strangership to our character in the world. And oh, would that
we knew much more of this. The Church has laid down the rams' skins
and badgers' skins, and with them the Gershonite character: in other
words, the Church has ceased to walk in the footsteps of her rejected
Lord and Master, and the consequence has been that instead of being
the wearied and worn stranger, as she should be, treading the parched
and sterile desert, with the burden on the shoulders, she has settled
herself down in the green places of the world and made herself at
home. But there was another feature of the stranger character shadowed
out in the curtain, viz., _anticipation_. This was most blessed--God
dwelling in curtains showed plainly that neither God nor the ark of
His strength had found a resting-place, but were _journeying on_
towards "_a rest that remained_."

And how could there be a _rest_ in the desert? There were no rivers
and brooks _there_--no old corn _there_--no milk and honey _there_.
True, the smitten rock sent forth its refreshing streams to meet their
need, and heaven sent down their _daily bread_; but all this was not
Canaan. They were still in the desert, eating wilderness food and
drinking wilderness water, and it was Gershon's holy privilege to
carry upon his shoulders that which in the fullest manner expressed
all this, viz., THE CURTAIN. "Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me
an house for Me to dwell in? Whereas I have not _dwelt_ in any house
since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt,
even to this day, but have _walked_ in a _tent_ and in a _tabernacle_"
(2 Sam. vii. 5, 6). Here, too, we have sadly failed. The Church grew
weary of the curtain, and wished to build a house before the time; she
grew weary of "_walking in a tent_," and earnestly desired to "_dwell
in a house_."

And truly we have all to watch and pray against this disposition to
grow weary of our Gershonite character. There is nothing so trying to
nature as continual labor in a state of expectancy; our hearts love
rest and fruition, and therefore nothing but the continual remembrance
that "our sufficiency is of God" can at all sustain us in our Gershon
or stranger condition.

Let us therefore remember that we bear on our shoulders the curtains,
and have beneath our feet the sand of the desert, above our heads the
pillar of cloud, and before us "the land of rest" clothed in
never-withering green, and, both as a stimulus and a warning, let us
remember that "He that endureth to the end THE SAME shall be
saved."[12]

  [12] It would surely be of all importance in this day, when so many
  are declining from the narrow path of obedience to the written Word,
  and entering upon the wide and bewildering field of human tradition,
  to bear in mind that the Levite, when carrying the tabernacle through
  the desert, found no support nor guide _from beneath_; no, _the grace_
  in which he stood was his _sole support_, and _the pillar above_ his
  _sole guide_. It would have been miserable indeed had he been left to
  find a guide in the footmarks on the sand, which would change at every
  wind that blew. _But all the sand did for him was to add to his labor
  and toil while he endeavored to follow the heavenly guide above his
  head._

       *       *       *       *       *

We shall next consider the Merarite feature of character; for,
although the family of Merari does not stand next in order in the
chapter, yet there is a kindredness of spirit, as it were, arising out
of the very nature of their service, that would link them together in
the mind. But, not only is there this intimate connection between the
services of these two classes of Levites, which would lead us to link
them together thus, the Lord Himself presents them to us in marked
unity of service, for we read, "And the Kohathites set forward bearing
the sanctuary; and _the other_ (i.e., the Gershonites and the
Merarites) _did set up the tabernacle against they came_" (Num. x.
21). Here, then, we see that it was the great business of these two
families to pass onward through the desert in holy companionship,
bearing with them, wherever they went, "_the tabernacle_," and,
moreover, the tabernacle as looked at in its character of outward
manifestation or testimony; which would, as a matter of course, put
those who carried it thus into a place of _very laborious_
discipleship. "And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari
shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the
pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof,
and all that serveth thereto, and the pillars of the court round
about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords" (chap. iii.
36, 37). Here, then, was what Merari had to do: he had to take his
place here or there, according to the movement of the cloud, and _set
up_ the boards of the tabernacle in their sockets of silver--and all
this, be it remembered, upon the sand of the desert.[13]

  [13] It has been well observed that in the tabernacle God was seen
  bringing all His glory into immediate connection with _the sand of the
  desert_: and when the high priest went into the holy place, he found
  himself in the very presence of that glory, _with his feet upon the
  sand of the desert_ likewise. In the temple, however, this was not the
  case, for the floor of the house was _overlaid with gold_ (1 Kings vi.
  30).

  So is it with the Christian now; he has not as yet his feet upon the
  "pure gold" of the heavenly city, but his deepest and most abiding
  knowledge of God is that which he obtains in connection with his
  sorrow, toil and conflict in the wilderness.

Could anything be more opposed to another than the nature of all that
Merari had to set up was to the waste and howling wilderness around?
What could be more unlike than silver and barren sand? But Merari
might not shrink from all this; no, his language was, when he had
arrived at a spot in the desert at which the cloud halted, "I am come
to set up the patterns of things in heaven in the very midst of all
the desolation and misery of the wilderness around." All this was most
laborious, and would, no doubt, impart to the character of Merari a
tone of sadness or sorrow which was at once expressed in his name,
which means "_sorrow_."

And surely the antitype of all this in the Church now will fully
confirm what has been stated about the character of Merari. Let any
one take his stand firmly and decidedly in the world _for Christ_--let
him penetrate into those places where "the _world_" is really seen in
its vigor--let him oppose himself, _firm as a rock_, to the deep and
rapid tide of worldliness, and _there_ let him begin to set up "_the
sockets of silver_," and, rest assured of it, he will find such a
course attended with very much sorrow and bitterness of soul; in a
word, he will realize it to be a path in which the cross is to be
taken up "_daily_," and not only taken up, but borne. Now, if any
further proof were needed of the above interpretation, we have a most
striking one in the fact that there are but _very few_ of the
laborious Merarite character to be found; and why is this? Simply
because the exhibition of such a character will ever be attended with
very much labor and sorrow to nature, and nature loves ease, and
therefore human nature never could be a Merarite; nothing will make us
true Merarites but deep communion with Him who was "THE MAN OF
SORROWS."

There is something in the service of Gershon from which one does not
shrink so much as from that of Merari. For what had Gershon to do? He
had to place the curtains and badgers' skins over the boards _which
had been already set up by his laborious and sorrowful brother_. And
just so now: if a laborious servant of God has gone to a place where
hitherto the world and Satan have reigned supreme, and there raised a
testimony for Christ, it will be comparatively easy for another to go
and walk on in the simple _manifestation_ of Christian character,
which would of itself put him into the place of "a stranger."

But, although nature may assume the character of a misanthropist, yet
nothing but grace can make us Merarites, and _the true Merarite_ is
the _true philanthropist_, because he introduces that which alone _can
bless_; and the very fact that a Merarite should have to take a place
of sorrow is a most convincing proof that the world is an evil place.
There was no need of a Merarite in Canaan, nor a Gershonite either:
for the Merarite was _happy there_, and the Gershonite _at home_. But
the world is not the Levite's home, and therefore if any will carry
the curtains, he must be a stranger; and if any will carry the sockets
and boards, he must be a man of sorrow; for when He who was a true
Gershonite and a true Merarite came into the world He was emphatically
_the Man of sorrows_, _who had not where to lay His head_.

However, if the Gershonite and the Merarite had to occupy a place in
which they endured not a little of "the burden and heat of the day,"
yet the Lord graciously met them in that with a very rich reward, for
"He is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love," and
therefore, if they had to labor and toil _amongst_ their brethren,
they were blessedly ministered to _by_ their brethren. Thus we read
concerning the offerings of the princes: "And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of
the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the
Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took the
wagons and the oxen and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and
four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their
service. And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of
Merari according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son
of Aaron the priest. _But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none_,
because _the service of the sanctuary_ belonging unto them was that
they should bear upon their shoulders" (Num. vii. 4-9).

Here we see that the service of Gershon and Merari was that which met
the rich and blessed ministrations of their brethren. Grace had filled
the hearts and affections of the princes, and not only filled but
overflowed them, and in its overflow it was designed to refresh the
spirits of the homeless Gershonite and sorrowful Merarite: on the
other hand, the Kohathites had no part in these ministrations; and
why? Because _their service_, as we shall see presently, was in
_itself_ a rich reward indeed. We see the very same doctrine taught in
the case of the Levites generally, as contrasted with the priests, in
chap. xviii., where we read: "And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou
shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither _shalt thou have any
part among them_: _I am thy part and thine inheritance among the
children of Israel_" (ver. 20).

On the other hand, He says of the Levites, "Behold, I have given the
children of Levi all the tenth in _Israel for an inheritance_, _for
their service which they serve_, even the service of the tabernacle of
the congregation."

And again, "Ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households,
for _it is your reward_ for your service in the tabernacle of the
congregation" (vers. 21, 31).

Aaron occupied a position so truly elevated that any inheritance in
the way of earthly things would have been to him most degrading;
whereas the Levites (looked at in one aspect) had not this high
standing, but had much hard labor; and consequently, while Aaron's
very place and service was "_his reward_," the Levites had to get _a
tenth_ for "_their reward_."

       *       *       *       *       *

We come now to consider the third and last division of the Levites,
viz., the Kohathites, of whom we read, "The families of the sons of
Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. And the
chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites
shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. And their charge shall be the
ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the
vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and
all the service thereof" (chap. iii. 29-31). We can now have no
difficulty in understanding why it was that Kohath had no share in the
ministrations of the princes. Gershon and Merari might need wagons and
oxen to carry the boards, etc., but not so Kohath; his charge was too
precious to be committed to any or aught but himself, and therefore it
was his high and honored place to carry all upon his shoulders. What a
privilege, for example, to be allowed to carry _the ark_, _the table_,
or _the golden candlestick_! And would it not have argued an entire
absence of ability to appreciate his elevated calling if he had sought
for the assistance of oxen in his holy service? What, then, we ask,
would have been the effect produced upon the character of Kohath by
this his service? Would it not have imparted a very elevated tone
thereto? Surely it would. What can be more elevated, at least as far
as development of character in the world is concerned, than the
display of that congregational spirit which is expressed in the name
of Kohath? Should not Christians be found rebuking, by a _real_ union
_in everything_, man's oft-repeated attempt at forming associations
for various purposes? And how can they effect that if it be not by
gathering more closely around their common centre, Christ, in all the
blessed fulness and variety of that Name? a fulness and variety
typified by the varied furniture of the tabernacle, some of the most
precious parts of which were designed to be borne on the shoulders of
this favored division of the tribe of Levi.

And surely we may safely assert that what would lead the saints now
into more of the congregational spirit is just communion with Him whom
the ark and table shadowed forth. If we were more conversant with
Christ as the ark, covering in this scene of death, and, moreover,
with the table of showbread, whereon stood _the food of the
priests_--if, I say, we knew more of Christ in these blessed aspects
of His character--we should not be as we are, _a proverb_ and a byword
by reason of our gross disunion. But, alas, as the Church grew weary
of the curtains and the boards, and laid aside her Gershonite and
Merarite character, so has she laid aside her Kohathite character,
because she has ceased to carry the ark and the table upon her
shoulder, and cast those precious pearls which were, through the grace
of God, her peculiar property, to the swine, and thus has she lost her
elevated character and position in the world.

Thus, let us review those three grand features of character shown
forth in the tribe of Levi.

       *       *       *       *       *

1st. Strangership. "Therefore the world _knoweth us not_, because it
knew Him not." "Here we have no abiding city." "Dearly beloved, I
beseech you _as strangers and pilgrims_, abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul."

       *       *       *       *       *

2d. Sorrow in the world. "_In the world_ ye shall have tribulation."
"If they have _persecuted Me_, they will also _persecute you_." "I
RECKON that _the sufferings of this present_ time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." "After that
_ye have suffered awhile_, make you perfect"--"_ye have need_ of
patience"--"ye yourselves know that ye are appointed thereunto." "If
we _suffer_ with Him, we shall also reign with Him." "These are they
that came out of _great tribulation_, and have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

       *       *       *       *       *

3d. Union. "That they _all may be one_." "He should gather together in
_one_ the children of God that are _scattered_ abroad." "That He might
reconcile _both_ unto God in ONE body by the cross." And here, again,
I would request of my reader to bear in mind that, while there was
this beautiful diversity in the character and line of service of the
Levites, yet they were _one people_, and that _manifestly_--they were
_one_ in _life_, _one_ in standing, _one_ in calling, _one_ in
inheritance; and so should it be with Christians _now_. We are not to
expect uniformity of opinion on every point, nor yet are we to look
for a perfect correspondence in the line of service and development of
life; but then the saints should be seen as _one people_--_one_ in
worship,[14] _one_ in labor, _one_ in object, _one_ in sympathy; in a
word, _one_ in everything that belongs to them in common as the people
of God.

  [14] I say, _one in worship_; and I would press this point, because at
  the present day it seems to be a thought in the minds of many that
  there may be unity in service and at the same time the greatest
  diversity in worship. I would appeal to the spiritual mind of the
  Christian reader, and I would ask him, Can this really be? What should
  we say to a family who would unite, or appear to do so, for the
  purpose of carrying on their father's work, but who could not, by
  reason of division, meet around their father's table? Could such unity
  satisfy a father who loved his children?

       *       *       *       *       *

How sadly out of order it would have been for a Levite to call upon
one of the uncircumcised of the nations around to assist him in
carrying any part of the tabernacle! and yet we hear Christians now
justifying and insisting upon the propriety of conduct not less
disorderly, viz., calling upon the openly unconverted and profane to
put their hands to the Lord's work. Thus we see that the Levites have
become scattered, and have forsaken their posts. The Gershonite has
refused to carry the curtains because he has become weary of the
stranger condition; the Merarite has laid down the boards and sockets
because he grew weary of bearing the cross, and the Kohathite has
degraded his high and holy office by making it the common property of
those who have not authority from God to put their hands thereunto.
Thus the name of God is blasphemed among the heathen by us, and we do
not "sigh and cry for the abominations" thus practiced, but lift up
our heads in proud indifference as if it all were right, and as if the
camp of God were moving onward in all heavenly order, under the
guidance of the cloud, communicated by the silver trumpets. "My
brethren, these things ought not so to be." May we walk more humbly
before our God, and, while we mourn over the sad fact that "Overturn,
overturn, overturn" has been written by the finger of God upon all
human arrangements, let us remember that it is only "_until He come
whose right it is_," and then _all_ shall be set right forever, for
God, in all things, shall be fully glorified through Jesus Christ.

       *       *       *       *       *

Thus, dear reader, have we followed Levi in his course; and oh, what a
marvelous course has it been! a course, every step of which displays
the visible marks of sovereign grace abounding over man's sin--grace,
which led God to stoop from His throne in the heavens to visit "the
habitations of cruelty," in order to lift a poor perishing sinner from
thence, and bring him, through the purging power of the blood, into a
place of marvelous blessing indeed, even into the very tabernacle of
God, there to be employed about the instruments of God's house. We
have found Levi to have been indeed the one who "was _dead_ and is
_alive_ again, who was _lost_ and is found." May we, then, adore the
grace that could do such mighty acts! and if we have felt in our
hearts the operations of the same grace in delivering us from the
death and darkness of Egypt, may we remember that its effects should
be to constrain us to live, not unto ourselves, but unto Him who died
for us and rose again. We are now in the wilderness, where we are
called to carry the tabernacle. May we cheerfully move onward,
"_declaring_ PLAINLY that we seek a country," and anxiously look out
for "THE REST THAT REMAINS."




PART I.

GLAD TIDINGS

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life" (John iii. 16).


There are some passages of holy Scripture which seem to contain, in a
line or two, an entire volume of most precious truth. The verse which
we have just penned is one of such. It is part of our Lord's memorable
discourse with Nicodemus, and it embodies, in a condensed form, a very
full statement of gospel truth--a statement which may well be termed,
"Glad Tidings."

It should ever be borne in mind, both by preachers and those to whom
they preach, that one grand object of the gospel is to bring God and
the sinner together in such a way as to secure the sinner's eternal
salvation. It reveals a _Saviour God_ to a _lost man_. In other words,
it presents God to the sinner in the very character that meets the
sinner's need. A Saviour is precisely what suits the lost, just as a
life-boat suits a drowning man, or a physician a sick man, or bread a
hungry man. They are fitted the one for the other; and when God as a
Saviour, and man as a lost sinner, meet together, the whole question
is settled forever. The sinner is saved, because God is a Saviour. He
is saved according to the perfection which belongs to God, in every
character He wears, in every office He fills, in every relationship He
sustains. To raise a question as to the full and everlasting salvation
of a believing soul, is to deny that God is a Saviour. So it is in
reference to justification. God has revealed Himself as a Justifier;
and hence, the believer is justified according to the perfection which
attaches to God in that character. If a single flaw could be detected
in the title of the very weakest believer, it would be a dishonor to
God as a Justifier. Grant me but this, that God is my Justifier, and I
argue, in the face of every opposer and every accuser, that I am, and
must be, perfectly justified.

And, on the same principle, grant me but this, that God has revealed
Himself as a Saviour, and I argue, with unclouded confidence and holy
boldness, that I am, and must be, perfectly saved. It does not rest
upon aught in me, but simply and entirely upon God's revelation of
Himself. I know He is perfect in everything; and, therefore, perfect
as my Saviour. Hence, I am perfectly saved, inasmuch as the glory of
God is involved in my salvation. "There is no God else beside Me: a
just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me." What then? "_Look_
unto _Me_, and be ye saved, _all the ends of the earth_; for I am God,
and there is none else" (Isa. xlv. 21, 22). One believing _look_ from
a lost sinner to a just God and a Saviour, secures eternal salvation.
"_Look!_" How simple! It is not "Work"--"Do"--"Pray"--"Feel"--no; it
is simply "Look." And what then? Salvation--everlasting life. It must
be so, because God is a Saviour; and the precious little word "look"
fully implies all this, inasmuch as it expresses the fact that the
salvation which I want is found in the One to whom I look. It is all
there, ready for me, and one look secures it--secures it
forever--secures it for _me_. It is not a thing of to-day or
to-morrow; it is an eternal reality. The bulwarks of salvation behind
which the believer retreats have been erected by God Himself--the
Saviour-God, on the sure foundation of Christ's atoning work; and no
power of earth or hell can ever shake them. "Wherefore also it is
contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
Corner-stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him shall not
be confounded" (Isa. xxviii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 6).

But let us now turn directly to the profound and comprehensive passage
which forms the special subject of this paper. In it, most assuredly,
we listen to the voice of a Saviour-God--the voice of Him who came
down from heaven to reveal God in such a way as He had never been
revealed before. It is a marvelously blessed fact that God has been
fully revealed in this world--revealed, so that we--the writer and the
reader of these lines--may know Him, in all the reality of what He
is--know Him, each for himself, with the utmost possible certainty,
and have to do with Him, in all the blessed intimacy of personal
communion.

Reader, think of this! Think, we beseech you, of this amazing
privilege. You may know God for yourself, as _your_ Saviour, _your_
Father, _your_ own very God. You may have to do with Him; you may lean
upon Him, cling to Him, walk with Him, live and move and have your
being in His own most blessed presence, in the bright sunshine of His
loving countenance, under His own immediate eye.

This is life and peace. It is far more than mere theology or
systematic divinity. These things have their value, but, be it
remembered, a man may be a profound theologian, an able divine, and
yet live and die without God and perish eternally. Solemn, awful,
overwhelming thought! A man may go down to hell, into the blackness
and darkness of an eternal night, with all the dogmas of theology at
his fingers' ends. A man may sit in the professor's chair, stand in
the pulpit and at the desk; he may be looked up to as a great teacher
and an eloquent preacher: hundreds may sit at his feet and learn,
thousands may hang on his lips and be enraptured, and, after all, he
himself may descend into the pit, and spend a dismal, miserable
eternity in company with the most profane and immoral.

Not so, however, with one who knows God as He is revealed in the face
of Jesus Christ. Such a one has gotten life eternal. "This," says
Christ, "is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John xvii. 3). It is not life
eternal to know theology or divinity. A man may sit down to the study
of these, as he would to study law or medicine, astronomy or geology,
and all the while know nothing of God, and therefore be without divine
life, and perish in the end.

So also as to mere religiousness. A man may be the greatest devotee in
the world. He may most diligently discharge all the offices, and
sedulously attend upon all the ordinances of systematic religion; he
may fast and pray; hear sermons and say prayers; be most devout and
exemplary; and all the while know nothing of God in Christ; yea, he
may live and die without God, and sink into hell forever. Look at
Nicodemus. Where could you find a better sample of religious human
nature than in him? A man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a
master in Israel; one, moreover, who seemed to discern in the miracles
of our Lord the clear proofs of His divine mission; and yet the word
to him was, "Ye must be born again." We have no need, surely, to go
farther than this to prove that a man may be not only religious, but
actually a guide and a teacher of others, and yet not have divine life
in his soul.

But it is not so with one who knows God in Christ. Such a one has life
and an object. He has God Himself for his priceless portion. This is
divine. It lies at the very foundation of personal Christianity and
true religion. It is above and beyond everything. It is not, we
repeat, mere theology, divinity, or religiousness; it is God Himself,
known, trusted, and enjoyed. It is a grand, unmistakable reality. It
is the soul of theology, the groundwork of divinity, the life of true
religion. There is nothing in all this world like it. It is something
which must be _felt_ in order to be known. It is acquaintance with
God, confidence in Him, and enjoyment of Him.

Now, it may be that the reader is disposed to ask, "How can I possess
this priceless treasure? How can I know God for myself, in this
living, saving, powerful manner? If it be true that without this
personal knowledge of God I _must_ perish eternally, then how am I to
obtain it? What am I to do, what am I to be, in order to know God?"
The answer is, God has revealed Himself. If He had not, we may say
with decision that nothing that we could do, nothing that we could be,
nothing in us or of us, could possibly make us acquainted with God. If
God had not manifested Himself, we should have remained forever in
ignorance of Him and perished in our ignorance. But, seeing that He
has come forth from the thick darkness and showed Himself, we may know
Him according to the truth of His own revelation, and find, in that
knowledge, everlasting life, and a spring of blessedness at which our
ransomed souls shall drink throughout the golden ages of eternity.

We know of nothing which so clearly and forcibly proves man's utter
incompetency to do aught towards procuring life, as the fact that the
possession of that life is based upon the knowledge of God: and this
knowledge of God must rest upon the _revelation_ of God. In a word, to
know God is life, to be ignorant of Him is death.

But where is He to be known? This is, in very deed, a grave question.
Many a one has had to cry out, with Job, "Oh, that I knew where I
might find Him." Where is God to be found? Am I to look for Him in
creation? Doubtless, His hand is visible there; but ah! that will not
do for me. A Creator-God will not suit a lost sinner. _The hand of
power_ will not avail for a poor, guilty wretch like me. I want _a
heart of love_. Yes, I want a heart that can love me in all my guilt
and misery. Where can I find this? Shall I look into the wide domain
of providence--the widely extended sphere of God's government? Has God
revealed Himself there in such a way as to meet me, a poor lost one?
Will providence and government avail for one who knows himself to be a
hell-deserving sinner? Clearly not. If I look at these things, I may
see what will perplex and confound me. I am short-sighted and
ignorant, and wholly unable to explain the ins and outs, the bearings
and issues, the why and the wherefore, of a single event in my own
life, or in the history of this world. Am I able to explain all about
the loss of _The London_? Can I account for the fact that a most
valuable life is suddenly cut short, and an apparently useless one
prolonged? There is a husband and the father of a large family; he
seems perfectly indispensable to his domestic circle and yet, all in a
moment, he is cut down, and they are left in sorrow and destitution;
while, on the other hand, yonder lies a poor bed-ridden creature, who
has outlived all her relations, and is dependent on the parish, or on
individual benevolence. She has lain there for years, a burden to
some, no use to any. Can I account for this? Am I competent to
interpret the voice of Providence in this deeply mysterious
dispensation? Certainly not. I have nothing in or of myself wherewith
to thread my way through the mazes of the labyrinth of what is called
providence. I cannot find a Saviour-God there.

Well, then, shall I turn to the law--to the Mosaic economy--the
Levitical ceremonial? Shall I find what I want there? Will a Lawgiver,
on the top of a fiery mount, wrapped in clouds and thick darkness,
sending forth thunders and lightnings, or hidden behind a veil--will
such a One avail for me? Alas! alas! I cannot meet Him--I cannot
answer His demands nor fulfil the conditions. I am told to love Him
with all my heart, with all my mind, and with all my strength; but I
do not know Him. I am blind and cannot see. I am alienated from the
life of God, an enemy by wicked works. Sin has blinded my mind,
blunted my conscience, and hardened my heart. The devil has completely
perverted my moral being, and led me into a state of positive
rebellion against God. I want to be renewed in the very source of my
being ere I can do what the law demands. How can I be thus renewed?
Only by the knowledge of God. But God is not revealed in the law.
Nay, He is hidden--hidden behind an impenetrable cloud, an unrent
veil. Hence I cannot know Him there. I am compelled to retire from
that fiery mount, and from that unrent veil, and from the whole
economy of which these were the characteristic features, the prominent
objects, still crying out, "Oh! that I knew where I might find Him."
In a word, then, neither in creation, nor in providence, nor in the
law, is God revealed as "a just God and a Saviour." I see a God of
power in creation: a God of wisdom in providence; a God of justice in
the law; a God of love _only_ in the face of Jesus Christ. "_God was
in Christ_, reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor. v. 19).

To this stupendous fact we call the reader's earnest attention; that
is, if he be one who does not yet know the Lord. It is of the very
last possible importance that he be clear as to this. Without it there
can be nothing right. To know God is the first step. It is not merely
knowing some things about God. It is not unrenewed nature turning
religious, trying to do better, endeavouring to keep the law. No,
reader; it is none of these things. It is God, known in the face of
Jesus Christ. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." This is
the deep and blessed secret of the whole matter. The reader, so far as
his natural condition is concerned, is in a state of darkness. There
is not so much as a single ray of spiritual light. He is, spiritually
and morally, just what creation was physically before that sublime and
commanding utterance fell from the lips of the Almighty Creator, "Let
there be light." All is dark and chaotic, for the "god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
unto them" (2 Cor. iv. 4-6).

Here are two things; namely, the god of this world blinding the mind,
and seeking to hinder the in-shining of the precious life-giving beams
of the light of God's glory; and, on the other hand, God, in His
marvelous grace, shining in the heart, to give the light of the
knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Thus all hinges
upon the grand reality of the knowledge of God. Is there light? It is
because God is known. Is there darkness? It is because God is not
known. No doubt there are various measures in the experience and
exhibition of this light: but there is light, because there is the
knowledge of God. So also there may be various forms of darkness; some
more hideous than others; but there is darkness because God is not
known. The knowledge of God is light and life. Ignorance of God is
darkness and death. A man may enrich himself with all the treasures of
science and literature; but if he does not know God, he is in the
darkness of primeval night. But, on the other hand, a man may be
profoundly ignorant of all human learning; but if he knows God, he
walks in broad day-light.

In the passage of Scripture which is engaging our attention, namely,
John iii. 16, we have a very remarkable illustration of the character
of the entire Gospel of John, and especially the opening chapters. It
is impossible to meditate upon it without seizing this interesting
fact. In it we are introduced to God Himself, in that wondrous aspect
of His character and nature, as loving _the world_, and giving His
Son. In it, too, we find, not only the "world" as a whole, but the
individual sinner, under that most satisfactory title of "whosoever."
Thus God and the sinner are together--God, _loving_ and _giving_; and
the sinner, _believing_ and _having_. It is not God judging and
exacting; but God loving and giving. The former was law; the latter,
grace; that was Judaism; this, Christianity. In the one, we see God
demanding obedience in order to life; in the other, we see God giving
life as the only basis of obedience. In the one, we see man struggling
for life, but never obtaining it; in the other, we see man receiving
life as a free gift, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such is
the contrast between the two systems--a contrast which cannot be too
deeply pondered. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ" (John i. 17).

But let us mark the way in which this is unfolded in our text. "God so
loved the world." Here we have the wide aspect of the love of God. It
is not confined to any particular nation, tribe, caste, or family. It
embraces the whole world. God is love; and, being so, it is not a
question of the fitness or worthiness of the object of His love. It is
what He _is_. He is love, and He cannot deny Himself. It is the very
energy and activity of His nature. The heart may have many a question,
many an exercise as to its state and condition before God, and very
right it should have them. The Spirit Himself may produce such
exercises and raise such questions; but, after all, the grand truth
shines forth in all its lustre, "God is love." Whatever we are,
whatever the world is, that is what God is; and we know that the truth
as to God forms the deep and rich substratum which underlies the whole
system of Christianity. The soul may pass through deep and sore
conflict, under the sense of its own wretchedness; there may be many
doubts and fears; many dark and heavy clouds; weeks, months, or years
may be spent under the law, in one's inward self-consciousness, and
that, moreover, long after the mere intellect has yielded its assent
to the principles and doctrines of evangelical truth. But, after all,
we must be brought into direct personal contact with God Himself--with
what He is--with His nature and character, as He has revealed Himself
in the gospel. We have to acquaint ourselves with Him, and He is love.

Observe, it does not say merely that God is _loving_, but that He is
_love_. It is not only that love is an attribute of His character,
but it is the very activity of His nature. We do not read that God is
justice, or holiness; He is just and He is holy; but it would not
express the full and blessed truth to say that God is loving; He is
much more, He is love itself. Hence, when the sinner--"whosoever" he
be, it matters not--is brought to see his own total and absolute ruin,
his hopeless wretchedness, his guilt and misery, the utter vanity and
worthlessness of all within and around him, (and there is nothing in
the whole world that can satisfy his heart, and nothing in his heart
that can satisfy God, or satisfy even his own conscience) when these
things are opened in any measure to his view, then is he met by this
grand substantial truth that "God is love," and that He so loved the
world as to give His only-begotten Son.

Here is life and rest for the soul. Here is salvation, full, free, and
everlasting, for the poor, needy, guilty, lost one;--salvation resting
not upon anything in man or of man, upon aught that he is or can be,
aught that he has done or can do, but simply upon what God is and has
done. God _loves_ and _gives_, and the sinner _believes_ and _has_.
This is far beyond creation, government, or law. In creation, God
spake and it was done. He called worlds into existence by the word of
His mouth. But we hear nothing, throughout the entire record of
creation, of God loving and giving.

So as to government, we see God ruling in unsearchable wisdom, amid
the armies of heaven, and among the children of men: but we cannot
comprehend Him. We can only say, as to this subject, that

    "God moves in a mysterious way,
      His wonders to perform;
    He plants His footsteps in the sea,
      And rides upon the storm.
    Deep in unfathomable mines
      Of never failing skill,
    He treasures up His bright designs,
      And works His sovereign will."

Finally, as to the law, it is, from beginning to end, a perfect system
of command and prohibition--a system perfect in its action as testing
man, and making manifest his entire alienation from God. "The law
worketh wrath." And again, "By the law is the knowledge of sin." But
what could such a system do in a world of sinners? Could it give life?
Impossible. Why? Because man could not fulfil its holy requirements.
"If there had been a law given which could have given life, then
verily, righteousness should have been by the law." But no; the law
was a ministration of death and condemnation. (See 2 Cor. iii.) The
only effect of the law, to anyone who is under it, is the pressure of
death upon the soul, and of guilt and condemnation upon the
conscience. It cannot possibly be otherwise with an honest soul under
the law.

What, then, is needed? Simply this, the knowledge of the love of God,
and of the precious gift which that love has bestowed. This is the
eternal groundwork of all. Love, and the gift of love. For, be it
observed and ever remembered, that God's love could never have reached
us save through the medium of that gift. God is holy, and we are
sinful. How could we come near Him? How could we dwell in His holy
presence? How could sin and holiness ever abide in company?
Impossible. Justice demands the condemnation of sin; and if love will
save the sinner, it must do so at no less a cost than the gift of the
only-begotten Son. Darius loved Daniel, and labored hard to save him
from the lions' den; but his love was powerless because of the
unbending law of the Medes and Persians. He spent the night in sorrow
and fasting. He could weep at the mouth of the den; but he could not
save his friend. His love was not mighty to save. If he had offered
himself to the lions instead of his friend, it would have been morally
glorious; but he did not. His love told itself forth in unavailing
tears and lamentations. The law of the Persian kingdom was more
powerful than the love of the Persian king. The law, in its stern
majesty, triumphed over an impotent love which had nothing but
fruitless tears to bestow upon its object.

But the love of God is not like this--eternal and universal praise to
His name! His love is mighty to save. It _reigns_ through
righteousness. How is this? Because "God _so_ loved the world that He
gave His only-begotten Son." The law had declared in words of awful
solemnity, "The soul that sinneth it shall die." Was this law less
stern, less majestic, less stringent, than the law of the Medes and
Persians? Surely not. How then, was it to be disposed of? It was to be
magnified and made honorable, vindicated and established. Not one jot
or tittle of the law could ever be set aside. How, then, was the
difficulty to be solved? Three things had to be done: the law had to
be magnified; sin condemned; the sinner saved. How could these grand
results be reached? We have the answer in two bold and vivid lines
from one of our own poets--

    "On Jesus' cross this record's graved,
    Let sin be damned, and sinners saved."

Precious record! May many an anxious sinner read and believe it! Such
was the amazing love of God, that He spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all. His love cost Him nothing less than the
Son of His bosom. When it was a question of creating worlds, it cost
Him but the word of His mouth: but when it was a question of loving a
world of sinners, it cost His only-begotten Son. The love of God is a
holy love, a righteous love, a love acting in harmony with all the
attributes of His nature, and the claims of His throne. "Grace
_reigns_, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Christ Jesus
our Lord." The soul can never be set at liberty till this truth be
fully laid hold of. There may be certain vague hopes in the mercy of
God, and a measure of confidence in the atoning work of Jesus, all
true and real so far as it goes; but true liberty of heart cannot
possibly be enjoyed until it is seen and understood that God has
glorified Himself in the manner of His love toward us. Conscience
could never be tranquilized, nor Satan silenced, if sin had not been
perfectly judged and put away. But "God _so_ loved the world that He
gave His only-begotten Son." What depth and power in the little word
"so"!

It may here be needful to meet a difficulty which often occurs to
anxious souls, in reference to the question of appropriation.
Thousands have been harassed and perplexed by this question, at some
stage or other of their spiritual history; and it is not improbable
that many who shall read these pages may be glad of a few words on the
subject. Many may feel disposed to ask, "How am I to know that this
love, and the gift of love, are intended for _me_? What warrant have
_I_ for believing that 'everlasting life' is for _me_? I know the plan
of salvation; I believe in the all-sufficiency of the atonement of
Christ for the forgiveness and justification of all who truly believe.
I am convinced of the truth of all that the Bible declares. I believe
we are all sinners, and moreover, that we can do nothing to save
ourselves--that we need to be washed in the blood of Jesus, and to be
taught and led by the Holy Ghost, ere we can please God here, and
dwell with Him hereafter. All this I fully believe, and yet I have no
assurance that I am saved, and I want to know on what authority I am
to believe that my sins are forgiven and that I have everlasting
life."

If the foregoing be, in any measure, the language of the reader--if it
be, at all, the expression of his difficulty, we would, in the first
place, call his attention to two words which occur in our precious
text (John iii. 16), namely, "_world_" and "_whosoever_." It seems
utterly impossible for anyone to refuse the application of these two
words. For what, let us ask, is the meaning of the term "_world_"?
What does it embrace? or, rather, what does it not embrace? When our
Lord declares that "God so loved the world," on what ground can the
reader exclude himself from the range, scope, and application of this
divine love? On no other ground whatever, unless he can show that he
alone belongs not to the world, but to some other sphere of being. If
it were declared that "the world" is hopelessly condemned, could
anyone making a part of that world avoid the application of the
sentence! Could he exclude himself from it? Impossible. How then can
he--why should he--exclude himself, when it is a question of God's
free love, and of salvation by Christ Jesus?

But, further, we would ask, What is the meaning, what is the force of
the familiar word, "_whosoever_"? Assuredly it means "_anybody_;" and
if anybody, why not the reader? It is infinitely better, infinitely
surer and more satisfactory to find the word "whosoever" in the
gospel than to find my own name there, inasmuch as there may be a
thousand persons in the world of the same name; but "whosoever"
applies to me as distinctly as though I were the only sinner on the
face of the earth.

Thus, then, the very words of the gospel message--the very terms used
to set forth the glad tidings, are such as leave no possible ground
for a difficulty as to their application. If we listen to our Lord in
the days of His flesh, we hear such words as these: "God so loved the
_world_ that He gave His only-begotten Son, that _whosoever_ believeth
in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life." Again, if we
listen to Him after His resurrection, we hear these words, "Go ye into
_all the world_, and preach the gospel to _every creature_" (Mark
xvi.). And lastly, if we listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost sent
from a risen, ascended, and glorified Lord, we hear such words as
these: "The same Lord over all is rich unto _all_ that call upon Him.
For _whosoever_ shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved"
(Rom. x. 12, 13).

In all the above-cited passages we have two terms used, one general,
the other particular, and both together so presenting the message of
salvation as to leave no room whatever for anyone to refuse its
application. If "all the world" is the scope, and "every creature" is
the object of the precious gospel of Christ, then, on what ground can
anyone exclude himself? Where is there authority for any sinner out
of hell to say that the glad tidings of salvation are not for him?
There is none. Salvation is as free as the air we breathe--free as the
dewdrops that refresh the earth--free as the sunbeams that shine upon
our pathway; and if any attempt to limit its application, they are
neither in harmony with the mind of Christ, nor in sympathy with the
heart of God.

But it may be that some of our readers would, at this stage of the
subject, feel disposed to ask us, "How do you dispose of the question
of election?" We reply, "Very simply, by leaving it where God has
placed it, namely, as a landmark in the inheritance of the spiritual
Israel, and not as a stumbling-block in the pathway of the anxious
inquirer." This we believe to be the true way of dealing with the
deeply important doctrine of election. The more we ponder the subject,
the more thoroughly are we convinced that it is a mistake on the part
of the evangelist or preacher of the gospel to qualify his message,
hamper his subject, or perplex his hearers, by the doctrine of
election or predestination. He has to do with lost sinners in the
discharge of his blessed ministry. He meets men where they are, on the
broad ground of our common ruin our common guilt, our common
condemnation. He meets them with a message of full, free, present,
personal, and eternal salvation--a message which comes fresh, fervent,
and glowing from the very bosom of God. His ministry is, as the Holy
Ghost declares in 2 Cor. v., "a ministry of reconciliation," the
glorious characteristics of which are these, "God in Christ" ...
"reconciling the world unto Himself" ... "not imputing their
trespasses;" and the marvelous foundation of which is, that God has
made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.

Does this trench, in the smallest degree, upon the blessed and clearly
established truth of election? By no means. It leaves it, in all its
integrity and in its full value, as a grand fundamental truth of Holy
Scripture, exactly where God has placed it; not as a preliminary
question to be settled ere the sinner comes to Jesus, but as a most
precious consolation and encouragement to him when he has come. This
makes all the difference. If the sinner be called upon to settle
beforehand the question of his election, how is he to set about it?
Whither is he to turn for a solution? Where shall he find a divine
warrant for believing that he is one of the elect? Can he find a
single line of Scripture on which to base his faith as to his
election? He cannot. He can find scores of passages declaring him to
be lost, guilty and undone--scores of passages to assure him of his
total inability to do aught in the matter of his own salvation--hundreds
of passages unfolding the free love of God, the value and efficacy of
the atonement of Christ, and assuring him of a hearty welcome to come
_just as he is_, and make God's blessed salvation his own. But if it
be needed for him to settle the prior question of his predestination
and election, then is his case hopeless, and he must, in so far as he
is in earnest, be plunged in black despair.

And is it not thus with thousands at this moment through the
misapplication of the doctrine of election? We fully believe it is,
and hence our anxiety to help our readers by setting the matter in
what we judge to be the true light before their minds. We believe it
to be of the utmost importance for the anxious inquirer to know that
the standpoint from which he is called to view the cross of Christ is
not the standpoint of election, but of conscious ruin. The grace of
God meets him as a lost, dead, guilty sinner; not as an elect one.
This is an unspeakable mercy, inasmuch as he knows he is the former,
but cannot know that he is the latter until the gospel has come to him
in power. "Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God." How did
he know it? "Because our gospel came not unto you in word only, but
also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance" (1 Thess.
i. 4, 5). Paul preached to the Thessalonians as lost sinners; and when
the gospel had laid hold of them as lost, he could write to them as
elect.

This puts election in its right place. If the reader will turn for a
moment to Acts xvii., he will there see how Paul discharged his
business as an evangelist amongst the Thessalonians: "Now when they
had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his
manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with
them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must
needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this
Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ." So, also, in that passage at
the opening of 1 Cor. xv.: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the
gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and
wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory
what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was
buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the
Scriptures" (verses 1-4).

From this passage, and many others which might be quoted, we learn
that the apostle preached not merely a doctrine, but a person. He did
not preach election. He taught it to saints, but never preached it to
sinners. This should be the evangelist's model at all times. We never
once find the apostles preaching election. They preached Christ--they
unfolded the goodness of God--His loving-kindness--His tender
mercy--His pardoning love--His gracious readiness to receive all who
come in their true character and condition as lost sinners. Such was
their mode of preaching, or, rather, such was the mode of the Holy
Ghost in them; and such, too, was the mode of the blessed Master
Himself. "_Come unto Me_, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
_I will give_ you rest." "If _any man_ thirst, let him come unto Me
and drink." "Him that cometh to Me I will _in no wise_ cast out"
(Matt. xi.; John vi., vii.).

Here are no stumbling-blocks in the way of anxious inquirers--no
preliminary questions to be settled--no conditions to be fulfilled--no
theological difficulties to be solved. No, the sinner is met on his
own ground--met as he is--met just now. There is rest for the weary,
drink for the thirsty, life for the dead, pardon for the guilty,
salvation for the lost. Do these free invitations touch the doctrine
of election? Assuredly not. And what is more, the doctrine of election
does not touch them. In other words, a full and free gospel leaves
perfectly untouched the grand and all-important truth of election; and
the truth of election, in its proper place, leaves the gospel of the
grace of God on its own broad and blessed base, and in all its divine
length, breadth, and fulness. The gospel meets us as lost, and saves
us; and then, when we know ourselves as saved, the precious doctrine
of election comes in to establish us in the fact that we can never be
lost. It never was the purpose of God that poor anxious souls should
be harassed with theological questions or points of doctrine. No;
blessed forever be His name, it is His gracious desire that the
healing balm of His pardoning love, and the cleansing efficacy of the
atoning blood of Jesus, should be applied to the spiritual wounds of
every sin-sick soul. And as to the doctrines of predestination and
election, He has unfolded them in His Word to comfort His saints, not
to perplex poor sinners. They shine like precious gems on the page of
inspiration, but they were never intended to lie as stumbling-blocks
in the way of earnest seekers after life and peace. They are deposited
in the hand of the teacher to be unfolded in the bosom of the family
of God; but they are not intended for the evangelist, whose blessed
mission is to the highways and hedges of a lost world. They are
designed to feed and comfort the children, not to scare and stumble
the sinner. We would say, and that with real earnestness, to all
evangelists, Do not hamper your preaching with theological questions
of any sort or description. Preach Christ. Unfold the deep and
everlasting love of a Saviour-God. Seek to bring the guilty,
conscience-smitten sinner into the very presence of a pardoning God.
Thunder, if you please, if so led, at the conscience--thunder loud at
sin--thunder forth the dread realities of the great white throne, the
lake of fire, and everlasting torment; but see that you aim at
bringing the guilt-stricken conscience to rest in the atoning virtues
of the blood of Christ. Then you can hand over the fruits of your
ministry to the divinely qualified, to be instructed in the deeper
mysteries of the faith of Christ. You may rest assured that the
faithful discharge of your duty as an evangelist will never lead you
to trespass on the domain of sound theology.

And to the anxious inquirer we would say with equal earnestness, Let
nothing stand in your way in coming this moment to Jesus. Let theology
speak as it may, you are to listen to the voice of Jesus, who says,
"_Come unto Me_." Be assured there is no hindrance, no difficulty, no
hitch, no question, no condition. You are a lost sinner, and Jesus is
a full Saviour. Put your trust in Him, and you are saved forever.
Believe in Him, and you will know your place amongst the "elect of
God" who are "predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son."
Bring your sins to Jesus and He will pardon them, cancel them by His
blood, and clothe you in a spotless robe of divine righteousness. May
God's Spirit lead you now to cast yourself simply and entirely upon
that precious, all-sufficient Saviour!

We will now notice, very briefly, three distinct evils resulting from
a wrong application of the doctrine of election, namely:

I. The discouragement of really earnest souls, who ought to be helped
on in every possible way. If such persons are repulsed by the question
of election, the result must be disastrous in the extreme. If they are
told that the glad tidings of salvation are only for the elect--that
Christ died only for such, and hence only such can be saved--that
unless they are elect they have no right to apply to themselves the
benefits of the death of Christ: if, in short, they are turned from
Jesus to theology--from the heart of a loving, pardoning God to the
cold and withering dogmas of systematic divinity, it is impossible to
say where they may end; they may take refuge either in superstition on
the one hand, or in infidelity on the other. They may end in high
church, broad church, or no church at all. What they really want is
Christ, the living, loving, precious, all-sufficient Christ of God. He
is the true food for anxious souls.

II. But, in the second place, careless souls are rendered more
careless still by a false application of the doctrine of election.
Such persons, when pressed as to their state and prospects, will fold
their arms and say, "You know I cannot believe unless God give me the
power. If I am one of the elect, I must be saved; if not, I cannot. I
can do nothing, but must wait God's time." All this false and flimsy
reasoning should be exposed and demolished. It will not stand for a
moment in the light of the judgment-seat of Christ. Each one will
learn there that election furnished no excuse whatever, inasmuch as it
never was set up by God as a barrier to the sinner's salvation. The
word is, "_Whosoever_ will, let him take the water of life _freely_."
The very same form of speech and style of language which removes the
stumbling-block from the feet of the anxious inquirer snatches the
plea from the lips of the careless rejecter. No one is shut out. All
are invited. There is neither barrier on the one hand, nor a plea on
the other. All are made welcome; and all are responsible. Hence, if
any one presumes to excuse himself for refusing God's salvation, which
is as clear as a sunbeam, by urging God's decrees, which are entirely
hidden, he will find himself fatally mistaken.

III. And now, in the third and last place, we have frequently seen
with real sorrow of heart the earnest, loving, large-hearted
evangelist damped and crippled by a false application of the truth of
election. This should be most carefully avoided. We hold that it is
not the business of the evangelist to preach election. If he is
rightly instructed, he will _hold_ it; but if he is rightly directed,
he will not _preach_ it.

In a word, then, the precious doctrine of election is not to be a
stumbling-block to the anxious--a plea for the careless--a damper to
the fervent evangelist. May God's Spirit give us to feel the adjusting
power of truth!

Having thus briefly endeavored to clear away any difficulty arising
from the misuse of the precious doctrine of election, and to show the
reader, "whosoever" he be, that there is no hindrance whatever to his
full and hearty acceptance of God's free gift, even the gift of His
only-begotten Son, it now only remains for us to consider the result,
in every case, of this acceptance, as set forth in the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ: "God so loved the world, that He gave His
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life."

Here, then, we have the result in the case of every one who believes
in Jesus. He shall never perish, but possesses everlasting life. But
who can attempt to unfold all that is included in this word "perish"?
What mortal tongue can set forth the horrors of the lake that burneth
with fire and brimstone, "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is
not quenched"? We believe, assuredly, that none but the One who used
the word, in speaking to Nicodemus, can fully expound it to anyone;
but we feel called upon to bear our decided and unequivocal testimony
as to what He has taught on the solemn truth of eternal punishment. We
have occasionally referred to this subject, but we believe it demands
a formal notice; and inasmuch as the word "_perish_" occurs in the
passage which has been occupying our thoughts, we cannot do better
than call the reader's attention to it.

It is a serious and melancholy fact that the enemy of souls and of the
truth of God is leading thousands, both in Europe and America, to call
in question the momentous fact of the everlasting punishment of the
wicked. This he does on various grounds, and by various arguments,
adapted to the habits of thought and moral condition and intellectual
standpoint of individuals. Some he seeks to persuade that God is too
kind to send anyone to a place of torment. It is contrary to His
benevolent mind and His beneficent nature to inflict pain on any of
His creatures.

Now, to all who stand, or affect to stand, upon this ground of
argument, we would suggest the important inquiry, "What is to be done
with the sins of those who die impenitent and unbelieving?" Whatever
there may be in the idea that God is too kind to send sinners to hell,
it is certain that He is too holy to let sin into heaven. He is "of
purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity" (Hab. i.
13). God and evil cannot dwell together. This is plain. How, then, is
the case to be met? If God cannot let sin into heaven, what is to be
done with the sinner who dies in his sins? He must perish! But what
does this mean? Does it mean annihilation--that is, the utter
extinction or blotting out of the very existence of body and soul?
Nay, reader, this cannot be. Many would like this, no doubt. "Let us
eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," would, alas, suit many thousands
of the sons and daughters of pleasure who think only of the present
moment, and who roll sin as a sweet morsel under their tongue. There
are millions on the surface of the globe who are bartering their
eternal happiness for a few hours of guilty pleasure, and the crafty
foe of mankind seeks to persuade such that there is no such place as
hell, no such thing as the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone;
and in order to obtain a footing for this fatal suggestion, he bases
it upon the plausible and imposing notion of the kindness of God.

Reader, do not believe the arch-deceiver. Remember, God is holy. He
cannot let sin into His presence. If you die in your sins you must
perish, and this word "perish" involves, according to the clear
testimony of Holy Scripture, eternal misery and torment in hell. Hear
what our Lord Jesus Christ saith, in His solemn description of the
judgment of the nations: "Then shall the King say also to them on His
left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into _everlasting_ fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. xxv. 41). And while you
harken to these awfully solemn accents, remember that the word
translated "everlasting" occurs seventy times in the New Testament,
and is applied as follows: "Everlasting fire"--"eternal
life"--"everlasting punishment"--"eternal damnation"--"everlasting
habitations"--"the everlasting God"--"eternal weight of
glory"--"everlasting destruction"--"everlasting consolation"--"eternal
glory"--"eternal salvation"--"eternal judgment"--"eternal
redemption"--"the eternal Spirit"--"eternal inheritance"--"everlasting
kingdom"--"eternal fire."

Now, we ask any candid, thoughtful person, upon what principle can a
word be said to mean _eternal_ when applied to the Holy Ghost or to
God, and only _temporary_ when applied to hell-fire or the punishment
of the wicked? If it means eternal in the one case, why not also in
the other? We have just glanced at a Greek Concordance, and we should
like to ask, Would it be right to mark off some half-dozen passages in
which the word "everlasting" occurs, and write opposite to each these
words: "Everlasting here only means for a time"? The very thought is
monstrous. It would be a daring and blasphemous insult offered to the
volume of inspiration. No, reader, be assured of it, you cannot touch
the word "everlasting" in one case without touching it also in all the
seventy cases in which it occurs. It is a dangerous thing to tamper
with the Word of the living God. It is infinitely better to bow down
under its holy authority. It is worse than useless to seek to avoid
the plain meaning and solemn force of that word "perish" as applied to
the immortal soul of man. It involves, beyond all question, the awful,
the ineffably awful reality of burning forever in the flames of hell.
This is what Scripture means by "perishing." The votary of pleasure,
or the lover of money, may seek to forget this. They may seek to drown
all thought of it in the glass or in the busy mart. The sentimentalist
may rave about the divine benevolence; the skeptic may reason about
the possibility of eternal fire; but we are intensely anxious that the
reader should rise from this paper with the firm and deeply wrought
conclusion and hearty belief that the punishment of all who die in
their sins will be eternal in hell as surely as the blessedness of all
who die in the faith of Christ will be eternal in the heavens. Were it
not so, the Holy Ghost would most assuredly have used a different
word, when speaking of the former, from that which He applies to the
latter. This, we conceive, is beyond all question.

But there is another objection urged against the doctrine of eternal
punishment. It is frequently said, "How can we suppose that God would
inflict eternal punishment as a penalty for a few short years of sin?"
We reply, It is beginning at the wrong end to argue in this way. It
is not a question of time as viewed from man's standpoint, but of the
gravity of sin itself as looked at from God's standpoint. And how is
this question to be solved? Only by looking at the Cross. If you want
to know what sin is in God's sight, you must look at what it cost Him
to put it away. It is by the standard of Christ's infinite sacrifice,
and by that alone, that you can rightly measure sin. Men may compare
their few years with God's eternity; they may compare their short span
of life with that boundless eternity that stretches beyond; they may
seek to put a few years of sin into one scale, and an eternity of woe
and torment into the other, and thus attempt to reach a just
conclusion: but it will never do to argue thus. The question is, Did
it require an infinite atonement to put away sin? If so, the
punishment of sin must be eternal. If nothing short of an infinite
sacrifice could deliver from the consequences of sin, those
consequences must be eternal.

In a word, then, we must look at sin from God's point of view, and
measure it by His standard, else we shall never have a just sense of
what it is or what it deserves. It is the height of folly for men to
attempt to lay down a rule as to the amount or duration of the
punishment due to sin. God alone can settle this. And, after all, what
was it that produced all the misery and wretchedness, the sickness and
sorrow, the death and desolation, of well-nigh six thousand years?
Just _one_ act of disobedience--the eating of a forbidden fruit. Can
man explain this? Can human reason explain how one act produced such
an overwhelming amount of misery? It cannot. Well, then, if it cannot
do this, how can it be trusted when it attempts to decide the question
as to what is due to sin? Woe be to all those who commit themselves to
its guidance on this most momentous point!

Ah, reader, you must see that God alone can estimate sin and its just
deserts, and He alone can tell us all about it. And has He not done
so? Yes, verily, He has measured sin in the cross of His Son; and
there, too, He has set forth in the most impressive manner what it
deserves. What, think you, must that be that caused the bitter cry,
"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" If God forsook His
only-begotten Son when He was made sin, must He not also forsake all
who are found in their sins? But how can they ever get rid of them? We
believe the conclusion is unavoidable. We consider that the infinite
nature of the atonement proves unanswerably the doctrine of eternal
punishment. That peerless and precious sacrifice is at once the
foundation of our eternal life and of our deliverance from eternal
death. It delivers from eternal wrath and introduces to eternal glory.
It saves from the endless misery of hell and procures for us the
endless bliss of heaven. Thus, whatever side of the Cross we look at,
or from whatever side we view it, we see eternity stamped upon it. If
we view it from the gloomy depths of hell or from the sunny heights of
heaven, we see it to be the same infinite, eternal, divine reality.
It is by the Cross we must measure both the blessedness of heaven and
the misery of hell. Those who put their trust in that blessed One who
died on the cross obtain everlasting life and felicity. Those who
reject Him must sink into endless perdition.

We do not by any means pretend to handle this great question
theologically, or to adduce all the arguments that might be advanced
in defence of the doctrine of eternal punishment; but there is one
further consideration which we must suggest to the reader as tending
to lead him to a sound conclusion, and that is the immortality of the
soul.[15] "God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and
man became a living soul." The fall of man in nowise touched the
question of the soul's immortality. If, therefore, the soul is
immortal, annihilation is impossible. The soul must live forever.
Overwhelming thought! Forever! Forever! Forever! The whole moral being
sinks under the awful magnitude of the thought. It surpasses all
conception and baffles all mental calculation. Human arithmetic can
only deal with the finite. It has no figures by which to represent a
never-ending eternity. But the writer and the reader must live
throughout eternity either in that bright and blessed world above or
in that terrible place where hope can never come.

  [15] For a full examination of this subject, the reader is referred to
  "Facts and Theories as to a future state,--the Scripture doctrine
  considered with reference to current denials of eternal punishment,"
  by F. W. Grant, 640 pp., $1,50 (with full index of texts and subjects
  examined.)

May God's Spirit impress our hearts more and more with the solemnity
of eternity, and of immortal souls going down into hell. We are
deplorably deficient in feeling as to these weighty realities. We are
daily thrown in contact with people, we buy and sell and carry on
intercourse in various ways with those who must live forever, and yet
how rarely do we seek occasion to press upon them the awfulness of
eternity and the appalling condition of all who die without a personal
interest in the blood of Christ!

Reader, let us ask God to make us more earnest, more solemn, more
faithful, more zealous in pleading with souls, in warning others to
flee from the wrath to come. We want to live more in the light of
eternity, and then we shall be better able to deal with others.

It only remains for us now to ponder the last clause of the fruitful
passage of Scripture which has been under consideration (John iii.
16). It sets forth the positive result, in every case, of simple faith
in the Son of God. It declares, in the simplest and clearest way, the
fact that every one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is a
possessor of everlasting life. It is not merely that his sins are
blotted out; that is blessedly true. Nor is it merely that he is saved
from the consequences of his guilt, which is equally true. But there
is more. The believer in Jesus has a new life, and that life is in
the Son of God. He is placed upon a new footing altogether. He is no
longer looked at in the old Adam condition, but in a risen Christ.

This is an immense truth, and one of deepest possible moment. We
earnestly pray the reader's calm and prayerful attention while we
seek, in some feeble way, to present to him what we believe to be
wrapped up in the last clause of John iii. 16.

There is in the minds of many a very imperfect sense of what we get by
faith in Christ. Some seem to view the atoning work of Christ merely
as a remedial measure for the sins of our old nature--the payment of
debts contracted in our old condition. That it is all this we need not
say; blessed be God for the precious truth. But it is much more. It is
not merely that the sins are atoned for, but the nature which
committed them is condemned and set aside by the cross of Christ, and
is to be "_reckoned_" dead by the believer. It is not merely that the
debts contracted in the old condition are canceled, but the old
condition itself is completely ignored by God, and is to be so
accounted by the believer.

This great truth is doctrinally unfolded in 2 Cor. v., where we read,
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new" (ver. 17). The apostle does
not say, "If any man be in Christ he is pardoned--his sins are
forgiven--his debts paid." All this is divinely true; but the
statement just quoted goes very much farther. It declares that a man
in Christ is a new creation altogether. It is not the old nature
pardoned, but completely set aside, with all its belongings, and a new
creation introduced in which there is not a single shred of the old.
"All things are become new; and all things are of God."

Now this gives immense relief to the heart. Indeed, we question if any
soul can enter into the full liberty of the gospel of Christ until he
lay hold, in some measure, of the truth of the "new creation." There
may be a looking to Christ for pardon, a vague hope of getting to
heaven at the last, a measure of reliance on the goodness and mercy of
God--there may be all this, and yet no just sense of the meaning of
"everlasting life," no happy consciousness of being "a new
creation"--no understanding of the grand fact that the old Adam nature
is entirely set aside, the old condition in which we stood done away
in God's sight.

But it is more than probable that some of our readers may be at a loss
to know what is meant by such terms as "the old Adam nature"--"the old
condition"--"the flesh"--"the old man," and such like. These
expressions may fall strangely on the ears of those for whom we
specially write; and we certainly wish to avoid shooting over the
heads of our readers. As God is our witness, there is one thing we
earnestly desire, one object which we would ever keep before our
minds, and that is the instruction and edification of our readers; and
therefore we would rather run the risk of being tedious than make use
of phrases which convey no clear or intelligible idea to the mind.
Such terms as "the old man"--"the flesh," and the like, are used in
Scripture in manifold places: for example, in Rom. vi. we read, "Our
_old man_ is crucified with Him (Christ), that _the body of sin_ might
be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (ver. 6).

Now what does the apostle mean by the "old man"? We believe he means
man as in that Adam nature which we inherited from our first parents.
And what does he mean by "the body of sin"? We believe he means the
whole system or condition in which we stood in our unregenerate,
unrenewed, unconverted state. The old Adam, then, is declared to be
crucified--the old condition of sin is said to be destroyed
(annulled)--by the death of Christ. Hence the soul that believes on
the Lord Jesus Christ is privileged to know that he--his sinful,
guilty self--is looked upon by God as dead and set aside completely.
He has no more existence as such before God. He is dead and buried.

Observe, it is not merely that our sins are forgiven, our debts paid,
our guilt atoned for; but the man in the nature that committed the
sins, contracted the debts, and incurred the guilt, is put forever out
of God's sight. It is not God's way to forgive us our sins and yet
leave us in the same relations in which we committed them. No; He has,
in His marvelous grace and vast plan, condemned and abolished forever,
for the believer, the old Adam relationship, with all its belongings,
so that it is no longer recognized by Him. We are declared, by the
voice of holy Scripture, to be "crucified"--"dead"--"buried"--"risen"
with Christ. God tells us we are so, and we are to "_reckon_"
ourselves to be so. It is a matter of faith, and not of feeling. If I
look at myself from _my_ standpoint, or judge by my feelings, I shall
never, can never understand this truth. And why? Because I feel myself
to be just the same sinful creature as ever. I feel that there is sin
in me; that in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing; that my old
nature is in nowise changed or improved; that it has the same evil
tendencies as ever, and, if not mortified and kept down by the
gracious energy of the Holy Spirit, it will break out in its true
character.

And it is just here, we doubt not, that so many sincere souls are
perplexed and troubled. They are looking at themselves, and
_reasoning_ upon what they see and feel, instead of resting in the
truth of God, and _reckoning_ themselves to be what God tells them
they are. They find it difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile what
they feel in themselves with what they read in the word of God--to
make their inward self-consciousness harmonize with God's revelation.
But we must remember that faith takes God at His word. It ever thinks
with Him on all points. It believes what He says because He says it.
Hence, if God tells me that my old man is crucified, that He no longer
sees me as in the old Adam state, but in a risen Christ, I am to
believe, like a little child, what He tells me, and walk in the faith
of it from day to day. If I look in at myself for evidences of the
truth of what God says, it is not faith at all. Abraham "considered
not his own body, now dead, when he was about an hundred years old;
neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb; he staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God" (Rom. iv. 19, 20).

This is the great principle which underlies the whole Christian
system. "Abraham believed God," not something about God, but God
Himself. This is faith. It is taking God's thoughts in place of our
own. It is, in short, allowing God to think for us.

Now, when we apply this to the subject before us, it makes it most
simple. He that believeth in the Son of God hath everlasting life.
Mark, it is not he that believeth something about the Son of God. No,
it is he that believeth in Himself. It is a question of simple faith
in the person of Christ; and everyone that has this faith is the
actual possessor of everlasting life. This is the direct and positive
statement of our Lord in the Gospels. It is repeated over and over
again. Nor is this all. Not only does the believer thus possess
eternal life, but by the further light which the epistles throw upon
this grand question he may see that his old self--that which he was in
nature--that which the apostle designates "the old man"--is accounted
by God dead and buried. This may be difficult to understand; but the
reader must remember he must believe not because he understands, but
because it is written in God's word. It is not said, "Abraham
understood God." No; but he "believed God." It is when the heart
believes that light is poured in upon the understanding. If I wait
till I understand in order to believe, I am leaning to my own
understanding, instead of committing myself in childlike faith to
God's word.

Reader, ponder this! You may say you cannot understand how your sinful
self can be looked upon as dead and gone while you feel its workings,
its heavings, its tossings, its tendencies, continually within you. We
reply, or rather God's eternal Word declares, that if your heart
believes in Jesus, then is all this true for you, namely, you _have_
eternal life; you _are_ justified from all things; you _are_ a new
creation; old things _are_ passed away; _all_ things _are_ become new;
and _all_ things _are_ of God. In a word, you are "_in Christ_," and
"_as_ He is, so _are_ you in this world" (1 John iv. 17).

And is not this a great deal more than the mere pardoning of your
sins, the canceling of your debts, or the salvation of your soul from
hell? Assuredly it is. And suppose we were to ask you on what
authority you believe in the forgiveness of your sins. Is it because
you feel, realize, or understand? Nay; but because it is written, "To
Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever
believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins" (Acts x. 43). "The
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John
i. 7). Well, then, upon precisely the same authority you are to
believe that your old man has been crucified, that you are not in the
flesh, not in the old creation, not in the old Adam relation; but
that, on the contrary, you are viewed by God as actually in a risen
and glorified Christ--that He looks upon you as He looks upon Christ.

True it is--alas, how true!--the flesh is in you, and you are still
here, as to the fact of your condition, in this old world, which is
under judgment. But then, hear what your Lord saith, when speaking
about you to His Father: "They are not of the world, even as I am not
of the world." And again, "As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even
so have I also sent them into the world."

Hence, therefore, if you will just bow to God's word, if you will
reason not about what you see in yourself, and feel in yourself, and
think of yourself, but simply _believe_ what God says, you will enter
into the blessed peace and holy liberty flowing from the fact that you
are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; not in the old creation, but
in the new; not under law, but under grace; not of the world, but of
God. You have passed clean off the old platform which you occupied as
a child of nature and a member of the first Adam, and you have taken
your place on a new platform altogether as a child of God and a member
of Christ.

All this is vividly prefigured by the deluge and the ark, in the days
of Noah. (See Gen. vi.-viii.) "And God looked upon the earth, and,
behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the
earth. And God said unto Noah, _The end of all flesh_ is come before
Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I
will destroy them with the earth." Here, then, was, in type, the end
of the old creation. All was to pass under the waters of judgment.
What then? "Make thee an ark of gopher wood." Here we have set forth a
figure of the new thing. That ark, floating peacefully over the dark
abyss of waters, was a type of Christ, and the believer in Him. The
old world, together with man, was buried beneath the waves of
judgment, and the only object that remained was the ark--the vessel of
mercy and salvation, riding in safety and triumph over the billows.
Thus it is now, in truth and reality. There is nothing before the eye
of God but a risen, victorious and glorified Christ, and His people
linked with Him. The end of _all_ flesh has come before God. It is not
a question of some very gross forms of "flesh," or of nature, of that
merely which is "vile and refuse." No; it is "the _end_ of _all_."
Such is the solemn, sweeping verdict; and then--what? A risen Christ.
Nothing else. All in Him are seen by God as He is seen. All out of Him
are under judgment. It all hinges upon this one question, "Am I in or
out of Christ?" What a question!

Reader, are you in Christ? Do you believe in His name? Have you given
Him the confidence of your heart? If so, you have "eternal life"--you
are "a new creature"--"old things are passed away." God does not see
a single shred of the old thing remaining for you. "All things are
become new, and all things are of God." You may say you do not _feel_
that old things are all passed away. We reply, God says they are, and
it is your happy privilege to _believe_ what He says, and "_reckon_"
yourself to be what He declares you are. God speaks according to that
which is true of you in Christ. He does not see you in the flesh, but
in Christ. There is absolutely nothing before the eye of God but
Christ: and the very weakest believer is viewed as part of Christ,
just as your hand is a part of your body. You have no existence before
God apart from Christ--no life--no righteousness--no holiness--no
wisdom--no power. Apart from Him, you have nothing, and can be
nothing. In Him you have all and are all, He says; you are thoroughly
identified with Christ. Marvelous fact! Profound mystery! Most
glorious truth! It is not a question of attainment or of progress. It
is the settled and absolute standing of the feeblest member of the
Church of God. True, there are various measures of intelligence,
experience, and devotedness; but there is only one life, one standing,
one position before God, and that is Christ. There is no such thing as
a higher or lower Christian life. Christ is the believer's life, and
you cannot speak of a higher or a lower Christ. We can understand the
higher stages of Christian life; but there is no spiritual
intelligence in speaking of a higher Christian life.

This is a grand truth, and we earnestly pray that God the Spirit may
open it fully to the mind of the reader. We feel assured that a
clearer understanding thereof would chase away a thousand mists,
answer a thousand questions, and solve a thousand difficulties. It
would not only have the effect of giving settled peace to the soul,
but also of determining the believer's position in the most distinct
way. If Christ is my life--if I am in Him and identified with Him,
then not only do I share in His acceptance with God, but also in His
rejection by this present world. The two things go together. They form
the two sides of the one grand question. If I am in Christ and as
Christ before God, then I am in Christ and as Christ before the world:
and it will never do to accept the result of this union before God and
refuse the result of it as regards the world. If we have the one, we
must have the other likewise.

All this is fully unfolded in John xvii. There we read on the one
hand, "The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may
be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may
be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast
sent Me, and _hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me_" (vers. 22, 23).
And, on the other hand, we read, "I have given them Thy Word; and _the
world hath hated them_, because they are not of the world, even as I
am not of the world" (ver. 14). This is as plain and positive as
anything can be. And be it remembered that, in this wondrous
scripture, our Lord is not speaking merely of the apostles, but, as He
says, of "them also who shall believe on Me through their word," that
is, of all believers. Hence it follows that all who believe in Jesus
are one with Him as accepted above, and one with Him as rejected
below. The two things are inseparable. The Head and the members share
in one common acceptance in heaven, and in one common rejection upon
earth. Oh that all the Lord's people entered more into the truth and
reality of this! Would that we all knew a little more of the meaning
of fellowship with a heaven-accepted, earth-rejected Christ!




PART II.

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

     "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to
     Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry
     of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ,
     reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their
     trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of
     reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as
     though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's
     stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be
     sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
     righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. v. 18-21).


The fifth chapter of second Corinthians is a most weighty section of
Inspiration. Its closing lines contain the special thesis of the
following pages; but ere we proceed with it, we must call the reader's
attention to some most interesting and important points presented in
the course of the chapter.

And, first of all, let us dwell for a moment on the opening sentence,
"_We know_." In it we have the language of Christian certainty. It
does not say, "We _hope_." Still less does it say, "We _fear_," or "We
_doubt_." No; such language would not express that unclouded certainty
and calm assurance which it is the privilege of the very feeblest
child of God to possess. And yet, alas, how few, even of the children
of God, enjoy this blessed certainty--this calm assurance! Many there
are who look upon it as the height of presumption to say, "We know."
They seem to think that doubts and fears argue a proper condition of
soul--that it is impossible for anyone to be sure--that the most we
can expect is to cherish a vague hope of reaching heaven when we die.

Now, it must be admitted that if we ourselves had aught to do with the
ground of certainty or assurance, then it would indeed be the very
height of folly to think of being sure; then assuredly our hope would
be a very vague one. But, thanks be to God, it is not so. We having
nothing whatever to do with the ground of our certainty, it lies
entirely outside of ourselves, and it must be sought only and
altogether in the eternal word of God. This renders it blessedly
simple. It makes the whole question hinge upon the truth of God's
word. Why am I sure? Because God's word is true. A shadow of
uncertainty or misgiving on my part would argue a want of authority or
security in the word of God. It really comes to this: Christian
certainty rests on the faithfulness of God. Before you can shake the
former, you must shake the latter.

We can understand this simple principle by our dealings with one
another. If my fellow man makes a statement to me, and I express the
smallest doubt or misgiving, or if I feel it without even expressing
it, I am calling in question his truthfulness, or credibility. If he
is a faithful, competent authority, I have no business to entertain a
single doubt. My certainty is linked with his credibility. If he is a
competent authority, I may enjoy perfect repose as to the matter
concerning which he has spoken. Now, we all know what it is to receive
in the most unqualified way the testimony of man, and to repose with
calmness therein. It is not a question of feeling, but of receiving
without a single question a plain statement, and resting on the
authority of a competent witness. Well, then, as we have it in the
First Epistle of John, "If we receive the testimony of man, the
testimony of God is greater." So, also, our Lord said to the men of
His time, "If I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me?" (John viii.)
He appeals to the truth of what He says as the reason why, or the
ground on which, He expected to be believed.

This, Christian reader, is a very weighty principle, and one which
demands special attention on the part of all anxious inquirers, as
also on the part of all who undertake to deal with such. There is a
strong and constant tendency to look _within_ for the ground of
assurance--to build upon certain feelings, experiences, and exercises,
either past or present--to look back at some special process through
which we have passed, or to look in at certain impressions or
convictions of our own minds, and to find in these the ground of our
confidence, the warrant for our faith. This will never do. It is
impossible to find settled peace or calm repose in this way.
Feelings, however true and real, change and pass away. Experiences,
however genuine, may prove defective. Impressions and convictions may
prove utterly false. None of these things, therefore, can form a solid
ground of Christian certainty. This latter must be sought and found in
God's word alone. It is not in feelings, not in experiences, not in
impressions or convictions, not in reasonings, not in human traditions
or doctrines, but simply in the unchangeable, eternal Word of the
living God. That Word which is settled forever in heaven, and which
God has magnified according to all the stability of His name, can
alone impart peace to the mind and stability to the soul.

True, it is only by the gracious ministry of the Holy Ghost that we
can properly grasp and ever hold fast to the word of God; but still it
is His Word, and that Word _alone_, that forms the ground of Christian
certainty and the true basis and authority for the Christian in the
entire range of practical life and action. We cannot be too simple as
to this. We can only adopt the opening sentence of our chapter, and
say, "We know," when we take God's word as the all-sufficient ground
of our personal confidence. It will not do to be in any wise propped
up by human authority. Thousands of the people of God have been made
to taste the bitterness of leaning upon the commandments and doctrines
of men. It is sure to end in disappointment and confusion, sooner or
later. The edifice which is built upon the sand of human authority
must fall at some time or other; whereas that which is founded on the
rock of God's eternal truth shall stand forever. God's word imparts
its own stability to the soul that leans upon it. "Therefore thus
saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a
sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste" (Isa. xxviii.
16).

As is the foundation, so is the faith that builds thereon. Hence the
solemn importance of seeking to lead souls to build _only_ upon God's
precious Word. Look at the anxiety of the apostle Paul in reference to
this matter. Hear what he says to the Corinthians who were in such
danger of being led away by human leadership and human authority. "And
I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or
of wisdom, declaring unto you _the testimony of God_. For I determined
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God"
(1 Cor. ii. 1-5).

Here is a grand model for all preachers and teachers. Paul declared
the "testimony of God," nothing more, nothing less, nothing different.
And not only so, but he delivered that testimony in such a way as to
connect the souls of his hearers immediately with the living God.
Paul did not want the Corinthians to lean upon him; nay, he "trembled"
lest they should be tempted to do so. He would have done them a
grievous wrong had he in anywise come in between their souls and the
true source of all authority--the true foundation of confidence and
peace. Had he led them to build upon himself, he would have robbed
them of God, and this would have been a wrong indeed. No marvel,
therefore, that he was among them "in fear and in much trembling."
They were evidently very much prone to set up and follow after human
leaders, and thus miss the solid reality of personal communion with
and dependence upon the living God. Hence the jealous care of the
apostle in confining himself to the testimony of God; in delivering to
them _only_ that which he had received of the Lord (see 1 Cor. xi. 23,
xv. 3), lest the pure water should suffer in its passage from its
source in God to the souls of the Corinthians--lest he should in the
smallest degree impart the color of his own thoughts to the precious
truth of God.

We see the same thing in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. "For
this cause also," says the faithful servant of Christ, "thank we God
without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye
heard of us, ye received it _not as the word of men_, but, _as it is
in truth, the word of God_, which effectually worketh also in you that
believe" (chap. ii. 13). Had he been seeking his own things, he would
have been glad to obtain influence over the Thessalonians by linking
them on to himself and leading them to lean upon him. But no; he
rejoices in seeing them in living connection, in direct and realized
association with God Himself. This is always the effect of true
ministry, as it is ever the object of the true minister. Unless the
soul be livingly linked with God, there is really nothing done. If it
be merely following men--receiving what they say because they say
it--an attachment to certain preachers or teachers because of
something in their style and manner, or because they seem to be very
holy, very separated, or very devoted--all this will come to naught.
Those human links will soon be snapped asunder. The faith that stands
in any measure in the wisdom of men will prove hollow and worthless.
Nothing will prove permanent, nothing will endure, but that faith
which rests on the testimony and in the power of the only true God.

Christian reader, we earnestly invite your attention to this point. We
do indeed feel its importance at the present moment. The enemy is
seeking diligently to lead souls away from God, away from Christ, away
from the holy Scriptures. He is seeking to get them to build on
something short of _the truth_. He does not care what it is, provided
it is not Christ. It may be reason, tradition, religiousness, human
priesthood, fleshy pietism, holiness in the flesh, sectarianism,
morality, good works, service (so called), human influence, patronage,
philanthropy, anything short of Christ, short of God's word, short of
a lively, personal, direct faith in the living God Himself.

Now it is the sense of this pressing home upon the heart that leads us
to urge with earnestness upon the reader the necessity of being
thoroughly clear as to the ground on which he is at this moment
standing. We want him to be able to say in the face of all around him,
"_I know._" Nothing less than this will stand. It will not do to say,
"_I hope._" No; there must be certainty. There must be the ability to
say, "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, _we have_ a building of God, an house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens." This is the language of faith, the language
of a Christian. All is calm, clear, and sure, because all is of God.
There may be an "if" with regard to "the earthly house." It may be
dissolved, it may crumble into dust. All that belongs to this scene
may bear the stamp of death; it may change and pass away, but the Word
of the Lord endureth forever, and the faith that grasps and rests upon
that Word partakes of its eternal stability. It enables one to say,
"_I know_ that _I have_." Naught but faith can say this. Reason can
only say, "I doubt;" superstition, "I fear:" only faith can say, "I
know and am sure."

An infidel teacher once said to a dying woman whom he had
indoctrinated with his infidel notions, "Hold fast, Mary." What was
her reply? "I can't hold fast, for you have never given me anything to
hold by." Cutting rebuke! He had taught the poor woman to doubt, but
he had given her nothing to believe; and then, when flesh and heart
were failing, when earthly scenes were passing away and the dread
realities of eternity were crowding in upon her soul's vision,
infidelity altogether failed her; its wretched cobwebs could afford no
refuge, no covering, in view of death and judgment. How different the
condition of the believer--of the one who, in all simplicity of heart
and humility of mind, takes his stand on the solid rock of Holy
Scripture! Such an one can calmly say, "_I am now ready_ to be
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to
all them, also, that love His appearing" (2 Tim. iv. 6-8).

It is more than probable that some may find it difficult to reconcile
the calm certainty expressed in the first verse of our chapter with
the groan of ver. 2. But the difficulty will vanish the moment we are
enabled to see the true reason of the groan. "For in this we groan,
earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from
heaven, if so be that, being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For
we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that
we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be
swallowed up of life."

Here we see that the very certainty of having "a building of God, an
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," makes us groan to
possess it. The apostle did not groan in doubt or uncertainty. He did
not groan under the weight of guilt or fear. Still less did he groan
because he could not satisfy the desires of the flesh or of the mind,
or because he could not surround himself with this world's perishable
possessions. No; he longed for the heavenly building--the divine, the
real, the eternal. He felt the heavy burden of the poor, crumbling
tabernacle; it was a grievous hindrance to him. It was the only link
with the scene around, and as such it was a heavy clog of which he
longed to be rid.

But, most clearly, he would not, and could not, have groaned for the
heavenly house if he had a single question on his mind with respect to
it. Men are never anxious to get rid of the body unless they are sure
of possessing something better; nay, they grasp this present life with
intense eagerness, and tremble at the thought of the future, which is
all darkness and uncertainty to them. They groan at the thought of
quitting the body; the apostle groaned because he was in it.

This makes all the difference. Scripture never contemplates such a
thing as a Christian groaning under sin, guilt, doubt, or fear; or
sighing after the riches, honors or pleasures of this vain,
sin-stricken world. Alas, alas, they do thus groan through ignorance
of their true position in a risen Christ and their proper portion in
the heavens! But such is not the ground or character of the groan in
the scripture now before us; Paul saw with distinctness his house in
the heavens; and, on the other hand, he felt the heavy burden of the
tabernacle of clay; and he ardently longed to lay aside the latter and
be clothed with the former.

Hence, then, there is the fullest harmony between "_we know_" and "_we
groan_." If we did not know for a certainty that we have a building of
God, we should like to hold our earthly house as long as possible. We
see this constantly. Men cling to life. They leave nothing untried to
keep body and soul together. They have no certainty as to heaven. They
cannot say, "we _know_" that "we _have_" anything there. On the other
hand, they have a terrible dread of the future, which to their vision
is wrapped up in clouds and thick darkness. They have never committed
themselves in calm confidence to God and His word; they have never
felt the tranquilizing power of His love. They have viewed Him as an
angry Judge instead of seeing Him as the sinner's Friend--a just God
and a Saviour--the righteous Justifier. No marvel, therefore, if they
shrink with terror from the thought of meeting Him.

But it is a totally different thing with a man who knows God as his
Father--his Saviour--his best Friend; who knows that Jesus died to
save him from his sins, and from all the consequences thereof. Such an
one can say:

    "I have a home above,
      From sin and sorrow free;
    A mansion which eternal Love
      Designed and formed for me.

    "The Father's gracious hand
      Has built this blest abode;
    From everlasting it was planned,
      The dwelling-place of God.

    "The Saviour's precious blood
      Has made my title sure;
    He passed through death's dark, raging flood,
      To make my rest secure."

These are the breathings of simple faith, and they perfectly harmonize
with the groans of a spirit "that looks beyond its cage and longs to
flee away." The believer finds his body of sin and death a heavy
burden, and longs to be free from the encumbrance, and to be clothed
upon with a body suited to his new and eternal state--a new creation
body--a body perfectly free from every trace of mortality. This cannot
be until the morning of resurrection, that glorious moment, long
looked for, when the dead in Christ shall rise and the living saints
be changed, in a moment; when death shall be swallowed up in victory,
and mortality shall be swallowed up of life.

It is for this we groan, not that we would be unclothed, but clothed
upon. The unclothed state is not _the_ object, though we know that to
be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord; and to depart
and be with Christ is far better. The Lord Jesus is waiting that
glorious consummation, and we wait in sympathy with Him. Meanwhile,
"the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now. And not only so, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved in
hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why
doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we
with patience wait for it" (Rom. viii. 22-25).

Thus, then, beloved reader, we have before us a very distinct answer
to the question, "Why does the believer groan?" He groans, being
burdened. He groans in sympathy with a groaning creation, with which
he is linked by means of a body of sin and death--a body of
humiliation. He sees around him, day by day, the sad fruits of sin. He
cannot pass along the streets of our cities and towns without having
before his eyes a thousand proofs of man's sad state. He hears on one
side the wail of sorrow; on another, the cry of distress. He sees
oppression, violence, corruption, strife, heartless villany and its
victims. He sees the thorn, and the briar. He notes the various
disturbing forces which are abroad in the physical, the moral, and the
political world. He marks the varied forms of disease and misery
around him. The cry of the poor and the needy, the widow and the
orphan, falls sadly upon his ear and upon his heart; and what can he
do but send up from the deepest depths of his spiritual nature a
sympathetic groan, and long for the blissful moment when "the
creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the liberty of the glory of the sons of God?" It is impossible for a
true Christian to pass through a world like this without groaning.
Look at the blessed Master Himself; did not He groan? Yes, verily.
Mark Him as He approached the grave of Lazarus, in company with the
two weeping sisters. "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the
Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and
was troubled, and said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him,
Lord, come and see. Jesus wept" (Jno. xi. 33-35).

Whence came those tears and groans? Was He not approaching the grave
of His friend as the Prince of Life--the Quickener of the dead--the
Conqueror of death--the Spoiler of the grave? Why, then, did He groan?
He groaned in sympathy with the objects of His love, and with the
whole scene around Him. His tears and groans emanated from the
profound depths of a perfect human heart which felt, according to God,
the true condition of the human family and of Israel in particular. He
beheld around Him the varied fruits of sin. He felt for man, He felt
for Israel. "In all their afflictions He was afflicted." He was a Man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He never even cured a person
without bearing upon His spirit the reality of that with which He was
dealing. He did not, He would not, lightly bid away death, disease,
and sorrow. No: He entered into it all, as man; and that, too,
according to the infinite perfections of His divine nature. He bore it
all upon His spirit, in the reality of it, before God. Though
perfectly free from it all, and above it all, yet did He in grace
voluntarily enter into it most thoroughly, so as to taste, and prove,
and know it all, as none else could know it.

All this is fully expressed in Matt. viii., where we read the
following words: "When the even was come, they brought unto Him many
that were possessed with devils; and He cast out the spirits with His
word, and healed all that were sick; that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, _Himself took our
infirmities, and bare our sicknesses_" (vers. 16, 17).

We have very little idea of what the heart of Jesus felt as He passed
through this sorrowful, because sinful, world; and we are far too apt
to miss the reality of His sufferings by confining them merely to what
He endured on the cross, and also by supposing that because He was God
over all, blessed for ever, He did not feel all that a human heart is
capable of feeling. This is a sad loss. Indeed we may say it is an
incalculable loss. The Lord Jesus, as the Captain of our salvation,
was made perfect through sufferings. See Heb. ii., where the inspired
writer distinguishes carefully between "the suffering of death," and
the "sufferings" of the Captain of our salvation. In order to save
sinners from _wrath_, "He tasted death for every man," and having
done so, we see Him "crowned with glory and honor." But in order to
"_bring many sons to glory_," He had to be "perfected through
sufferings." And now all true believers have the unspeakable privilege
of knowing that there is One at the right hand of the Majesty in the
heavens who, when in this world of sin and woe, tasted every form of
suffering and every cup of sorrow which it was possible for any human
heart to know. He could say, "Reproach hath broken My heart, and I am
full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was
none, and for comforters, but I found none" (Ps. lxix. 20).

How deeply affecting is all this! But we cannot pursue this subject
here. We have merely touched upon it in connection with the question,
"Why does the believer groan?" We trust that the reader will see
clearly the true answer to this inquiry; and that it will be most
evident to his mind that the groans of a Christian proceed from the
divine nature which he actually possesses, and cannot therefore, by
any possibility, be occasioned by doubts or fears, on the one hand,
nor yet by selfish desires or the insatiable cravings of nature, on
the other. But that, on the contrary, the very fact of his possessing
everlasting life, through faith in Christ, and the blessed assurance
of having a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, causes
him to long for that blessed, indestructible building, and to groan
because of his connection with a groaning creation, as well as in
sympathy therewith.

If any further proof were needed, on this deeply interesting question,
we have it in verses 5 and 6 of our chapter (2 Cor. v.), where the
apostle goes on to say, "Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame
thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Therefore we are _always confident_ (not doubting or fearing), knowing
that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord
(for we walk by faith, not by sight), we are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord" (vers. 5-8).

Here we have two grand cardinal truths laid down, namely, first, The
believer is God's workmanship; and secondly, God has given him the
earnest of the Spirit. Most marvellous--most glorious facts! Facts
which demand the attention of the reader. Everyone who simply and
heartily believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is God's workmanship. God
has created him anew in Christ Jesus. Clearly, therefore, there can be
no possible ground for questioning his acceptance with God, inasmuch
as God can never call in question His own work. He will, assuredly, no
more do this in His new creation, than He did in the old. When God
looked upon His work, in the opening of the Book of Genesis, it was
not to judge it or call it in question, but to announce it very good,
and express His complacency in it. So now, when God looks upon the
very feeblest believer, He sees in him His own workmanship, and most
assuredly, He is not going, either here or hereafter, to call in
question His own work. God is a rock, His work is perfect, and the
believer is God's work; and because he is His work He has sealed him
with the Holy Ghost.

The same truth is stated in Ephesians ii. where we read, "For we are
God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them." This, we may truly
say, is a point of the weightiest moment. It claims the grave
attention of the reader who desires to be thoroughly established in
the truth of God as to what a Christian--what Christianity really is.
It is not a ruined, lost, guilty sinner seeking to work himself up
into something or other fit for God. It is the very reverse. It is
God, in the riches of His grace, on the ground of the atoning death of
Christ, taking up a poor, dead, worthless, condemned thing--a guilty,
hell-deserving sinner, and creating him anew in Christ Jesus. It is,
as it were, God beginning _de novo_--on the new, as we may say--to
form man in Christ, to place him on a new footing altogether, not now
as an innocent being on a creation basis, but as a justified one, in a
risen Christ. It is not man's old condition improved by human effort
of any sort or description; but it is God's new workmanship in a
risen, ascended, and glorified Christ. It is not man's own garment
pieced or patched by human device in any shape or form whatever; but
it is God's new garment introduced in the person of Christ, who
having, in infinite grace, gone down into the dust of death, and
endured, on man's behalf, the judgment of sin, the righteous wrath of
a sin-hating God, was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
and is become the Head of the new creation--"The beginning of the
creation of God" (Rev. iii. 14).

Now, it must be perfectly clear to the reader, that if our Lord Jesus
Christ be, in very deed "the _beginning_" of God's creation, then we
must begin at the beginning, else we have done absolutely nothing at
all. We may labor and toil--we may do our very utmost, and be
perfectly sincere in our doing--we may vow and resolve--we may seek to
improve our state, to alter our course, to mend our ways, to live in a
different way--but all the while we are in the old creation, which has
been completely set aside, and is under the judgment of God; we have
not begun at "the beginning" of God's new creation, and, as a
necessary consequence, we have gained nothing at all. We have been
spending our strength for nought and in vain. We have been putting
forth efforts to improve a thing which God has condemned and set aside
altogether. We are, to use a very feeble figure indeed, like a man who
is spending his time, his pains, and his money in painting and
papering a house that has been condemned by the government surveyor,
on account of the rottenness of the foundation, and which must be
taken down at once.

What should we say to such a man? Should we not deem him very foolish?
Doubtless. But if it be folly to paint and paper a condemned house,
what shall we say to those who are seeking to improve a condemned
nature--a condemned world? We must say this, at least, they are
pursuing a course which must, sooner or later, end in disappointment
and confusion.

Oh that this were understood and entered into! Would to God that
Christians more fully entered into it! Would to God that all Christian
writers, preachers, and teachers entered into it, and set it forth
distinctly with pen and voice! At the least, we earnestly desire that
the reader should thoroughly grasp it. We are most fully persuaded
that it is pre-eminently "truth for the times." It is truth to meet
the need of thousands of souls--to remove their burdens, relieve their
hearts and consciences--solve their difficulties--chase away their
clouds. There are, at this moment, throughout the length and breadth
of Christendom, countless multitudes engaged in the fruitless work of
painting and papering a condemned house--a house on which God has
pronounced judgment, because of the hopelessly ruined condition of its
foundations. They are seeking to do little jobs of repairs here and
there throughout the house, forgetting, or perhaps not knowing, that
the whole building is very shortly to be demolished by order of the
divine government. Some are doing this with the utmost sincerity, amid
much sore exercise of soul, and many tears, because they cannot
succeed in satisfying their own hearts even, much less the claims of
God. For God demands a perfect thing, not a patched-up ruin. There is
no use in seeking to cover with paper and paint old walls tottering on
a rotten foundation. God cannot be deceived by surface work, by
shallow outside appearances. The foundations are bad, the whole thing
must come down, and we must put our whole trust in Him who is "the
beginning of the creation of God."

Reader, pause here for a moment's calm and serious reflection. Ask
yourself the question, "Am I seeking to patch up a ruin? Am I seeking
to improve the old nature? Or have I really found my place in God's
new creation, of which a risen Christ is the Head and Beginning?"
Remember, we beseech you, that you cannot possibly engage in more
fruitless toil than seeking to make yourself better. Your efforts may
be sincere, but they must, in the long run, prove worthless. Your
paper and paint may be all good and genuine enough, but you are
putting them on a condemned ruin. You cannot say of your unrenewed
nature that it is "God's workmanship;" and, most assuredly, _your_
doings, _your_ good works, _your_ religious exercises, _your_ efforts
to keep the ten commandments--nothing, in short, that _you_ can do,
could possibly be called "God's workmanship." It is yours, and not
God's. He cannot acknowledge it. He cannot seal it with His Spirit. It
is all false and good for nothing. If you cannot say, "He that hath
wrought us for the selfsame thing is God," you have really nothing.
You are yet in your sins. You have not begun at God's beginning. You
are yet "in the flesh:" and the voice of Holy Scripture declares that
"they that are in the flesh _cannot_ please God" (Rom. viii).

This is a solemn and sweeping sentence. A man out of Christ is "in the
flesh;" and such a man cannot please God. He may be most religious,
most moral, most amiable, most benevolent, a most excellent master, a
generous friend, a liberal giver, a genial companion, a patron of the
poor, upright and honorable in all his dealings, he may be an eloquent
preacher and a popular writer, and all the while not be "_in Christ_,"
but "in the flesh," and therefore he "cannot please God."

Can aught be more solemn than this? Only to think of how far a person
may go in all that is deemed excellent among men, and yet not be in
Christ, but in his sins--in the flesh--in the old creation--in the
condemned house. And be it noted that it is not a question of gross
sins, of scandalous living, in all its varied, hideous shapes of
immorality, in its deeper and darker shades; no, the declaration of
Holy Scripture is, that "they that are in the flesh cannot please
God." This, truly, is most soul-subduing, and calls for deep and
solemn reflection on the part of every thoughtful and earnest soul.

But it may be that, to the reader's view, difficulties and stumbling
blocks still surround this most weighty subject. He may still be
utterly at a loss to know what is meant by the expression, "In the
flesh." If so it will, we fondly hope, help him not a little to
remember that Scripture speaks of _two men_--"the first man" and "the
Second Man." These two men are presented as the heads of two distinct
races. Adam _fallen_ is the head of one race; Christ _risen_ is the
Head of the other race. Now, the very fact of there being "a Second
Man" proves that the first man had been set aside: for if the first
man had proved faultless, then should no place have been sought for
the second. This is clear and unquestionable. The first man is a total
wreck--an irreparable ruin. The foundations of the old edifice have
given way; and albeit, in man's view, the building seems to stand, and
to be capable of being repaired, yet, in God's view it is completely
set aside, and a Second Man--a new edifice--set up, on the solid and
imperishable ground of redemption.

Hence, we read, in Gen. iii., that God "_drove out the man_; and He
placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming
sword which turned _every way_, to keep the way of the tree of life."
In other words, the first man was driven out, and every possible way
of return was closed against him, as _such_. He could only get back by
"a new and living way," namely, through the rent veil of the Saviour's
flesh. The flaming sword "turned every way," so that there was
positively no way by which the first man could ever get back to his
former state. The only hope, now, was through "the seed of the
woman"--"the Second Man." The flaming sword declared, in symbolic yet
impressive language, the truth, which comes out in the New Testament
divested of all symbol and shadow, namely, that "they that are in the
flesh _cannot_ please God"--"Ye must be born again." Every unconverted
man, woman, and child is part and parcel of the first man, fallen,
ruined, set aside, and driven out. He is a member of the first
Adam--the old race--a stone in the old condemned building.

Thus it stands, if we are to be guided by Scripture. The head and his
race go together. As is the one, so is the other; what is true of the
one is true of the other. They are, in God's view, absolutely
identical. Was the first Adam fallen when he became the head of a
race? Was he driven out? Was he completely set aside? Yes, verily, if
we are to believe Scripture; then the unconverted--the unregenerated
reader of these lines is fallen, driven out, and set aside. As is the
head, so is the member--each member in particular--all the members
together. They are inseparable, if we are to be taught by divine
revelation.

But, further, was every possible way of return finally closed against
the fallen head? yes, Scripture declares that the flaming sword turned
"_every way_, to keep the way of the tree of life." Then it is utterly
impossible that the unconverted--the unregenerate can improve himself
or make himself fit for God. If the fallen head could not get back to
the tree of life, neither can the fallen member. "They that are in the
flesh cannot please God." That is, they that are on the old footing,
in the old creation, members of the first Adam, part and parcel of the
old edifice, cannot please God. "Ye must be born again." Man must be
renewed in the very deepest springs and sources of his being. He must
be "God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before prepared that we should walk in them." He must be able
to say, in the language of our text, "He that has wrought us for the
selfsame thing is God."

But this leads us to another point. How is anyone to get into this
marvellous position? How can any soul take up such language? How can
anyone whose eyes have been opened to see his utter and hopeless ruin,
as connected with the first man, as standing in the old creation, as a
stone in the old edifice--how can such an one ever reach a position in
which he can please God? The Lord be praised, Scripture gives an
answer, full, clear, and distinct, to this serious question. A second
Man has appeared upon the scene--the Seed of the woman, and, at the
same time, God over all, blessed for ever. In Him all begins afresh.
He came into this world born of a woman, made under the law, pure and
spotless, free from every taint of sin, personally apart from every
claim of sin and death, standing in the midst of a ruined world, a
guilty race, Himself that pure, untainted grain of wheat. We see Him
lying as a babe in the manger. We see Him growing up as a youth
beneath the parental roof. We see Him as a man working in a
carpenter's shop at Nazareth. We see Him baptised in Jordan, where all
the people were baptised confessing their sins--Himself sinless, but
fulfilling all righteousness, and, in perfect grace, identifying
Himself with the repentant portion of the nation of Israel. We see Him
anointed with the Holy Ghost for the work that lay before Him. We see
Him in the wilderness faint and hungry, unlike the first man who was
placed in the midst of a paradise of creature delights. We see Him
tempted of Satan and coming off victorious. We trace Him along the
pathway of public ministry--and such a ministry! What incessant toil!
What weariness and watching! What hunger and thirst! What sorrow and
travail! Worse off than the fowls and the foxes, the Son of man had
not where to lay His head. The contradiction of sinners by day, the
mountain-top by night.

Such was the marvellous life of this blessed One. But this was not
all. He died! Yes, He died under the weight of the first man's guilt,
He died to take away the sin of the world, and alter completely the
ground of God's relationship with the world, so that God might deal
with man and with the world on the new ground of redemption, instead
of the old ground of sin. He died for the nation of Israel. He tasted
death for every man. He died the just for the unjust. He suffered for
sins. He died and was buried, according to the Scriptures. He went
through all--met all--paid all--finished all. He went down into the
dust of death, and lay in the dark and silent tomb. He descended into
the lower parts of the earth. He went down to the very bottom of
everything. He endured the sentence passed on man. He paid the
penalty, bore the judgment, drained the cup of wrath, went through
every form of human suffering and trial, was tempted in all points,
sin excepted. He made an end of everything that stood in the way, and,
having _finished all_, He gave up His spirit into the hand of His
Father, and His precious body was laid in a tomb on which the smell of
death had never passed.

Nor was this all. He rose! Yes, He rose triumphant over all. He rose
as the Head of the new creation--"The beginning of the creation of
God"--"The first-begotten from among the dead"--"The first-born among
many brethren." And now the second Man is before God, crowned with
glory and honor, not in an earthly paradise, but at the right hand of
the Majesty in the heavens. This second Man is the last Adam, because
there is none to come after Him, we cannot get beyond the last. There
is only one Man before God now. The first is set aside. The last is
set up. And as the first was the fallen head of a fallen race, so the
last is the risen Head of a saved, justified, and accepted race. The
Head and His members are inseparably identified--all the members
together, and each member in particular. We are accepted in Him. "As
He is, so are we in this world" (1 John iv. 17). There is nothing
before God but Christ. The Head and the body, the Head and each
individual member are indissolubly joined together--inseparably and
eternally one. God thinks of the members as He thinks of the
Head--loves them as He loves Him. Those members are God's workmanship,
incorporated by His Spirit into the body of Christ, and in God's
presence, having no other footing, no other rank, position, or station
whatsoever but "in Christ." They are no longer "in the flesh, but in
the Spirit." They can please God, because they possess His nature, and
are sealed by His Spirit, and guided by His word. "_He that hath
wrought them is God_," and God must ever delight in His own
workmanship. He will never find fault with or condemn the work of His
own hand. "God is a rock, His work is perfect," and hence the
believer, as God's workmanship, must be perfect. He is "IN CHRIST,"
and that is enough--enough for God--enough for faith--enough for ever.

And, now, if it be asked, "How is all this to be attained?" Scripture
replies, "BY FAITH." "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, _hath_ everlasting life,
and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life"
(John v. 24).

The reader who has traveled intelligently with us through the opening
lines of our chapter will be in a position to understand something of
the solemn and momentous subject to which we now approach, namely, the
judgment-seat of Christ. If indeed it be true that the believer is
God's workmanship--if he is actually a member of Christ--associated
with the second Adam--bound up in the bundle of life with the risen
and glorified Lord, if all this be true--and God's word declares it
is--then it must be perfectly evident that the judgment-seat of Christ
cannot, by any possibility, touch the Christian's position, or prove,
in any wise, unfriendly to him. No doubt it is a most solemn and
serious matter, involving the most weighty consequences to every
servant of Christ, and designed to exert a most salutary influence
upon the heart and conscience of every man. But it will do all this
just in proportion as it is viewed from the true standpoint, and no
further. It is not to be supposed that anyone can reap the divinely
appointed blessing from meditating on the judgment-seat, if he is
looking forward to it as the place where the grand question of his
eternal salvation is to be settled. And yet how many are thus
regarding it! How many of God's true people are there, who, from not
seeing the simple truth involved in these words, "He that hath wrought
us for the selfsame thing is God," are anticipating the judgment-seat
of Christ as something that may, after all, condemn them.

This is greatly to be deplored, both because it dishonors the Lord,
and completely destroys the soul's peace and liberty. For how, let us
ask, is it possible for anyone to enjoy peace so long as there is a
single question about salvation to be settled? We conceive it is
wholly impossible. The peace of the true believer rests on the fact
that every possible question has been divinely and eternally settled;
and as a consequence, no question can ever arise, either before the
judgment-seat of Christ, or at any other time. Hear what our Lord
Jesus Christ saith in reference to this great question: "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him
that sent Me, _hath_ everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation [or judgment]; but is passed from death unto life" (John
v. 24).

It is important that the reader should understand that the word used
by our Lord in the above passage is not "condemnation" but "judgment."
He assures the believer that he shall never come into judgment; and
this, too, be it observed, in immediate connection with the statement
that "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto
the Son" (ver. 22). And, again, "For as the Father hath life in
Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath
given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of
man" (ver. 26, 27).

Thus, then, the One to whom all judgment is committed--who alone has
authority to execute judgment, by the Father's just decree--this
blessed One assures us that if we hearken to His Word, and believe on
Him that sent Him, we shall never come into judgment at all.

This is clear and conclusive. It must tranquillize the heart
completely. It must roll away every cloud and mist, and conduct the
soul into a region where no question can ever arise to disturb its
deep and eternal repose. If the One who has all judgment in His hand,
and all authority to execute it--if _He_ assures me that I shall never
come into judgment, I am perfectly satisfied. I believe His Word, and
rest in the happy assurance that whatever the judgment-seat of Christ
may prove to others, it cannot prove unfriendly to me. I know that the
word of the Lord endureth for ever, and that the Word tells me I shall
never come into judgment.

But it may be that the reader finds it difficult, if not impossible,
to reconcile this entire exemption from judgment with the solemn fact
stated by our Lord, that "for every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." But there is
really no difficulty in the matter. If a man has to meet judgment at
all, he must give account for every idle word. How awfully solemn the
thought! There is no escaping it. Were it possible for a single idle
word to be let pass, it would be a dishonor to the judgment-seat. It
would be a sign of weakness and incompetency which is utterly
impossible. It were blasphemy against the Son of God to suppose that
a single stain could escape His scrutinizing gaze. If the reader comes
into judgment, that judgment must be perfect, and, hence, his
condemnation must be inevitable.

We would press this serious matter upon the attention of the
unconverted reader. It imperatively demands his immediate and earnest
consideration. There is a day rapidly approaching when every idle
word, and every foolish thought, and every sinful act, will be brought
to light, and he will have to answer for it. Christ, as a Judge, has
eyes like unto a flame of fire, and feet like unto fine brass--eyes to
detect, and feet to crush the evil. There will be no escape. There
will be no mercy then: all will be stern and unmitigated judgment. "I
saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the _books_
were opened; and another _book_ was opened, which is the book of life;
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
_books_, according to their _works_. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead which were
in them; and they were judged _every man according to their works_.
And death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. xx. 11-15).

Mark here the difference between "the books" and "the book of life."
The entire scene sets forth the judgment of the wicked dead--of those
who have died in their sins, from first to last. "The book of life" is
opened; but there is no judgment for those whose names are written
therein by the hand of electing and redeeming love. "The books" are
opened--those awful records written in characters deep, broad, and
black--those terrible catalogues of the sins of every man, woman, and
child, from the beginning to the end of time. There will be no
escaping in the crowd. Each one will stand in his own most intense
individuality in that appalling moment. The eye of each will be turned
in upon himself, and back upon his past history. All will be seen in
the light of the great white throne, from which there is no escape.

The sceptic may reason against all this. He may say, "_How_ can these
things be? _How_ could all the dead stand before God? _How_ could the
countless millions, who have passed away since the foundation of the
world find sufficient space before the judgment-seat?" The answer is
very simple to the true believer, whatever it may be to the sceptic;
God who made them, will make a place for them to stand for judgment,
and a place to lie in everlasting torment. Tremendous thought? "God
hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in
righteousness, by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath
given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the
dead" (Acts xvii. 31).

And be it remembered that "_every man_ will be judged according to
_his_ works." The solemn session of the judgment referred to in
Revelation xx. will not be an indiscriminate act. Let none suppose
this. There are "_books_"--rolls--records. "_Every man_" will be
judged. How? "According to _his_ works." Nothing can be more precise
and specific. Each one has committed his own sins, and for them he
will be judged and punished everlastingly. We are aware that many
cherish the notion that people will only be judged for rejecting the
gospel. It is a fatal mistake. Scripture teaches the direct contrary.
It declares that people will be judged according to their works. What
are we to learn from the "many stripes" and the "few stripes" of Luke
xii.? What is the force of the words "more tolerable" in Matthew xi.?
Are we not plainly taught by these words that there will be a
difference in the degrees of judgment and punishment? And does not the
apostle most distinctly teach us in Ephesians iv., and Colossians
iii., that the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience
(or unbelief) "because of" certain sins against which he solemnly
warns the saints?

No doubt the rejection of the gospel leaves people on the ground of
judgment, just as the true belief of the gospel takes people off that
ground. But the judgment will be, in every case, according to a man's
works. Are we to suppose that the poor ignorant savage, who has lived
and died amid the gloomy shades of heathen darkness, will be found in
the same "book," or punished with the same severity as a man who has
lived and died in the total rejection of the full blaze of gospel
light and privilege? Not for a moment, so long as the words "more
tolerable" stand on the page of inspiration. The savage will be judged
according to his works, and the baptized sinner will be judged
according to his works, but assuredly it will be more tolerable for
the former than the latter. God knows how to deal with people. He can
discriminate, and He declares that He will give to each according to
his works.

Reader, think of this, we beseech you. Think deeply, think seriously.
If thou art unconverted, think of it for thyself, for, assuredly, it
concerns thee. And if thou art converted, think of it for others, as
the apostle says, "Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men."
It is impossible for anyone to reflect upon the great and awful fact
of judgment to come, and not be stirred up to warn his fellows. We
believe it is of the very last possible importance that the
consciences of men should be acted upon by the solemn truth of the
judgment-seat of Christ--that they should be made to feel the
seriousness of having to do with God as a Judge.

Should the reader, whoever he be, have been led to feel this--if he
has been roused by this weighty matter--if he is, even now, asking the
question, "What must I do?" the answer is blessedly simple. The
gospel declares that the One who will, ere long, act as a Judge, is
now revealed as a Justifier--even a Justifier of the ungodly sinner
that believeth in Jesus. This changes the aspect of things entirely.
It is not that the thought of the judgment-seat loses a single jot or
tittle of its gravity and solemnity. Quite the contrary. It stands in
all its weight and magnitude. But the believer looks at it from a
totally different point of view. In place of looking at the
judgment-seat of Christ as a guilty member of the first Adam, he looks
at it as a justified and accepted member of the Second. In place of
looking forward to it as the place where the question of his eternal
salvation or perdition is to be decided, he looks to it as one who
knows that he is God's workmanship, and that he can never come into
judgment, inasmuch as he has been taken clean off the ground of guilt,
death, and judgment, and placed, through the death and resurrection of
Christ, on a new ground altogether, even the ground of life,
righteousness, and cloudless favor.

It is most needful to be clear as to this grand fundamental truth.
Very many even of the people of God are clouded in reference to it,
and hence it is that they are afraid when they think of the
judgment-seat. They do not know God as a Justifier. Their faith has
not grasped Him as the One who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
They are looking to Christ to keep God out as a Judge, very much in
the same way as the Israelites looked to the blood to keep out the
destroyer. See Ex. xii. It is true and real enough, so far as it goes;
but it falls very far short of the truth revealed in the New
Testament. There is a vast difference between keeping God out as a
Destroyer and a Judge, and bringing Him in as a Saviour and a
Justifier. An Israelite would have dreaded, above all things, God's
coming in to him. Why? Because God was passing through the land as a
Destroyer. The Christian, on the contrary, delights to be in the
presence of God. Why? Because He has revealed Himself as a Justifier.
How? By raising up Jesus our Lord from the dead.

There are three forms of expression used by the inspired apostle in
Rom. iii. and iv. which should be carefully pondered. In chap. iii.
26, he speaks of "believing in Jesus." In chap. iv. 5, he speaks of
"believing in Him that justifieth the ungodly." And, ver. 24, he
speaks of "believing in Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the
dead."

Now, there is no distinction in Scripture without a difference; and
when we see a distinction it is our business to inquire as to the
difference. What then, is the difference between believing in Jesus,
and believing in Him that raised up Jesus? We believe it to be this.
We may often find souls who are really looking to Jesus and believing
in Him, and yet they have, deep down in their hearts a sort of dread
of meeting God. It is not that they doubt their salvation, or that
they are not really saved. By no means. They are saved, inasmuch as
they are looking to Christ, by faith, and all who so look are saved in
Him with an everlasting salvation. All this is most blessedly true:
but still there is this latent fear or dread of God, and a shrinking
from death. They know that Jesus is friendly to them, inasmuch as He
died for them; but they do not see so clearly the friendship of God.

Hence it is that we find so many of God's people in uncertainty and
spiritual distress. Their faith has not yet laid hold of God as the
One who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. They are not quite
sure of how it may go with them. At times they are happy, because by
virtue of the new nature, of which they are assuredly the partakers,
they get occupied with Christ: but at times they are miserable,
because they begin to look at themselves, and they do not see God as
their Justifier, and as the One who has condemned sin in the flesh.
They are thinking of God as a Judge with whom some question still
remains to be settled. They feel as if God's eye were resting on their
indwelling sin, and as if they had, in some way or other, to dispose
of that question with God.

Thus it is, we feel persuaded, with hundreds of the true saints of
God. They do not see God as the Condemner of sin in Christ on the
cross, and the Justifier of the believing sinner in Christ rising from
the dead. They are looking to Christ on the cross to screen them from
God as a Judge, instead of looking to God as a Justifier, in raising
up Christ from the dead. Jesus was delivered for our offences, and
raised again for our justification. Our sins are forgiven; our
indwelling sin, or evil nature, is condemned and set aside. It has no
existence _before God_. It is in us, but He sees us only in a risen
Christ; and we are called to _reckon_ ourselves dead, and by the power
of God's Spirit, to mortify our members, to deny and subdue the evil
nature which still dwells in us, and will dwell until we are passed
out of our present condition, and find our place forever with the
Lord.

This makes all so blessedly clear. We have already dwelt upon the
fact, that "they that are in the flesh cannot please God;" but the
believer is not in the flesh, though the flesh be in him. He is in the
_body_, and on the _earth_, as to the fact of his existence; but he is
neither in the _flesh_, nor of the _world_, as to the ground or
principle of his standing. "Ye," says the Holy Ghost, "are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit" (Rom. viii.). "They," says our blessed Lord,
"are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John xvii.).

What a sweet relief to a heart bowed down under a sense of indwelling
sin, and not knowing what to do with it! What solid peace and comfort
flow into the soul when I see God condemning my sin in the cross, and
justifying me in a risen Christ! Where are my _sins_? Blotted out.
Where is my _sin_? Condemned and set aside. Where am I? Justified and
accepted in a risen Christ. I am brought to God without a single cloud
or misgiving. I am not afraid of my Justifier. I confide in Him, love
Him, and adore Him. I joy in God, and rejoice in hope of His glory.

Thus, then, we have, in some measure, cleared the way for the believer
to approach the subject of the judgment-seat of Christ, as set forth
in ver. 10 of our chapter, which we shall here quote at length, in
order that the reader may have the subject fully before him in the
veritable language of inspiration. "For we must all appear (or rather,
be manifested) before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad."

Now there is, in reality, no difficulty or ground of perplexity here.
All we need is to look at the matter from a divine standpoint, and
with a simple mind, in order to see it clearly. This is true in
reference to every subject treated of in the word of God, and
specially so as to the point now before us. We have no doubt whatever
that the real secret of the difficulty felt by so many in respect to
the question of the judgment-seat of Christ is self-occupation. Hence
it is we so often hear such questions as the following, "Can it be
possible that all our sins, all our failures, all our infirmities, all
our naughty and foolish ways, shall be published, in the presence of
assembled myriads, before the judgment-seat of Christ?"

Well, then, in the first place, we have to remark that Scripture says
nothing of the kind. The passage before us, which contains the great,
broad statement of the truth on this weighty subject, simply declares
that "we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ."
But how shall we be manifested? Assuredly, _as we are_. But how is
that? As God's workmanship--as perfectly righteous, and perfectly
holy, and perfectly accepted in the Person of that very One who shall
sit on the judgment-seat, and who Himself bore in His own body on the
tree all the judgment due to us, and made a full end of the entire
system in which we stood. All that which, as sinners, we had to meet,
Christ met in our stead. Our _sins_ He bore; our _sin_ He was
condemned for. He stood in our stead and answered all responsibilities
which rested upon us as men alive in the flesh, as members of the
first man, as standing on the old creation-ground. The Judge Himself
is our righteousness. We are in Him. All that we are and all that we
have, we owe it to Him and to His perfect work. If we, as sinners, had
to meet Christ as a Judge, escape were utterly impossible; but,
inasmuch as He is our righteousness, condemnation is utterly
impossible. In short, the matter is reversed. The atoning death and
triumphant resurrection of our Divine Substitute have completely
changed everything, so that the effect of the judgment-seat of Christ
will be to make manifest that there is not, and cannot be, a single
stain or spot on that workmanship of God which the saint is declared
to be.

But, then, let us ask, Whence this dread of having all our naughtiness
exposed at the judgment-seat of Christ? Does not He know all about us?
Are we more afraid of being manifested to the gaze of men and angels
than to the gaze of our blessed and adorable Lord? If we are
manifested to Him, what matters it to whom beside we are known? How
far are Peter and David and many others affected by the fact that
untold millions have read the record of their sins, and that the
record thereof has been stereotyped on the page of inspiration? Will
it prevent their sweeping the strings of the golden harp, or casting
their crowns before the feet of Him whose precious blood has
obliterated for ever all their sins, and brought them, without spot,
into the full blaze of the throne of God? Assuredly not. Why then need
any be troubled by the thought of their being thoroughly manifested
before the judgment-seat of Christ? Will not the Judge of all the
earth do right? May we not safely leave all in the hands of Him who
has loved us and washed us in His own blood? Cannot we trust ourselves
implicitly to the One who loved us with such a love? Will He expose
us? Will He--can He, do aught inconsistent with the love that led Him
to give His precious life for us? Will the Head expose the body, or
any member thereof? Will the Bridegroom expose the bride? Yes, He
will, in one sense. But how? He will publicly set forth, in view of
all created intelligences, that there is not a speck or a flaw, a spot
or wrinkle, or any such thing, to be seen upon that Church which He
loved with a love that many waters could not quench.

Ah! Christian reader, dost thou not see how that nearness to the heart
of Christ, as well as the knowledge of His perfect work, would
completely roll away the mists which enwrap the subject of the
judgment-seat? If thou art washed from thy sins in the blood of Jesus,
and loved by God as Jesus is loved, what reason hast thou to fear that
judgment-seat, or to shrink from the thought of being manifested
before it? None whatever. Nothing can possibly come up there to alter
thy standing, to touch thy relationship, to blot thy title, or cloud
thy prospect. Indeed we are fully persuaded that the light of _the
judgment-seat_ will chase away many of the clouds that have obscured
_the mercy-seat_. Many, when they come to stand before that
judgment-seat, will wonder why they ever feared it for themselves.
They will see their mistake and adore the grace that has been so much
better than all their legal fears. Many who have hardly ever been able
to read their title here, will read it there, and rejoice and
wonder--they will love and worship. They will then see, in broad
daylight, what poor, feeble, shallow, unworthy thoughts they had once
entertained of the love of Christ, and of the true character of His
work. They will perceive how sadly prone they ever were to measure
Him by themselves, and to think and feel as if His thoughts and ways
were like their own. All this will be seen in the light of that day,
and then the burst of praise--the rapturous hallelujah--will come
forth from many a heart that, when down here, had been robbed of its
peace and joy by legal and unworthy thoughts of God and His Christ.

But, while it is divinely true that nothing can come out before the
judgment-seat of Christ to disturb, in any way, the standing or
relationship of the very feeblest member of the body of Christ, or of
any member of the family of God, yet is the thought of that judgment
most solemn and weighty. Yes, truly, and none will more feel its
weight and solemnity than those who can look forward to it with
perfect calmness. And be it well remembered, that there are two things
indispensably needful in order to enjoy this calmness of spirit.
First, we must have a title without a blot; and, secondly, our moral
and practical state must be sound. No amount of mere evangelical
clearness as to our title will avail unless we are walking in moral
integrity before God. It will not do for a man to _say_ that he is not
afraid of the judgment-seat of Christ because Christ died for him,
while, at the same time, he is walking in a loose, careless,
self-indulgent way. This is a most dreadful delusion. It is alarming
in the extreme to find persons drawing a plea from evangelical
clearness to shrink the holy responsibility resting upon them as the
servants of Christ. Are we to speak idle words because we know we
shall never come into judgment? The bare thought is horrible; and yet
we may shrink from such a thing when clothed in plain language before
us, while, at the same time, we allow ourselves to be drawn, through a
false application of the doctrines of grace, into most culpable laxity
and carelessness as to the claims of holiness.

All this must be sedulously avoided. The grace that has delivered us
from judgment should exert a more powerful influence upon our ways
than the fear of that judgment. And not only so, but we must remember
that while we, _as sinners_, are delivered from judgment and wrath,
yet, _as servants_, we must give account of ourselves and our ways. It
is not a question of our being exposed here or there to men, angels,
or devils. No; "we must give account to God" (Rom. xiv. 11, 12). This
is far more serious, far more weighty, far more influential, than our
being exposed in the view of any creature. "Whatsoever ye do, do it
heartily, as _to the Lord_, and not unto men; knowing that of _the
Lord_ ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve
_the Lord_ Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong
which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons" (Col. iii.
23-25).

This is most serious and salutary. It may be asked, "When shall we
have to give account to God? When shall we receive for the wrong?" We
are not told, because that is not the question. The grand object of
the Holy Ghost in the passages just quoted is to lead the conscience
into holy exercise in the presence of God and of the Lord Christ. This
is good and most needful in a day of easy profession, like the
present, when there is much said about grace, free salvation,
justification without works, our standing in Christ. Is it that we
want to weaken the sense of these things? Far be the thought. Yea, we
would, in every possible way, seek to lead souls into the divine
knowledge and enjoyment of those most precious privileges. But then we
must remember the adjusting power of _truth_. There are always two
sides to a question, and we find in the pages of the New Testament the
clearest and fullest statements of grace, lying side by side with the
most solemn and searching statements as to our responsibility. Do the
latter obscure the former? Assuredly not. Neither should the former
weaken the latter. Both should have their due place, and be allowed to
exert their moulding influence upon our character and ways.

Some professors seem to have a great dislike to the words "duty" and
"responsibility;" but we invariably find that those who have the
deepest sense of grace have also, and as a necessary consequence, the
truest sense of duty and responsibility. We know of no exception. A
heart that is duly influenced by divine grace is sure to welcome every
reference to the claims of holiness. It is only empty talkers about
grace and standing that raise an outcry about duty and responsibility.
God deals in moral realities. He is real with us, and He wants us to
be real with Him. He is real in His love, and real in His
faithfulness; and He would have us real in our dealings with Him, and
in our response to His holy claims. It is of little use to say "Lord,
Lord" if we live in the neglect of His commandments. It is the merest
sham to say "I go sir" if we do not go. God looks for obedience in His
children. "He is a rewarder of them that _diligently_ seek Him."

May we bear these things in mind, and remember that all must come out
before the judgment-seat of Christ. "We must all be manifested" there.
This is unmingled joy to a really upright mind. If we do not
unfeignedly rejoice at the thought of the judgment-seat of Christ,
there must be something wrong somewhere. Either we are not established
in grace, or we are walking in some false way. If we know that we are
justified and accepted before God in Christ, and if we are walking in
moral integrity, as in His presence, the thought of the judgment-seat
of Christ will not disturb our hearts. The apostle could say, "We are
made manifest to God; and I trust also are made manifest in your
consciences." Was Paul afraid of the judgment-seat? Not he. But why?
Because he knew that he was accepted, as to his person, in a risen
Christ; and, _as to his ways_, he "labored that whether present or
absent he might be acceptable to Him." Thus it was with this holy man
of God and devoted servant of Christ. "And herein do I exercise
myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and
toward men" (Acts xxiv. 16). Paul knew that he was accepted _in_
Christ, and therefore he labored to be acceptable to Him in all his
ways.

These two things should never be separated, and they never will be in
any divinely taught mind or divinely regulated conscience. They will
be perfectly joined together, and, in holy harmony, exert their
formative power over the soul. It should be our aim to walk, even now,
in the light of the judgment-seat. This would prove a wholesome
regulator in many ways. It will not, in any wise, lead to legality of
spirit. Impossible. Shall we have any legality when we stand before
the judgment-seat of Christ? Assuredly not. Well, then, why should the
thought of that judgment-seat exert a legal influence now? In point of
fact, we feel assured there is, and can be, no greater joy to an
honest heart than to know that everything shall come clearly and fully
out, in the perfect light of that solemn day that is approaching. We
shall see all then as Christ sees it--judge of it as He judges. We
shall look back from amid the blaze of divine light shining from the
judgment-seat, and see our whole course in this world. We shall see
what blunders we have made--how badly we did this, that, and the other
work--mixed motives here--an under current there--a false object in
something else. All will be seen then in divine truth and light. Is it
a question of our being exposed to the whole universe? By no means.
Should we be concerned, whether or no? Certainly not. Will it, can it,
touch our acceptance? Nay, we shall shine there in all the perfectness
of our risen and glorified Head. The Judge Himself is our
righteousness. We stand in Him. He is our all. What can touch us? We
shall appear there as the fruit of His perfect work. We shall even be
associated with Him in the judgment which He executes over the world.

Is not this enough to settle every question? No doubt. But still we
have to think of our individual walk and service. We have to look to
it that we bring no wood, hay, and stubble into the light of the
coming day, for as surely as we do we shall suffer loss, though we
ourselves shall be saved through the fire. We should seek to carry
ourselves now as those who are already in the light, and whose one
desire is to do what is well pleasing to our adorable Lord, not
because of the fear of judgment, but under "the vast constraining
influence" of His love. "The love of Christ constraineth us, because
we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that
He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again." This is
the true motive-spring in all Christian service. It is not the fear of
judgment impelling, but the love of Christ constraining us; and we may
say, with fullest assurance, that never shall we have so deep a sense
of that love as when we stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.

    "When this passing world is done,
    When has sunk yon radiant sun,
    When I stand with Christ on high,
    Looking o'er life's history,
    Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
    Not till then, how much I owe."

There are many other points of interest and value in this marvellous
chapter; but we feel we must bring our paper to a conclusion; and,
most assuredly, we could not do this more suitably than by unfolding,
as God's Spirit may enable us, that theme which has been before us all
along, "The Ministry of Reconciliation," to which we shall now direct
the reader's attention as briefly as we can.

We may view it under three distinct heads; namely, first, the
_foundation_ on which this ministry rests; secondly, the _objects_
toward whom it is exercised; thirdly, the _features_ by which it is
characterized.

1. And first, then, as to the foundation on which the ministry of
reconciliation rests. This is set before us, in the closing verse of
our chapter.

"For He (God) hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

We have here three parties, namely, God, Christ, and sin. This latter
is simply the expression of what we are by nature. There is in "_us_"
nought but "_sin_," from the crown of the head to the sole of the
foot, the whole man is sin. The principle of sin pervades the entire
system of fallen humanity. The root, trunk, branches, leaves, blossom,
fruit--all is sin. It is not only that we have committed sins; we are
actually _born_ in sin. True, we have, all of us, our characteristic
sins. We have not only, all of us, "gone astray," but "we have turned
every one to his own way." Each has pursued his own specific path of
evil and folly; and all this is the fruit of that thing called "sin."
The outward life of each is but a stream from the fountain--a branch
from the stem; that fountain is sin.

And what, let us ask, is sin? It is the acting of the will in
opposition to God. It is doing our own pleasure--doing what we like
ourselves. This is the root--this the source of sin. Let it take what
shape, or clothe itself in what forms it may; be it gross or be it
most refined in its actings, the great root-principle, the parent
stem, is self-will, and this is sin. There is no necessity for
entering into any detail; all we desire is that the reader should have
a clear and thorough sense of what sin is, and not only so, but that
he, by nature, is sinful. Where this great and solemn fact takes full
possession of the soul, by the power of the Holy Ghost, there can be
no settled rest until the soul is brought to lay hold on the truth set
forth in 2 Corinthians v. 21. The question of sin had to be disposed
of ere there could be so much as a single thought of reconciliation.
God could never be reconciled to sin. But fallen man was a sinner by
practice and sinful in nature. The very sources of his being were
corrupt and defiled, and God was holy, just, and true. He is of purer
eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity. Hence, then,
between God and sinful humanity there could be no such thing as
reconciliation. True it is--most blessedly true--that God is good, and
merciful, and gracious. But He is also holy; and holiness and sin
could never coalesce.

What was to be done? Hear the answer: "God hath made Christ to be
sin." But where? Reader, look well at this. Where was Christ made sin?
Was it in His birth? or in Jordan's flood? or in the garden of
Gethsemane? Nay; though, most assuredly, in that garden the shadows
were lengthening, the darkness was thickening, the gloom was
deepening. But where and when was the holy, spotless, precious Lamb of
God made sin? _On the cross, and only there!_ This is a grand cardinal
truth--a truth of vital importance--a truth which the enemy of God and
His Word is seeking to darken and set aside in every possible way. The
devil is seeking, in the most specious manner, to displace the cross.
He cares not how he compasses this end. He will make use of anything
and everything in order to detract from the glory of the Cross, that
great central truth of Christianity round which every other truth
circulates, and on which the whole fabric of divine revelation rests
as upon an eternal foundation.

"He hath made Him to be sin." Here lies the root of the whole matter.
Christ, on the cross, was made sin for us. He died, and was buried.
Sin was condemned. It met the just judgment of a holy God who could
not pass over a single jot or tittle of sin; nay, He poured out His
unmingled wrath upon it in the person of His Son, when that Son was
"made sin." It is a serious error to believe that Christ was bearing
the judgment of God during His lifetime, or that aught save the death
of Christ could meet the question of sin. He might have become
incarnate--He might have lived and labored on this earth--He might
have wrought His countless miracles--He might have healed, and
cleansed, and quickened--He might have prayed, and wept, and groaned;
but not any of these things, nor yet all of them put together, could
blot out a single stain of that dreadful thing "_sin_." God the Holy
Ghost declares that "without shedding of blood there is no remission"
(Heb. ix. 22).

Now, then, reader, if the holy life and labors of the Son of God--if
His prayers, tears, and groans could not put away sin; how do you
think that your life and labors, your prayers, tears, and groans, your
good works, rites, ordinances, and ceremonies could ever put away sin?
The fact is, that the life of our blessed Lord only proved man more
and more guilty. It laid the topstone upon the superstructure of his
guilt, and therefore left the question of sin wholly unsettled.

Nor was this all. Our blessed Lord Himself declares, over and over
again, the absolute and indispensable necessity of His death. "Except
a corn of wheat fall into the ground and _die_, it abideth _alone_;
but if it _die_, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John xii.). "Thus it
is written, and thus _it behoved_ (or was necessary for) Christ to
suffer" (Luke xxiv. 46). "How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled
that thus it _must_ be" (Matt. xxvi.)? In a word, death was the only
pathway of life, the only basis of union, the only ground of
reconciliation. All who speak of incarnation as being the basis of our
union with Christ deny, in the plainest way, the whole range of truth
connected with a dead and risen Christ. Many may not see this; but
Satan sees it, and he sees too how it will work. He knows what he is
about, and surely the servants of Christ ought to know what is
involved in the error against which we are warning our readers.

The fact is, the enemy does not want souls to see that, in the death
of Christ, sentence was passed on fallen human nature and upon the
whole world. This was not the case in incarnation at all. An incarnate
Christ put man to the test--a dead Christ put man to death--a risen
Christ takes the believer into union with Himself. When Christ came in
the flesh, fallen man was still under probation. When Christ died on
the cross, fallen man was wholly condemned. When Christ rose from the
dead, He became the head of a new race, each member of which, being
quickened by the Holy Ghost, is viewed by God as united to Christ, in
life, righteousness, and favor--he is viewed as having been dead, as
having passed through judgment, and as being now as free from all
condemnation as Christ himself. "He hath made Him to be sin for us,
[He] who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him."

Now, it must be plain to the reader who bows to Scripture, that
incarnation did not, and could not accomplish all this. Incarnation
did not put away sin. Need we stop here to dwell upon the glories of
the mystery of incarnation? Will anyone imagine that we take away from
the value, or mar the integrity of that priceless fundamental truth,
because we deny that it puts away sin, or forms the basis of our union
with Christ? We trust not. That incarnation was essentially necessary
for the accomplishment of redemption is plain to all. Christ had to
become a man in order to die. "Without shedding of blood is no
remission." He had to give His flesh for the life of the world. But
this only goes to prove the absolute necessity of death. It was the
_giving_ of His flesh, not the _taking_ of it, that laid the
foundation of the whole fabric--life, pardon, peace, righteousness,
union, glory, all. Apart from death, there is, and could be,
absolutely nothing. Through death we have all.

But we cannot pursue this profound subject any further now. Enough has
been said to set forth its connection with our special thesis--the
ministry of reconciliation. When we read that "God hath made Christ to
be sin for us," we must see that this involved nothing less than the
death of the cross. "THOU," says that blessed One, "hast brought ME
into the dust of death" (Psa. xxii.). What an utterance! Who can
fathom the mighty depths of those words--"Thou"--"Me"--and "death"?
Who can enter into the question, "My God, My God, why hast _Thou_
forsaken _Me_?" Why did a holy, righteous God forsake His only
begotten, well-beloved, eternal Son? The answer contains the solid
basis of that marvelous ministry whereof we speak. Christ was made
sin. He not only bore our _sins_ in His own body on the tree; but He
was made sin. He stood charged with the entire question of sin. He was
"the Lamb of God bearing away the sin of the world." As such He
gloriously vindicated God, in the very scene where He had been
dishonored. He glorified Him in respect to that very thing by which
His majesty had been insulted. He took upon Himself the whole
matter--placed Himself beneath the weight of the whole burden, and
completely cleared the ground on which God could lay the foundations
of the new creation. He opened those eternal flood-gates which sin had
closed, so that the full tide of divine love might roll down along
that channel which His atoning death alone could furnish; so long as
sin was _in_ question, reconciliation must be _out_ of the question.
But Christ, being made sin died and put it away forever, and thus
changed entirely the ground and character of God's dealing with man
and with the world.

The death of Christ, then, as we have seen, is the alone basis of
reconciliation. That divine work has opened the way for placing men
and things in their right relationship to God, and on their proper
footing before Him. And this, be it remembered, is the true sense and
meaning of reconciliation. Sin had alienated "men" from God, and set
"_things_" entirely astray, and hence both men and things needed to be
reconciled, or set straight; and the death of Christ has cleared the
way for this.

It is well to see clearly the distinction between "atonement" and
"reconciliation." They are often confounded, through inattention to
Scripture; and the honored translators of our excellent Authorised
Version have not, with sufficient accuracy, marked this distinction.
For example, in Rom. v. 11, they have the word "atonement" where it
ought to be rendered "reconciliation" and in Heb. ii. 17, we have the
word "reconciliation" where it ought to be "atonement."

Nor is the distinction by any means unimportant. The word "atonement,"
or "propitiation," occurs, in some one or other of its forms, six
times in the Greek New Testament. (See carefully Luke xviii. 13; Rom.
iii. 25; Heb. ii. 17; ix. 5; 1 John ii. 2; iv. 10.) The word
"reconciliation" occurs, in one or other of its forms, thirteen times
in the New Testament. (See Rom. v. 10, 11; xi. 15; 1 Cor. vii. 11; 2
Cor. v. 18, 19, 20; Eph. ii. 16; Col. i. 20, 21.) If the reader will
take the trouble of examining and comparing these passages, he will
see that atonement and reconciliation are not the same thing, but that
the former is the foundation of the latter. Sin had made man an enemy
and thrown things into confusion; and in Col. i. 20, 21, we read,
"And, having made peace through the blood of his cross (here is the
foundation), by Him to reconcile all _things_ unto Himself; by Him, I
say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And _you_,
that were sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now _hath he reconciled_, in the body of His flesh,
_through death_, to present you holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable
in his sight." Here we have the death of Christ set forth as the
ground of the reconciliation of both men and things.[16]

  [16] If the reader will turn, for a moment, to 1 Cor. vii. 11, he will
  see the use of the word reconciliation. "But and if she depart, let
  her remain unmarried, or be _reconciled_ to her husband." In classical
  Greek the word is applied to the _changing_ money: the _exchanging_
  one thing for another; _exchanging_ prisoners; the changing a person
  from _enmity to friendship_. In short, everywhere the distinction is
  maintained between "atonement," or "propitiation" and   "reconciliation."
  The former is {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, the latter, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}.

Now this leads to another point of immense importance. We often hear
it said that "the death of Christ was necessary in order _to reconcile
God to man_." This is a pious mistake, arising from inattention to the
language of the Holy Ghost, and indeed to the plain meaning of the
word "reconcile." God never changed--never stepped out of His normal
and true position. He abideth faithful. There was, and could be, no
derangement, no confusion, no alienation, so far as He was concerned;
and hence there could be no need of reconciling Him to us. In fact, it
was exactly the contrary. Man had gone astray; he was the enemy, and
needed to be reconciled. But this was wholly impossible if _sin_ were
not righteously disposed of; and sin could only be disposed of by
_death_--even the death of One, who, as being a man, could die, and
being God, could impart all the dignity, value, and glory of His
divine Person to the atoning sacrifice which He offered.

Wherefore, then, as might be expected, Scripture never speaks of
reconciling God to man. There is no such expression to be found within
the covers of the New Testament. "God was in Christ reconciling the
world (in its broad aspect--men and things) unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them." And again, "All things are of God, who
hath reconciled _us_ to Himself by Jesus Christ." In a word, it is
God, in His infinite mercy and grace, through the atoning death of
Christ, bringing us back to Himself, and placing us not merely in the
original place, or on the original footing, or in the original
relationship; but, as was due to the work of Christ, giving us back
far more than we had lost, and introducing us into the marvelous
relationship of sons, and setting us in His presence, in divine and
eternal righteousness, and in the infinite favor and acceptableness of
His own Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amazing grace! Stupendous and glorious plan! What a ministry! And yet
need we wonder when we think of the death of Christ as the foundation
of it all? When we remember that "Christ was made sin for us," it
seems but the necessary counterpart that "we should be made the
righteousness of God in Him." It would have been no adequate result of
such a work as Christ accomplished, to have brought men and things
back to the Adamic or old creation ground. This would never have
satisfied the heart of God in any way, whether as respects Christ's
glory or our blessing. It would not have furnished an answer to that
omnipotent appeal of John xvii.: "I have glorified Thee on the earth:
I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And _now_, O
Father, glorify Thou Me, with Thine own self, with the glory which I
had with Thee before the world was" (vers. 4, 5). Who can gauge the
depth and power of those accents as they fell upon the ear of the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?

But we must not enlarge, much as we should like to do so. Little
remains to be said as to the _objects_ of the ministry of
reconciliation, inasmuch as we have, in a measure, anticipated them by
speaking of "men and things," for these are, in very deed, the
objects, and they are included in that comprehensive word "world."
"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." We would
merely add here, that it is utterly impossible for any creature under
heaven to exclude himself from the range of this most precious
ministry. Before the reader can shut himself out from the application
of all this grace to himself, he must prove that he does not belong to
the world. This he cannot do, and hence he must see that God is
beseeching him to be reconciled.

But this leads us to look, for a moment, at the _features_ which
characterize this glorious ministry.

1. And first, let us mark God's attitude. He is beseeching sinners.
What a thought! It seems too much for the heart to conceive. Only
think, reader, of the Most High and Mighty God, the Creator of the
ends of the earth--the One who has power to destroy both soul and body
in hell--think of Him as beseeching and praying you to be friends with
Him! It is not a question of your praying to Him and His hearing you.
No: but the very reverse--He is praying you. And for what does He ask
you? Is it to do anything or to give anything? Nay; He simply asks you
to be friends with Him because He has befriended you at the cost of
His own Son. Think of this. He spared not His only begotten and
well-beloved Son, but bruised Him in your stead. He made Him to be sin
for you. He judged your sin in the person of His Son, on the cross, in
order that He might be able to reconcile you. And now He stretches
forth His arms and opens His heart to you, and prays you to be
reconciled--to be friends with Him. Surpassing grace! It really seems
to us as though human language can only tend to weaken and impoverish
this grand reality.

We would only further suggest that the force of ver. 20 is greatly
weakened by the word "you," which, as the reader will observe, ought
not to be inserted. It makes it appear as though the apostle were
beseeching the Corinthian saints to be reconciled, whereas he is only
setting forth the terms and the style adopted by all "ambassadors" for
Christ wherever they went through the wide world--the language in
which they were to address "every creature" under heaven. It is not,
"Do this or that"--"Give this or that." It was not command or
prohibition; but simply, "Be reconciled."

2. And then, what encouragement to the poor trembling heart that feels
the burden of sin and guilt to be assured that God will not impute,
will not reckon, one of his sins! This is another precious feature of
the ministry of reconciliation. "_Not_ imputing their trespasses unto
them." This must set the heart at rest. If God tells me that He will
not count one of my trespasses to me, because He has already counted
them to Jesus on the cross, this may well tranquilize my spirit and
emancipate my heart. If I believe that God means what He says, perfect
peace must be my portion. True, it is only by the Holy Ghost that I
can enter into the power of this glorious truth; but what the Holy
Ghost leads me to believe and rest in is, that God does not, and will
not, blessed be His name, impute a single sin to me, because He has
already imputed _all_ to Christ.

But this leads us to the third feature of the ministry of
reconciliation.

3. If God will not impute my trespasses to me then what will He
impute? Righteousness--even the righteousness of God. We cannot
attempt to unfold the nature and character of this righteousness. We
may do so on another occasion, if the Lord permit; but here we confine
ourselves to the statement contained in the passage before us, which
declares that God hath made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us
who were all sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him. Most glorious truth! Sin is made an end of, as regards the
believer. Christ lives as our subsisting righteousness, before God,
and we live in Him. There is not so much as one single entry to our
debit in the book of divine justice; but there is a risen and
glorified Christ to our credit. Nor is this all. Not only are our sins
gone, our guilt cancelled--our old self completely ignored--not only
are we made the righteousness of God in Jesus; but we are loved by God
as Jesus is loved--accepted in Him--one with Him in all that He is and
has, as a risen, victorious, ascended, and glorified Man at God's
right hand. Higher than this it is impossible to go.

And now we must close, and we do it reluctantly. We do it with a
certain painful consciousness of the feebleness and poverty of our
handling of this lofty and comprehensive theme. But all this we must
leave in the Master's hand. He knows all about the subject and the
treatment thereof--all about the reader and the writer of these
lines. To Him we commit all, while we make one solemn, closing appeal
to the unconverted, unawakened reader.

Dear friend, let us remind you that this glorious ministry will very
soon close. The acceptable year, the day of salvation, shall ere long
come to an end. The ambassadors shall soon be all called home and
their embassy be closed forever. The door shall soon be shut, and the
day of vengeance set in in terror and wrath upon a Christ-rejecting
world. Let us entreat of you to flee from the wrath to come. Remember
that the One who is now praying and beseeching you to be reconciled,
has uttered the following awful words, "Because I have called, and ye
refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded. But ye
have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof; I
also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh"
(Prov. i. 24-26). May the reader escape the unutterable horrors of the
day of wrath and judgment!

                                                           C. H. M.




THE QUESTION OF QUESTIONS

    Some call Him a Saviour, in word,
      But mix their own works with His plan;
    And hope He His help will afford,
      When they have done all that they can:
    If doings prove rather too light
      (A little they own they may fail),
    They purpose to make up full weight,
      By casting His name in the scale.

    Some style Him "the Pearl of great price,"
      And say, He's the fountain of joys;
    Yet feed upon folly and vice,
      And cleave to the world and its toys:
    Like Judas, the Saviour they kiss,
      And while they salute Him, betray:
    Oh! what will profession like this
      Avail in His terrible day?

    If asked what of Jesus _I_ think,
      Though still my best thoughts are but poor,
    I say, He's my meat and my drink,
      My life and my strength and my store;
    My Shepherd, my trust and my Friend,
      My Saviour from sin and from thrall;
    My Hope from beginning to end,
      My Portion, my Lord and my All.




THE GREAT COMMISSION

     "And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake
     unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be
     fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the
     Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He
     their understanding, that they might understand the
     Scriptures, and said unto them, _Thus it is written_, and
     thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead
     the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins
     should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning
     at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And,
     behold, I send the promise of My Father unto you: but tarry
     ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power
     from on high" (Luke xxiv. 44-49).


This splendid passage of Holy Scripture sets before us the great
commission which the risen Lord entrusted to His apostles just as He
was about to ascend into the heavens, having gloriously accomplished
all His blessed work upon earth. It is truly a most wonderful
commission, and opens up a very wide field of truth, through which we
may range with much spiritual delight and profit. Whether we ponder
_the commission itself_, its _basis_, its _authority_, its _power_, or
its _sphere_, we shall find it all full of most precious instruction.
May the blessed Spirit guide our thoughts, while we meditate, first of
all, upon

THE COMMISSION ITSELF.

The apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were specially
charged to preach "repentance and remission of sins." Let us all
remember this. We are prone to forget it, to the serious damaging of
our preaching, and of the souls of our hearers. Some of us are apt to
overlook the first part of the commission, in our eagerness, it may
be, to get to the second. This is a most serious mistake. We may rest
assured that it is our truest wisdom to keep close to the veritable
terms in which our blessed Lord delivered His charge to His earliest
heralds. We cannot omit a single point, not to say a leading branch of
the commission, without serious loss in every way. Our Lord is
infinitely wiser and more gracious than we are, and we need not fear
to preach with all possible plainness what He told His apostles to
preach, namely, "repentance and remission of sins."

Now the question is, are we all careful to maintain this very
important connection? Do we give sufficient prominence to the first
part of the great commission? Do we preach "repentance?"

We are not now inquiring what repentance is; that we shall do, if God
permit. But, whatever it is, do we preach it? That our Lord commanded
His apostles to preach it is plain; and not only so, but He preached
it Himself, as we read it in Mark i. 14, 15: "Now after that John was
put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the
kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God is at hand; repent ye and believe the gospel."

Let us carefully note this record. Let all preachers note it. Our
divine Master called upon sinners to repent and believe the gospel.
Some would have us to believe that it is a mistake to call upon
persons dead in trespasses and sins to do anything. "How," it is
argued, "can those who are dead repent? They are incapable of any
spiritual movement. They must first get the power ere they can either
repent or believe."

What is our reply to all this? A very simple one indeed--Our Lord
knows better than all the theologians in the world what ought to be
preached. He knows all about man's condition--his guilt, his misery,
his spiritual death, his utter helplessness, his total inability to
think a single right thought, to utter a single right word, to do a
single right act; and yet He called upon men to repent. This is quite
enough for us. It is no part of our business to seek to reconcile
seeming differences. It may seem to us difficult to reconcile man's
utter powerlessness with his responsibility; but "God is His own
interpreter, and He will make it plain." It is our happy privilege,
and our bounden duty, to believe what He says, and do what He tells
us. This is true wisdom, and it yields solid peace.

Our Lord preached repentance, and He commanded His apostles to preach
it; and they did so constantly. Harken to Peter on the day of
Pentecost. "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." And again, "Repent
ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out
when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord." Harken to Paul also, as he stood on Mars' Hill, at Athens: "But
now _God commandeth all men everywhere_ to repent; because He hath
appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness, by
that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto
all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." So also, in his
touching address to the elders of Ephesus, he says, "I kept back
nothing that was profitable, (blessed servant!) but have showed you,
and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both
to the Jews, and also the Greeks, _repentance toward God_, and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ." And again, in his address to king
Agrippa, he says, "Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient
unto the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them of Damascus, and
at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the
Gentiles, that _they should repent_, and turn to God, and _do works
meet for repentance_."

Now, in the face of this body of evidence--with the example of our
Lord and His apostles so fully and clearly before us--may we not very
lawfully inquire whether there is not a serious defect in much of our
modern preaching? Do we preach repentance as we ought? Do we assign
to it the place which it gets in the preaching of our Lord, and of His
early heralds? It is vanity and folly, or worse, to talk about its
being legal to preach repentance, to say that it tarnishes the lustre
of the gospel of the grace of God to call upon men dead in trespasses
and sins to repent, and do works meet for repentance. Was Paul legal
in his preaching? Did he not preach a clear, full, rich, and divine
gospel? Have we got in advance of Paul? Do we preach a clearer gospel
than he? How utterly preposterous the notion! Well, but he preached
repentance. He told his hearers that "God now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent." Does this mar the gospel of the grace of God?
Does it detract from its heavenly fulness and freeness? As well might
you tell a farmer that it lowered the quality of his grain to plough
the fallow ground before sowing.

No doubt it is of the very last possible importance to preach the
gospel of the grace of God, or, if you please, the gospel of the
glory, in all its fulness, clearness, and power. We are to preach the
unsearchable riches of Christ--to declare the whole counsel of God, to
present the righteousness of God and His salvation, without limit,
condition, or hindrance of any kind--to publish the good news to every
creature under heaven.

We should, in the very strongest possible manner, insist upon this.
But at the same time we must jealously keep to the terms of "the great
commission." We cannot depart the breadth of a hair from these
without serious damage to our testimony, and to the souls of our
hearers. If we fail to preach repentance, we are "keeping back"
something "profitable." What should we say to a husbandman, if we saw
him scattering his precious grain along the beaten highway? We should
justly pronounce him out of his mind. The ploughshare must do its
work. The fallow ground must be broken up ere the seed is sown; and we
may rest assured that, as in the kingdom of nature, so in the kingdom
of grace, the ploughing must precede the sowing. The ground must be
duly prepared for the seed, else the operation will prove altogether
defective. Let the gospel be preached as God has given it to us in His
Word. Let it not be shorn of one of its moral glories; let it flow
forth as it comes from the deep fountain of the heart of God, through
the channel of Christ's finished work, on the authority of the Holy
Ghost. All this is not only most fully admitted but peremptorily
insisted upon; but at the same time we must never forget that our Lord
and Master called upon men to "repent and believe the gospel;" that He
strictly enjoined it upon His holy apostles to preach repentance; and
that the blessed apostle Paul, the chief of apostles, the profoundest
teacher the Church has ever known, did preach repentance, calling upon
men everywhere to repent and do works meet for repentance.

And here it may be well for us to inquire what this repentance is
which occupies such a prominent place in "the great commission," and
in the preaching of our Lord and of His apostles. If it be--as it
most surely is--an abiding and universal necessity for man--if God
commands all men everywhere to repent--if repentance is inseparably
linked with remission of sins--how needful it is that we should seek
to understand its true nature!

What, then, is repentance? May the Spirit Himself instruct us by the
word of God! He alone can. We are all liable to err--some of us have
erred--in our thoughts on this most weighty subject. We are in danger,
while seeking to avoid error on one side, of falling into error on the
other. We are poor, feeble, ignorant, erring creatures, whose only
security is in our being kept continually at the feet of our blessed
Lord Jesus Christ. He alone can teach us what repentance is, as well
as what it is not. We feel most fully assured that the enemy of souls
and of the truth has succeeded in giving repentance a false place in
the creeds, and confessions, and public teachings of Christendom; and
the conviction of this makes it all the more needful for us to keep
close to the living teachings of Holy Scripture.

We are not aware of any formal definition of the subject furnished by
the Holy Ghost. He does not tell us in so many words what repentance
is; but the more we study the Word in reference to the great question,
the more deeply we feel convinced that true repentance involves the
solemn judgment of ourselves, our condition, and our ways, in the
presence of God; and, further, that this judgment is not a transient
feeling, but an abiding condition--not a certain exercise to be gone
through as a sort of title to the remission of sins, but the deep and
settled habit of the soul, giving seriousness, gravity, tenderness,
brokenness, and profound humility, which shall overlap, underlie, and
characterize our entire course.

We seriously question if this aspect of the subject is sufficiently
understood. Let not the reader mistake us. We do not mean for a moment
to teach that the soul should be always bowed down under the sense of
unforgiven sin. Far be the thought! But we greatly fear that some of
us, in running away from _legality_ on the question of repentance,
have fallen into _levity_. This is a serious error. We may depend upon
it that levity is no remedy for legality: were it proposed as such, we
should have no hesitation in pronouncing the remedy much worse than
the disease. Thank God we have His own sovereign remedy for levity, on
the one hand, and legality on the other. "_Truth_,"--insisting upon
"repentance," is the remedy for the former. "_Grace_"--publishing
"remission of sins," is the remedy for the latter. And we cannot but
believe that the more profound our repentance, the fuller will be our
enjoyment of remission.

We are inclined to judge that there is a sad lack of depth and
seriousness in much of our modern preaching. In our anxiety to make
the gospel simple, and salvation easy, we fail to press on the
consciences of our hearers the holy claims of truth. If a preacher
now-a-days were to call upon his hearers to "repent and turn to God,
and to do works meet for repentance," he would, in certain circles, be
pronounced legal, ignorant, below the mark, and such like. And yet
this was precisely what the blessed apostle Paul did, as he himself
tells us. Will any of our modern evangelists have the temerity to say
that Paul was a legal or an ignorant preacher? We trust not. Paul
carried with him the full, clear, precious gospel of God--the gospel
of the grace, and the gospel of the glory. He preached the kingdom of
God--He unfolded the glorious mystery of the Church--yea, that mystery
was specially committed to him.

But let all preachers remember that Paul preached repentance. He
called upon sinners to judge themselves--to repent in dust and ashes,
as was meet and right they should. He himself had learnt the true
meaning of repentance. He had not only judged himself once in a way,
but he _lived_ in the spirit of self-judgment. It was the habit of his
soul, the attitude of his heart, and it gave a depth, solidity,
seriousness and solemnity to his preaching of which we modern
preachers know but little. We do not believe that Paul's repentance
ended with the three days and three nights of blindness after his
conversion. He was a self-judged man all his life long. Did this
hinder his enjoyment of the grace of God or of the preciousness of
Christ? Nay, it gave depth and intensity to his enjoyment.

All this, we feel persuaded, demands our most serious consideration.
We greatly dread the light, airy, superficial style of much of our
modern preaching. It sometimes seems to us as if the gospel were
brought into utter contempt and the sinner led to suppose that he is
really conferring a very great favor upon God in accepting salvation
at His hands. Now we most solemnly protest against this. It is
dishonoring to God, and lowering His gospel; and, as might be
expected, its moral effect on those who profess to be converted is
most deplorable. It superinduces levity, self-indulgence, worldliness,
vanity, and folly. Sin is not felt to be the dreadful thing it is in
the sight of God. Self is not judged. The world is not given up. The
gospel that is preached is what may be called "salvation made easy" to
the flesh--the most terrible thing we can possibly conceive--terrible
in its effect upon the soul--terrible in its results in the life.
God's sentence upon the flesh and the world gets no place in the
preaching to which we refer. People are offered a salvation which
leaves self and the world practically unjudged, and the consequence
is, those who profess to be converted by this gospel exhibit a
lightness and unsubduedness perfectly shocking to people of serious
piety.

Man must take his true place before God, and that is the place of
self-judgment, contrition of heart, real sorrow for sin, and true
confession. It is here the gospel meets him. The fulness of God ever
waits on an empty vessel, and a truly repentant soul is the empty
vessel into which all the fulness and grace of God can flow in saving
power. The Holy Ghost will make the sinner _feel_ and _own_ his real
condition. It is He alone who can do so: but He uses preaching to this
end. He brings the word of God to bear on man's conscience. The Word
is His hammer, wherewith He breaks the rock in pieces--His plowshare,
wherewith He breaks up the fallow ground. He makes the furrow, and
then casts in the incorruptible seed, to germinate and fructify to the
glory of God. True, the furrow, how deep soever it may be, can produce
no fruit. It is the seed, and not the furrow; but there must be the
furrow for all that.

It is not, need we say, that there is anything meritorious in the
sinner's repentance. To say so could only be regarded as audacious
falsehood. Repentance is not a good work whereby the sinner merits the
favor of God. All this view of the subject is utterly and fatally
false. True repentance is the discovery and hearty confession of our
utter ruin and guilt. It is the finding out that my whole life has
been a lie, and that I myself am a liar. This is serious work. There
is no flippancy or levity when a soul is brought to this. A penitent
soul in the presence of God is a solemn reality; and we cannot but
feel that were we more governed by the terms of "the great
commission," we should more solemnly, earnestly and constantly call
upon men "to repent and turn to God and do works meet for
repentance"--we should preach "repentance" as well as "remission of
sins."




PART II.


Since writing our last paper, we have been much interested in the way
in which repentance is presented in those inimitable parables in Luke
XV. There we learn, in a manner the most touching and convincing, not
only the abiding and universal necessity,--the moral fitness in every
case of true repentance,--but also that it is grateful to the heart of
God. Our Lord, in His marvelous reply to the scribes and Pharisees,
declares that "there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth."
And again, "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of
the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

Now this gives us a very elevated view of the subject. It is one thing
to see that repentance is binding upon man, and another and very much
higher thing to see that it is grateful to God. "Thus saith the high
and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in
the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and
humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the
heart of the contrite ones." A broken heart, a contrite spirit, a
repentant mind, gives joy to God.

Let us ponder this fact. The scribes and Pharisees murmured because
Jesus received sinners. How little they understood Him! How little
they knew of the object that brought Him down into this dark and
sinful world! How little they knew of themselves! It was the "lost"
that Jesus came to seek. But scribes and Pharisees did not think
themselves lost. They thought they were all right. They did not want a
Saviour. They were thoroughly unbroken, unrepentant, self-confident:
and hence they had never afforded one atom of joy in heaven. All the
learning of the scribes, and all the righteousness of the Pharisees,
could not waken up a single note of joy in the presence of the angels
of God. They were like the elder son in the parable who said, "Lo,
these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time
thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make
merry with my friends."

Here we have a true specimen of an unbroken heart and an unrepentant
spirit--a man thoroughly satisfied with himself. Miserable object! He
had never touched a chord in the Father's heart--never drawn out the
Father's love--never felt the Father's embrace--never received the
Father's welcome. How could he? He had never felt himself lost. He was
full of himself, and therefore had no room for the Father's love. He
did not feel that he owed anything, and hence he had nothing to be
forgiven. It rather seemed to him that his father was his debtor. "Lo,
these many years do I serve thee; and yet thou never gavest me a kid."
He had not received his wages.

What egregious folly! And yet it is just the same with every
unrepentant soul--every one who is building upon his own
righteousness. He really makes God his debtor. "I have served Thee;
but I have never gotten what I earned." Miserable notion! The man who
talks of his duties, his doings, his sayings, his givings, is really
insulting God. But on the other hand, the man who comes with a broken
heart, a contrite spirit, repentant, self-judged--that is the man who
gives joy to the heart of God.

And why? Simply because such a one feels his need of God. Here lies
the grand moral secret of the whole matter. To apprehend this is to
grasp the full truth on the great question of repentance. A God of
love desires to make His way to the sinner's heart, but there is no
room for Him so long as that heart is hard and impenitent. But when
the sinner is brought to the end of himself, when he sees himself a
helpless, hopeless wreck, when he sees the utter emptiness, hollowness
and vanity of all earthly things; when like the prodigal he comes to
himself and feels the depth and reality of his need, then there is
room in his heart for God, and--marvelous truth!--God delights to come
and fill it. "To this man will I look." To whom? To the man who does
his duty, keeps the law, does his best, lives up to his light? Nay;
but "to him who is of a contrite spirit."

It will perhaps be said that the words just quoted apply to Israel.
Primarily, they do; but morally they apply to every contrite heart on
the face of the earth. And, further, it cannot be said that Luke xv.
applies specially to Israel. It applies to all. "There is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that"--What? Does his
duty? Nay, it does not even say, "that believeth." No doubt believing
is essential in every case; but the interesting point here is that a
truly repentant sinner causes joy in heaven. A person may say, "I fear
I do not believe." Well, but do you repent? Have your eyes been opened
to see your true condition before God? Have you taken your true place
before God as utterly lost? If so, you are one of those over whom
there is joy in heaven. What gave joy to the shepherd's heart? Was it
the ninety and nine sheep that went not astray? Nay, it was finding
the lost sheep.[17] What gave joy to the woman's heart? Was it the
nine pieces in her possession? Nay, it was finding the one lost piece.
What gave joy to the father's heart? Was it the service and the
obedience of the elder son? Nay, it was getting back his lost son. A
repentant, broken-hearted, returning sinner wakens up heaven's joy.
"Let _us_ eat and be merry." Why? Because the elder son has been
working in the fields and doing his duty? No; but "This my son was
_dead_, and is alive again; he was _lost_, and is found."

  [17] Let the reader note that the "ninety and nine just persons that
  need no repentance" and the elder son that "never transgressed his
  father's commandment" is the expression of their own thoughts as to
  themselves. When _God's_ judgment of man is expressed, the Scriptures
  declare, "There is none righteous, no, not one.... They are all gone
  out of the way; ... there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Rom.
  iii. 10, 12).--_Ed._

All this is perfectly wonderful. Indeed, it is so wonderful that if we
had it not from the lips of Him who is the Truth, and on the eternal
page of divine inspiration, we could not believe it. But, blessed be
God, there it stands, and none can gainsay it. There shines the
glorious truth that a poor, self-convicted, broken-hearted, penitent,
though hell-deserving sinner, gives joy to the heart of God. Let
people talk as they will about keeping the law and doing their duty:
it may go for what it is worth; but be it remembered there is no such
clause within the covers of the volume of God--no such sentence ever
dropped from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ as "There is joy in
heaven over one sinner that does his duty."

_A sinner's duty!_ What is it? "God commandeth _all_ men _everywhere_
to repent." What is it that can really define our duty? Surely the
divine command. Well, here it is, and there is no getting over it.
God's command to all men, in every place, is to repent. His
commandment binds them to do it; His goodness leads them to it; His
judgment warns them to it; and, above all, and most marvelous of all,
He assures us that our repentance gives joy to His heart. A penitent
heart is an object of profoundest interest to the mind of God, because
that heart is morally prepared to receive what God delights to bestow,
namely, "remission of sins"--yea, all the fulness of divine love. A
man might spend millions in the cause of religion and philanthropy,
and not afford one atom of joy in heaven. What are millions of money
to God? A single penitential tear is more precious to Him than all the
wealth of the universe. All the offerings of an unbroken heart are a
positive insult to God; but a single sigh from the depths of a
contrite spirit goes up as fragrant incense to His throne and to His
heart.

No man can meet God on the ground of duty; but God can meet any
man--the very chief of sinners--on the ground of repentance, for that
is man's true place; and we may say with all possible confidence that
when the sinner, as he is, meets God as He is, the whole question is
settled once and forever. "I said, _I will confess_ my transgressions
unto the Lord, and _Thou forgavest_ the iniquity of my sin." The
moment man takes his true place--the place of repentance--God meets
him with a full forgiveness, a divine and everlasting righteousness.
It is His joy to do so. It gratifies His heart and it glorifies His
name to pardon, justify and accept a penitent soul that simply
believes in Jesus. The very moment the prophet cried, "Woe is me; for
I am undone,"--"Then _flew_ one of the seraphims with a live coal from
off the altar," to touch his lips, and to purge his sins (Isa. vi.
5-7).

Thus it is always. The fulness of God ever waits on an empty vessel.
If I am full of myself, full of my own fancied goodness, my own
morality, my own righteousness, I have no room for God, no room for
Christ. "He filleth the _hungry_ with good things; but the _rich_ He
hath sent _empty_ away." A self-emptied soul can be filled with the
fulness of God; but if God sends a man empty away, whither can he go
to be filled? All Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, goes to prove
the deep blessedness as well as the moral necessity of repentance. It
is the grand turning-point in the soul's history--a great moral epoch
which sheds its influence over the whole of one's after life. It is
not, we repeat, a transient exercise, but an abiding moral condition.
We are not now speaking of how repentance is produced; we are speaking
of what it is according to Scripture, and of the absolute need of it
for every creature under heaven. It is the sinner's true place; and
when through grace he takes it, he is met by the fulness of God's
salvation.

And here we see the lovely connection between the first and second
clauses of "the great commission," namely, "repentance and remission
of sins." They are inseparably linked together. It is not that the
most profound and genuine repentance forms the meritorious ground of
remission of sins. To say or to think so would be to set aside the
atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, for in that, and _in that alone_,
have we the divine ground on which God can righteously forgive us our
sins. This we shall see more fully when we come to consider the
"_basis_" of "the great commission." We are now occupied with the
commission itself; and in it we see those two divinely settled facts,
repentance and remission of sins. The holy apostles of our Lord and
Saviour were charged to preach among all nations--to declare in the
ears of every creature under heaven "repentance and remission of
sins." Every man, be he Jew or Gentile, is absolutely commanded by God
to repent; and every repentant soul is privileged to receive, on the
spot, the full and everlasting remission of sins. And we may add, the
deeper and more abiding the work of repentance, the deeper and more
abiding will be the enjoyment of remission of sins. The contrite soul
lives in the very atmosphere of divine forgiveness; and as it inhales
that atmosphere, it shrinks with ever-increasing horror from sin in
every shape and form.

Let us turn for a moment to the Acts of the Apostles, and see how
Christ's ambassadors carried out the second part of His blessed
commission. Hear the apostle of the circumcision addressing the Jews
on the day of Pentecost. We cannot attempt to quote the whole of his
address; we merely give the few words of application at the close.
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath
made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ."

Here the preacher bears down upon the consciences of his hearers with
the solemn fact that they had proved themselves to be at issue with
God Himself about His Christ. What a tremendous fact! It was not
merely that they had broken the law, rejected the prophets, refused
the testimony of John the Baptist; but they had actually crucified the
Lord of glory, the eternal Son of God. "Now when they heard this,
they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest
of the apostles, Men, brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto
them, _Repent_, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ, for _the remission of sins_, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost" (Acts ii. 36-38).

Here are the two parts of the great commission brought out in all
their distinctness and power. The people are charged with the most
awful sin that could be committed, namely, the murder of the Son of
God; they are called upon to repent, and assured of full remission of
sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. What wondrous grace shines forth
in all this! The very people that had mocked and insulted the Son of
God, and crucified Him, even these, if truly repentant, were assured
of the complete pardon of all their sins, and of this crowning sin
amongst the rest. Such is the wondrous grace of God--such the mighty
efficacy of the blood of Christ--such the clear and authoritative
testimony of the Holy Ghost--such the glorious terms of "the great
commission."

But let us turn for a moment to Acts iii. Here the preacher, after
charging his hearers with this awful act of wickedness against God,
even the rejection and murder of His Son, adds these remarkable words:
"And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did
also your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the
mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, _He hath so
fulfilled._ _Repent ye_ therefore, and be converted, that _your sins
may be blotted out_."

It is not possible to conceive anything higher or fuller than the
grace that shines out here. It is a part of the divine response to the
prayer of Christ on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do." This surely is royal grace. It is victorious
grace--grace reigning through righteousness. It was impossible that
such a prayer should fall to the ground. It was answered in part on
the day of Pentecost, It will be answered in full at a future day, for
"All Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of
Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."

But mark particularly the words "Those things which God before had
shewed ... He hath so fulfilled." Here the preacher brings in God's
side of the matter: and this is salvation. To see only man's part in
the cross would be eternal judgment. To see God's part, and to rest in
it is eternal life, full remission of sins, divine righteousness,
everlasting glory.

The reader will doubtless be reminded here of the touching scene
between Joseph and his brethren. There is a striking analogy between
Acts iii. and Genesis xiv. "Now therefore," says Joseph, "be not
grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God
did send me before you to preserve life.... And God sent me before you
to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a
great deliverance. _So now it was not you that sent me hither, but
God._"

But when were these words uttered? Not until the guilty brethren had
felt and owned their guilt. Repentance preceded the remission. "They
said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in
that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would
not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us." Joseph "spake
roughly" to his brethren at the first. He brought them through deep
waters, and made them feel and confess their guilt. But the very
moment they took the ground of repentance, he took the ground of
forgiveness. The penitent brethren were met by a pardoning Joseph, and
the whole house of Pharaoh was made to ring with the joy which filled
the heart of Joseph on getting back to his bosom the very men that had
flung him into the pit.

What an illustration of "repentance and remission of sins!" It is ever
thus. It is the joy of the heart of God to forgive us our sins. He
delights in causing the full tide of His pardoning love to flow into
the broken and contrite heart.

Yes, beloved reader, if you have been brought to feel the burden of
your guilt, then be assured it is your privilege this very moment to
receive a divine and everlasting remission of all your sins. The blood
of Jesus Christ has perfectly settled the question of your guilt, and
you are now invited to rejoice in the God of your salvation.




PART III.


We shall now turn for a few moments to the ministry of the apostle of
the Gentiles, and see how he fulfilled the great commission. We have
already heard him on the subject of "repentance." Let us hear him also
on the great question of "remission of sins."

Paul was not of the twelve. He did not receive his commission from
Christ on earth, but, as he himself distinctly and repeatedly tells
us, from Christ in heavenly glory. Some have spent not a little time
and pains in laboring to prove that he was of the twelve, and that the
election of Matthias in Acts i. was a mistake. But it is labor sadly
wasted, and only proves an entire misunderstanding of Paul's position
and ministry. He was raised up for a special object, and made the
depositary of a special truth which had never been made known to any
one before, namely, the truth of the Church--the one body composed of
Jew and Gentile, incorporated by the Holy Ghost, and linked, by His
personal indwelling, to the risen and glorified Head in heaven.

Paul received his own special commission, of which he gives a very
beautiful statement in his address to Agrippa, in Acts xxvi.,
"Whereupon, as I went to Damascus, with authority and commission from
the chief priests,"--what a different "commission" he received ere he
entered Damascus!--"at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from
heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and
them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the
earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew
tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? it is hard for thee to
kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And He said,
I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." Here the glorious truth of the
intimate union of believers with the glorified Man in heaven, though
not stated, is beautifully and forcibly implied. "But rise, and stand
upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make
thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast
seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
delivering thee from the people and the Gentiles, unto whom now I send
thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and
from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of
sins" (the same word as in the commission to the twelve in Luke xxiv.)
"and inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith that is in
Me."[18]

  [18] "By faith" is connected with remission of sins and inheritance
  among the sanctified.

What depth and fulness in these words! What a comprehensive statement
of man's condition! What a blessed presentation of the resources of
divine grace! There is a very remarkable harmony between this
commission to Paul and that to the twelve in Luke xxiv. It will
perhaps be said there is nothing about repentance. True, the word does
not occur; but we have the moral reality, and that with singular force
and fulness. What mean the words, "_To open their eyes?_" Do they not
most certainly involve the discovery of our condition? Assuredly. A
man who has his eyes opened is brought to the knowledge of himself,
the knowledge of his condition, the knowledge of his ways; and this is
true repentance. It is a wonderful moment in a man's history when his
eyes are opened. It is the grand crisis, the momentous epoch, the one
turning-point. Till then he is blind--morally and spiritually blind.
He cannot see a single divine object. He has no perception of anything
pertaining to God, to Christ, to heaven.

This is truly humbling to proud human nature. Think of a clear-headed,
highly educated, deeply learned, intellectual man, a profound thinker,
a powerful reasoner, a thorough philosopher, who has won the honors,
the medals, the degrees, that this world's universities can bestow;
and yet he is blind to everything spiritual, heavenly, divine. He
gropes in moral darkness. He thinks he sees, assumes the right to
judge and pronounce upon things, even upon Scripture and upon God
Himself. He undertakes to decide what is fitting for God to say and to
do. He sets up his own mind as the measure in the things of God. He
reasons upon immortality, upon eternal life, and eternal punishment.
He deems himself perfectly competent to give judgment in reference to
all these solemn and weighty matters; and all the while his eyes have
never been opened. How much is his judgment worth? Nothing! Who would
take the opinion of a man who, if his eyes were only opened, would
reverse that opinion in reference to everything heavenly and divine?
Who would think for a moment of being guided by a blind man?

But how do we know that every man in his natural, unconverted state is
blind? Because, according to Paul's commission, the very first thing
which the gospel is to do for him is "to open his eyes." This proves,
beyond all question, that he must be blind. Paul was sent to the
people and to the Gentiles--that is, to the whole human family--to
open their eyes. This proves, to a divine demonstration, that all are
by nature blind.

But there is more than this. Man is not only blind, but he is in
"darkness." Supposing for a moment that a person has his eyesight, of
what use is it to him if he is in the dark? It is the double statement
as to man's state and position. As to his state, he is blind. As to
his position, he is in darkness; and when his eyes are opened, and
divine light streams in upon his soul, he then judges himself and his
ways according to God. He sees his folly, his guilt, his rebellion,
his wild, infidel reasonings, his foolish notions, the vanity of his
mind, his pride and ambition, his selfishness and worldliness--all
these things are judged and abhorred. He repents, and turns right
round to the One who has opened his eyes and poured in a flood of
living light upon his heart and conscience.

But, further, not only is man--every man--Jew and Gentile, blind and
in darkness, but, as if to give the climax of all, he is under the
power of Satan. This gives a terrible idea of man's condition. He is
the slave of the devil. He does not believe this. He imagines himself
free--thinks he is his own master--fancies he can go where he pleases,
do what he likes, think for himself, speak and act as an independent
being. But he is the bondslave of another, he is sold under sin, Satan
is his lord and master. Thus Scripture speaks, and it cannot be
broken. Man may refuse to believe, but that cannot in the least change
the fact. A condemned criminal at the bar may refuse to believe the
testimony from the witness table, the verdict from the jury-box, the
sentence from the bench; but that in nowise alters his terrible
condition. He is a condemned criminal all the same. So with man as a
sinner; he may refuse the plain testimony of Scripture, but that
testimony remains notwithstanding. Even if the thousand millions that
people this globe were to deny the truth of God's word, that Word
would still stand unmoved. Scripture does not depend for its truth
upon man's belief. It is true whether he believes it or not. Blessed
forever is the man who believes; doomed forever is the man who refuses
to believe; but the word of God is settled forever in heaven, and it
is to be received on its own authority, apart from all human thoughts
for or against it.

This is a grand fact, and one demanding the profound attention of
every soul. Everything depends upon it. The word of God claims our
belief because it is His word. If we want any authority to confirm the
truth of God's word, we are in reality rejecting God's word
altogether, and resting on man's word. A man may say, "How do I know
that the Bible is the word of God?" We reply, It carries its own
divine credentials with it; and if these credentials do not convince,
all the human authority under the sun is perfectly worthless. If the
whole population of the earth were to stand before me, and assure me
of the truth of God's word, and that I were to believe on their
authority, it would not be saving faith at all. It would be faith in
men, and not faith in God; but the faith that saves is the faith that
believes what God says because God says it.

It is not that we undervalue human testimony, or reject what are
called the external evidences of the truth of the Holy Scripture. All
these things must go for what they are worth; they are by no means
essential in laying the foundation of saving faith. We are perfectly
sure that all genuine history, all true science, all sound human
evidence, must go to establish the divine authenticity of the Bible;
but we do not rest our faith upon them, but upon the Scriptures to
which they bear witness; for if all human evidence, all science, and
every page of history, were to speak against Scripture, we should
utterly and absolutely reject them; reverently and implicitly believe
it. Is this narrow? Be it so. It is the blessed narrowness in which we
gladly find our peace and our portion forever. It is the narrowness
that refuses to admit the weight of a feather as an addition to the
word of God. If this be narrowness,--we repeat it with emphasis, and
from the very centre of our ransomed being,--let it be ours forever.
If to be broad we must look to man to confirm the truth of God's word,
then away with such broadness; it is the broad way that leadeth
straight down to hell. No, reader, your life, your salvation, your
everlasting peace, blessedness and glory, depend upon your taking God
at His word, and believing what He says because He says it. This is
faith--living, saving, precious faith. May you possess it!

God's word, then, most distinctly declares that man in his natural,
unrenewed, unconverted state is Satan's bondslave. It speaks of Satan
as "the god of this world," as "the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." It
speaks of man as "led captive by the devil at his will." Hence, in
Paul's commission, the third thing which the gospel is to do is to
turn man from "the power of Satan to God." Thus his eyes are opened;
divine light comes streaming in; the power of Satan is broken, and the
delivered one finds himself, peacefully and happily, in the presence
of God. Like the demoniac in Mark v., he is delivered from his
ruthless tyrant, his cruel master; his chains are broken and gone; he
is clothed and in his right mind, and sitting at the feet of Jesus.

What a glorious deliverance! It is worthy of God in every aspect of
it, and in all its results. The poor blind slave, led captive by the
devil, is set free; and not only so, but he is brought to God,
pardoned, accepted, and endowed with an eternal inheritance among the
sanctified. And all this is by faith, through grace. It is proclaimed
in the gospel of God to every creature under heaven--not one is
excluded. The great commission, whether we read it in Luke xxiv. or in
Acts xxvi., assures us that this most precious, most glorious
salvation is unto all.

Let us, ere we close this paper, listen for a moment to our apostle as
he discharges his blessed commission in the synagogue at Antioch of
Pisidia. Most gladly would we transcribe the whole of his precious
discourse, but our limited space compels us to confine ourselves to
the powerful appeal at the end. "Be it known unto you therefore, men
and brethren, that through THIS MAN" (Jesus Christ, crucified, risen,
and glorified) "is preached"--not promised in the future, but preached
_now_, announced as a present reality--is preached "_unto you_ the
remission of sins. And by Him all who believe ARE justified from _all
things_, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."

From these words we learn, in the clearest possible manner, that every
soul in that synagogue was called upon, there and then, to receive
into his heart the blessed message which fell from the preacher's
lips. Not one was excluded. "_Unto you_ is the word of this salvation
sent." If any one had asked the apostle if the message was intended
for him, what would have been the reply? "Unto _you_ is the word of
this salvation sent." Was there no preliminary question to be settled?
Not one. All the preliminaries had been settled at the cross. Was
there no question as to election or predestination? Not a syllable
about either in the whole range of this magnificent and comprehensive
discourse.

But is there no such question? Not in that "great commission" whereof
we speak. No doubt the grand truth of election shines in its proper
place on the page of inspiration. But what is its proper and divinely
appointed place? Most assuredly not in the preaching of the
evangelist, but in the ministry of the teacher or pastor. When the
apostle sits down to instruct believers, we hear such words as these:
"Whom He did foreknow, He also did _predestinate_." And again:
"Knowing, brethren beloved, your _election_ of God."

But let it never be lost sight of, when he stands up as an ambassador
of Christ, the herald of salvation, he proclaims in the most absolute
and unqualified manner a present, a personal, a perfect salvation to
every creature under heaven; and every one who heard him was
responsible there and then to believe. And every one who reads him now
is equally so. If any one had presumed to tell the preacher that his
hearers were not responsible, that they were powerless, and could not
believe--that it was only deceiving them to call upon them to
believe--what would have been his reply? We think we are warranted in
saying that a full and overwhelming reply to this, and every such
preposterous objection, is wrapped up in the solemn appeal with which
the apostle closes his address, "_Beware_, therefore, lest that come
upon you which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and
wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye
shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you."




PART IV.


Having in the former papers dwelt a little upon the _terms_ of "the
great commission," we shall now, in dependence upon divine teaching,
seek to unfold the truth as to the _basis_. It is of the greatest
importance to have a clear understanding of the solid ground on which
"repentance and remission of sins" are announced to every creature
under heaven. This we have distinctly laid down in our Lord's own
words, "_It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the
third day_."

Here lies, in its impregnable strength, the foundation of the glorious
commission whereof we speak. God--blessed forever be His holy
name--has been pleased to set before us with all possible clearness
the moral ground on which He commands all men everywhere to repent,
and the righteous ground on which He can proclaim to every repentant
soul the perfect remission of sins.

We have already had occasion to guard the reader against the false
notion that any amount of repentance on the part of the sinner could
possibly form the meritorious ground of forgiveness. But inasmuch as
we write for those who may be ignorant of the foundations of the
gospel, we feel bound to put things in the very simplest possible
form, so that all may understand. We know how prone the human heart
is to build upon something of our own--if not upon good works, at
least upon our penitential exercises. Hence, it becomes our bounden
duty to set forth the precious truth of the atoning work of our Lord
Jesus Christ as the only righteous ground of the forgiveness of sins.

True, all men are commanded to repent. It is meet and right that they
should. How could it be otherwise? How can we look at that accursed
tree on which the Son of God bore the judgment of sin and not see the
absolute necessity of repentance? How can we hearken to that solemn
cry breaking forth from amid the shadows of Calvary, "My God, My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me?" and not own, from the deepest depths of
our moral being, the moral fitness of repentance? If indeed sin is so
terrible, so absolutely hateful to God, so perfectly intolerable to
His holy nature, that He had to bruise His well beloved and only
begotten Son on the cross in order to put it away, does it not well
become the sinner to judge himself, and repent in dust and ashes? Had
the blessed Lord to endure the hiding of God's countenance because of
our sins, and we not be broken, self-judged and subdued on account of
these sins? Shall we with impenitent heart hear the glad tidings of
full and free forgiveness of sins--a forgiveness which cost nothing
less than the unutterable horrors and agonies of the cross? Shall we,
with flippant tongue, profess to have peace--a peace purchased by the
ineffable sufferings of the Son of God? If it was absolutely
necessary that Christ should suffer for our sins, is it not morally
fitting that we should repent of them?

Nor is this all. It is not merely that it becomes us, once in a way,
to repent. There is far more than this. The spirit of self-judgment,
genuine contrition and true humility must characterize every one who
enters at all into the profound mystery of the sufferings of Christ.
Indeed, it is only as we contemplate and deeply ponder those
sufferings that we can form anything approaching to a just estimate of
the hatefulness of sin on the one hand, and the divine fulness and
perfectness of remission on the other. Such was the hatefulness of
sin, that it was absolutely necessary that Christ should suffer;
but--all praise to redeeming love!--such were the sufferings of
Christ, that God can forgive us our sins according to the infinite
value which He attaches to those sufferings. Both go together; and
both, we may add, exert a formative influence, under the powerful
ministry of the Holy Ghost, on the Christian character from first to
last. Our sins are all forgiven; but "it behooved Christ to suffer;"
and hence, while our peace flows like a river, we must never forget
the soul-subduing fact that the basis of our peace was laid in the
ineffable sufferings of the Son of God.

This is most needful, owing to the excessive levity of our hearts. We
are ready enough to receive the truth of the remission of sins, and
then go on in an easy, self-indulgent, world-loving spirit, thus
proving how feebly we enter into the sufferings of our blessed Lord,
or into the real nature of sin. All this is truly deplorable, and
calls for the deepest exercise of soul. There is a sad lack amongst us
of that real brokenness of spirit which ought to characterize those
who owe their present peace and everlasting felicity and glory to the
sufferings of Christ. We are light, frivolous, and self-willed. We
avail ourselves of the death of Christ to save us from the
consequences of our sins, but our ways do not exhibit the practical
effect of that death in its application to ourselves. We do not walk
as those who are dead with Christ--who have crucified the flesh with
its affections and lusts--who are delivered from this present evil
world. In a word, our Christianity is sadly deficient in depth of
tone; it is shallow, feeble, and stunted. We profess to know a great
deal of truth; but it is to be feared it is too much in
theory--therefore not turned to practical account as it should be.

It may, perhaps, be asked, What has all this to do with "the great
commission?" It has to do with it in a very intimate way. We are
deeply impressed with a sense of the superficial way in which the work
of evangelization is carried on at the present day. Not only are the
_terms_ of the great commission overlooked, but the _basis_ seems to
be little understood. The sufferings of Christ are not duly dwelt upon
and unfolded. The atoning work of Christ is presented in its
sufficiency for the sinner's need--and no doubt this is a signal
mercy. We have to be profoundly thankful when preachers and writers
hold up the precious blood of Christ as the sinner's only plea,
instead of preaching up rites, ceremonies, sacraments, good works
(falsely so called), creeds, churches, religious ordinances, and
such-like delusions.

All this is most fully admitted. But at the same time we must give
expression to our deep and solemn conviction that much of our modern
evangelical preaching is extremely shallow and bald; and the result of
that preaching is seen in the light, airy, flippant style of many of
our so-called converts. Some of us seem so intensely anxious to make
everything so easy and simple for the sinner that the preaching
becomes extremely one-sided.

Thanks be to God, He has indeed made all easy and simple for the
needy, broken-hearted, penitent sinner. He has left him nothing to do,
nothing to give. It is "to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him
that justifieth the ungodly." It is not possible for any evangelist to
go too far in stating this side of the question. No one can go beyond
Rom. iv. 5 in setting forth salvation by free grace, through faith,
without works of any sort or description.

But then, we must remember that the blessed apostle Paul--the greatest
evangelist that ever lived, except his divine Master--did not confine
himself to this one side; and neither should we. He pressed the claims
of divine holiness. He called upon sinners to judge themselves, and he
called upon believers to subdue and deny themselves. He did not
preach a gospel that left people at ease in the world, satisfied with
themselves, and occupied with earthly things. He did not tell people
that they were saved from the flames of hell and were therefore free
to enjoy the follies of earth.

This was not Paul's gospel. He preached a gospel which, while it fully
met the sinner's deepest need, did also most fully maintain God's
glory--a gospel which, while it came down to the very lowest point of
the sinner's condition, did not leave him there. Paul's gospel not
only set forth a full, clear, unqualified, unconditional, present
_forgiveness of sins_, but also, just as fully and clearly, the
_condemnation of sin_, and the believer's entire deliverance from this
present evil world. The death of Christ, in Paul's gospel, not only
assured the soul of complete deliverance from the just consequences of
sins, as seen in the judgment of God in the lake of fire, but it also
set forth, with magnificent fulness and clearness, the complete
snapping of every link with the world, and entire deliverance from the
present power and rule of sin.

Now, here is precisely where the lamentable deficiency and culpable
one-sidedness of our modern preaching are so painfully manifest. The
gospel which one often hears nowadays is, if we may be allowed the use
of such a term, a carnal, earthly, worldly gospel. It offers a kind of
ease, but it is fleshly, worldly ease. It gives confidence, but it is
rather a carnal confidence than the confidence of faith. It is not a
delivering gospel. It leaves people in the world, instead of bringing
them to God.

And what must be the result of all this? We can hardly bear to
contemplate it. We greatly fear that, should our Lord tarry, the fruit
of much of what is going on around us will be a terrible combination
of the very highest profession with the very lowest practice. It
cannot be otherwise. High truth taken up in a light, carnal spirit
tends to lull the conscience and quash all godly exercise of soul as
to our habits and ways in daily life. In this way people escape from
legality only to plunge into levity, and truly the last state is worse
than the first.

We earnestly hope that the Christian reader may not feel unduly
depressed by the perusal of these lines. God knows we would not pen a
line to discourage the feeblest lamb in all the precious flock of
Christ. We desire to write in the divine presence. We have entreated
the Lord that every line of this paper, and of all our papers, should
come directly from Himself to the reader.

Hence, therefore, we must ask the reader--and we do so most faithfully
and affectionately--to ponder what is here put before him. We cannot
hide from him the fact that we are most seriously impressed with the
condition of things around us. We feel that the tone and aspect of
much of the so-called Christianity of this our day are such as to
awaken the gravest apprehension in the mind of every thoughtful
observer. We perceive a terribly rapid development of the features of
the last days, as detailed by the pen of inspiration. "This know also
that, in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be
_lovers of their own selves_, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
_disobedient to parents_, unthankful, unholy, without natural
affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
_despisers of those that are good_, traitors, _heady, high-minded,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof_: from such turn away" (2
Tim. iii. 1-5).

What an appalling picture! How solemn to find the same evils that
characterize the heathen, as recorded in Rom. i., reproduced in
connection with the profession of Christianity! Should not the thought
of this awaken the most serious apprehensions in the mind of every
Christian? Should it not lead all who are engaged in the holy service
of preaching and teaching amongst us to examine themselves closely as
to the tone and character of their ministry, and as to their own
private walk and ways? We want a more searching style of ministry on
the part of evangelists and teachers. There is a lack of hortatory and
prophetic ministry. By prophetic ministry we mean that which brings
the conscience into the immediate presence of God. (See 1 Cor. xiv.
1-3, 23-26.)

In this we are lamentably deficient. There is a vast amount of
objective truth in circulation amongst us--more, perhaps, than ever
since the days of the apostles. Books and periodicals by hundreds and
thousands, tracts by thousands and millions, are sent forth annually.

Do we object to this? Nay; we bless God for it. But we cannot shut our
eyes to the fact that by far the largest proportion of this vast mass
of literature is addressed to the intelligence, and not enough to the
heart and conscience. Now, while it is quite right to enlighten the
understanding, it is quite wrong to neglect the heart and conscience.
We feel it to be a most serious thing to allow the intelligence to
outstrip the conscience--to have more truth in the head than in the
heart--to profess principles which do not govern the practice. Nothing
can be more dangerous. It tends to place us directly in the hands of
Satan. If the conscience be not kept tender, if the heart be not
governed by the fear of God, if a broken and contrite spirit be not
cultivated, there is no telling what depths we may plunge into. When
the conscience is kept in a sound condition, and the heart is humble
and true, then every fresh ray of light that shines in upon the
understanding ministers strength to the soul and tends to elevate and
sanctify our whole moral being.

This is what every earnest spirit must crave. All true-hearted
Christians must long for increased personal holiness, more likeness to
Christ, more genuine devotedness of heart, a deepening, strengthening
and expanding of the kingdom of God in the soul--that kingdom which is
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

May we all have grace to seek after these divine realities! May we
diligently cultivate them in our own private life, and seek in every
possible way to promote them in all those with whom we come in
contact! Thus shall we in some measure stem the tide of hollow
profession around us, and be a living testimony against the powerless
_form_ of godliness so sadly dominant in this our day.

Christian reader! art thou one with us in this current of thought and
feeling? If so, then let us most earnestly entreat thee to join us in
earnest prayer to God that He will graciously raise our spiritual tone
by drawing us closer to Himself, and filling our hearts with love to
Him and earnest desire for the promotion of His glory, the progress of
His cause, and the prosperity of His people.




PART V.


In pursuing our subject, we have yet to consider the _authority_ and
the _sphere_ of "the great commission;" but ere proceeding to treat of
these we must dwell a little longer on the _basis_. The commission is
truly a great one, and would need a solid foundation on which to rest
it; and such it has, blessed be God, in the atoning death of His Son.
Nothing less than this could sustain such a magnificent fabric; but
the grace that planned the commission has also laid the foundation; so
that a full remission of sins can be preached among all nations,
inasmuch as God has been glorified, in the death of Christ, as to the
entire question of sin.

This is a grand point for the reader to seize. It lies at the very
foundation of the Christian system. It is the keystone of the arch of
divine revelation. God has been glorified as to sin. His judgment has
been executed upon it. The claims of His throne have been vindicated
as to it. The insult offered to His divine majesty has been flung back
in the enemy's face. If the sweet story of remission of sins had never
fallen upon a human ear or entered a human heart, the divine glory
would none the less have been most perfectly maintained. The Lord
Jesus Christ did, by His most precious death, wipe off the stain which
the enemy sought to cast upon the eternal glory of God. A testimony
has been given in the Cross, to all created intelligence, as to God's
thoughts about sin. It can there be seen, with all possible clearness,
that a single trace of sin can never enter the precincts of the divine
presence. God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on
iniquity. Sin, wherever found, must be met by divine judgment.

Where, we may ask, does all this come most fully and forcibly out?
Assuredly in the Cross. Harken to that solemn and most mysterious cry,
"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" What means this wondrous
inquiry? Who is the speaker? Is he one of Adam's fallen posterity? Is
he a sinner? Surely not; for were he such, there would be no moral
force whatever in the question. There never was a sinner on the face
of this earth who, so far as he was personally concerned, did not
richly deserve to be forsaken of a holy, sin-hating God. This must
never be forgotten. Some people entertain most foolish notions as to
this point. They have, in their own vain imagination, invented a god
to suit themselves--one who will not punish sin--one who is so tender,
so kind, so benevolent, that he will connive at evil and pass it over
as though it were nothing.

Now, nothing is more certain than that this god of the human
imagination is a false one, just as false as any of the idols of the
heathen. The God of the Bible, the God of Christianity, the God whom
we see at the cross, is not like this. Men may reason as they will;
but sin must be condemned--it must be met by the just and inflexible
judgment of a sin-hating God.

But we repeat the question, Who uttered those words at the opening of
Psa. xxii.? If he was not a sinner, who was he? Wonderful to declare,
He was the only spotless, perfectly holy, pure and sinless Man that
ever trod this earth. He was more. He was the eternal Son of the
Father, the object of God's ineffable delight, who had dwelt in His
bosom from all eternity, "the brightness of His glory and the exact
expression of His substance."

And yet He was forsaken of God! yes, that holy and perfect One, who
knew no sin, whose human nature was absolutely free from every taint,
who never had a single thought, never uttered a single word, never did
a single act that was not in the most perfect harmony with the mind of
God; whose whole life, from Bethlehem to Calvary, was a perfect
sacrifice of sweetest odor presented to the heart of God. Again and
again we see heaven opening upon Him, and the voice of the Father is
heard giving expression to His infinite complacency in the Son of His
bosom. And yet, He it is whose voice is heard in that bitter cry, "My
God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

Marvelous question! It stands alone in the annals of eternity. No such
question had ever been asked before; no such question has ever been
asked since; and no such question can ever be asked again. Whether we
consider the One who asked the question, or the One of whom it was
asked, or the answer, we must admit that it is perfectly unique. That
God should forsake such an One is the most profound and marvelous
mystery that could possibly engage the attention of men or angels.
Human reason cannot fathom its depths. No created intelligence can
comprehend its mighty compass.

Yet there it stands, a stupendous fact before the eye of faith. Our
blessed Lord Himself assures us that it was absolutely necessary.
"Thus it is written, and thus it _behooved_ Christ to suffer." But why
was it necessary? Why should the only perfect, sinless, spotless Man
have to suffer? Why should He be forsaken of God? The glory of God,
the eternal counsels of redeeming love, man's guilty, ruined, helpless
condition--all these things rendered it indispensable that Christ
should suffer. There was no other way in which the divine glory could
be maintained; no other way in which the claims of the throne of God
could be answered; no other way in which heaven's majesty could be
vindicated; no other way in which the eternal purposes of love could
be made good; no other way in which sin could be fully atoned for, and
finally taken away out of God's creation; no other way in which sins
could be forgiven; no other way in which Satan and all the powers of
darkness could be thoroughly vanquished; no other way in which God
could be just, and yet the Justifier of any poor ungodly sinner; no
other way in which death could be deprived of its sting, or the grave
of its victory; no other way in which any or all of these grand
results could be reached save by the sufferings and death of our
adorable Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.

But, blessed forever be His holy name, He went through it all. He went
down under the heavy billows and waves of God's righteous wrath
against sin. He took the sinner's place, stood in his stead, sustained
the judgment, paid the penalty, died the death, answered every
question, met every demand, vanquished every foe; and having done all,
He ascended into the heavens and took His seat on the throne of God,
where He is now crowned with glory and honor as the divine and
all-glorious Accomplisher of the entire work of man's redemption.

Such, then, reader, is the _basis_ of "the great commission" whereof
we speak. Need we wonder at the _terms_, when we contemplate the
basis? Can there be anything too good, anything too great, anything
too glorious, for the God of all grace to bestow upon us poor sinners
of the Gentiles, seeing He has been so fully glorified in the death of
Christ? That most precious death furnishes a divinely righteous ground
on which our God can indulge the deep and everlasting love of His
heart in the perfect remission of our sins. It has removed out of the
way every barrier to the full flood-tide of redeeming love which can
now flow through a perfectly righteous channel, to the very vilest
sinner that repents and believes in Jesus. A Saviour-God can now
publish a full and immediate remission of sins to every creature under
heaven. There is positively no hindrance. God has been glorified as
to the question of sin; and the time is coming when every trace of sin
shall be forever obliterated from His fair creation, and those words
of John the Baptist shall have their full accomplishment, "Behold the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." Meanwhile, the
heralds of salvation are commanded to go forth to the ends of the
earth and publish, without let or limitation, perfect remission of
sins to every soul that believes. It is the joy of God's heart to
pardon sins; and it is due to the One who bore the judgment of sin on
the cross that in His name forgiveness of sins should be thus freely
published, fully received, and abidingly enjoyed.

But what of those who reject this glorious message--who shut their
ears against it and turn away their hearts from it? This is the solemn
question. Who can answer it? Who can attempt to set forth the eternal
destiny of those who die in their sins, as all must who refuse God's
only basis of remission? Men may reason and argue as they will; but
all the reasoning and argument in the world cannot set aside the word
of God, which assures us in manifold places, and in terms so plain as
to leave no possible ground for questioning, that all who die in their
sins--all who die out of Christ--must inevitably perish eternally,
must bear the consequences of their sins, in the lake that burneth
with fire and brimstone.

To quote the passages in proof of the solemn truth of eternal
punishment would require a small volume. We cannot attempt it here;
nor is it necessary, inasmuch as we have gone into the subject again
and again in other places.

But we would here put a question which arises naturally out of our
present thesis. It is this: Was Christ judged, bruised and forsaken on
the cross--did God visit His only begotten and well beloved Son with
the full weight of His righteous wrath against sin--and shall
impenitent sinners escape? We solemnly press this question on all whom
it may concern. Men talk of its being inconsistent with the idea of
divine goodness, tenderness and compassion that God should send any of
His creatures to hell. We reply, Who is to be the judge? Is man
competent to decide as to what is morally fitting for God to do? And
further, we ask, What is to be the standard of judgment? Anything that
human reason can grasp? Assuredly not. What then? _The cross on which
the Son of God died, the Just for the unjust_--this, and this only, is
the great standard by which to judge the question as to sin's desert.
Who can harken to that bitter cry emanating from the broken heart of
the Son of God, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" and
question the eternal punishment of all who die in their sins? Talk of
tenderness, goodness, and compassion! Where do these shine out most
brightly and blessedly? Surely in "the great commission" which
publishes full and free forgiveness of sins to every creature under
heaven. But would it be just, or good, or compassionate, to suffer
the rejecter of Christ to escape? If we would see the goodness,
kindness, mercy and deep compassion of God, we must look at the cross.
"He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." "It
pleased Jehovah to bruise Him. He hath put Him to grief." "He hath
made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him."

But if men reject all this, and go on in their sins, in their
rebellion, in their infidel reasonings and impious speculations--what
then? If men maintain that suffering for sin is not necessary, and
that there is another and a better way of disposing of the
matter--what then? Our Lord declared in the ears of His apostles that
"it was necessary that Christ should suffer"--that there was no other
way possible by which the great question could be settled. Whom are we
to believe? Was the death of Christ gratuitous? Was His heart broken
for nothing? Was the Cross a work of supererogation? Did Jehovah
bruise His Son and put Him to grief for an end which might be gained
some other way?

How monstrous are the reasonings, or rather the ravings, of
infidelity! Infidel doctors begin by throwing overboard the word of
God--that peerless and perfect revelation; and then, when they have
deprived us of our divine guide, with singular audacity, they present
themselves before us, and undertake to point out for us a more
excellent way; and when we inquire what that way is, we are met by a
thousand and one fine-spun theories, no two of which agree in anything
save in shutting out God and His Word.

True, they talk plausibly about a God; but it is a God of their own
imagination--one who will connive at sin--who will allow them to
indulge in their lusts, and passions, and pleasures, and then take
them to a heaven of which they really know nothing. They talk of
mercy, and kindness, and goodness; but they reject the only channel
through which these can flow, namely, the Cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ. They speak not of righteousness, holiness, truth, and judgment
to come. They would fain have us to believe that God put Himself to
needless cost in delivering up His Son. They would ignore that
marvelous transaction which stands alone in the entire history of the
ways of God--the atoning death of His Son. In one word, the grand
object of the devil, in all the skeptical, rationalistic and infidel
theories that have ever been propounded in this world, is to shut out
completely the word of God, the Christ of God, and God Himself.

We solemnly call upon all our readers, specially our young friends, to
ponder this. It is our deep and thorough conviction that the harboring
of a single infidel suggestion is the first step on that inclined
plane which leads straight down to the dark and terrible abyss of
atheism--down to the blackness of darkness forever.

We shall have occasion to recur to the foregoing line of thought when
we come to consider the _authority_ on which "the great commission"
comes to us. We have been drawn into it by the sad fact that in every
direction, and on every subject, we are assailed by the contemptible
reasonings of infidelity; and we feel imperatively called upon to warn
all with whom we come in contact against infidel books, infidel
lectures, infidel theories in every shape and form. _May the inspired
word of God be more and more precious to our hearts! May we walk in
its light, feel its sacred power, bow to its divine authority, hide it
in our hearts, feed upon its treasures, own its absolute supremacy,
confess its all-sufficiency, and utterly reject all teaching which
dares to touch the integrity of_ THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.




PART VI.


We have seen that the _basis_ of "the great commission" is the death
and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This must never
be lost sight of. "It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the
dead the third day." It is a risen Christ that sends forth His heralds
to preach "repentance and remission of sins." The incarnation and the
crucifixion are great cardinal truths of Christianity; but it is only
in resurrection they are made available for us in any way.
Incarnation--precious and priceless mystery though it be--could not
form the groundwork of remission of sins, for "without shedding of
blood is no remission" (Heb. ix. 22). We are justified by the _blood_,
and reconciled by the _death_ of Christ. But it is in resurrection
that all this is made good unto us. Christ was delivered for our
offenses, and raised again for our justification (Rom. iv. 25; v. 9,
10). "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. xv. 3, 4).

Hence, therefore, it is of the very last possible importance, for all
who would carry out our Lord's commission, to know in their own souls,
and to set forth in their preaching, the grand truth of resurrection.
The most cursory glance at the preaching of the earliest heralds of
the gospel will suffice to show the prominent place which they gave to
this glorious fact.

Harken to Peter on the day of Pentecost, or rather to the Holy Ghost,
just come down from the risen, ascended and glorified Saviour. "Ye men
of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God
among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in
the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and
by wicked hands have crucified and slain: _whom God hath raised up_,
having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He
should be holden of it.... _This Jesus hath God raised up_, whereof we
all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He
hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear" (Acts ii.). So also in
chapter iii.: "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God
of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up,
and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to
let Him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a
murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, _whom
God hath raised from the dead_; whereof we are witnesses.... Unto you
first _God, having raised up His Son Jesus_, sent Him to bless you, in
turning away every one of you from his iniquities.... And as they
spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and
the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the
people, and _preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead_."

Their preaching was characterized by the prominent place which it
assigned to the glorious, powerful and telling fact of resurrection.
True, there was the full and clear statement of incarnation and
crucifixion, with the great moral bearings of these facts. How could
it be otherwise? The Son of God had to become a man to die, in order
that by death He might glorify God as to the entire question of sin;
destroy the power of Satan; rob death of its sting, and the grave of
its victory; put away forever the sins of His people, and associate
them with Himself in the power of eternal life in the new creation,
where all things are of God, and where a single trace of sin or sorrow
can never enter. Eternal and universal homage and adoration to His
peerless name!

But let all preachers remember the place which resurrection holds in
apostolic preaching and teaching. "With great power gave the apostles
witness." Of what? Incarnation or crucifixion merely? Nay; but "of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus." This was the stupendous fact that
glorified God and His Son Jesus Christ. It was this that attested, in
the view of all created intelligences, the divine complacency in the
work of redemption. It was this that demonstrated, in the most
marvelous way, the complete and eternal overthrow of the kingdom of
Satan and all the powers of darkness. It was this that declared the
full and everlasting deliverance of all who believe in Jesus--their
deliverance, not only from all the consequences of their sins, but
from this present evil world, and from every link that bound them to
that old creation which lies under the power of evil.

No marvel, therefore, if the apostles, filled as they were with the
Holy Ghost, persistently and powerfully presented the magnificent
truth of resurrection. Hear them again before the council--a council
composed of the great religious leaders and guides of the people. "The
God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a
tree." They were at issue with God on the all-important question as to
His Son. They had slain Him, but God raised Him from the dead. "Him
hath God exalted with His right hand, a Prince and a Saviour, for to
give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins."

So also in Peter's address to the Gentiles, in the house of Cornelius,
speaking of Jesus of Nazareth, he says, "whom they slew, and hanged on
a tree, _Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly_: not
to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, to us who
did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead."

The Holy Ghost is careful to set forth the weighty and, to us,
profoundly interesting fact that "God raised up His Son Jesus." This
fact has a double bearing. It proves that God is at issue with the
world, seeing He has raised, exalted and glorified the very One whom
they slew and hanged on a tree. But, blessed throughout all ages be
His holy name, it proves that He has found eternal rest and
satisfaction as to us, and all that was or could be against us, seeing
He has raised up the very One who took our place and stood charged
with all our sin and guilt.

But all this will come more fully out as we proceed with our proofs.

Let us now listen for a moment to Paul's address in the synagogue at
Antioch. "Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and
whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation
sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they
knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every
Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though
they found no cause of death in Him, yet desired they Pilate that He
should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of
Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a sepulchre.
_But God raised Him from the dead._ And He was seen many days of them
which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His
witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how
that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled
the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus; as
it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have
I begotten Thee. And as concerning that _He raised Him up from the
dead_, no more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, I will
give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore He saith also in another
psalm, Thou shalt not suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption. For
David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell
on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: but _He
whom God raised again_ saw no corruption."

Then follows the powerful appeal which, though not bearing upon our
present line of argument, we cannot omit in this place. "Be it known
unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and _by Him_ all that
believe _are justified from all things_, from which ye could not be
justified by the law of Moses. _Beware_ therefore, lest that come upon
you which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and
wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye
shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you" (Acts
xiii. 26-41).

We shall close our series of proofs from the Acts of the Apostles by a
brief quotation from Paul's address at Athens. "Forasmuch then as we
are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is
like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
And the times of this ignorance God overlooked; but now commandeth
all men everywhere to repent; because He hath appointed a day in the
which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He
hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all, _in that He
hath raised Him from the dead_" (Acts xvii.).

This is a very remarkable and deeply solemn passage. The proof that
God is going to judge the world in righteousness--a proof offered to
all--is that He has raised His ordained Man from the dead. He does not
here name the Man; but at verse 18 we are told that some of the
Athenians deemed the apostle a setter forth of strange gods, "because
he preached unto them _Jesus and the resurrection_."

From all this it is perfectly plain that the blessed apostle Paul gave
a most prominent place in all his preachings to the glorious truth of
resurrection. Whether he addresses a congregation of Jews in the
synagogue at Antioch, or an assembly of Gentiles on Mars' Hill at
Athens, he presents a risen Christ. In a word, he was characterized by
the fact that he preached not merely the incarnation and the
crucifixion, but the resurrection; and this, too, in all its mighty
moral bearings--its bearing upon man in his individual state and
destiny; its bearing upon the world as a whole, in its history in the
past, its moral condition in the present, and its certain doom in the
future; in its bearing upon the believer, proving his absolute,
complete and eternal justification before God, and his thorough
deliverance from this present evil world.

And we have to bear in mind that in apostolic preaching the
resurrection was not presented as a mere doctrine, but as a living,
telling, mighty moral fact--a fact, the magnitude of which is beyond
all power of human utterance or thought. The apostles, in carrying out
"the great commission" of their Lord, pressed the stupendous fact that
God had raised Jesus from the dead--had raised the Man who was nailed
to the cross and buried in the grave. In short, they preached a
resurrection gospel. Their preaching was governed by these words, "It
was necessary that Christ should suffer, and rise from the dead the
third day."

We shall now turn for a moment to the Epistles, and see the wondrous
way in which the Holy Ghost unfolds and applies the fact of
resurrection. But ere doing so we would call the reader's attention to
a passage which is sadly misunderstood and misapplied. The apostle, in
writing to the Corinthians, says, "We preach Christ crucified." These
words are continually quoted for the purpose of casting a damper on
those who earnestly desire to advance in the knowledge of divine
things. But a moment's serious attention to the context would be
sufficient to show the true meaning of the apostle. Did he confine
himself to the fact of the crucifixion? The bare idea, in the face of
the body of Scripture which we have quoted, is simply absurd. The fact
is, the glorious truth of resurrection shines out in all his
discourses.

What, then, does the apostle mean when he declares, "We preach Christ
crucified?" Simply this, that the Christ whom he preached was the One
whom the world crucified. He was a rejected, outcast Christ--one
assigned by the world to a malefactor's gibbet. What a fact for the
poor Corinthians, so full of vanity and love for this world's wisdom!
A crucified Christ was the one whom Paul preached, "to the Jews a
stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but to those that
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the
wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and
the weakness of God is stronger than men."

Remarkable words! words divinely suited to people prone to boast
themselves in the so-called wisdom and greatness of this world--the
vain reasonings and imaginations of the poor human mind, which all
perish in a moment. All the wisdom of God, all His power, all His
greatness, all His glory, all that He is, in short, comes out in a
crucified Christ. The Cross confounds the world, vanquishes Satan and
all the powers of darkness, saves all who believe, and forms the solid
foundation of the everlasting and universal glory of God.

We shall now turn for a moment to a very beautiful passage in Rom.
iv., in which the inspired writer sets forth the subject of
resurrection in a most edifying way for us. Speaking of Abraham, he
says, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the
father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall
thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own
body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the
deadness of Sarah's womb: _he staggered not_ at the promise of God
through unbelief,"--which is always sure to stagger,--"but was _strong
in faith, giving glory to God_"--as faith always does; "and being
_fully persuaded_ that what He had promised He was able also to
perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness." And
then, lest any should say that all this applied only to Abraham, who
was such a devoted, holy, remarkable man, the inspiring Spirit adds,
with singular grace and sweetness, "Now it was not written for his
sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it
shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that"--what? Gave His Son?
Bruised His Son on the cross? Not merely this, but "_that raised up
Jesus our Lord from the dead_."

Here lies the grand point of the apostle's blessed and powerful
argument. We must, if we would have settled peace, believe in God as
the One who raised up Jesus from the dead, and who in so doing proved
Himself friendly to us, and proved too His infinite satisfaction in
the work of the Cross. Jesus, having been "delivered for our
offenses," could not be where He now is if a single one of these
offenses remained unatoned for. But, blessed forever be the God of all
grace, He raised from among the dead the One who had been delivered
for our offenses; and to all who believe in Him righteousness shall
be reckoned. "It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead
the third day." See how this glorious theme, the _basis_ of the great
commission, expands under our gaze as we pursue our study of it!

One more brief quotation shall close this paper. In Heb. xiii. we
read, "_Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead_ our
Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant."

This is uncommonly fine. The God of judgment met the Sin-bearer at the
cross, and there, with Him, entered thoroughly into and definitively
settled the question of sin. And then, in glorious proof that all was
done--sin atoned for--guilt put away--Satan silenced--God
glorified--all divinely accomplished--"the God of peace" entered the
scene, and raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, that "great Shepherd
of the sheep."

Beloved reader, how glorious is all this! How enfranchising to all who
simply believe! Jesus is risen. His sufferings are over forever. God
has exalted Him. Eternal Justice has wreathed His blessed brow with a
diadem of glory; and, wondrous fact, that very diadem is the eternal
demonstration that all who believe are justified from all things, and
accepted in a risen and glorified Christ. Eternal and universal
hallelujahs to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!




PART VII.


We are now called to consider the deeply important subject of the
_authority_ on which the great commission proceeds. This we have
presented to us in that one commanding and most comprehensive sentence
"_It is written_"--a sentence which ought to be engraved in characters
deep and broad on the tablet of every Christian's heart.

Nothing can possibly be more interesting or edifying than to note the
way in which our blessed Lord on all occasions and under all
circumstances exalts the Holy Scriptures. He, though God over all,
blessed forever, and as such the Author of all Scripture, yet, having
taken His place as man on the earth, He plainly sets forth what is the
bounden duty of every man, and that is to be absolutely, completely
and abidingly governed by the authority of Scripture. See Him in
conflict with Satan! How does He meet him? Simply as each one of us
should meet him--by the written Word. It could be no example to us had
our Lord vanquished him by the putting forth of divine power. Of
course He could, there and then, have consigned him to the bottomless
pit or the lake of fire, but that would have been no example for us,
inasmuch as we could not so overcome. But on the other hand, when we
find the blessed One referring to Holy Scripture, when we find Him
appealing again and again to that divine authority, when we find Him
putting the adversary to flight simply by the written Word, we learn
in the most impressive manner the place, the value and the authority
of the Holy Scriptures.

And is it not of the very last possible importance to have this great
lesson impressed upon us at the present moment? Unquestionably it is.
If ever there was a moment in the history of the Church of God when it
behooved Christians to bow down their whole moral being to this very
lesson, it is the moment through which we are just now passing. On all
hands the divine authority, integrity, plenary inspiration and
all-sufficiency of Holy Scripture are called in question. The word of
God is openly insulted and flung aside. Its integrity is called in
question, and that too in quarters where we should least expect it. At
our colleges and universities our young men are continually assailed
by infidel attacks upon the blessed word of God. Men who are in total
spiritual blindness, and who therefore cannot possibly know anything
whatever about divine things, and are utterly incompetent to give an
opinion on the subject of Holy Scripture, have the cool audacity to
insult the sacred volume, to pronounce the five books of Moses an
imposture, to assert that Moses never wrote them at all!

What is the opinion of such men worth? Not worth the weight of a
feather. Who would think of going to a man who was born in a coal
mine, and had never seen the sun, to get his judgment as to the
properties of light, or the effect of the sun's beams upon the human
constitution? Who would think of going to one who was born blind to
get his opinion upon colors, or the effect of light and shade? Surely
no one in his senses. Well, then, with how much more moral force, may
we not ask, who would think of going to an unconverted man--a man dead
in trespasses and sins--a man spiritually blind, wholly ignorant of
things divine, spiritual, and heavenly--who would think for a moment
of going to such a one for a judgment on the weighty question of Holy
Scripture? And if such a one were audacious enough, in ignorant
self-confidence, to offer an opinion on such a subject, what man in
his sober senses would think of giving the slightest heed?

It will perhaps be said, "The illustration does not apply." Why not?
We admit it fails in force, but most certainly not in its moral
application. Is it not a commonly received axiom amongst us that no
man has any right to give an opinion on a subject of which he is
totally ignorant? No doubt. Well, what does the blessed apostle say as
to the unconverted man? We quote the whole context for the reader. It
is morally grand, and its interest and value just now are unspeakable.

"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of
speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I
determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much
trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words
of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
_that your faith_"--mark these words, beloved reader--"_should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God_. Howbeit we speak
wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world,
nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught. But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God
ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of
this world knew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which
God hath prepared for them that love Him. _But God hath revealed them
to us by His Spirit_;"--otherwise they could not possibly be
known;--"for the Spirit, searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of
God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man
which is in him? Even so _the things of God knoweth no man_, but the
Spirit of God. Now we"--all true believers, all God's children--"have
received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual
things with spiritual"--or, communicating spiritual things through a
spiritual medium. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God; neither can he know them,"--be he ever so wise and
learned,--"because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is
spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For
who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we
have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. ii. 1-16).

We dare not offer an apology for giving so lengthened an extract from
the word of God. We deem it invaluable, not only because it proves
that it is only by divine teaching that divine things can be
understood, but also because it completely withers up all man's
pretensions to give judgment as to Scripture. If the natural man
cannot know the things of the Spirit of God, then it is perfectly
plain that all infidel attacks upon the word of God are absolutely
unworthy of the very smallest attention. In fact, all infidel writers,
be they ever so clever, ever so wise, ever so learned, are put out of
court; they are not to be listened to for a moment. The judgment of an
unconverted man in reference to the Holy Scriptures is more worthless
than the judgment of an uneducated plowman as to the use of the
differential calculus, or the truth of the Copernican system. As to
each, we have only to say, he knows nothing whatever about the matter.
His thoughts are absolutely good for nothing.

But how truly delightful and refreshing to turn from man's worthless
notions, and see the way in which our blessed Lord Jesus Christ prized
and used the Holy Scriptures! In His conflict with Satan, He appeals
three times over to the book of Deuteronomy. "_It is written_" is His
one simple and unanswerable reply to the suggestions of the enemy. He
does not reason. He does not argue or explain. He does not refer to
His own personal feelings, evidences, or experiences. He does not
argue from the great facts of the opened heavens, the descending
Spirit, the voice of the Father--precious and real as all these things
were. He simply takes His stand upon the divine and eternal authority
of the Holy Scriptures, and of that portion of the Scriptures in
particular which modern infidels have audaciously attacked. He uses as
His authority that which they are not afraid to pronounce an
imposture! How dreadful for them! What will be their end, unless they
repent?

But not only did the Son of God--Himself, as God, the Author of every
line of Holy Scripture--use the word of God as His only weapon against
the enemy, but He made it also the basis and the material of His
public ministry. When His conflict in the wilderness was over, "He
returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a
fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their
synagogues, being glorified of all. And He came to Nazareth, where He
had been brought up; and, _as His custom was_, He went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day, and _stood up for to read_"--_His custom
was to read the Scriptures publicly_. "And there was delivered unto
Him the book of the prophet Esaias." Here He puts His seal upon the
prophet Isaiah, as before upon the law of Moses. "And when He had
opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit
of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the
gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke iv.).

Let us turn now to that most solemn parable of the rich man and
Lazarus, at the close of Luke xvi., in which we have a solemn
testimony from the Master's own lips to the integrity, value and
surpassing importance of "Moses and the Prophets"--the very portions
of the divine Word which infidels impiously assail. The rich man in
torment--alas, no longer rich, but miserably and eternally
poor!--entreats Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brethren,
lest they also should come into that place of torment. Mark the reply!
Mark it, all ye infidels, rationalists, and skeptics! Mark it, all ye
who are in danger of being deluded and turned aside by the impudent
and blasphemous suggestions of infidelity! "Abraham saith unto him,
They have Moses and the Prophets; _let them hear them_." Yes; "hear
them"--hear those very writings which infidels tell us are not
divinely inspired at all, but documents palmed upon us by impostors
pretending to inspiration. Assuredly the rich man knew better;
indeed, the devil himself knows better. There is no thought of
calling in question the genuineness of "Moses and the Prophets;" but
perhaps "if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." Hear
the weighty rejoinder! "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses
and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from
the dead."

Now we must confess we rejoice exceedingly in the grandeur of this
testimony. Nothing can be clearer, nothing higher, nothing more
thoroughly confirmatory as to the supreme authority and divine
integrity of "Moses and the Prophets." We have the blessed Lord
Himself setting His seal to the two grand divisions of Old Testament
Scripture; and hence we may with all possible confidence commit our
souls to the authority of these holy writings; and not only to Moses
and the Prophets, but to the whole canon of inspiration, inasmuch as
Moses and the Prophets are so largely and so constantly quoted
everywhere, are so intimately, yea, indissolubly, bound up with every
part of the New Testament, that all must stand or fall together.

But we must pass on, and turn for a moment to the last chapter of
Luke--that precious section which contains "the great commission"
whereof we speak. We might refer with profit and blessing to those
occasions in which our blessed Lord, in His interviews with Pharisees,
Sadducees, and lawyers, ever and only appeals to the Holy Scriptures.
In short, whether in conflict with men or devils, whether speaking in
private or in public, whether for His public ministry or for His
private walk, we find the perfect Man, the Lord from heaven, always
putting the very highest honor upon the writings of Moses and the
Prophets, thus commending them to us in all their divine integrity,
and giving us the very fullest and most blessed encouragement to
commit our souls, for time and eternity, with absolute confidence, to
those peerless writings.

But we turn to Luke xxiv., and listen to the glowing words uttered in
the ears of the two bewildered travelers to Emmaus--words which are
the sure and blessed remedy for all bewilderment--the perfect solution
of every honest difficulty--the divine and all-satisfying answer to
every upright inquiry. We do not quote the words of the perplexed
disciples; but here is the Master's reply. "Then said He unto them, O
fools and slow of heart to believe _all that the prophets have
spoken_!" Alas! nowadays a man is counted a fool if he does believe
all that the prophets have spoken. In many learned circles, yea, and
in not a few religious circles likewise, the man who avows--as every
true man ought--his hearty belief in every line of Holy Scripture, is
almost sure to be met with a sneer of contempt. It is deemed clever to
doubt the genuineness of Scripture,--fatal, detestable cleverness,
from which may the good Lord deliver us!--cleverness which is sure to
lead the soul that is ensnared by it down into the dark and dreary
abyss of atheism, and the darker and more dreary abyss of hell. From
all such cleverness, we again say, from the profoundest depths of our
moral being, may God, in His mercy, deliver us and all our young
people!

Beloved reader, have we not much cause to bless the Lord for these
words of His addressed to His poor perplexed ones on their way to
Emmaus? They may seem severe; but it is the necessary severity of a
pure, a perfect, and a divinely wise love. "O fools, and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And"--mark these
words!--"beginning at _Moses and all the Prophets_, He expounded unto
them _in all the Scriptures_ the things concerning Himself." He
Himself--all homage to His glorious person!--is the divine centre of
all the things contained in the Scriptures from cover to cover. He is
the golden chain that binds into one marvelous and magnificent whole
every part of the inspired volume, from Genesis to Revelation. Hence
the man that touches a single section of the sacred canon is guilty of
the heinous sin of seeking to overthrow the word of God; and of such a
man even charity itself must say he knows neither the Christ of God
nor God Himself. The man who dares to tamper in any way with the word
of God has taken the first step on that inclined plane that leads
inevitably down to eternal perdition. Let men beware, then, how they
speak against the Scriptures; and if some _will_ speak, let others
beware how they listen. If there were no infidel listeners, there
would be few infidel lecturers. How awful to think that there should
be either the one or the other in this our highly favored land! May
God have mercy upon them, and open their eyes ere it be too late! Five
minutes in hell will quash forever all the infidel theories that ever
were propounded in this world. Oh, the egregious folly of infidelity!

We return to our chapter, which furnishes one more proof of the place
assigned by our risen Lord to the Holy Scriptures. After having
manifested Himself in infinite grace and tranquilizing power to His
troubled disciples, having shown them His hands and His feet, and
assured them of His personal identity by eating in their presence, "He
said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was
yet with you, that _all things must be fulfilled which were written in
the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms_, concerning
Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus _it is written_."

Here again we have the divine seal put upon all the grand divisions of
the Old Testament. This is most comforting and strengthening for all
pious lovers of Scripture. To find our Lord Himself on all occasions,
and under all circumstances, referring to Scripture, using it at all
times and for all purposes, feeding upon it Himself and commending it
to others, wielding it as the sword of the Spirit, bowing to its holy
authority in all things, appealing to it as the only perfect standard,
test and touchstone, the only infallible guide for man in this world,
the only unfailing light amid all the surrounding moral gloom--all
this is comforting and encouraging in the very highest degree, and it
fills our hearts with deepest praise to the Father of mercies who has
so provided for us in all our weakness and need.

Here we might close this branch of our subject, but we feel bound to
furnish our readers with two more uncommonly fine illustrations of our
thesis; one from the Acts, and one from the Epistles. In Acts xxiv.
the apostle Paul, in his address to Felix, thus expresses himself as
to the ground of his faith: "But this I confess unto thee, that after
the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers,
_believing all things which are written in the Law and in the
Prophets_." So, then, he reverently believed in Moses and the
Prophets. He fully accepted the Old Testament Scriptures as the solid
foundation of his faith, and as the divine authority for his entire
course. Now how did Paul know that the Scriptures were given of God?
He knew it in the only way in which any one can know it, namely, by
divine teaching. God alone can give the knowledge that the Holy
Scriptures are His own very revelation to man. If He does not give it,
no one can; if He does, no one need. If I want human evidence to
accredit the word of God, it is not the word of God to me. The
authority on which I receive it is higher than the Word itself.
Supposing I could by reason or human learning work my way to the
rational conclusion that the Bible is the word of God, then my faith
would merely stand in the wisdom of man, and not in the power of God.
Such a faith is worthless; it does not link me with God, and therefore
leaves me unsaved, unblessed, uncertain. It leaves me without God,
without Christ, without hope. Saving faith is believing what God says
because _He_ says it, and this faith is wrought in the soul by the
Holy Spirit. Intellectual faith is a cold, lifeless, worthless faith,
which only deceives and puffs up; it never can save, sanctify, or
satisfy.

       *       *       *       *       *

We turn now to 2 Tim. iii. 14-17. The aged apostle, at the close of
his marvelous career, from his prison at Rome, looking back at the
whole of his ministry, looking around at the failure and ruin so sadly
apparent on every side, looking forward to the terrible consummation
of the "last days," and looking beyond all to "the crown of
righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give _in that
day_," thus addresses his beloved son: "But _continue thou_ in the
things which thou hast learned and _hast been assured of_, knowing of
whom thou hast learned; and that _from a child thou hast known the
Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation_
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. _All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God_, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness; that _the man of God may
be perfect_ (complete), _thoroughly furnished unto all good works_."

All this is unspeakably precious to every true lover of the word of
God. The place here assigned, and the virtues here attributed, to the
Holy Scriptures are beyond all price. In short, it is utterly
impossible to overstate the value and importance of the foregoing
quotation. It is deeply touching to find the revered and beloved old
veteran, in the full power of the Holy Ghost, recalling Timothy to the
days of his childhood, when, at the knees of his pious mother, he
drank at the pure fountain of inspiration. How did the dear child know
that these holy writings were the word of God? He knew it just in the
same way that the blessed apostle himself knew it, by their divine
power and effect upon his heart and conscience through the Holy Ghost.
Did the Holy Scriptures need man's credentials? What an insult to the
dignity of Scripture to imagine that any human seal or guarantee is
necessary to accredit it to the soul! Do we want the authority of the
Church, the judgment of the Fathers, the decrees of councils, the
consent of the doctors, the decision of the universities, to accredit
the word of God? Far away be the thought! Who would think of bringing
out a rushlight at noon to prove that the sun shines, or to bring home
its beams in their genial virtue to the human frame? What son would
think of taking his father's letter to an ignorant crossing-sweeper to
have it accredited and interpreted to his heart?

These figures are feebleness itself when used to illustrate the
egregious folly of submitting the Holy Scriptures to the judgment of
any human mind. No, reader, the word of God speaks for itself. It
carries its own powerful credentials with it. Its own internal
evidences are amply sufficient for every pious, right-minded, humble
child of God. It needs no letter of commendation from men. No doubt
external evidences have their value and their interest. Human
testimony must go for what it is worth. We may rest assured that the
more thoroughly all human evidence is sifted, and the nearer all human
testimony approaches to the truth, the more fully and distinctly will
all concur in demonstrating the genuineness and integrity of our
precious Bible. And further, we must declare our deep and settled
conviction that no infidel theory can hold water for a moment; no
infidel argument can pass muster with an honest mind. We invariably
find that all infidel assaults upon the Bible recoil upon the heads of
those who make them. Infidel writers make fools of themselves, and
leave the divine volume just where it always was, and where it always
will be, like an impregnable rock, against which the waves of infidel
thought dash themselves in contemptible impotency.

There stands the word of God in its divine majesty, in its heavenly
power, in its beautiful simplicity, in its matchless glory, in its
unfathomed because unfathomable depths, in its never-failing freshness
and power of adaptation, in its marvelous comprehensiveness, in its
vastness of scope, its perfect unity, its thorough uniqueness. The
Bible stands alone. There is nothing like it in the wide world of
literature; and if anything further were needed to prove that that
book which we call "The Bible" is in very deed the living and eternal
word of God, it may be found in the ceaseless efforts of the devil to
prove that it is not.

"_Forever_, O Lord, Thy word is _settled in heaven_." What remains,
beloved reader, for thee? Just this: "Thy word have I _hid in my
heart_, that I might not sin against Thee." Thus it stands, blessed be
His holy name; and when we have His Word hid in the depths of our
hearts, the theories and the arguments, the reasonings or the ravings,
the questionings and the conclusions of skeptics, rationalists and
infidels, will be to us of less moment than the pattering of rain upon
the window.

Thus much as to the weighty question of the "_authority_" upon which
the great commission proceeds. The immense importance of the subject,
and the special character of the moment through which we are passing,
must account for the unusual length of this article. We feel
profoundly thankful for an opportunity of bearing our feeble testimony
to the power, authority, all-sufficiency and divine glory of "the Holy
Scriptures." "Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!"




PART VIII.


In full keeping with all that has passed in review before us is the
_sphere_ of "the great commission," as set forth in that comprehensive
clause, "_Among all nations_." Such was to be the wide range of those
heralds whom the risen Lord was sending forth to preach "repentance
and remission of sins." Theirs was emphatically a world-wide mission.
In Matt. x. we find something quite different. There the Lord, in
sending forth the twelve apostles, "commanded them, saying, Go not
into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans
enter ye not."

This was to be a mission exclusively to the house of Israel. There was
no message for the Gentiles, no word for the poor Samaritans. If these
messengers approached a city of the uncircumcised, they were on no
account to enter it. The ways of God--His dispensational
dealings--demanded a circumscribed sphere for the twelve apostles sent
forth by the Messiah in the days of His flesh. "The lost sheep of the
house of Israel" were to be the special objects of their ministry.

But in Luke xxiv. all is changed. The dispensational barriers are no
longer to interfere with the messengers of grace. Israel is not to be
forgotten, but the Gentiles are to hear the glad tidings. The sun of
God's salvation must now pour its living beams over the whole world.
Not a soul is to be excluded from the blessed light. Every city, every
town, every village, every hamlet, every street, lane and alley, hedge
and highway, must be diligently and lovingly searched out and visited,
so that "every creature under heaven" might hear the good news of a
full and free salvation.

How like our God is all this! How worthy of His large, loving heart!
He would have the tide of His salvation flowing from pole to pole, and
from the river to the ends of the earth. His righteousness is unto
all, and the sweet tale of His pardoning love must be wafted far and
wide over a lost and guilty world. Such is His most gracious purpose,
however tardy His servants may be in carrying it out.

It is of the greatest importance to have a clear view as to this
branch of our subject. It brings out the character of God in a very
magnificent light, and it leaves man wholly without excuse. Salvation
is sent to the Gentiles. There is absolutely no limit, and no
obstacle. Like the sun in the heavens, it shines on all. If a man will
persist in hiding himself in a mine or in a tunnel, so that he cannot
see the sun, he has none but himself to blame. It is no defect in the
sun if all do not enjoy his beams. He shines for all. And in like
manner, "the grace of God that bringeth salvation unto all men hath
appeared." No one need perish because he is a poor lost sinner, for
"God will have all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the
truth." "He willeth not that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance."

And then, that not a single feature might be lacking to set forth with
all possible force and fulness the royal grace which breathes in "the
great commission," our blessed Lord does not fail to point out to His
servants the remarkable spot which was to be the centre of their
_sphere_. He tells them to "begin at Jerusalem." Yes, Jerusalem, where
our Lord was crucified; where every indignity that human enmity could
invent was heaped upon His divine person; where a murderer and a
robber was preferred to "God manifest in the flesh;" where human
iniquity had reached its culminating point in nailing the Son of God
to a malefactor's cross--there the messengers were to begin their
blessed work; that was to be the centre of the sphere of their
gracious operations; and from thence they were to travel to the utmost
bounds of the habitable globe. They were to begin with "Jerusalem
sinners"--with the very murderers of the Son of God, and then go forth
to publish everywhere the glorious tidings, so that all might know
that precious grace of God which was sufficient to meet the crimson
guilt of Jerusalem itself.

How glorious is all this! The guilty murderers of the Son of God were
the very first to hear the sweet tale of pardoning love, so that all
men might see in them a pattern of what the grace of God and the blood
of Christ can do. Truly the grace that could pardon Jerusalem sinners
can pardon any one; the blood that could cleanse the betrayers and
murderers of the Christ of God can cleanse any sinner outside the
precincts of hell. These heralds of salvation, as they made their way
from nation to nation, could tell their hearers where they had come
from; they could tell of that superabounding grace of God which had
commenced its operations in the guiltiest spot on the face of the
earth, and which was amply sufficient to meet the very vilest of the
sons of Adam.

    "Sovereign grace o'er sin abounding:
      Ransomed souls the tidings swell;
    'Tia a deep that knows no sounding;
      Who its length or breadth can tell?"

Precious grace of God! May it be published with increased energy and
clearness throughout the divinely appointed sphere. Alas, alas, that
those who know it should be so slow to make it known to others! That
slowness is, most surely, not of God. He absolutely delights in the
publication of His saving, pardoning grace. He tells us that the feet
of the evangelist are beautiful upon the mountains. He assures us that
the preaching of the Cross is a sweet savor to His heart. Ought not
all this to quicken our energies in the blessed work? Ought we not in
every possible way to seek to carry out the gracious desire of the
heart of God? Why are we so slow? Why so cold and indolent? Why so
easily discouraged and repulsed? Why so ready to make excuses for not
speaking to people about their souls?

There stands the great commission shining on the eternal page of
inspiration in all its moral grandeur--its _terms_, its _basis_, its
_authority_, its _sphere_! The work is not yet done. Nearly nineteen
hundred years have rolled past since the risen Saviour sent forth His
messengers; and still He waits, in sweet, long-suffering mercy, not
willing that any should perish. Why are we not more willing-hearted in
carrying out the gracious desire of His heart? It is not by any means
necessary that we should be great preachers, or powerful public
speakers, in order to carry on the precious work of evangelization.
What we want is a heart in communion with the heart of God, the heart
of Christ, and that will surely be a heart for souls. We do not, and
cannot, believe that one who is not led out in loving desire after the
salvation of souls can really be in communion with the mind of Christ.
We cannot be in His presence and not think of the souls of those
around us. For whoever cared for souls as He did? Mark His marvelous
path!--His ceaseless toil as a teacher and preacher!--His thirst for
the salvation and blessing of souls!

And has He not left us an example that we should follow His steps? Are
we doing so in this one matter of making known the blessed gospel? Are
we seeking to imitate Him in His earnest diligence in seeking the
lost? See Him at the well of Sychar! Mark His whole deportment! Listen
to His earnest, loving words! Note the joy and refreshment of His
spirit as He sees one poor sinner receiving His message! "I have meat
to eat that ye know not of;" "Lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth
receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he
that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."

We would earnestly entreat the Christian reader to consider this great
subject in the divine presence. We deeply feel its importance. We
cannot but judge that, amid all the writing and reading, all the
speaking and hearing, all the coming and going, there is a sad lack of
deep-toned, earnest, solemn dealing with individual souls. How often
do we rest satisfied with inviting people to come to the preaching,
instead of seeking to bring them directly to Christ? How often do we
rest content with the periodical preaching, instead of earnestly
seeking, all the week through, to persuade souls to flee from the
wrath to come? No doubt it is good to preach, and good to invite
people to the preaching; but we may rest assured there is something
more than all this to be done, and that something must be sought in
deeper communion with the heart and mind of Christ.

Some there are who speak disparagingly of the blessed and holy work of
evangelization. We tremble for them. We feel persuaded they are not in
the current of the Master's mind, and hence we utterly reject their
thoughts. It is to be feared that their hearts are cold in reference
to an object that engages the heart of God. If so, they would need to
humble themselves in His presence, and seek to get their souls
restored to a true sense of the magnitude, importance and interest of
the grand question before us. At least let them beware of how they
seek to discourage and hinder others whose hearts the Lord has moved
to care for precious, immortal souls. The present is most assuredly
not the time for raising difficulties, and starting questions which
can only prove stumbling-blocks in the pathway of earnest workers. It
becomes us to seek in every right way to strengthen the hands of all
who are endeavoring, according to their measure, to publish the glad
tidings, and make known the unsearchable riches of Christ. Let us see
that we do so, so far as in us lies; and above all things, let us
never utter a sentence calculated to hinder any one in the blessed
work of winning souls to Christ.

But we must draw this paper, and this series of papers, to a close. We
might do so here, were it not that there is one more point in our
subject which we feel must not be omitted, and that is the _power_ by
which "the great commission" was to be carried out. To leave this out
would be a great defect, a serious blank indeed; and we are the more
anxious to notice it, inasmuch as the special form in which the power
was communicated links itself, in a very remarkable way, with that
which has been before us in this paper. If the _sphere_ was to be "all
nations," the _power_ must be adapted thereto; and, blessed be God, so
it was.

Our blessed Lord, in closing His commission to His disciples, said,
"And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise
of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye
be endued with power from on high." This promise was fulfilled, this
power was communicated on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Ghost came
down from the ascended and glorified Man, to qualify His servants for
the glorious work for which He had called them. They had to "tarry"
until they got the power. How could they go without it? Who but the
Holy Ghost could speak adequately of the love of God, of the person,
work and glory of Christ? Who but He could enable any one to preach
repentance and remission of sins? Who but He could properly handle all
the weighty subjects comprehended in "the great commission?" In a
word, the power of the Holy Ghost is absolutely essential in every
branch of Christian service, and all who go to work without it will
find it to be barrenness, misery, and desolation.

But we must call the reader's special attention to the form in which
the Holy Ghost came down on the day of Pentecost. It is full of
deepest interest, and lets us into the precious secret of the heart of
God in a most touching manner.

Let us turn to chapter ii. of the Acts of the Apostles.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were _all with one
accord in one place_"--instructive and suggestive fact!--"And suddenly
there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto
them _cloven tongues_, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost"--He had full possession
of their hearts and minds, full sway over their whole moral
being--blessed condition!--"And they began to speak with _other
tongues_" (not in the absurd and unintelligible jargon of cunning
impostors or deluded fanatics, but), "as the Spirit gave them
utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, _out
of every nation under heaven_." Note this fact. "Now when this was
noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded,
because that _every man heard them speak in his own language_."--How
real--how telling!--"And they were all amazed, and marveled, saying
one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And
how _hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born_?"--not
merely wherein we were educated--"Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,
and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of
Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes
and Arabians, _we do hear them speak in our tongues_ the wonderful
works of God."

What a marvelous occurrence! How marked the coincidence! God so
ordered it, in His infinite wisdom and perfect grace, that there
should be assembled in the city of Jerusalem, at the exact moment,
people from every nation on the face of the whole earth, in order
that--even should the twelve apostles fail to carry out their
commission--all might hear, in the very dialect in which their mothers
first whispered into their infant ears the accents of a mother's love,
the precious tidings of God's salvation.

Can anything exceed this in interest? Who can fail to see in the fact
here recorded that it was the loving desire of the heart of God to
reach every creature under heaven with the sweet story of His grace?
The world had rejected the Son of God, had crucified and slain Him;
but no sooner had He taken His seat at the right hand of God than down
came the august Witness, God the Spirit, to speak to man--to every
man--to speak to him, not in accents of withering denunciation, not in
the thundering anathemas of judgment, but in accents of deep and
tender love, to tell him of full remission of sins through the blood
of the Cross.

True, He called on man to judge himself, to repent, to take his only
true and proper place. Why not? How could it be otherwise? Repentance
is--as we have already fully shown and earnestly insisted upon in
these papers--a universal and abiding necessity for man. But the
Spirit of God came down to speak face to face with man, to tell him in
his own mother tongue of the wonderful works of God. He did not speak
to a Hebrew in Latin, or to a Roman in Greek; but He spoke to each in
the very dialect in which he was born, thus proving to a
demonstration--proving in the most affecting manner possible--that it
was God's gracious desire to make His way to man's heart in deepest,
richest, fullest grace. All homage to His name!

How different it was when the law was to be published from mount
Sinai! If all the nations of the earth had been assembled round that
fiery mount, they could not have understood one word--unless, indeed,
any one happened to know the Hebrew tongue. The law was addressed to
one people, it was wrapped up in one language, it was enclosed in the
ark. God took no pains to publish the record of man's duty in every
language under heaven. But when grace was to be published, when the
glad tidings of salvation were to be sounded abroad, when testimony
was to be borne to a crucified, risen, ascended and coming Saviour and
Lord, then, verily, God the Holy Ghost came down, for the purpose of
fitting His messengers to speak to every man in a tongue which he
could understand.

Facts are powerful arguments, and assuredly the above two facts, in
reference to the law and the gospel, must speak to every heart, in a
manner the most convincing, of the matchless grace of God. God did not
send forth heralds to publish the law to "all nations." No--this was
reserved for "the great commission" on which we have been dwelling,
and which we now earnestly commend, with all its great subjects, to
the serious attention of every reader.

                                                           C. H. M.

       *       *       *       *       *

Transcriber's note:

Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained
except in obvious cases of typographical error.







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