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<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40575 ***</div>

<p class="center">
MISCELLANEOUS<br />
WRITINGS<br />

of C.H.M.</p>

<h1>The Great
Commission</h1>

<p class="center"><big><i>Miscellaneous Writings of</i><br />
C. H. MACKINTOSH</big><br /><br /><br />

<i>Volume IV</i><br /><br />

LOIZEAUX BROTHERS<br />
<i>New York</i>
</p>



<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2>CONVERSION: WHAT IS IT?</h2>


<h3>PART I.</h3>

<p>The first chapter of first Thessalonians presents
a very striking and beautiful picture of what
we may truly call <i>genuine conversion</i>. 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?</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>must</i> be converted, else he is
on the broad and direct road to an everlasting hell.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;one who has
a boundless eternity stretching away before him&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;all the numberless and nameless
things that the poor unsatisfied heart longs
after, and grasps at&mdash;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&mdash;all
vanish away, and leave an aching void behind. The
heart remains unsatisfied, the soul unsaved, because
unconverted.</p>

<p>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 <i>must</i> 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&mdash;a
tremendous fact&mdash;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&mdash;hours, days, months, or years,&mdash;when
the boundary line must be crossed which separates
time, with all its empty, vain, shadowy pursuits,
from eternity with all its stupendous realities.</p>

<p>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
<i>living</i> soul"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>Mark these words, "<i>After this</i> 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.</p>

<p>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, <i>according to
their works</i>. And the sea gave up the dead which
were in it; and death and hades delivered up the
dead which were in them; and <i>they were judged
every man according to their works</i>.... This is the
second death"&mdash;the lake of fire. "And whosoever
was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire" (Rev. xx.)</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;if he is not converted&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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?"</p>

<p>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&mdash;<i>conversion here, or
eternal damnation hereafter</i>.</p>

<p>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, "<span class="smcap">Him that cometh unto Me,
I will in no wise cast out</span>?"</p>


<h3>PART II.</h3>

<p>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).</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>cannot</i> 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.</p>

<p>True it is that the one has been converted from
drunkenness to sobriety&mdash;a <i>very great</i> blessing indeed,
in a moral and social point of view&mdash;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&mdash;"Except ye be converted, <i>ye
cannot</i> enter the Kingdom of heaven."</p>

<p>How important, then&mdash;yea, how momentous the
question for each one, "<i>Am I converted?</i>" 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&mdash;the grand realities
of eternity.</p>

<p>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&mdash;the
children of light from the children of darkness&mdash;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).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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? <i>Death!</i> Yes; and what
then? Ah! that is the question. Would to God the
weight and seriousness of this question were more
fully realized!</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;truths that have never gone beyond the
region of his understanding&mdash;never reached his
conscience, never touched his heart, never converted
his soul.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>


<h3>PART III.</h3>

<p>Having thus far seen the absolute necessity, in
every case, of conversion, and having, in some
measure, sought to point out what conversion is <i>not</i>,
we have now to inquire what it <i>is</i>. 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 <i>self</i> 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&mdash;a
desire which may be right enough in itself&mdash;we
are too ready to accredit and announce, as cases of
conversion, many which, alas! are merely ephemeral.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;cases which speak for
themselves, and carry their own credentials with
them to all who are capable of judging&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>faith</i> and
labor of <i>love</i>, and patience of <i>hope</i>"&mdash;the grand elements
of true Christianity&mdash;"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&mdash;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 <i>in power</i>, and in the Holy Ghost, and in
much assurance; <i>as ye know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake</i>."</p>

<p>The blessed apostle was, in his daily life, the exponent
of the gospel which he preached. He <i>lived</i>
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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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!</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>"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."</p>

<p>This was real work. It carried its own credentials
with it. There was nothing vague or unsatisfactory
about it&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>Such was the work at Thessalonica&mdash;a blessed
divine work&mdash;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"&mdash;Precious, powerful reasoning! would
to God we had more of it in our midst!&mdash;"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."</p>

<p>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!</p>


<h3>PART IV.</h3>

<p>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 <i>ye turned to God from
idols</i>, 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).</p>

<p>Here, then, we have a divine definition of conversion&mdash;brief,
but comprehensive. It is a turning
<i>from</i>, and a turning <i>to</i>. 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>not as the word
of men</i>, but, as it is in truth, <i>the word of God</i>, which
effectually worketh also in you that believe."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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
<i>the testimony of God</i>. 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 <i>in demonstration of the Spirit</i> and of
power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom
of men, but <i>in the power of God</i>" (1 Cor. ii. 1-5).</p>

<p>Here we have true ministry&mdash;"the testimony of
God," and "the demonstration of the Spirit"&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>And let us mark the fruit. "<i>Ye turned from idols.</i>"
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, "<i>idols</i>." 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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;a thorough commercial genius&mdash;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.</p>

<p>But he loves to get more. He is a covetous man&mdash;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&mdash;strange, contemptible
desire!</p>

<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> 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&mdash;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&mdash;the desire
to have more&mdash;the spirit of commerce&mdash;the ability
to make money&mdash;the desire to get on&mdash;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).</p>

<p>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&mdash;Christless,
faithless, worthless religion?</p>

<p>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&mdash;too like the openly and confessedly
worldly people around us.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>But more of this in our next, if the Lord will.</p>


<h3>PART V.</h3>

<p>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 <i>from</i>
idols&mdash;a turning from all those objects which ruled
our hearts and engaged our affections&mdash;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 <i>from</i> darkness, and from the
power of Satan; and, as we read in Gal. i. 4, a turning
<i>from</i> this present evil world.</p>

<p>But conversion is much more than all this. It
would, in one sense, be but a poor thing if it were
merely a turning "<i>from</i> 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;if
we have given up our former pleasures and
amusements&mdash;if, in short, we have turned our back
upon what goes to make up life in this world, what
have we instead?"</p>

<p>1 Thessalonians i. 9 furnishes, in one word, the
answer to all these inquiries&mdash;an answer full, clear,
distinct, and comprehensive. Here it is&mdash;"Ye
turned to GOD."</p>

<p>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!</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;that it made the Father glad to get him
back!</p>

<p>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,
<i>brought home</i>, brought to the Father's bosom, brought
into the family; made&mdash;not in the language of a
barren formulary, but in the power of the Spirit, and
by the mighty action of the Word&mdash;a child of God, a
member of Christ, and an heir of the kingdom.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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"&mdash;what? Heaven
when we die? Nay; but "to bring us to God"
<i>now</i>. 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 <i>joy in God</i>, through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation."</p>

<p>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; <i>because I live, ye shall live
also</i>." Again, "Peace I leave with you, <i>my peace I
give unto you</i>; 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 <i>my joy might remain in you</i>, 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 <i>all things
that I have heard of my Father I have made known
unto you.</i>"</p>

<p>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 <i>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>: 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, <i>and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me</i>.
Father, <i>I will that they also whom Thou hast given
Me be with Me where I am</i>; 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 <i>the love
wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I
in them</i>."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;His acceptability now&mdash;His
glory by and by&mdash;this, truly, is something which
only the heart of God could think of, and only His
mighty power accomplish.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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, <i>to the praise of the
glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved</i>, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the
riches of His grace" (Eph. i.).</p>

<p>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&mdash;all the blessings bestowed upon us
in Christ&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>This, then, is conversion. Thus we are <i>brought
to God</i>. 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;never
knew the real meaning of communion with Him&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>


<h3>PART VI.</h3>

<p>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, "<i>Turned to
God from idols</i>." 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&mdash;to know Him now as our resource in all our
weakness and need&mdash;the spring of all our joys&mdash;our
strength and shield&mdash;our Guide and Counsellor&mdash;our
all in all&mdash;to be absolutely and completely shut
up to Him, wholly dependent upon Him.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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, <i>all was vanity and
vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the
sun</i>" (Eccle. i., ii.).</p>

<p>Such is the withering commentary upon all earth's
resources as given by the pen of one who had all
that earth could give&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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 <i>too late</i>! 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?</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>But we have digressed from our special theme, to
which we must return.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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.).</p>

<p>O reader, it is a grand reality to lean on the arm
of the living God&mdash;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).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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?</p>

<p>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 <i>freely</i> give us <i>all things</i>?" His
word is, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Thus it is in every case. Our immediate and
exclusive reference must be to God in all our need.
"We have turned <i>to God</i> 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 <i>only</i> upon
God, for my expectation is from Him. He <i>only</i> is
my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I
shall not be moved."</p>

<p>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.</p>


<h3>PART VII.</h3>

<p>We are now called to consider a deeply practical
point in our subject. It is contained in
the clause, "<i>To serve the living and true God</i>." 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&mdash;contrary to the direct teaching
of His word&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>the servants of Christ</i>, doing the will of God
from the heart; with good-will doing <i>service</i>, 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.).</p>

<p>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?</p>

<p>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 <i>heartily</i>, 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.</p>

<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>

<p>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"&mdash;unconverted
people&mdash;"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.</p>

<p><i>There must be genuine conversion to God.</i> 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&mdash;"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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;"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!</p>


<h3>PART VIII</h3>

<p>The last words of our chapter&mdash;1 Thess. i.&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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. <i>They were converted "to wait for
the Son of God from the heavens."</i></p>

<p>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&mdash;the place prepared for them: and then to
come forth <i>with</i> them, to execute judgment upon His
enemies&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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, <i>These that have turned the world upside
down</i> are come hither also; whom Jason hath received;
and these all do contrary to the decrees of
Cæsar, <i>saying that there is another king, Jesus</i>."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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).</p>

<p>But not only did the Lord's coming and kingdom
occupy a prominent place in the <i>preaching</i> of the
apostle, it also shines brilliantly forth in all his
<i>teaching</i>. 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&mdash;a
precious, purifying, sanctifying, elevating hope,
detaching the heart completely from present things,
and causing it to look out, moment by moment&mdash;yes,
reader, we repeat it with emphasis, moment by
moment&mdash;for the return of our beloved Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, who loved us, and gave Himself
for us.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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"&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;whatever that
duty may be, whether the scrubbing of a floor or
the preaching of the gospel&mdash;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!</p>

<p>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?</p>

<p>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&mdash;a foundation which not
all the powers of earth and hell, men and devils,
can ever touch.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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, <i>at His coming</i>?"
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!"</p>

<p>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, <i>at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ with all His saints</i>."</p>

<p>Let the reader specially mark the last clause of
this touching and beautiful quotation. "<i>With all
His saints.</i>" 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 <i>all</i> 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 <i>all</i> 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.</p>

<p>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, <i>must</i> 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 <i>live</i> in the hope
of seeing his Lord at any moment and yet have his
heart set upon worldly things&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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!"</p>

<p>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&mdash;has broken
with the world&mdash;broken with his former self&mdash;turned
to God, to find in Him all he can possibly want for
time and eternity, to serve Him, and Him only&mdash;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?"</p>

<p>Reader, art <i>thou</i> converted? If not, what then?
If thou art, does thy life declare it?</p>



<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2>SIMON PETER:<br />

HIS LIFE AND ITS LESSONS</h2>


<h3>PART I.</h3>


<p>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!</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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."</p>

<p>But let the reader note particularly John's testimony
to the <i>person</i> 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;which is to say,
being interpreted, Master&mdash;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.</p>

<p>Nor was this all, though it was much&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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, <i>A man can receive nothing, except it be given
him from heaven</i>. 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: <i>this my joy therefore is
fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease</i>"
(John iii. 26-30).</p>

<p>Noble words! It was the joy of this most illustrious
servant&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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, "<i>We
have found</i> 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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;no
wavering&mdash;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.</p>

<p>It is a grand point to be able to say, "<i>I have
found Christ</i>." 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&mdash;this great preacher who
was blessed, on one occasion, to three thousand
souls&mdash;who opened the Kingdom of heaven to the
Jew in Acts iii. and to the Gentile in Acts x.&mdash;this
blessed servant was brought to Christ by the hand
of his own brother in the flesh.</p>


<h3>PART II.</h3>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>"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."</p>

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

<p>"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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Now this is what we may call a genuine work of
conviction. Simon is in the place of true self-judgment&mdash;a
very blessed place indeed&mdash;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: <i>for mine eyes
have seen the King, the Lord of hosts</i>." So also in
the case of the patriarch, Job. "I have heard of
Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now <i>mine eye</i>
<i>seeth Thee</i>. Wherefore <i>I abhor myself</i>, and repent
in dust and ashes."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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!</p>

<p>"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 <i>all</i>, and followed
Him."</p>

<p>This was real work. It was a <i>bona fide</i> case, as
to which there could be no question; a case of
conviction, conversion, and consecration.</p>


<h3>PART III.</h3>

<p>We closed our last paper with these suggestive
words, "<i>They forsook all, and followed Him</i>"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>every man according
to their works</i>." In short, we have close and
accurate discrimination, and not a promiscuous
huddling of men and things.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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, <i>the God
whom we see at the cross</i>, 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.).</p>

<p>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 <i>in
no wise</i> 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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>to</i> it, or sustained of
God <i>in</i> 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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. <i>We must make Christ and His
cause our absorbing object.</i></p>


<h3>PART IV.</h3>

<p>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 <i>self</i>, 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.</p>

<p>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 <i>only</i> in Christ&mdash;peace of conscience in His
finished work&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;a heart divinely
taught to appreciate the Christ of God.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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"&mdash;no matter who or what he be&mdash;"love
not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema
Maranatha" (1 Cor. xvi. 22).</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>How momentous, therefore, the question put by
our Lord Christ to His disciples, "Whom do <i>men</i>
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&mdash;the Beloved
of the Father's heart&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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!</p>

<p>"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."</p>

<p>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 <i>will</i> build My Church." He was the Rock,
the divine foundation; but ere a single stone could
be built on Him, He must die.</p>

<p>This is a grand cardinal truth of Christianity&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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."</p>

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


<h3>PART V.</h3>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;were not members of the
body of Christ&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>But this is not the proper way in which to approach
this great subject. It is not a question of
the difference <i>personally</i> 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?</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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,&mdash;a body whose constituent parts
had been drawn from among the seed of Abraham
and the cursed race of the Canaanites,&mdash;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&mdash;the
seed of Abraham and uncircumcised Gentiles&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>No, reader, it is of no possible use to stand
against the plain testimony of Scripture. The truth
of the Church was not&mdash;could not&mdash;be known in
Old Testament times. It was, as the inspired
apostle tells us, "hid in God"&mdash;hid in His eternal
counsels&mdash;"not made known to the sons of men,
as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and
prophets by the Spirit,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> that the Gentiles should be
<i>fellow-heirs</i>, and of <i>the same body</i>, and partakers of
His promise in Christ by the gospel." (Eph. iii.)</p>

<p>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 <i>by the
blood of Christ</i>. 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.)</p>

<p>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>I will
build</i> 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;that He should restore Israel to
their destined pre-eminence in the earth&mdash;all this
he could understand and appreciate&mdash;he was looking
for it. But a suffering Messiah&mdash;a rejected and
crucified Christ&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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.</p>


<h3>PART VI.</h3>

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

<p>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:&mdash;"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. "<i>They went back, and walked
no more with Him.</i>"</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>a loving Saviour</i> can bestow upon us,
but when it becomes a question of following <i>a rejected
Lord</i> 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.</p>

<p>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?"</p>

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

<p>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."</p>

<p>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?"&mdash;whither shall we betake
ourselves?&mdash;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&mdash;deep waters, dark shadows; but in the
face of all we can say, "To whom shall we go?"</p>

<p>And mark the singular fulness of Peter's confession.
"Thou <i>hast</i> the words of eternal life;" and
then, "Thou <i>art</i> that Christ, the Son of the living
God." We have the two things, namely, what He
<i>has</i>, and what He <i>is</i>. 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;the tremendous fact&mdash;that
he is lost, lost forever&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>And if any one inquire what he has to do in this
business, the answer is <i>Nothing</i>&mdash;"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, <i>hath</i> everlasting life, and shall
not come into judgment, but <i>is passed</i> from death
unto life."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>


<h3>PART VII.</h3>

<p>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?"</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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?"</p>

<p>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&mdash;beautiful as
they surely are&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>not
seen</i>." 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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;a
perfect chaos&mdash;around us, where nature's resources
must hopelessly fail.</p>

<p>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&mdash;if we would rise superior
to its influences&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;Himself&mdash;His work&mdash;His word&mdash;to meet
our every need, our every exigence.</p>

<p>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?</p>

<p>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&mdash;yea, to have
remained would have been to miss great blessing.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>But there is another thing which stands next in
importance to the authority of the <i>divine Word</i>, and
that is the abiding realization of the <i>divine presence</i>.
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&mdash;if our eyes are not continually
on the living God&mdash;we shall most assuredly break
down.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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?</p>


<h3>PART VIII.</h3>

<p>We have now to follow our beloved apostle into
the darkest and most humbling scene in his
entire history&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>In these few words Peter lets out the real root of
the whole matter. That root was self-confidence&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>saith unto
Peter</i>, 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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Such is man&mdash;yea, the very best of men! Self-confident,
when he ought to be self-distrusting&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>Peter followed afar off</i>. And when
they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall,
and were set down together, <i>Peter sat down among
them</i>."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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>I
know not, neither understand I, what thou sayest</i>.
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.
<i>And he denied it again.</i> 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 <i>he began to curse and to swear,
I know not this man of whom ye speak</i>. 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.)</p>

<p>Luke adds a most touching clause: "<i>And the
Lord turned and looked upon Peter.</i> 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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>Here we are permitted to see the root of the matter.
Peter needed to be sifted, and Satan was employed
to do the work&mdash;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.</p>

<p>But oh, the <i>grace</i> of those words! "I have prayed
for thee"&mdash;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&mdash;the shameful denial&mdash;the
cursing and swearing; and yet, "I have prayed for
thee that thy faith fail not"&mdash;that thy confidence in
the eternal stability of my grace may not give way.</p>

<p>Perfectly marvelous! And then, the <i>power</i> 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.</p>


<h3>PART IX.</h3>

<p>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</p>


<h4>THE PROCURING CAUSE.</h4>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>But, oh, the power and preciousness of those
words, "<i>I have prayed for thee</i>!" Here assuredly
lay the secret&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>Can aught exceed the grace that shines here?
That gracious, loving, faithful Lord, in view of
Peter's terrible sin&mdash;knowing all he was about to
do, all the sad forgetfulness&mdash;could actually plead
for him that, spite of all, his confidence might not
give way&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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"&mdash;"Though I should die
with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee"&mdash;"I am
ready to go with Thee to prison and to death"&mdash;to
think of all these words, and yet that he should
deny his beloved Lord with cursing and swearing,
was overpowering.</p>

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

<p>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 <i>the procuring cause</i> of Simon
Peter's restoration. We shall now look for a moment
at</p>


<h4>THE PRODUCING MEANS.</h4>

<p>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&mdash;so
much of what goes straight to our very hearts,
in subduing power&mdash;so much of God coming out in
loveliest human form.</p>

<p>We have already noticed Peter's gradual descent&mdash;his
sad progress, from one stage to another, in
moral distance and culpable decline&mdash;forgetting to
watch and pray&mdash;following afar off&mdash;warming himself
at the enemy's fire&mdash;the cowardly denial&mdash;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 <i>prayer</i>; the latter in
Christ's <i>look</i>. "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."</p>

<p>Yes, here it is; "The Lord <i>looked</i>"&mdash;"Peter remembered"&mdash;Peter
wept&mdash;"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&mdash;so penetrating&mdash;so melting&mdash;so
soul-subduing.</p>

<p>"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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>prayer</i> for
Peter answers to His intercession for us. His <i>look</i>
upon Peter answers to His word brought home to
us in the power of the Holy Ghost. When we sin&mdash;as,
alas! we do in thought and deed&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;features
which, be it well remembered, must
be looked for in every case of true restoration. In
the first place there is</p>


<h4>THE STATE OF THE CONSCIENCE.</h4>

<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> 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&mdash;the
two grand departments of the work of advocacy&mdash;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&mdash;his holy,
happy home.</p>

<p>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"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>But there is another thing involved in a true work
of restoration, and that is</p>


<h4>THE STATE OF THE HEART.</h4>

<p>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.</p>

<p>It is deeply interesting to notice that there is no
allusion&mdash;not the most remote&mdash;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.</p>

<p>Peter's <i>heart</i> is touched&mdash;the moral <i>root</i> 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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

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


<h4>RESTORED TO HIS WORK.</h4>

<p>Some would tell us that if a man falls, he can
never recover his position; and no doubt, under
<i>government</i>, we must reap as we sow. But <i>grace</i> 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;shepherd
My sheep"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>And then mark the closing words, "Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, when thou wast <i>young</i>, thou girdedst
thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest;
but when thou shalt be <i>old</i>, 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,
<span class="smcap">Follow Me</span>."</p>

<p>What weighty words are these! Who can tell
their depth, power, and significance? What a contrast
between Simon, "<i>young</i>," restless, forward,
blundering, boastful, self-confident; and Peter,
"<i>old</i>," 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!</p>


<h3>CONCLUSION.</h3>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>denied Him</i>
in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined
to let Him go. But <i>ye denied the Holy One and the
Just</i>."</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;much, very much, about that precious
blood which had canceled forever all his guilt, and
given perfect peace to his conscience&mdash;much, very
much, about that all-prevailing advocacy to which
he owed his full and perfect restoration.</p>

<p>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 <i>this perfect soundness</i> in the
presence of you all."</p>

<p>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&mdash;a day so
marked by the determined and persistent effort of
the enemy to exclude the name of Jesus from every
department.</p>

<p>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 <i>by Him all things consist</i>." 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 <i>upholding all
things by the word of His power</i>, when He had by
Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high." (Col. i., Heb. i.)</p>

<p>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.</p>

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

<p>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, <i>He hath so fulfilled</i>."
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.</p>

<p>"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. <i>Unto you first</i> God, having raised up His
Son Jesus, <i>sent Him to bless you</i>, in turning away
every one of you from his iniquities."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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
<i>only</i> 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>But he was by no means so alert in taking up the
latter as he was in taking up the former. Prejudice&mdash;that
sad hindrance then, now, and always&mdash;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&mdash;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, "<i>all manner</i> 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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;to see the
old barriers swept away before the magnificent tide
of grace flowing from the heart of God over a lost
world&mdash;to learn that the question of "clean" or
"unclean" was no longer to be decided by an examination
of hoofs and habits (Lev. xi.)&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;not
in some obscure corner, but at Jerusalem, the very
centre and source of all the religious influence of
the moment&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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"&mdash;Alas! how soon
the miserable disputing began&mdash;"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 <i>no difference
between us and them</i>, purifying their hearts by faith.
Now, therefore, <i>why tempt ye God</i> 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 <i>even as they</i>."</p>

<p>This is morally grand. He does not say, "They
shall be saved even as we." No; but "We shall
be saved even as they"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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:</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"O Lamb of God, still keep me close to Thy pierced side;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">'Tis only there in safety and peace I can abide.<br /></span>
<span class="i0">When foes and snares surround me, when lusts and fears within,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">The grace that sought and found me, alone can keep me clean."<br /></span>
</div></div>

<p>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.</p>



<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2><span class="smcap">Christian Perfection</span>:</h2>

<h3>WHAT IS IT?</h3>


<p>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</p>


<h3>PERFECTION AS TO THE STATE OF THE CONSCIENCE.</h3>

<p>"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 <i>perfect</i>
(&#964;&#949;&#955;&#949;&#953;&#969;&#963;&#945;&#953;) 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.</p>

<p>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; <i>that</i> 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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;who ever did?&mdash;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
<i>improve man and mend the world</i>; and yet, with all
this, they have never reached, never understood&mdash;yea,
they actually deny&mdash;the very first and simplest
aspect of Christian perfection, namely, perfection
as to the state of the conscience in the presence of
God.</p>

<p>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!</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>The more we ponder the question now before us&mdash;and
we have pondered it a good deal&mdash;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&mdash;the
new birth&mdash;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 <i>self</i>&mdash;improving nature
or mending my condition in the old creation&mdash;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&mdash;"the beginning of the creation of God"&mdash;"the
first-begotten from among the dead" (&#949;&#954; &#964;&#969;&#957; &#957;&#949;&#954;&#961;&#969;&#957;).</p>

<p>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&mdash;most precious.
But when, instead of being used to symbolize
and celebrate death and resurrection, they are
used to displace it,&mdash;used as patches upon the old
creation, as crutches for the old man,&mdash;they must
be regarded as a snare, a curse, from which may
the Lord deliver the souls of His people!</p>

<p>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&mdash;to elaborate, illustrate
and enforce it&mdash;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,</p>


<h3>PERFECTION AS TO THE OBJECT OF THE HEART.</h3>

<p>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&mdash;the dark, heavy, murky atmosphere&mdash;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&mdash;heavy,
but needed work!&mdash;in order to get
back into the enjoyment of what we should never
have lost, even a perfect conscience.</p>

<p>Now, the moment the eye is turned off from Christ
darkness must set in&mdash;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&mdash;</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"Salvation in that name is found,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">Cure for my grief and care;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">A healing balm for every wound:<br /></span>
<span class="i1">All, all I want is there."<br /></span>
</div></div>

<p>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 <i>perfect</i> (&#964;&#949;&#955;&#949;&#953;&#959;&#953;), be thus
minded: and if in anything ye be differently minded
(&#949;&#964;&#949;&#961;&#969;&#962;), 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.</p>

<p>Here, then, we have both peace and power&mdash;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, "<i>Beholding
... are changed</i>." There is no legal bondage&mdash;no
restless effort&mdash;no anxious toiling. We
gaze, and gaze, and&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;where His blood is trusted for pardon
and peace&mdash;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&mdash;when we are occupied with our
spiritual condition, feeding upon our experiences
and looking after our frames and feelings&mdash;we must
become weak and low, inasmuch as these things are
certainly not Christ.</p>

<p>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 <i>in their religion</i>; 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&mdash;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&mdash;a morbid, melancholy
mystic&mdash;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&mdash;a poor exchange!</p>

<p>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 <i>all</i> 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.</p>

<p>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!</p>

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>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&mdash;is it not profitable&mdash;is
it not due to our own souls and to the sacred volume&mdash;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</p>


<h3>PERFECTION IN THE PRINCIPLE OF OUR WALK.</h3>

<p>This is unfolded to us in Matt. v. 48: "Be ye
therefore perfect (&#964;&#949;&#955;&#949;&#953;&#959;&#953;), 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.</p>

<p>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 (&#959;&#960;&#969;&#962;) ye may be
the sons (&#965;&#953;&#959;&#953;) 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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;if we deny that it is our privilege to be
perfect in the sense of Matt. v. 48&mdash;if we justify our
going to <i>law</i> when our Father is not going to law,
but acting in the most unqualified <i>grace</i>, we deprive
ourselves of that perfect model on which our character
and ways should ever be formed.</p>

<p>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 ... <i>that ye may
be</i> 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!</p>

<p>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</p>


<h3>PERFECTION IN THE CHARACTER OF OUR SERVICE.</h3>

<p>"I have not found thy works perfect (&#960;&#949;&#960;&#955;&#951;&#961;&#969;&#956;&#949;&#957;&#945;)
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&#960;&#949;&#960;&#955;&#951;&#961;&#969;&#956;&#949;&#957;&#945;
"fulfilled"&mdash;"finished"&mdash;"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 "<i>a name</i>." 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&mdash;as an active evangelist&mdash;a gifted teacher&mdash;a
clear and attractive writer&mdash;a man of prayer&mdash;a
man of faith&mdash;a person of remarkable sanctity, or
great personal devotedness&mdash;a benevolent person&mdash;a
name for anything, in short&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;visit the sick&mdash;help
the poor&mdash;go through the entire range of religious
activity&mdash;and never be in the presence of
God at all. I may do it for a name&mdash;do it because
others do it, or expect me to do it. This is very serious,
beloved reader. It demands real prayer&mdash;self-emptiness&mdash;nearness
to and dependence upon
God&mdash;singleness of eye&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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!</p>

<p>Having said thus much in reference to the <i>character</i>
of our service, we shall close with a few
lines on</p>


<h3>PERFECTION IN OUR EQUIPMENT FOR SERVICE.</h3>

<p>"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 <i>perfect</i> (&#945;&#961;&#964;&#953;&#959;&#962;) 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 <i>present
readiness</i> 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&mdash;to consult his authorities&mdash;to
make himself up on a point. He is <i>ready
now</i>. 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.</p>

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>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&mdash;perfection
in glory&mdash;perfect conformity in spirit, and soul, and
body, to the image of our glorified Head in heaven!</p>

<p>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!"</p>

<p class="signature">
C. H. M.<br />
</p>



<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2>THE<br />
TRIBE OF LEVI ARRANGED ACCORDING<br />
TO THEIR FAMILIES.</h2>




<div class="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="First">

<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="center"><b>First Class.</b></td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Gershon</span>,</td><td align="center">meaning,</td><td align="left"><i>A stranger, or exile</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Lael</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Dedicated, or belonging to God</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Eliasaph</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>God hath added</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Shimei</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Renowned</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Libni</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>White</i>.</td></tr>

<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="center"><b>Second Class.</b></td></tr>

<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Kohath</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Assembly</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Hebron</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Association, communion</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Amram</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Exalted people, or of the exalted One</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Izhar</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Oil</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Uzziel</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>The strength of God</i>.</td></tr>


<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="center"><b>Third Class.</b></td></tr>


<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Merari</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Bitter</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mahli</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Sick, sickly</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mushi</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Yielding, forsaking</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Abihail</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>Father of strength</i>.</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Zuriel</span></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="left"><i>My rock is God</i>.</td></tr>
</table></div>

<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2>THE HISTORY<br />
OF THE<br />
TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED</h2>


<p>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 <i>personally</i>, or more widely extended,
as with the seed of Israel afterwards, it is nevertheless
the same lesson we are called upon to learn,
namely, <i>God and man</i>. 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 <i>shadowed out</i> therein;<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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</p>

<blockquote><h3>HIS BIRTH,</h3>

<p class="center">As recorded in <span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xxix. 34.</p>

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

<p>Here, then, we are presented with the birth and
name of this most remarkable character&mdash;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 "<i>joined</i>"
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 "<i>joined</i>" with Aaron
in "the work of the tabernacle" (Num. viii.).</p>

<blockquote><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xxxiv. 25, 26.</p>

<p>"And it came to pass on <i>the third day</i>, 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."</p></blockquote>

<p>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:</p>

<blockquote><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xlix. 5-7.</p>

<p>"Simeon and Levi <i>are brethren</i>; instruments of cruelty
are in their habitations. O my soul, <i>come not thou into their
secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united</i>: 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>I will divide them in Jacob,
and scatter them in Israel</i>."</p></blockquote>

<p>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 <i>man is</i> 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>God's holiness</i> that he is called to look at
himself, but also in the light of <i>His grace</i>. 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 <i>fill</i> the scene, the sinner
(so far as his own righteousness is concerned) must
necessarily be <i>out</i> of the scene; and then it is no
longer a question of what <i>we</i> think about sin, but
how <i>God</i> will deal with it in grace, and that is simply
to put it away forever&mdash;yea, to bury it forever
in the waters of His forgetfulness: thus it will be
placing <i>our sin</i> side by side with <i>God's grace</i>; 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&mdash;not believed&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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, <i>once for all</i>, borne sin's deepest curse in His
own body on the tree, and now even <i>Levi</i> can lift
up his head; for although he be by nature only conversant
with "<i>instruments of cruelty</i>," things which
must have kept God forever at a distance from "his
secret and his assembly;" although he be by nature
<i>cruel</i>, <i>fierce</i>, <i>self-willed</i>, <i>scattered</i>, <i>and divided</i>, 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 <i>life</i>
and <i>peace, in union</i> with the great head of the priestly
family, and, in the power of this blessed union, cause
him to have his "<i>lights and perfections with his Holy
One</i>" (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 <i>none</i> righteous, no, not one; there is <i>none</i> that
understandeth, there is <i>none</i> that seeketh after God.
They are <i>all</i> gone out of the way, they are <i>together</i>
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: <i>their</i> <small>FEET ARE SWIFT TO
SHED BLOOD</small>: <i>destruction and misery are in their
ways; and the way of peace have they not known</i>:
there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom. iii.
10-18).</p>

<blockquote><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Exodus</span> xxxii. 25-29.</p>

<p>"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."</p></blockquote>

<p>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 "<i>joined</i>" with his
brother Simeon&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>alive</i> 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 <i>in the wilderness</i>; hence, as might be expected,
"the people <i>sat down to eat and drink</i> 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."</p>

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

<blockquote><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Deuteronomy</span> xxxiii. 8-11.</p>

<p>"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."</p></blockquote>

<p>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
<i>true</i> and <i>decided</i> 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: "<i>Harken</i>,
O daughter, and <i>consider</i>, and <i>incline thine ear; forget
also thine own people</i> 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 <i>looking back</i>, 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, <i>kiss my father and my mother</i>, and <i>then</i>
I will <i>follow thee</i>" (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 <i>us</i>.</p>

<p>But let us carefully observe the blessed consequences
of this decision of character on the part of
Levi. These are, first, "They shall <i>teach Jacob</i> Thy
judgments, and Israel Thy law." Secondly, "They
shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice
upon <i>Thine altar</i>." 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&mdash;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?</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>for</i>
God as to speak <i>to</i> 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
<i>from God</i> was as sweet in its savor to God as His
priesthood when <i>He went to God</i> to minister to Him
in that office. The candlestick in the holy place
which diffused the light of life&mdash;God's blessed name&mdash;was
as valuable, at least in His view, as the altar
in the same place, which presented the perfume of
praise."</p>

<p>We now come to speak of the third point, namely,
"Bless, Lord, his substance." This is just what we
might have expected; an <i>increase</i> 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 <i>more</i> be given." Levi had exhibited
much diligence of soul in the Lord's service&mdash;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; <i>give thyself
wholly</i> to them, that <i>thy profiting may appear
to all</i>." 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).</p>

<p>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 <i>will manifest Myself</i>
to him." And, again, "If a man love Me, he will
keep My words; and My Father will love him, <i>and
We will come unto him and make Our abode with
him</i>" (John xiv. 21, 23).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>dead</i> in trespasses
and sins to serve Him, for all such a one could
do would be polluted with sin&mdash;his very prayers
are polluted&mdash;his meditations are polluted&mdash;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 <i>angels</i> 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, "<i>Nay, but we will abide in the street all
night</i>."</p>

<p>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 <i>Lot's house</i>, it is true;
but if they do, it is only to counteract the sad effects
of <i>Lot's sin</i>. 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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>However, there is much of practical value in this
point in the connection in which it stands here, i.e.,
as <i>a consequence</i> 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 <i>lost</i> 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&mdash;power
to worship; he will increase in substance, for Christ
causes those that love Him "to inherit <i>substance</i>"
(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&mdash;the poverty in worship&mdash;the
meagreness of growth&mdash;the many interruptions
in the enjoyment of divine favor&mdash;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&mdash;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 <i>far behind</i> 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 <i>more</i> be given," and "we cannot
serve two masters." This is true&mdash;solemn&mdash;and
practical.</p>

<p>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 <i>pure grace</i>, and thus <i>excludes</i> "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 <i>pride</i> that would lead any one into a place
where <i>he</i> would be broken to pieces, and be shown
that he was altogether corrupt and worthless; if
God were to elevate <i>flesh</i>, 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 <i>life</i>, and in the power of <i>that life</i>, 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 <i>grace</i> 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"&mdash;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</p>

<blockquote><p class="center">
<span class="smcap">Numbers</span> viii. 5-14.
</p>

<p>"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."</p></blockquote>

<p>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 <i>his own
habitation</i>, 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&mdash;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, "<i>Cursed</i>
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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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, "<i>cursed art thou</i>." Therefore
Levi, <i>as a man alive in the flesh</i>, 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 <i>one dead</i>,
in order that God might <i>in grace</i> 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.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Levi, then, had just to see himself as
one that was, in God's account, <i>dead</i>, as we read,
"for they (i.e., the Levites) are wholly given unto
me from among the children of Israel; <i>instead</i> of
such as open every womb, even <i>instead</i> 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>I sanctified
them for myself</i>; <i>and I have taken the Levites for
all the first-born of the children of Israel</i>" (chap. viii.
16-18).</p>

<p>The Lord passed through the land of Egypt with
the sword of justice unsheathed, to smite <i>all</i> 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
<i>death of Egypt's first-born</i>; in the latter, the death
of God's Lamb."</p>

<p>The Levites, then, were taken <i>instead</i> of those
upon whom the sword of the destroying angel should
have fallen; or, in other words, <i>the Levites were</i>, <i>typically</i>,
<i>a dead and risen people</i>, and thus were no
longer looked at in the circumstances of nature, but
of <i>new life</i> 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 "<i>dead</i>"
to both, and "<i>alive</i> unto God through Jesus Christ."
"How shall we," says the apostle, "that are <i>dead to
sin</i> 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 <i>dead</i> to the <i>law</i> by the
body of Christ, that ye should be <i>married to another</i>,
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 <i>in me</i>, 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 <i>death and resurrection</i>; 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 "<i>put off the old
man and put on the new</i>"&mdash;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, <i>living in malice
and envy</i>, 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 <i>washing of regeneration</i>, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus
iii. 3-6).</p>

<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> 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).</p>

<p>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 "<i>without spot to God</i>,"
and also as accepted before God <i>for us</i>. In this
He was found to be "<i>a male without blemish</i>;" 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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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 "<i>victory</i>," but <i>all</i> 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 <i>steadfastly</i> 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&mdash;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 <i>it shall be
accepted for him</i>, 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 <i>in</i> the offering." Thus, look
at Levi <i>apart from</i> the offering, and you will find
him such that God could not come into <i>his</i> assembly:
but look at him as <i>in the offering</i>, 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.</p>

<p>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 <small>APPARENTLY</small>
"without blemish," for the skin, or <i>outward
surface</i>, might look very well, and at the same time
the offering be not at all fit for God's altar; therefore
the <i>outward surface</i> must be removed, in order
that this offering may be examined in all its sinews,
joints and veins, and thus be found, as to <i>the springs
of action</i>, <i>the structure of his frame</i>, and the source and
channels of the life that animated him, a perfectly
unblemished offering. But further, "<i>he shall cut it
into his pieces</i>," 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 <i>in Me</i>;" and the devil could reply, "I know
Thee, who thou art, the <i>Holy One of God</i>." He
could say to men, "Which of you convinceth Me of
sin?" and man could answer, "Truly this was a
<i>righteous man</i>." 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.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p>

<p>All, therefore, having been found pure, and fit for
God's altar, it becomes the happy place of <i>Aaron's
sons</i> to send up before God the sweet savor of this
most acceptable offering, as we read: "And the <i>sons</i>
<i>of Aaron</i> the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and
lay the wood in order upon the fire. And <i>the priests</i>,
Aaron's <i>sons</i>, 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 <i>his inwards and his legs</i> shall
he wash in water: and the priest shall burn <i>all</i> 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 <i>the head</i> 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 <i>walk</i>, 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 <i>outward
walk</i>, typified by "the legs," appear quite right in
the eye of man, when, at the same time, perhaps, in
the eye of God, our "<i>inwards</i>" may be full of gross
impurity. But it is well for us that such was not
the case with our great Head: in Him <i>all was alike</i>,
for <i>all was pure</i>. 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!</p>

<p>As to the meat offering, we need not enter minutely
into it. It was composed, as we know, of
that which sprang from <i>the earth</i>, 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, <i>all was directly before God</i>.
Whether we trace the footsteps of the Lord Jesus,
while, for thirty years, <i>He was subject</i> to His parents
at home; or while, for three years, He was engaged
in public ministry amongst the Jews&mdash;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 <i>baked</i> with oil, and <i>anointed</i> with oil;
thus showing forth, I suppose, the incarnate Son of
God, who was first "<i>conceived</i> of the Holy Ghost"
(Matt. i. 20), and then "<i>anointed</i> with the Holy
Ghost" (Matt. iii. 16; Acts x. 38).</p>

<p>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 <i>let him</i> bring for his sin which he hath sinned
a young bullock without blemish unto the Lord
for a sin offering. <i>And he shall bring</i> 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).</p>

<p>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 "<i>voluntary will</i>" are
not found, and this was quite to be looked for. In
the burnt offering we were enabled to recognize the
Lord Jesus Christ <i>offering</i> Himself voluntarily before
God, in which aspect of His blessed work He
could say, "No man taketh it (My life) from Me,
<i>I lay it down of Myself</i>." 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:
"<i>He shall be brought</i>" and "<i>He shall be killed</i>;"
i.e., instead of <i>coming</i>, <i>He shall be brought</i>; and instead
of laying down His life of <i>Himself</i>, His life
<i>shall be taken from Him</i>. 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&mdash;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 <i>sin</i>: yea, more, as "made sin" (2 Cor. v.
21). <i>Thus</i> 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 <i>His stripes</i> 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).</p>

<p>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 <i>whole man</i> 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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>act</i>, 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 <i>sin</i> to one "<i>who knew
no sin</i>," but was "holy, harmless, undefiled," and
whose very nature abhorred <i>all sin</i>. And, on the
other hand, it was the imputation of <i>perfect righteousness</i>
to one who was by nature "a cruel, fierce, and
self-willed murderer."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> 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,
"<i>If it be possible</i>, 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, <span class="smcap">why hast Thou</span> 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 <i>made Him</i> to be <i>sin
for us</i>, that <i>we</i> might be <i>made the righteousness</i>
of God <i>in Him</i>" (2 Cor. v. 21). That is, He hath
made the One whose perfectness is seen in the
burnt offering to be judged <i>as sin</i>, and treated as
such in the sin offering, in order that <i>we</i>, who deserved
the treatment of the sin offering, might be
treated as accepted in the burnt offering.</p>

<p>I would also observe here that there is much
force and value in the word "<i>made</i>:" 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 "<i>made</i>" righteousness. Christ "<i>knew no
sin</i>," and therefore had to be "<i>made sin</i>" in order that
we might be <i>made</i> righteousness, even "the righteousness
of God <i>in Him</i>." 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 "<i>made righteousness</i> in Him."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>Thus, then, we see that the laying on of hands
shows forth nothing less than <i>a change of places</i> on
the part of the sinner and the Saviour. The sinner
was <i>out</i> of the favor of God: "O my soul, come not
thou into their habitation." The Saviour was <i>in</i>
the favor of God, "<i>daily His delight</i>," dwelling in
His bosom from before all worlds. But the amazing
plan of redemption <i>shows us the Saviour out of
the favor of God</i>, <i>and God forsaking Him</i>, <i>while at
the same time a condemned malefactor is brought at
once into the very presence of a loving and pardoning
God</i>. 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 <i>life</i> and <i>peace</i>" (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 <i>Who</i> 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, <i>all</i>, <i>all</i> 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 <i>plenty in them</i>; but then, the moment
He, as it were, in spirit passes through that sorrowful
hour, He says, "<i>Arise</i>, 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 <i>display</i> the fruits
of it in a life of service and fruit-bearing to God,
which forms the subject of teaching in the next
chapter.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>And now, dear reader, if <i>you</i> 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 <i>your</i> 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 <i>it was the act of the human heart</i>; 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,
<i>with the Gentiles</i> and the people of Israel, were gathered
together" (Acts iv. 27). This passage, I say,
proves that all the world were <i>representatively</i> 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&mdash;<span class="smcap">Blood!</span>
and through <i>that blood "remission of sins,
beginning at Jerusalem</i>." Thus, "where <i>sin</i> abounded,
<i>grace</i> did <i>much more abound</i>," and "grace <small>REIGNS</small>
through righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord."</p>

<p>Enough, I trust, has been said to show the
grounds upon which the Levites stood before God.
These grounds were free and <i>eternal grace</i>&mdash;grace
exercised toward them through the blood, which is
the only channel through which grace can flow.
Man has been found to be <i>utterly ruined</i> before
God, and therefore it must be a question either of
salvation through <i>free grace</i>, 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 <i>new life</i> 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, <i>the priest</i> was the sole
actor. But when the priest had done his part;
when, by virtue of <i>the blood</i> which had been shed,
he had pronounced him "clean," the leper had <i>then</i>
to begin to "<i>wash himself</i>" (Lev. xiv. 8). Now we
shall find that the history of Levi develops all these
principles most fully.</p>

<p>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 <i>from</i> 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</p>


<blockquote><p class="center">
<span class="smcap">Numbers</span> iii.
</p>

<p>"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, <i>Bring the tribe
of Levi near</i>, 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 <i>all the instruments of the tabernacle</i>
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).</p></blockquote>

<p>Here, then, God's marvelous purposes of grace
toward Levi fully open before us, and <i>truly</i> 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 <i>all included therein</i>. The end was, <i>nearness</i>
to God, and <i>all included therein</i>.</p>

<p>Looking at Levi by nature, there could not be
any point farther removed from God than that at
which he stood; but <i>grace</i> in exercise, through the
blood, could <i>lift him up</i> 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 <i>hath He quickened who were dead</i> 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.... <i>But God</i>, who
is <i>rich in mercy</i>, for His <i>great love</i> wherewith <i>He loved
us</i>, even <i>when we were dead in sins</i>, hath quickened
us <i>together with Christ</i> (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 <i>now</i>, <i>in Christ Jesus</i>, ye who sometime
were <i>afar off</i>, are <i>made nigh</i> by the blood of
Christ" (ver. 13).</p>

<p>When <i>nature</i> is left free to work, it will ever go
as far away from <i>God</i> as it can. This is true since
the day when man said, "I heard <i>Thy voice</i>, and I
was <i>afraid</i> 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 "<i>black as the tents of Kedar</i>;" by
grace, "comely as the curtains of Solomon:" by <i>nature</i>
he was "<i>joined</i>" in a covenant of murder; by
<i>grace</i> "joined" in a covenant of "life and peace."
The former, because he was "<i>fierce and cruel</i>;" 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 <i>nature</i> conversant with
the "instruments of cruelty;" by <i>grace</i>, with "<i>the
instruments of God's tabernacle</i>:" by <i>nature</i> God
could not come into <i>Levi's assembly</i>; by <i>grace</i>, Levi
is brought into <i>God's assembly</i>: by nature, "his feet
were swift <i>to shed blood</i>;" by grace, <i>swift</i> to follow
the movements of the cloud through the desert, in
real, patient service to God. In a word, Levi had
become a "<i>new creature</i>," 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.</p>

<p>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 "<span class="smcap">wholly
given unto Aaron</span>." Thus we read: "<i>Thine they
were</i>, <i>and Thou gavest them Me</i>, and they have kept
Thy word" (John xvii. 6). And again, "All that
<i>the Father giveth Me</i> shall come to Me" (John
vi. 37).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>We find that although the whole tribe of Levi
were, <i>as to standing</i>, "<i>joined with Aaron</i>," yet, as to
<i>service</i>, they were divided into classes. "All had
not the same office;" and this is what we might
have expected, for, although in the matter <i>of life</i>
and <i>standing</i> they were all <i>on a level</i>, 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., <i>unity</i> 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.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> 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
<i>manifested unity</i>. The Levites were <i>one people</i>, and
seen as such; they were "<i>joined</i>" with Aaron in
the work of the tabernacle; moreover, <small>THEY HAD
ONE STANDARD</small>, round which they <i>all</i> 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.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>

<p>God did not call out the Levites <i>merely</i> that they
might escape the sad effects of God's absence from
their assembly; or, in other words, God had more
than <small>THEIR</small> 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.</p>

<p>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).</p>

<p>Here was Gershon's work, to carry through the
waste and howling wilderness the tabernacle and
its coverings. This was indeed <i>true Levite service</i>,
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
<small>STRANGER</small>. 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.</p>

<p>This is what makes the saint "a stranger" (as
the name Gershon imports) in the world. If we
are walking in <i>the manifestation of the character of
the Lord Jesus</i>, and in so doing realize our place as
<i>in the wilderness</i>, 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., <i>anticipation</i>. This was most
blessed&mdash;God dwelling in curtains showed plainly
that neither God nor the ark of His strength had
found a resting-place, but were <i>journeying on</i> towards
"<i>a rest that remained</i>."</p>

<p>And how could there be a <i>rest</i> in the desert?
There were no rivers and brooks <i>there</i>&mdash;no old corn
<i>there</i>&mdash;no milk and honey <i>there</i>. True, the smitten
rock sent forth its refreshing streams to meet their
need, and heaven sent down their <i>daily bread</i>; 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., <small>THE CURTAIN</small>. "Thus
saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me an house for
Me to dwell in? Whereas I have not <i>dwelt</i> in any
house since the time that I brought up the children
of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have
<i>walked</i> in a <i>tent</i> and in a <i>tabernacle</i>" (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 "<i>walking
in a tent</i>," and earnestly desired to "<i>dwell in a
house</i>."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <small>THE SAME</small> shall be saved."<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p>

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>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 <i>the other</i> (i.e., the Gershonites and the Merarites)
<i>did set up the tabernacle against they came</i>"
(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, "<i>the tabernacle</i>,"
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 <i>very laborious</i> 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 <i>set up</i> the boards of the tabernacle
in their sockets of silver&mdash;and all this, be it remembered,
upon the sand of the desert.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p>

<p>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 "<i>sorrow</i>."</p>

<p>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 <i>for Christ</i>&mdash;let
him penetrate into those places where "the
<i>world</i>" is really seen in its vigor&mdash;let him oppose
himself, <i>firm as a rock</i>, to the deep and rapid tide of
worldliness, and <i>there</i> let him begin to set up "<i>the
sockets of silver</i>," 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 "<i>daily</i>,"
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 <i>very few</i> 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 "<span class="smcap">the Man of sorrows</span>."</p>

<p>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 <i>which had been already set up by his laborious
and sorrowful brother</i>. 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 <i>manifestation</i> of Christian character,
which would of itself put him into the place of "a
stranger."</p>

<p>But, although nature may assume the character
of a misanthropist, yet nothing but grace can make
us Merarites, and <i>the true Merarite</i> is the <i>true philanthropist</i>,
because he introduces that which alone
<i>can bless</i>; 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 <i>happy there</i>, and the
Gershonite <i>at home</i>. 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
<i>the Man of sorrows</i>, <i>who had not where
to lay His head</i>.</p>

<p>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 <i>amongst</i> their brethren, they were blessedly
ministered to <i>by</i> 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. <i>But unto the sons of Kohath he gave
none</i>, because <i>the service of the sanctuary</i> belonging
unto them was that they should bear upon their
shoulders" (Num. vii. 4-9).</p>

<p>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 <i>their service</i>, as we shall
see presently, was in <i>itself</i> 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 <i>shalt thou have any part
among them</i>: <i>I am thy part and thine inheritance
among the children of Israel</i>" (ver. 20).</p>

<p>On the other hand, He says of the Levites, "Behold,
I have given the children of Levi all the tenth
in <i>Israel for an inheritance</i>, <i>for their service which
they serve</i>, even the service of the tabernacle of the
congregation."</p>

<p>And again, "Ye shall eat it in every place, ye
and your households, for <i>it is your reward</i> for your
service in the tabernacle of the congregation" (vers.
21, 31).</p>

<p>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
"<i>his reward</i>," the Levites had to get <i>a tenth</i> for
"<i>their reward</i>."</p>

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>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 <i>the ark</i>,
<i>the table</i>, or <i>the golden candlestick</i>! 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 <i>real</i>
union <i>in everything</i>, 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.</p>

<p>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 <i>the food of the priests</i>&mdash;if,
I say, we knew more of Christ in these blessed aspects
of His character&mdash;we should not be as we are,
<i>a proverb</i> 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.</p>

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

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>1st. Strangership. "Therefore the world <i>knoweth
us not</i>, because it knew Him not." "Here we have
no abiding city." "Dearly beloved, I beseech you
<i>as strangers and pilgrims</i>, abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul."</p>

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>2d. Sorrow in the world. "<i>In the world</i> ye shall
have tribulation." "If they have <i>persecuted Me</i>, they
will also <i>persecute you</i>." "I <small>RECKON</small> that <i>the sufferings
of this present</i> time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
"After that <i>ye have suffered awhile</i>, make you perfect"&mdash;"<i>ye
have need</i> of patience"&mdash;"ye yourselves
know that ye are appointed thereunto." "If we
<i>suffer</i> with Him, we shall also reign with Him."
"These are they that came out of <i>great tribulation</i>,
and have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb."</p>

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>3d. Union. "That they <i>all may be one</i>." "He
should gather together in <i>one</i> the children of God
that are <i>scattered</i> abroad." "That He might reconcile
<i>both</i> unto God in <small>ONE</small> 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 <i>one people</i>, and that <i>manifestly</i>&mdash;they
were <i>one</i> in <i>life</i>, <i>one</i> in standing, <i>one</i> in calling, <i>one</i>
in inheritance; and so should it be with Christians
<i>now</i>. 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 <i>one people</i>&mdash;<i>one</i> in worship,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> <i>one</i> in labor, <i>one</i>
in object, <i>one</i> in sympathy; in a word, <i>one</i> in everything
that belongs to them in common as the people
of God.</p>

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>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 "<i>until He come whose right it is</i>,"
and then <i>all</i> shall be set right forever, for God, in
all things, shall be fully glorified through Jesus
Christ.</p>

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>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&mdash;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 <i>dead</i> and is <i>alive</i> again, who was
<i>lost</i> 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, "<i>declaring</i>
<small>PLAINLY</small> that we seek a country," and anxiously
look out for "<small>THE REST THAT REMAINS</small>."</p>



<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h3>PART I.</h3>

<h2>GLAD TIDINGS</h2>

<p>"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).</p>


<p>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&mdash;a statement
which may well be termed, "Glad Tidings."</p>

<p>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 <i>Saviour God</i> to a
<i>lost man</i>. 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.</p>

<p>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? "<i>Look</i> unto <i>Me</i>, and be ye saved, <i>all
the ends of the earth</i>; for I am God, and there is
none else" (Isa. xlv. 21, 22). One believing <i>look</i>
from a lost sinner to a just God and a Saviour,
secures eternal salvation. "<i>Look!</i>" How simple!
It is not "Work"&mdash;"Do"&mdash;"Pray"&mdash;"Feel"&mdash;no;
it is simply "Look." And what then? Salvation&mdash;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&mdash;secures it forever&mdash;secures it
for <i>me</i>. 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&mdash;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).</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;revealed, so that we&mdash;the
writer and the reader of these lines&mdash;may know
Him, in all the reality of what He is&mdash;know Him,
each for himself, with the utmost possible certainty,
and have to do with Him, in all the blessed intimacy
of personal communion.</p>

<p>Reader, think of this! Think, we beseech you,
of this amazing privilege. You may know God for
yourself, as <i>your</i> Saviour, <i>your</i> Father, <i>your</i> 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>felt</i> in order to be known.
It is acquaintance with God, confidence in Him,
and enjoyment of Him.</p>

<p>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 <i>must</i> 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.</p>

<p>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 <i>revelation</i>
of God. In a word, to know God is life,
to be ignorant of Him is death.</p>

<p>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. <i>The hand
of power</i> will not avail for a poor, guilty wretch like
me. I want <i>a heart of love</i>. 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&mdash;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 <i>The London</i>? 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.</p>

<p>Well, then, shall I turn to the law&mdash;to the Mosaic
economy&mdash;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&mdash;will such a One avail for
me? Alas! alas! I cannot meet Him&mdash;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&mdash;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 <i>only</i> in the face of Jesus Christ. "<i>God was
in Christ</i>, reconciling the world unto Himself"
(2 Cor. v. 19).</p>

<p>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).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>the
world</i>, 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&mdash;God,
<i>loving</i> and <i>giving</i>; and the sinner, <i>believing</i>
and <i>having</i>. 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&mdash;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).</p>

<p>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 <i>is</i>. 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&mdash;with
what He is&mdash;with His nature and character,
as He has revealed Himself in the gospel. We
have to acquaint ourselves with Him, and He is
love.</p>

<p>Observe, it does not say merely that God is <i>loving</i>,
but that He is <i>love</i>. 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&mdash;"whosoever"
he be, it matters not&mdash;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.</p>

<p>Here is life and rest for the soul. Here is salvation,
full, free, and everlasting, for the poor, needy,
guilty, lost one;&mdash;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
<i>loves</i> and <i>gives</i>, and the sinner <i>believes</i> and <i>has</i>.
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.</p>

<p>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</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"God moves in a mysterious way,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">His wonders to perform;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">He plants His footsteps in the sea,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">And rides upon the storm.<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Deep in unfathomable mines<br /></span>
<span class="i1">Of never failing skill,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">He treasures up His bright designs,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">And works His sovereign will."<br /></span>
</div></div>

<p>Finally, as to the law, it is, from beginning to
end, a perfect system of command and prohibition&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>But the love of God is not like this&mdash;eternal
and universal praise to His name! His love is
mighty to save. It <i>reigns</i> through righteousness.
How is this? Because "God <i>so</i> 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&mdash;</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"On Jesus' cross this record's graved,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Let sin be damned, and sinners saved."<br /></span>
</div></div>

<p>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 <i>reigns</i>, 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 <i>so</i> loved the world that He gave His only-begotten
Son." What depth and power in the
little word "so"!</p>

<p>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 <i>me</i>? What warrant have <i>I</i> for believing
that 'everlasting life' is for <i>me</i>? 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&mdash;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."</p>

<p>If the foregoing be, in any measure, the language
of the reader&mdash;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, "<i>world</i>" and "<i>whosoever</i>."
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
"<i>world</i>"? 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&mdash;why
should he&mdash;exclude himself, when it is a question
of God's free love, and of salvation by Christ
Jesus?</p>

<p>But, further, we would ask, What is the meaning,
what is the force of the familiar word, "<i>whosoever</i>"?
Assuredly it means "<i>anybody</i>;" 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.</p>

<p>Thus, then, the very words of the gospel message&mdash;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 <i>world</i> that He gave His only-begotten
Son, that <i>whosoever</i> 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 <i>all the world</i>, and preach
the gospel to <i>every creature</i>" (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 <i>all</i> that call upon Him. For
<i>whosoever</i> shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved" (Rom. x. 12, 13).</p>

<p>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&mdash;free
as the dewdrops that refresh the earth&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;scores of passages
to assure him of his total inability to do aught
in the matter of his own salvation&mdash;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 <i>just as he is</i>,
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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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).</p>

<p>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&mdash;they
unfolded the goodness of God&mdash;His loving-kindness&mdash;His
tender mercy&mdash;His pardoning love&mdash;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.
"<i>Come unto Me</i>, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and <i>I will give</i> you rest." "If <i>any man</i> thirst,
let him come unto Me and drink." "Him that
cometh to Me I will <i>in no wise</i> cast out" (Matt. xi.;
John vi., vii.).</p>

<p>Here are no stumbling-blocks in the way of anxious
inquirers&mdash;no preliminary questions to be settled&mdash;no
conditions to be fulfilled&mdash;no theological
difficulties to be solved. No, the sinner is met on
his own ground&mdash;met as he is&mdash;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&mdash;thunder
loud at sin&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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, "<i>Come unto Me</i>." 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!</p>

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

<p>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&mdash;that Christ died only
for such, and hence only such can be saved&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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, "<i>Whosoever</i>
will, let him take the water of life <i>freely</i>." 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.</p>

<p>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 <i>hold</i> it; but if he is rightly directed, he will not
<i>preach</i> it.</p>

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

<p>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."</p>

<p>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
"<i>perish</i>" occurs in the passage which has been occupying
our thoughts, we cannot do better than call
the reader's attention to it.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>everlasting</i> 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"&mdash;"eternal life"&mdash;"everlasting
punishment"&mdash;"eternal damnation"&mdash;"everlasting
habitations"&mdash;"the everlasting God"&mdash;"eternal
weight of glory"&mdash;"everlasting destruction"&mdash;"everlasting
consolation"&mdash;"eternal glory"&mdash;"eternal
salvation"&mdash;"eternal judgment"&mdash;"eternal
redemption"&mdash;"the eternal Spirit"&mdash;"eternal
inheritance"&mdash;"everlasting kingdom"&mdash;"eternal
fire."</p>

<p>Now, we ask any candid, thoughtful person, upon
what principle can a word be said to mean <i>eternal</i>
when applied to the Holy Ghost or to God, and only
<i>temporary</i> 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>one</i> act of disobedience&mdash;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!</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> "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.</p>

<p>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!</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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
"<i>reckoned</i>" 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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;his sins are forgiven&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;there
may be all this, and yet no just sense of the
meaning of "everlasting life," no happy consciousness
of being "a new creation"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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"&mdash;"the old
condition"&mdash;"the flesh"&mdash;"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"&mdash;"the flesh," and the like, are used in Scripture
in manifold places: for example, in Rom. vi.
we read, "Our <i>old man</i> is crucified with Him
(Christ), that <i>the body of sin</i> might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin" (ver. 6).</p>

<p>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&mdash;the old condition of sin is said to
be destroyed (annulled)&mdash;by the death of Christ.
Hence the soul that believes on the Lord Jesus
Christ is privileged to know that he&mdash;his sinful,
guilty self&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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"&mdash;"dead"&mdash;"buried"&mdash;"risen"
with Christ.
God tells us we are so, and we are to "<i>reckon</i>" ourselves
to be so. It is a matter of faith, and not of
feeling. If I look at myself from <i>my</i> 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.</p>

<p>And it is just here, we doubt not, that so many
sincere souls are perplexed and troubled. They
are looking at themselves, and <i>reasoning</i> upon what
they see and feel, instead of resting in the truth of
God, and <i>reckoning</i> 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&mdash;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).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;that which he was in nature&mdash;that which the
apostle designates "the old man"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>have</i> eternal
life; you <i>are</i> justified from all things; you <i>are</i>
a new creation; old things <i>are</i> passed away; <i>all</i>
things <i>are</i> become new; and <i>all</i> things <i>are</i> of God.
In a word, you are "<i>in Christ</i>," and "<i>as</i> He is, so
<i>are</i> you in this world" (1 John iv. 17).</p>

<p>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&mdash;that He looks upon you as He
looks upon Christ.</p>

<p>True it is&mdash;alas, how true!&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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 <i>believe</i> 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.</p>

<p>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, <i>The end
of all flesh</i> 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&mdash;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 <i>all</i> 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 <i>end</i> of <i>all</i>." Such is the solemn,
sweeping verdict; and then&mdash;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!</p>

<p>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"&mdash;you
are "a new creature"&mdash;"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 <i>feel</i> that old things are all passed away. We
reply, God says they are, and it is your happy privilege
to <i>believe</i> what He says, and "<i>reckon</i>" 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&mdash;no life&mdash;no righteousness&mdash;no holiness&mdash;no
wisdom&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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
<i>hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me</i>" (vers. 22,
23). And, on the other hand, we read, "I have
given them Thy Word; and <i>the world hath hated
them</i>, 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!</p>


<h3>PART II.</h3>

<h2>THE<br />
MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION</h2>

<blockquote><p>"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).</p></blockquote>

<p>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.</p>

<p>And, first of all, let us dwell for a moment on the
opening sentence, "<i>We know</i>." In it we have the
language of Christian certainty. It does not say,
"We <i>hope</i>." Still less does it say, "We <i>fear</i>," or
"We <i>doubt</i>." 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&mdash;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&mdash;that it is impossible
for anyone to be sure&mdash;that the most we can
expect is to cherish a vague hope of reaching heaven
when we die.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>within</i> for the
ground of assurance&mdash;to build upon certain feelings,
experiences, and exercises, either past or present&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>alone</i>, 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).</p>

<p>As is the foundation, so is the faith that builds
thereon. Hence the solemn importance of seeking
to lead souls to build <i>only</i> 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 <i>the testimony of God</i>. 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).</p>

<p>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&mdash;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 <i>only</i> 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&mdash;lest
he should in the smallest degree impart
the color of his own thoughts to the precious truth
of God.</p>

<p>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 <i>not as the word
of men</i>, but, <i>as it is in truth, the word of God</i>, 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&mdash;receiving what they
say because they say it&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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
<i>the truth</i>. 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.</p>

<p>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>I know.</i>" Nothing less
than this will stand. It will not do to say, "<i>I
hope.</i>" No; there must be certainty. There must
be the ability to say, "We know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, <i>we have</i> 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>I know</i>
that <i>I have</i>." Naught but faith can say this. Reason
can only say, "I doubt;" superstition, "I fear:"
only faith can say, "I know and am sure."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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>I am
now ready</i> 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).</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Hence, then, there is the fullest harmony between
"<i>we know</i>" and "<i>we groan</i>." 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 <i>know</i>" that "we <i>have</i>" 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&mdash;a just God and a Saviour&mdash;the
righteous Justifier. No marvel, therefore,
if they shrink with terror from the thought of
meeting Him.</p>

<p>But it is a totally different thing with a man who
knows God as his Father&mdash;his Saviour&mdash;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:</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"I have a home above,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">From sin and sorrow free;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">A mansion which eternal Love<br /></span>
<span class="i1">Designed and formed for me.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"The Father's gracious hand<br /></span>
<span class="i1">Has built this blest abode;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">From everlasting it was planned,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">The dwelling-place of God.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"The Saviour's precious blood<br /></span>
<span class="i1">Has made my title sure;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">He passed through death's dark, raging flood,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">To make my rest secure."<br /></span>
</div></div>

<p>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&mdash;a new
creation body&mdash;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.</p>

<p>It is for this we groan, not that we would be
unclothed, but clothed upon. The unclothed state
is not <i>the</i> 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).</p>

<p>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&mdash;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).</p>

<p>Whence came those tears and groans? Was He
not approaching the grave of His friend as the
Prince of Life&mdash;the Quickener of the dead&mdash;the
Conqueror of death&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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, <i>Himself took our infirmities, and
bare our sicknesses</i>" (vers. 16, 17).</p>

<p>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 <i>wrath</i>, "He tasted death for every
man," and having done so, we see Him "crowned
with glory and honor." But in order to "<i>bring
many sons to glory</i>," 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).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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
<i>always confident</i> (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).</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;a guilty, hell-deserving
sinner, and creating him anew in Christ
Jesus. It is, as it were, God beginning <i>de novo</i>&mdash;on
the new, as we may say&mdash;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&mdash;"The beginning of the creation of
God" (Rev. iii. 14).</p>

<p>Now, it must be perfectly clear to the reader,
that if our Lord Jesus Christ be, in very deed "the
<i>beginning</i>" of God's creation, then we must begin
at the beginning, else we have done absolutely
nothing at all. We may labor and toil&mdash;we may
do our very utmost, and be perfectly sincere in our
doing&mdash;we may vow and resolve&mdash;we may seek to
improve our state, to alter our course, to mend our
ways, to live in a different way&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;a condemned world?
We must say this, at least, they are pursuing a
course which must, sooner or later, end in disappointment
and confusion.</p>

<p>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&mdash;to
remove their burdens, relieve their hearts and consciences&mdash;solve
their difficulties&mdash;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&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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,
<i>your</i> doings, <i>your</i> good works, <i>your</i> religious
exercises, <i>your</i> efforts to keep the ten commandments&mdash;nothing,
in short, that <i>you</i> 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 <i>cannot</i> please God" (Rom. viii).</p>

<p>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 "<i>in Christ</i>," but "in the flesh," and
therefore he "cannot please God."</p>

<p>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&mdash;in the flesh&mdash;in the old
creation&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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
<i>two men</i>&mdash;"the first man" and "the Second Man."
These two men are presented as the heads of two
distinct races. Adam <i>fallen</i> is the head of one
race; Christ <i>risen</i> 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&mdash;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&mdash;a new edifice&mdash;set
up, on the solid and imperishable ground of
redemption.</p>

<p>Hence, we read, in Gen. iii., that God "<i>drove out
the man</i>; and He placed at the east of the garden
of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which
turned <i>every way</i>, 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 <i>such</i>. 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"&mdash;"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 <i>cannot</i> please God"&mdash;"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&mdash;the old race&mdash;a stone in the
old condemned building.</p>

<p>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&mdash;the
unregenerated reader of these lines is fallen,
driven out, and set aside. As is the head, so is
the member&mdash;each member in particular&mdash;all the
members together. They are inseparable, if we
are to be taught by divine revelation.</p>

<p>But, further, was every possible way of return
finally closed against the fallen head? yes, Scripture
declares that the flaming sword turned "<i>every way</i>,
to keep the way of the tree of life." Then it is
utterly impossible that the unconverted&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;met all&mdash;paid all&mdash;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 <i>finished all</i>, 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.</p>

<p>Nor was this all. He rose! Yes, He rose
triumphant over all. He rose as the Head of the
new creation&mdash;"The beginning of the creation of
God"&mdash;"The first-begotten from among the dead"&mdash;"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&mdash;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&mdash;inseparably
and eternally one. God thinks of the
members as He thinks of the Head&mdash;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. "<i>He that
hath wrought them is God</i>," 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 "<span class="smcap">in Christ</span>," and that is enough&mdash;enough
for God&mdash;enough for faith&mdash;enough for
ever.</p>

<p>And, now, if it be asked, "How is all this to be
attained?" Scripture replies, "<span class="smcap">By faith</span>." "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word,
and believeth on Him that sent Me, <i>hath</i> everlasting
life, and shall not come into judgment; but is
passed from death unto life" (John v. 24).</p>

<p>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&mdash;if
he is actually a member of Christ&mdash;associated with
the second Adam&mdash;bound up in the bundle of life
with the risen and glorified Lord, if all this be
true&mdash;and God's word declares it is&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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, <i>hath</i>
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation
[or judgment]; but is passed from death unto
life" (John v. 24).</p>

<p>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).</p>

<p>Thus, then, the One to whom all judgment is
committed&mdash;who alone has authority to execute
judgment, by the Father's just decree&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;if
<i>He</i> 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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 <i>books</i> were opened; and
another <i>book</i> was opened, which is the book of life;
and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the <i>books</i>, according to their
<i>works</i>. 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 <i>every
man according to their works</i>. 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).</p>

<p>Mark here the difference between "the books"
and "the book of life." The entire scene sets
forth the judgment of the wicked dead&mdash;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&mdash;those awful records written in
characters deep, broad, and black&mdash;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.</p>

<p>The sceptic may reason against all this. He
may say, "<i>How</i> can these things be? <i>How</i> could
all the dead stand before God? <i>How</i> 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).</p>

<p>And be it remembered that "<i>every man</i> will
be judged according to <i>his</i> works." The solemn
session of the judgment referred to in Revelation
xx. will not be an indiscriminate act. Let none
suppose this. There are "<i>books</i>"&mdash;rolls&mdash;records.
"<i>Every man</i>" will be judged. How? "According
to <i>his</i> 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?</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;that they should be made
to feel the seriousness of having to do with God
as a Judge.</p>

<p>Should the reader, whoever he be, have been led
to feel this&mdash;if he has been roused by this weighty
matter&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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
<i>before God</i>. It is in us, but He sees us only
in a risen Christ; and we are called to <i>reckon</i> 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.</p>

<p>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 <i>body</i>, and on the <i>earth</i>, as to the fact of his
existence; but he is neither in the <i>flesh</i>, nor of the
<i>world</i>, 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.).</p>

<p>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 <i>sins</i>? Blotted out. Where is my
<i>sin</i>? 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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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?"</p>

<p>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, <i>as we are</i>.
But how is that? As God's workmanship&mdash;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
<i>sins</i> He bore; our <i>sin</i> 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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>the judgment-seat</i> will
chase away many of the clouds that have obscured
<i>the mercy-seat</i>. 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&mdash;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&mdash;the rapturous hallelujah&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>say</i> 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.</p>

<p>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, <i>as sinners</i>, are
delivered from judgment and wrath, yet, <i>as servants</i>,
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 <i>to the Lord</i>, and not unto men; knowing
that of <i>the Lord</i> ye shall receive the reward of
the inheritance; for ye serve <i>the Lord</i> 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).</p>

<p>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 <i>truth</i>. 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.</p>

<p>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 <i>diligently</i> seek Him."</p>

<p>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, <i>as to his ways</i>, 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 <i>in</i>
Christ, and therefore he labored to be acceptable to
Him in all his ways.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;how badly we
did this, that, and the other work&mdash;mixed motives
here&mdash;an under current there&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"When this passing world is done,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">When has sunk yon radiant sun,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">When I stand with Christ on high,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Looking o'er life's history,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Then, Lord, shall I fully know,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Not till then, how much I owe."<br /></span>
</div></div>

<p>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.</p>

<p>We may view it under three distinct heads;
namely, first, the <i>foundation</i> on which this ministry
rests; secondly, the <i>objects</i> toward whom it is exercised;
thirdly, the <i>features</i> by which it is characterized.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>"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."</p>

<p>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 "<i>us</i>" nought
but "<i>sin</i>," 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&mdash;all
is sin. It is not only that we have committed
sins; we are actually <i>born</i> 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&mdash;a
branch from the stem; that fountain is sin.</p>

<p>And what, let us ask, is sin? It is the acting of
the will in opposition to God. It is doing our own
pleasure&mdash;doing what we like ourselves. This is
the root&mdash;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&mdash;most
blessedly true&mdash;that God is good, and merciful,
and gracious. But He is also holy; and holiness
and sin could never coalesce.</p>

<p>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? <i>On
the cross, and only there!</i> This is a grand cardinal
truth&mdash;a truth of vital importance&mdash;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.</p>

<p>"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&mdash;He might have
lived and labored on this earth&mdash;He might have
wrought His countless miracles&mdash;He might have
healed, and cleansed, and quickened&mdash;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 "<i>sin</i>."
God the Holy Ghost declares that "without shedding
of blood there is no remission" (Heb. ix. 22).</p>

<p>Now, then, reader, if the holy life and labors
of the Son of God&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>die</i>, it
abideth <i>alone</i>; but if it <i>die</i>, it bringeth forth much
fruit" (John xii.). "Thus it is written, and thus
<i>it behoved</i> (or was necessary for) Christ to suffer"
(Luke xxiv. 46). "How then shall the Scriptures
be fulfilled that thus it <i>must</i> 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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;a dead
Christ put man to death&mdash;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&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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 <i>giving</i> of His flesh, not the
<i>taking</i> of it, that laid the foundation of the whole
fabric&mdash;life, pardon, peace, righteousness, union,
glory, all. Apart from death, there is, and could
be, absolutely nothing. Through death we have all.</p>

<p>But we cannot pursue this profound subject any
further now. Enough has been said to set forth its
connection with our special thesis&mdash;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. "<span class="smcap">Thou</span>," says that blessed One, "hast
brought <span class="smcap">Me</span> into the dust of death" (Psa. xxii.).
What an utterance! Who can fathom the mighty
depths of those words&mdash;"Thou"&mdash;"Me"&mdash;and
"death"? Who can enter into the question, "My
God, My God, why hast <i>Thou</i> forsaken <i>Me</i>?" 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 <i>sins</i> 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&mdash;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 <i>in</i> question, reconciliation must be <i>out</i> 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.</p>

<p>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 "<i>things</i>"
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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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
<i>things</i> unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they
be things in earth, or things in heaven. And <i>you</i>,
that were sometime alienated, and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now <i>hath he reconciled</i>,
in the body of His flesh, <i>through death</i>, 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.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p>

<p>Now this leads to another point of immense importance.
We often hear it said that "the death
of Christ was necessary in order <i>to reconcile God to
man</i>." 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&mdash;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 <i>sin</i> were not righteously disposed of;
and sin could only be disposed of by <i>death</i>&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;men and
things) unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them." And again, "All things are of God,
who hath reconciled <i>us</i> 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.</p>

<p>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 <i>now</i>, 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?</p>

<p>But we must not enlarge, much as we should like
to do so. Little remains to be said as to the <i>objects</i>
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.</p>

<p>But this leads us to look, for a moment, at the
<i>features</i> which characterize this glorious ministry.</p>

<p>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&mdash;the One who has
power to destroy both soul and body in hell&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;the
language in which they were to address
"every creature" under heaven. It is not, "Do
this or that"&mdash;"Give this or that." It was not
command or prohibition; but simply, "Be reconciled."</p>

<p>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. "<i>Not</i>
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
<i>all</i> to Christ.</p>

<p>But this leads us to the third feature of the ministry
of reconciliation.</p>

<p>3. If God will not impute my trespasses to me
then what will He impute? Righteousness&mdash;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&mdash;our old
self completely ignored&mdash;not only are we made the
righteousness of God in Jesus; but we are loved by
God as Jesus is loved&mdash;accepted in Him&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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!</p>

<p class="signature">
C. H. M.<br />
</p>


<p class="center">THE QUESTION OF QUESTIONS</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Some call Him a Saviour, in word,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">But mix their own works with His plan;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">And hope He His help will afford,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">When they have done all that they can:<br /></span>
<span class="i0">If doings prove rather too light<br /></span>
<span class="i1">(A little they own they may fail),<br /></span>
<span class="i0">They purpose to make up full weight,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">By casting His name in the scale.<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">Some style Him "the Pearl of great price,"<br /></span>
<span class="i1">And say, He's the fountain of joys;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Yet feed upon folly and vice,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">And cleave to the world and its toys:<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Like Judas, the Saviour they kiss,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">And while they salute Him, betray:<br /></span>
<span class="i0">Oh! what will profession like this<br /></span>
<span class="i1">Avail in His terrible day?<br /></span>
</div><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">If asked what of Jesus <i>I</i> think,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">Though still my best thoughts are but poor,<br /></span>
<span class="i0">I say, He's my meat and my drink,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">My life and my strength and my store;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">My Shepherd, my trust and my Friend,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">My Saviour from sin and from thrall;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">My Hope from beginning to end,<br /></span>
<span class="i1">My Portion, my Lord and my All.<br /></span>
</div></div>



<hr style="width: 65%;" />
<h2>THE GREAT COMMISSION</h2>

<blockquote><p>"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, <i>Thus it is written</i>, 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).</p></blockquote>


<p>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 <i>the commission itself</i>,
its <i>basis</i>, its <i>authority</i>, its <i>power</i>, or its <i>sphere</i>,
we shall find it all full of most precious instruction.
May the blessed Spirit guide our thoughts, while
we meditate, first of all, upon</p>

<h3>THE COMMISSION ITSELF.</h3>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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?"</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>What is our reply to all this? A very simple one
indeed&mdash;Our Lord knows better than all the theologians
in the world what ought to be preached. He
knows all about man's condition&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>God commandeth all men everywhere</i>
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, <i>repentance
toward God</i>, 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 <i>they should repent</i>, and turn to God,
and <i>do works meet for repentance</i>."</p>

<p>Now, in the face of this body of evidence&mdash;with
the example of our Lord and His apostles so fully
and clearly before us&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;to declare the whole
counsel of God, to present the righteousness of
God and His salvation, without limit, condition, or
hindrance of any kind&mdash;to publish the good news
to every creature under heaven.</p>

<p>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.</p>
<p>
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&mdash;as
it most surely is&mdash;an abiding and universal necessity
for man&mdash;if God commands all men everywhere
to repent&mdash;if repentance is inseparably linked
with remission of sins&mdash;how needful it is that we
should seek to understand its true nature!</p>

<p>What, then, is repentance? May the Spirit Himself
instruct us by the word of God! He alone can.
We are all liable to err&mdash;some of us have erred&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>legality</i> on the question of repentance,
have fallen into <i>levity</i>. 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. "<i>Truth</i>,"&mdash;insisting
upon "repentance," is the remedy for the former.
"<i>Grace</i>"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;the
gospel of the grace, and the gospel of the glory.
He preached the kingdom of God&mdash;He unfolded
the glorious mystery of the Church&mdash;yea, that mystery
was specially committed to him.</p>

<p>But let all preachers remember that Paul preached
repentance. He called upon sinners to judge themselves&mdash;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 <i>lived</i> 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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;the most terrible thing we can
possibly conceive&mdash;terrible in its effect upon the
soul&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <i>feel</i> and <i>own</i>
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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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"&mdash;we should preach "repentance" as
well as "remission of sins."</p>


<h3>PART II.</h3>

<p>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,&mdash;the
moral fitness in every case of true repentance,&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>Here we have a true specimen of an unbroken
heart and an unrepentant spirit&mdash;a man thoroughly
satisfied with himself. Miserable object! He had
never touched a chord in the Father's heart&mdash;never
drawn out the Father's love&mdash;never felt the Father's
embrace&mdash;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.</p>

<p>What egregious folly! And yet it is just the
same with every unrepentant soul&mdash;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&mdash;that is the man who gives joy to the
heart of God.</p>

<p>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&mdash;marvelous
truth!&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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"&mdash;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.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> 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 <i>us</i> 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 <i>dead</i>, and is alive again; he was <i>lost</i>, and is
found."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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."</p>

<p><i>A sinner's duty!</i> What is it? "God commandeth
<i>all</i> men <i>everywhere</i> 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"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>No man can meet God on the ground of duty;
but God can meet any man&mdash;the very chief of sinners&mdash;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>I will confess</i> my transgressions unto
the Lord, and <i>Thou forgavest</i> the iniquity of my
sin." The moment man takes his true place&mdash;the
place of repentance&mdash;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,"&mdash;"Then <i>flew</i> 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).</p>

<p>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 <i>hungry</i> with good
things; but the <i>rich</i> He hath sent <i>empty</i> 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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
<i>in that alone</i>, 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
"<i>basis</i>" 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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, <i>Repent</i>, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for <i>the remission
of sins</i>, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost" (Acts ii. 36-38).</p>

<p>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&mdash;such the mighty efficacy of the blood of
Christ&mdash;such the clear and authoritative testimony
of the Holy Ghost&mdash;such the glorious terms of "the
great commission."</p>

<p>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,
<i>He hath so fulfilled.</i> <i>Repent ye</i> therefore, and be
converted, that <i>your sins may be blotted out</i>."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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. <i>So now it was
not you that sent me hither, but God.</i>"</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>


<h3>PART III.</h3>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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,"&mdash;what a different "commission"
he received ere he entered Damascus!&mdash;"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."<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p>

<p>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, "<i>To open their eyes?</i>" 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&mdash;morally and
spiritually blind. He cannot see a single divine
object. He has no perception of anything pertaining
to God, to Christ, to heaven.</p>

<p>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?</p>

<p>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&mdash;that
is, to the whole human family&mdash;to open
their eyes. This proves, to a divine demonstration,
that all are by nature blind.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>But, further, not only is man&mdash;every man&mdash;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&mdash;thinks he is his
own master&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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,&mdash;we
repeat it with emphasis, and from the very centre
of our ransomed being,&mdash;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&mdash;living,
saving, precious faith. May you possess it!</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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 <span class="smcap">this Man</span>" (Jesus
Christ, crucified, risen, and glorified) "is preached"&mdash;not
promised in the future, but preached <i>now</i>, announced
as a present reality&mdash;is preached "<i>unto
you</i> the remission of sins. And by Him all who believe
<small>ARE</small> justified from <i>all things</i>, from which ye
could not be justified by the law of Moses."</p>

<p>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. "<i>Unto
you</i> 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
<i>you</i> 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.</p>

<p>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 <i>predestinate</i>."
And again: "Knowing, brethren beloved,
your <i>election</i> of God."</p>

<p>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&mdash;that it
was only deceiving them to call upon them to believe&mdash;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, "<i>Beware</i>,
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."</p>


<h3>PART IV.</h3>

<p>Having in the former papers dwelt a little
upon the <i>terms</i> of "the great commission,"
we shall now, in dependence upon divine teaching,
seek to unfold the truth as to the <i>basis</i>. 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, "<i>It behooved Christ to suffer,
and to rise from the dead the third day</i>."</p>

<p>Here lies, in its impregnable strength, the foundation
of the glorious commission whereof we speak.
God&mdash;blessed forever be His holy name&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;a forgiveness which cost nothing less than
the unutterable horrors and agonies of the cross?
Shall we, with flippant tongue, profess to have peace&mdash;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?</p>

<p>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&mdash;all praise to redeeming love!&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;who have crucified
the flesh with its affections and lusts&mdash;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&mdash;therefore not turned to practical
account as it should be.</p>

<p>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 <i>terms</i> of the great commission
overlooked, but the <i>basis</i> 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>But then, we must remember that the blessed
apostle Paul&mdash;the greatest evangelist that ever lived,
except his divine Master&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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 <i>forgiveness of
sins</i>, but also, just as fully and clearly, the <i>condemnation
of sin</i>, 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Hence, therefore, we must ask the reader&mdash;and
we do so most faithfully and affectionately&mdash;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 <i>lovers of their own selves</i>, covetous,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, <i>disobedient to parents</i>,
unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, <i>despisers
of those that are good</i>, traitors, <i>heady, high-minded,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a
form of godliness, but denying the power thereof</i>: from
such turn away" (2 Tim. iii. 1-5).</p>

<p>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.)</p>

<p>In this we are lamentably deficient. There is a
vast amount of objective truth in circulation
amongst us&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;to have more truth in
the head than in the heart&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;that
kingdom which is righteousness, and peace,
and joy in the Holy Ghost.</p>

<p>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 <i>form</i> of godliness
so sadly dominant in this our day.</p>

<p>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.</p>


<h3>PART V.</h3>

<p>In pursuing our subject, we have yet to consider
the <i>authority</i> and the <i>sphere</i> of "the great commission;"
but ere proceeding to treat of these we
must dwell a little longer on the <i>basis</i>. 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;one who will not punish sin&mdash;one
who is so tender, so kind, so benevolent, that
he will connive at evil and pass it over as though it
were nothing.</p>

<p>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&mdash;it
must be met by the just and inflexible judgment of
a sin-hating God.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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?"</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>behooved</i> 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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Such, then, reader, is the <i>basis</i> of "the great commission"
whereof we speak. Need we wonder at
the <i>terms</i>, 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.</p>

<p>But what of those who reject this glorious message&mdash;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&mdash;all who die out of Christ&mdash;must inevitably
perish eternally, must bear the consequences of
their sins, in the lake that burneth with fire and
brimstone.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;did
God visit His only begotten and well beloved
Son with the full weight of His righteous wrath
against sin&mdash;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? <i>The cross on which the Son of God died, the
Just for the unjust</i>&mdash;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."</p>

<p>But if men reject all this, and go on in their sins,
in their rebellion, in their infidel reasonings and
impious speculations&mdash;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&mdash;what
then? Our Lord declared in the ears of
His apostles that "it was necessary that Christ
should suffer"&mdash;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?</p>

<p>How monstrous are the reasonings, or rather the
ravings, of infidelity! Infidel doctors begin by
throwing overboard the word of God&mdash;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.</p>

<p>True, they talk plausibly about a God; but it is
a God of their own imagination&mdash;one who will connive
at sin&mdash;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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;down to the blackness
of darkness forever.</p>

<p>We shall have occasion to recur to the foregoing
line of thought when we come to consider the <i>authority</i>
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. <i>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</i> <span class="smcap">the holy Scriptures</span>.</p>


<h3>PART VI.</h3>

<p>We have seen that the <i>basis</i> 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&mdash;precious
and priceless mystery though it be&mdash;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 <i>blood</i>, and reconciled
by the <i>death</i> 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).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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: <i>whom God hath raised up</i>,
having loosed the pains of death: because it was
not possible that He should be holden of it....
<i>This Jesus hath God raised up</i>, 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, <i>whom God
hath raised from the dead</i>; whereof we are witnesses....
Unto you first <i>God, having raised up His Son
Jesus</i>, 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
<i>preached through Jesus the resurrection from the
dead</i>."</p>

<p>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!</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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,
<i>Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him
openly</i>: 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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>But all this will come more fully out as we proceed
with our proofs.</p>

<p>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. <i>But God raised Him
from the dead.</i> 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 <i>He raised
Him up from the dead</i>, 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 <i>He whom God raised again</i> saw no corruption."</p>

<p>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
<i>by Him</i> all that believe <i>are justified from all things</i>,
from which ye could not be justified by the law of
Moses. <i>Beware</i> 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).</p>

<p>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,
<i>in that He hath raised Him from the dead</i>" (Acts xvii.).</p>

<p>This is a very remarkable and deeply solemn
passage. The proof that God is going to judge the
world in righteousness&mdash;a proof offered to all&mdash;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 <i>Jesus and the resurrection</i>."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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."</p>

<p>Remarkable words! words divinely suited to people
prone to boast themselves in the so-called wisdom
and greatness of this world&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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: <i>he staggered not</i> at the promise of God
through unbelief,"&mdash;which is always sure to stagger,&mdash;"but
was <i>strong in faith, giving glory to God</i>"&mdash;as
faith always does; "and being <i>fully persuaded</i>
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"&mdash;what? Gave
His Son? Bruised His Son on the cross? Not
merely this, but "<i>that raised up Jesus our Lord from
the dead</i>."</p>

<p>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 <i>basis</i> of the great commission,
expands under our gaze as we pursue our study
of it!</p>

<p>One more brief quotation shall close this paper.
In Heb. xiii. we read, "<i>Now the God of peace, that
brought again from the dead</i> our Lord Jesus, that
great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of
the everlasting covenant."</p>

<p>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&mdash;sin atoned for&mdash;guilt put away&mdash;Satan
silenced&mdash;God glorified&mdash;all divinely accomplished&mdash;"the
God of peace" entered the scene,
and raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
"great Shepherd of the sheep."</p>

<p>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!</p>


<h3>PART VII.</h3>

<p>We are now called to consider the deeply important
subject of the <i>authority</i> on which
the great commission proceeds. This we have presented
to us in that one commanding and most
comprehensive sentence "<i>It is written</i>"&mdash;a sentence
which ought to be engraved in characters deep and
broad on the tablet of every Christian's heart.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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!</p>

<p>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&mdash;a man dead
in trespasses and sins&mdash;a man spiritually blind,
wholly ignorant of things divine, spiritual, and heavenly&mdash;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?</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>"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: <i>that your faith</i>"&mdash;mark these
words, beloved reader&mdash;"<i>should not stand in the wisdom
of men, but in the power of God</i>. 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. <i>But God hath revealed
them to us by His Spirit</i>;"&mdash;otherwise they
could not possibly be known;&mdash;"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 <i>the
things of God knoweth no man</i>, but the Spirit of God.
Now we"&mdash;all true believers, all God's children&mdash;"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"&mdash;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,"&mdash;be he ever so wise and learned,&mdash;"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).</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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. "<i>It is written</i>" 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&mdash;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?</p>

<p>But not only did the Son of God&mdash;Himself, as
God, the Author of every line of Holy Scripture&mdash;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, <i>as His custom was</i>,
He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,
and <i>stood up for to read</i>"&mdash;<i>His custom was to read
the Scriptures publicly</i>. "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.).</p>

<p>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"&mdash;the very
portions of the divine Word which infidels impiously
assail. The rich man in torment&mdash;alas, no longer
rich, but miserably and eternally poor!&mdash;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; <i>let them hear them</i>." Yes; "hear
them"&mdash;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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>But we must pass on, and turn for a moment to
the last chapter of Luke&mdash;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.</p>

<p>But we turn to Luke xxiv., and listen to the glowing
words uttered in the ears of the two bewildered
travelers to Emmaus&mdash;words which are the sure
and blessed remedy for all bewilderment&mdash;the perfect
solution of every honest difficulty&mdash;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
<i>all that the prophets have spoken</i>!" 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&mdash;as every true man ought&mdash;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,&mdash;fatal, detestable cleverness, from which
may the good Lord deliver us!&mdash;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!</p>

<p>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"&mdash;mark these words!&mdash;"beginning at <i>Moses
and all the Prophets</i>, He expounded unto them <i>in all
the Scriptures</i> the things concerning Himself." He
Himself&mdash;all homage to His glorious person!&mdash;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 <i>will</i>
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!</p>

<p>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 <i>all things must
be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses,
and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms</i>, concerning
Me. Then opened He their understanding, that
they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto
them, Thus <i>it is written</i>."</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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, <i>believing all things which are written in the
Law and in the Prophets</i>." 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 <i>He</i> 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.</p>

<hr style="width: 45%;" />

<p>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 <i>in
that day</i>," thus addresses his beloved son: "But
<i>continue thou</i> in the things which thou hast learned
and <i>hast been assured of</i>, knowing of whom thou hast
learned; and that <i>from a child thou hast known the
Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation</i> through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
<i>All Scripture is given by inspiration of God</i>, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness; that <i>the man of
God may be perfect</i> (complete), <i>thoroughly furnished
unto all good works</i>."</p>

<p>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?</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>"<i>Forever</i>, O Lord, Thy word is <i>settled in heaven</i>."
What remains, beloved reader, for thee? Just this:
"Thy word have I <i>hid in my heart</i>, 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.</p>

<p>Thus much as to the weighty question of the
"<i>authority</i>" 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!"</p>


<h3>PART VIII.</h3>

<p>In full keeping with all that has passed in review
before us is the <i>sphere</i> of "the great commission,"
as set forth in that comprehensive clause,
"<i>Among all nations</i>." 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."</p>

<p>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&mdash;His
dispensational dealings&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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 <i>sphere</i>. 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&mdash;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"&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"Sovereign grace o'er sin abounding:<br /></span>
<span class="i1">Ransomed souls the tidings swell;<br /></span>
<span class="i0">'Tia a deep that knows no sounding;<br /></span>
<span class="i1">Who its length or breadth can tell?"<br /></span>
</div></div>

<p>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?</p>

<p>There stands the great commission shining on
the eternal page of inspiration in all its moral
grandeur&mdash;its <i>terms</i>, its <i>basis</i>, its <i>authority</i>, its
<i>sphere</i>! 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!&mdash;His
ceaseless toil as a teacher and preacher!&mdash;His thirst
for the salvation and blessing of souls!</p>

<p>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."</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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
<i>power</i> 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 <i>sphere</i> was to be
"all nations," the <i>power</i> must be adapted thereto;
and, blessed be God, so it was.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>Let us turn to chapter ii. of the Acts of the
Apostles.</p>

<p>"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,
they were <i>all with one accord in one place</i>"&mdash;instructive
and suggestive fact!&mdash;"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 <i>cloven tongues</i>,
like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost"&mdash;He had
full possession of their hearts and minds, full sway
over their whole moral being&mdash;blessed condition!&mdash;"And
they began to speak with <i>other tongues</i>" (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, <i>out of every nation under
heaven</i>." Note this fact. "Now when this was
noised abroad, the multitude came together, and
were confounded, because that <i>every man heard them
speak in his own language</i>."&mdash;How real&mdash;how telling!&mdash;"And
they were all amazed, and marveled,
saying one to another, Behold, are not all these
which speak Galileans? And how <i>hear we every
man in our own tongue wherein we were born</i>?"&mdash;not
merely wherein we were educated&mdash;"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,
<i>we do hear them speak in our tongues</i> the wonderful
works of God."</p>

<p>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&mdash;even should the twelve
apostles fail to carry out their commission&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;to every man&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;as
we have already fully shown and earnestly insisted
upon in these papers&mdash;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&mdash;proving in the most affecting
manner possible&mdash;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!</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p>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&mdash;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.</p>

<p class="signature">
C. H. M.<br />
</p>


<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The two Greek words to which we have alluded in the
text are, &#960;&#955;&#949;&#959;&#957;&#949;&#958;&#953;&#945; (pleonexia&mdash;the desire to get more),
and &#966;&#953;&#955;&#945;&#961;&#947;&#965;&#961;&#953;&#945; (philarguria&mdash;the love of money). Now
it is the former that occurs in Col. iii. 5&mdash;"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.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> 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.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The "prophets," in this passage, are those of the New
Testament. This is evident from the expression, "<i>Now
revealed</i>." 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&mdash;Jews
and Gentiles&mdash;into one body.
</p><p>
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 <i>the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret
since the world began</i>, but <i>now is made manifest</i>, 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."</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> We have no record of Peter's first meeting with his
Lord, after the resurrection.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> 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.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The reader will, of course, bear in mind that what is
stated about Levi in this paper is to be regarded as <i>typical</i>
of that which the believer now knows in <i>reality</i> through the
Holy Ghost.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> 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.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> 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&mdash;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 <i>vice versa</i>.
And, surely, in all this we learn the glorious truth which
shall shortly be owned by all created intelligences, that
"He <i>alone</i> is worthy."</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> 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 "<i>made
of God</i> 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 <i>necessity</i> 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 <span class="smcap">in Him</span>" (2 Cor. v. 21). And again, "we
are <span class="smcap">in Him</span> that is true, even in <i>His Son Jesus Christ</i>" (1 Jno.
v. 20).</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> 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
<i>one</i>: they should not, therefore, contend about their service,
because they were <i>one</i>; nor yet would it have been right to
confound their services, because they were totally different.
Thus, attention to <i>unity</i> would have saved them from contention,
and attention to <i>diversity</i> 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."</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> 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.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> 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 <i>from beneath</i>; no, <i>the grace</i> in
which he stood was his <i>sole support</i>, and <i>the pillar above</i> his
<i>sole guide</i>. 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. <i>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.</i></p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> It has been well observed that in the tabernacle God
was seen bringing all His glory into immediate connection
with <i>the sand of the desert</i>: and when the high priest went
into the holy place, he found himself in the very presence of
that glory, <i>with his feet upon the sand of the desert</i> likewise.
In the temple, however, this was not the case, for the floor
of the house was <i>overlaid with gold</i> (1 Kings vi. 30).
</p><p>
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.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> I say, <i>one in worship</i>; 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?</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> For a full examination of this subject, the reader is referred
to "Facts and Theories as to a future state,&mdash;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.)</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> 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 <i>reconciled</i> to her
husband." In classical Greek the word is applied to the
<i>changing</i> money: the <i>exchanging</i> one thing for another; <i>exchanging</i>
prisoners; the changing a person from <i>enmity to
friendship</i>. In short, everywhere the distinction is maintained
between "atonement," or "propitiation" and "reconciliation."
The former is &#953;&#955;&#945;&#963;&#956;&#959;&#962;, the latter, &#954;&#945;&#964;&#945;&#955;&#955;&#945;&#947;&#951;.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> 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 <i>God's</i> 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).&mdash;<i>Ed.</i></p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> "By faith" is connected with remission of sins and
inheritance among the sanctified.</p></div>

</div>

<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's note:</h3>
<p>Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained
except in obvious cases of typographical error.
</p>
</div>

<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40575 ***</div>
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