{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40575/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40575","id":"gutenberg_40575","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40575","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Theology"],"text":"MISCELLANEOUS\n  WRITINGS\n\n  of C.H.M.\n\n  The Great\n  Commission\n\n  _Miscellaneous Writings of_\n  C. H. MACKINTOSH\n\n  _Volume IV_\n\n  LOIZEAUX BROTHERS\n  _New York_\n\n\n\n\nCONVERSION: WHAT IS IT?\n\n\n\n\nPART I.\n\n\nThe first chapter of first Thessalonians presents a very striking and\nbeautiful picture of what we may truly call _genuine conversion_. We\npropose to study the picture in company with the reader. If we are not\nmuch mistaken, we shall find the study at once interesting and\nprofitable. It will furnish an answer, distinct and clear, to the\nquestion which stands at the head of this article, namely, What is\nConversion?\n\nNor is this by any means a small matter. It is well, in days like\nthese, to have a divine answer to such a question. We hear a good deal\nnow-a-days about cases of conversion; and we would heartily bless God\nfor every soul truly converted to Him.\n\nWe need hardly say we believe in the absolute, the indispensable, the\nuniversal necessity of divine conversion. Let a man be what he may; be\nhe Jew or Greek, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, Protestant or\nRoman Catholic; in short, whatever be his nationality, his\necclesiastical position, or his theological creed, he _must_ be\nconverted, else he is on the broad and direct road to an everlasting\nhell.\n\nThere is no one born a Christian, in the true sense of that word.\nNeither can anyone be educated into Christianity. It is a fatal\nmistake, a deadly delusion, a deceit of the arch-enemy of souls, for\nanyone to think that he can be a Christian either by birth or\neducation, or that he can be made a Christian by water baptism, or by\nany religious ceremony whatsoever. A man becomes a Christian only by\nbeing divinely converted. We would earnestly press on the attention of\nall whom it may concern, the urgent and absolute necessity in every\ncase of true conversion to God.\n\nThis cannot be overlooked. It is the height of folly for anyone to\nattempt to ignore or to make light of it. For an immortal being--one\nwho has a boundless eternity stretching away before him--to neglect\nthe solemn question of his conversion, is the wildest fatuity of which\nanyone can possibly be guilty. In comparison with this most weighty\nsubject, all other things dwindle into utter insignificance. The\nvarious objects that engage the thoughts and absorb the energies of\nmen and women in the busy scene around us, are but as the small dust\nof the balance in comparison with this one grand, momentous question\nof the soul's conversion to God. All the speculations of commercial\nlife, all the schemes of money-making, the absorbing question of\nprofitable investment, all the pursuits of the pleasure hunter--the\ntheatre, the concert, the ball-room, the billiard-room, the\ncard-table, the dice-box, the race-course, the hunting-ground, the\ndrinking saloon--all the numberless and nameless things that the poor\nunsatisfied heart longs after, and grasps at--all are but as the\nvapor of the morning, the foam on the water, the smoke from the\nchimney-top, the withered leaf of autumn--all vanish away, and leave\nan aching void behind. The heart remains unsatisfied, the soul\nunsaved, because unconverted.\n\nAnd what then? Ah, yes; what then! Tremendous question! What remains\nat the end of all this scene of commercial excitement, political\nstrife and ambition, money-making and pleasure-hunting? Why, then the\nman has to face death! \"It is appointed unto men once to die.\" There\nis no getting over this. There is no discharge in this war. All the\nwealth of the universe could not purchase one moment's respite at the\nhand of the ruthless foe. All the medical skill which earth affords,\nall the fond solicitude of affectionate relatives and friends, all\ntheir tears, all their sighs, all their entreaties cannot stave off\nthe dreaded moment, or cause the king of terrors to sheathe his\nterrible sword. Death cannot be disposed of by any art of man. The\nmoment _must_ come when the link is to be snapped which connects the\nheart with all the fair and fascinating scenes of human life. Fondly\nloved friends, charming pursuits, coveted objects, all must be given\nup. A thousand worlds could not avert the stroke. Death must be looked\nat straight in the face. It is an awful mystery--a tremendous fact--a\nstern reality. It stands full in front of every unconverted man,\nwoman, and child beneath the canopy of heaven; and it is merely a\nquestion of time--hours, days, months, or years,--when the boundary\nline must be crossed which separates time, with all its empty, vain,\nshadowy pursuits, from eternity with all its stupendous realities.\n\nAnd what then? Let Scripture answer. Nothing else can. Men would fain\nreply according to their own vain notions. They would have us believe\nthat after death comes annihilation. \"Let us eat and drink, for\nto-morrow we die.\" Empty conceit! Vain delusion! Foolish dream of the\nhuman imagination blinded by the god of this world! How could an\nimmortal soul be annihilated? Man, in the garden of Eden, became the\npossessor of a never-dying spirit. \"The Lord God breathed into his\nnostrils the breath of life, and man became a _living_ soul\"--not a\ndying soul. The soul must live forever. Converted or unconverted, it\nhas eternity before it. Oh, the overpowering weight of this\nconsideration to every thoughtful spirit! No human mind can grasp its\nimmensity. It is beyond our comprehension, but not beyond our belief.\n\nLet us hearken to the voice of God. What does Scripture teach? One\nline of holy Scripture is quite sufficient to sweep away ten thousand\narguments and theories of the human mind. Does death annihilate? Nay!\n\"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.\"\n\nMark these words, \"_After this_ the judgment.\" And this applies only\nto those who die in their sins, only to unbelievers. For the\nChristian, judgment is passed forever, as Scripture teaches in\nmanifold places. It is important to note this, because men tell us\nthat, inasmuch as there is eternal life only in Christ, therefore all\nwho are out of Christ shall be annihilated.\n\nNot so says the word of God. There is judgment after death. And what\nwill be the issue of the judgment? Again Scripture speaks in language\nas clear as it is solemn. \"And I saw a great white throne, and Him\nthat sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away;\nand there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and\ngreat, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book,\nwhich is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those\nthings which were written in the books, _according to their works_.\nAnd the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hades\ndelivered up the dead which were in them; and _they were judged every\nman according to their works_.... This is the second death\"--the lake\nof fire. \"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was\ncast into the lake of fire\" (Rev. xx.)\n\nAll this is as plain as words can make it. There is not the slightest\nground for demur or difficulty. For all whose names are in the book of\nlife there is no judgment at all. Those whose names are not in that\nbook shall be judged according to their works. And what then?\nAnnihilation? Nay; but \"the lake of fire;\" and that forever and\nforever.\n\nHow overwhelming is the thought of this! An unconverted person,\nwhoever and whatever he is, has death, judgment, and the lake of fire\nbefore him, and every throb of his pulse brings him nearer and nearer\nto those awful realities. It is not more sure that the sun shall rise,\nat a certain moment, to-morrow morning, than that the reader must, ere\nlong, pass into eternity; and if his name is not in the book of\nlife--if he is not converted--if he is not in Christ, he will\nassuredly be judged according to his works, and the certain issue of\nthat judgment will be the lake of fire, through the endless ages of\neternity.\n\nThe reader may perhaps marvel at our dwelling at such length on this\ndreadful theme. He may feel disposed to ask, \"Will this convert\npeople?\" If it does not convert them, it may lead them to see their\nneed of conversion. It may lead them to see their imminent danger. It\nmay induce them to flee from the wrath to come. Why did the blessed\napostle reason with Felix on the subject of \"judgment to come\"? Surely\nthat he might persuade him to turn from his evil ways and live. Why\ndid our blessed Lord Himself so constantly press upon His hearers the\nsolemn reality of eternity? Why did He so often speak of the deathless\nworm and the unquenchable fire? Surely it was for the purpose of\nrousing them to a sense of their danger, that they might flee for\nrefuge to lay hold upon the hope set before them.\n\nAre we wiser than He? Are we more tender? Have we found out some\nbetter mode of converting people? Are we to be afraid of pressing upon\nour readers or our hearers the same solemn theme which our Lord so\npressed upon the men of His time? Are we to shrink from offending\npolite ears by the plain declaration that all who die unconverted must\ninevitably stand before the great white throne, and pass into the lake\nof fire? God forbid! It must not be. We solemnly call upon the\nunconverted reader to give his undivided attention to the\nall-important question of his soul's salvation. Let nothing induce him\nto neglect it. Let neither cares, pleasures, nor duties so occupy him\nas to hide from his view the magnitude and deep seriousness of this\nmatter. \"What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world\nand lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his\nsoul?\"\n\nO reader, if thou art unsaved, unconverted, let us earnestly entreat\nthee to ponder these things, and rouse thee to a sense of thy need of\nbeing savingly converted to God. This is the only way of entering His\nkingdom. So our Lord Christ distinctly tells us; and we trust you know\nthis at least, that not one jot or tittle of His holy sayings can ever\npass away. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but His word can never\npass away. All the power of earth and hell, men and devils, cannot\nmake void the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Either of two things for\nthee--_conversion here, or eternal damnation hereafter_.\n\nThus it stands, if we are to be guided by the word of God; and, in\nview of this, is it possible for us to be too earnest, too vehement,\ntoo importunate in urging upon every unconverted soul with whom we\nmay come in contact, either with voice or pen, the indispensable\nnecessity, this very moment, of fleeing from the wrath to come,\nfleeing to that blessed Saviour who died on the cross for our\nsalvation; who stands with open arms to receive all who come; and who\ndeclares in His own sweet and precious grace, \"HIM THAT COMETH UNTO\nME, I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT?\"\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\n\nIn our previous paper, we have sought to set forth the absolute need,\nin every case, of conversion. Scripture establishes this point in such\na way as to leave no possible ground of doubt for anyone who bows to\nits holy authority. \"Except ye be converted, and become as little\nchildren, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven\" (Matt. xviii.\n3).\n\nThis applies, in all its moral force and deep solemnity, to every son\nand daughter of fallen Adam. There is not so much as a solitary\nexception, throughout the thousand millions that people this globe.\nWithout conversion, there is--there can be no entrance into the\nKingdom of God. Every unconverted soul is outside the Kingdom of God.\nIt matters not, in the smallest degree, who I am, or what I am; if I\nam unconverted, I am in \"the kingdom of darkness,\" under the power of\nSatan, in my sins, and on the way to hell.\n\nI may be a person of blameless morals; of spotless reputation; a high\nprofessor of religion; a worker in the vineyard; a Sunday-school\nteacher; an office-bearer in some branch of the professing church; an\nordained minister; a deacon, elder, pastor or bishop; a most\ncharitable individual; a munificent donor to religious and benevolent\ninstitutions; looked up to, sought after, and reverenced by all\nbecause of my personal worth and moral influence. I may be all this\nand more; I may be, and I may have, all that it is possible for a\nhuman being to be or to have, and yet be unconverted, and hence\noutside the Kingdom of God, and in the kingdom of Satan, in my guilt,\nand on the broad road that leads straight down to the lake that burns\nwith fire and brimstone.\n\nSuch is the plain and obvious meaning and force of our Lord's words in\nMatt. xviii. 3. There is no possibility of evading it. The words are\nas clear as a sunbeam. We cannot get over them. They bear down, with\nwhat we may truly call tremendous solemnity, upon every unconverted\nsoul on the face of the earth. \"Except ye be converted, ye _cannot_\nenter the Kingdom of heaven.\" This applies, with equal force, to the\ndegraded drunkard that rolls along the street, worse than a beast, and\nto the unconverted Good Templar or teetotaler who prides himself on\nhis sobriety, and is perpetually boasting of the number of days,\nweeks, months, or years during which he has refrained from all\nintoxicating drink. They are both alike outside the Kingdom of God;\nboth in their sins; both on the way to eternal destruction.\n\nTrue it is that the one has been converted from drunkenness to\nsobriety--a _very great_ blessing indeed, in a moral and social point\nof view--but conversion from drunkenness to a temperance society is\nnot conversion to God; it is not turning from darkness to light; it is\nnot entering the Kingdom of God's dear Son. There is just this\ndifference between the two, that the teetotaler may be building upon\nhis temperance, pluming himself upon his morality, and thus deceiving\nhimself into the vain notion that he is all right, whereas, in\nreality, he is not. The drunkard is palpably and unmistakably wrong.\nEverybody knows that no drunkard can inherit the Kingdom of God; but\nneither can an unconverted teetotaler. Both are outside. Conversion to\nGod is absolutely indispensable for the one as well as the other; and\nthe same may be said of all classes, all grades, all shades, all\ncastes and conditions of men under the sun. There is no difference as\nto this great question. It holds good as to all alike, be their\noutward character or social status what it may--\"Except ye be\nconverted, _ye cannot_ enter the Kingdom of heaven.\"\n\nHow important, then--yea, how momentous the question for each one,\n\"_Am I converted?_\" It is not possible for human language to set forth\nthe magnitude and solemnity of this inquiry. For any one to think of\ngoing on, from day to day, and year to year, without a clear and\nthorough settlement of this most weighty question, can only be\nregarded as the most egregious folly of which a human being can be\nguilty. If a man were to leave his earthly affairs in an uncertain,\nunsettled condition, he would lay himself open to the charge of the\ngrossest and most culpable neglect and carelessness. But what are the\nmost urgent and weighty temporal affairs when compared with the\nsalvation of the soul? All the concerns of time are but as the chaff\nof the summer threshing-floor, when compared with the interests of\nthe immortal soul--the grand realities of eternity.\n\nHence it is, in the very highest degree, irrational for any one to\nrest for a single hour without a clear and settled assurance that he\nis truly converted to God. A converted soul has crossed the boundary\nline that separates the saved from the unsaved--the children of light\nfrom the children of darkness--the Church of God from this present\nevil world. The converted soul has death and judgment behind him, and\nglory before. He can be as sure of heaven as though he were already\nthere; indeed as a man in Christ he belongs there already. He has a\ntitle without a blot, a prospect without a cloud. He knows Christ as\nhis Saviour and Lord; God as his Father and Friend; the Holy Ghost as\nhis blessed Comforter, Guide and Teacher; heaven as his bright and\nhappy home. Oh! the unspeakable blessedness of being converted. Who\ncan utter it? \"Eye hath not seen, or ear heard, neither have entered\ninto the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them\nthat love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us [believers] by His\nSpirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of\nGod\" (1 Cor. ii. 9, 10).\n\nAnd now let us inquire what this conversion is, whereof we speak.\nWell, indeed, will it be for us to be divinely instructed as to this.\nAn error here will prove disastrous in proportion to the interests at\nstake.\n\nMany are the mistaken notions in reference to conversion. Indeed we\nmight conclude, from the very fact of the vast importance of the\nsubject, that the great enemy of our souls and of the Christ of God\nwould seek, in every possible way, to plunge us into error respecting\nit. If he cannot succeed in keeping people in utter carelessness as to\nthe subject of conversion, he will endeavour to blind their eyes as to\nits true nature. If, for example, a person has been roused, by some\nmeans or other, to a sense of the utter vanity and unsatisfactoriness\nof worldly amusements, and the urgent necessity of a change of life,\nthe arch-deceiver will seek to persuade such an one to become\nreligious, to busy himself with ordinances, rites and ceremonies, to\ngive up balls and parties, theatres and concerts, drinking, gambling,\nhunting and horse-racing; in a word, to give up all sorts of gaiety\nand amusement, and engage in what is called a religious life, to be\ndiligent in attending the public ordinances of religion, to read the\nBible, say prayers, and give alms, to contribute to the support of the\ngreat religious and benevolent institutions of the country.\n\nNow, this is not conversion. A person may do all this, and yet be\nwholly unconverted. A religious devotee whose whole life is spent in\nvigils, fastings, prayers, self-mortifications and alms deeds, may be\nas thoroughly unconverted, as far from the Kingdom of God as the\nthoughtless pleasure hunter, whose whole life is spent in the pursuit\nof objects as worthless as the withered leaf or the faded flower. The\ntwo characters, no doubt, differ widely--as widely perhaps, as any\ntwo could differ. But they are both unconverted, both outside the\nblessed circle of God's salvation, both in their sins. True, the one\nis engaged in \"wicked works,\" and the other in \"dead works;\" they are\nboth out of Christ; they are unsaved; they are on the way to hopeless,\nendless misery. The one, just as surely as the other, if not savingly\nconverted, will find his portion in the lake that burneth with fire\nand brimstone.\n\nAgain, conversion is not a turning from one religious system to\nanother. A man may turn from Judaism, Paganism, Mahometanism, or\nPopery, to Protestantism, and yet be wholly unconverted. No doubt,\nlooked at from a social, moral, or intellectual standpoint, it is much\nbetter to be a Protestant than a Mahometan; but as regards our present\nthesis, they are both on one common platform, both unconverted. Of\none, just as truly as the other, it can be said, unless he is\nconverted, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Conversion is not\njoining a religious system, be that system ever so pure, ever so\nsound, ever so orthodox. A man may be a member of the most respectable\nreligious body in Christendom, and yet be an unconverted, unsaved man,\non his way to eternal perdition.\n\nSo also as to the theological creeds. A man may subscribe to any of\nthe great standards of religious belief, the Thirty-nine Articles, the\nWestminster Confession, John Wesley's Sermons, Fox and Barclay, or any\nother creed, and yet be wholly unconverted, dead in trespasses and\nsins, and on his way to that place where a single ray of hope can\nnever break in upon the awful gloom of eternity.\n\nOf what use, we may lawfully inquire, is a religious system or a\ntheological creed to a man who has not a single spark of divine life?\nSystems and creeds cannot quicken, cannot save, cannot give eternal\nlife. A man may work on in religious machinery like a horse in a mill,\ngoing round and round, from one year's end to another, leaving off\njust where he began, in a dreary monotony of dead works. What is it\nall worth? what does it all come to? where does it all end? _Death!_\nYes; and what then? Ah! that is the question. Would to God the weight\nand seriousness of this question were more fully realized!\n\nBut further, Christianity itself, in all its full-orbed light, may be\nembraced as a system of religious belief. A person may be\nintellectually delighted--almost entranced with the glorious doctrines\nof grace, a full, free gospel, salvation without works, justification\nby faith; in short, all that goes to make up our glorious New\nTestament Christianity. A person may profess to believe and delight in\nthis; he may even become a powerful writer in defence of Christian\ndoctrine, an earnest eloquent preacher of the gospel. All this may be\ntrue, and yet the man be wholly unconverted, dead in trespasses and\nsins, hardened, deceived and destroyed by his very familiarity with\nthe precious truths of the gospel--truths that have never gone beyond\nthe region of his understanding--never reached his conscience, never\ntouched his heart, never converted his soul.\n\nThis is about the most appalling case of all. Nothing can be more\nawful, more terrible, than the case of a man professing to believe and\ndelight in, yea, actually preaching the gospel of God, and teaching\nall the grand characteristic truths of Christianity, and yet wholly\nunconverted, unsaved, and on his way to an eternity of ineffable\nmisery--misery which must needs be intensified to the very highest\ndegree, by the remembrance of the fact that he once professed to\nbelieve, and actually undertook to preach the most glorious tidings\nthat ever fell on mortal ears.\n\nO! reader, whoever thou art, do, we entreat of thee, give thy fixed\nattention to these things. Rest not, for one hour, until thou art\nassured of thy genuine, unmistakable conversion to God.\n\n\n\n\nPART III.\n\n\nHaving thus far seen the absolute necessity, in every case, of\nconversion, and having, in some measure, sought to point out what\nconversion is _not_, we have now to inquire what it _is_. And here we\nmust keep close to the veritable teaching of holy Scripture. We can\naccept nothing less, nothing different. It is greatly to be feared\nthat very much of what passes, now-a-days, for conversion is not\nconversion at all. Many so-called cases of conversion are published\nand talked of, which cannot stand the test of the word of God. Many\nprofess to be converted, and are accredited as such, who prove to be\nmerely stony-ground hearers. There is no depth of spiritual work in\nthe heart, no real action of the truth of God on the conscience, no\nthorough breaking with the world. It may be the feelings are wrought\nupon by human influence, and certain evangelical sentiments take\npossession of the mind; but _self_ is not judged; there is a clinging\nto earth and nature; a lack of that deep-toned earnestness and genuine\nreality which so remarkably characterize the conversions recorded in\nthe New Testament, and for which we may always look where the work of\nconversion is divine. We do not here attempt to account for all these\nsuperficial cases; we merely refer to them in order that all who are\nengaged in the blessed work of evangelization may be led to consider\nthe matter in the light of holy Scripture, and to see how far their\nown mode of working may call for holy correction. It may be there is\ntoo much of the merely human element in our work. We do not leave the\nSpirit of God to act. We are deficient in faith, in the power and\nefficacy of the simple work of Christ itself. There may be too much\neffort to work on the feelings, too much of the emotional and the\nsensational. Perhaps, too, in our desire to reach results--a desire\nwhich may be right enough in itself--we are too ready to accredit and\nannounce, as cases of conversion, many which, alas! are merely\nephemeral.\n\nWill this lessen our earnestness? The very reverse; it will intensify\nour earnestness immensely. We shall be more earnest in pleading with\nGod in secret, and in pleading with our fellows in public.\n\nWe shall feel more deeply the divine seriousness of the work, and our\nown utter insufficiency. We shall ever cherish the wholesome\nconviction that the work must be of God from first to last. This will\nkeep us in our right place, that of self-emptied dependence upon God,\nwho is the Doer of all the works that are done upon the earth. We\nshall be more on our faces before the mercy-seat, both in the closet\nand in the assembly, in reference to the glorious work of conversion;\nand then, when the golden sheaves and mellow clusters appear, when\ngenuine cases of conversion turn up--cases which speak for themselves,\nand carry their own credentials with them to all who are capable of\njudging--then verily shall our hearts be filled with praise to the God\nof all grace who has magnified the name of His Son Jesus Christ in the\nsalvation of precious souls.\n\nHow much better is this than to have our poor hearts puffed up with\npride and self-complacency by reckoning up our cases of conversion!\nHow much better, safer and happier to be bowed in worship before the\nthrone, than to have our names heralded to the ends of the earth as\ngreat preachers and wonderful evangelists! No comparison, in the\njudgment of a truly spiritual person. The dignity, reality, and\nseriousness of the work will be realized; the happiness, the moral\nsecurity, and the real usefulness of the workman will be promoted; and\nthe glory of God secured and maintained.\n\nLet us see how all this is illustrated in 1 Thessalonians i. \"Paul,\nand Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the assembly of the Thessalonians in\nGod the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace be unto you, and\npeace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks\nto God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;\nremembering without ceasing your work of _faith_ and labor of _love_,\nand patience of _hope_\"--the grand elements of true Christianity--\"in\nour Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; knowing,\nbrethren, beloved of God, your election.\" How did he know it? By the\nclear and unquestionable evidence afforded in their practical\nlife--the only way in which the election of any one can be known. \"For\nour gospel came not unto you in word only, but also _in power_, and in\nthe Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; _as ye know what manner of men\nwe were among you for your sake_.\"\n\nThe blessed apostle was, in his daily life, the exponent of the gospel\nwhich he preached. He _lived_ the gospel. He did not demand or exact\naught of them. He was not burdensome to them. He preached unto them\nthe precious gospel of God freely; and in order that he might do so,\nhe wrought with labor and travail, night and day. He was as a loving,\ntender nurse, going in and out among them. There were with him no\nhigh-sounding words about himself, or his office, or his authority, or\nhis gifts, or his preaching, or his wonderful doings in other places.\nHe was the loving, lowly, unpretending, earnest, devoted workman,\nwhose work spoke for itself, and whose whole life, his spirit, style,\ndeportment, and habits, were in lovely harmony with his preaching.\n\nHow needful for all workmen to ponder these things! We may depend upon\nit that very much of the shallowness of our work is the fruit of the\nshallowness of the workman. Where is the power? Where is the\ndemonstration of the Spirit? Where is the \"much assurance?\" Is there\nnot a terrible lack of these things in our preaching? There may be a\nvast amount of fluent talking; a great deal of so-called cleverness;\nand much that may tickle the ear, act on the imagination, awaken a\ntemporary interest, and minister to mere curiosity. But oh! where is\nthe holy unction, the living earnestness, the profound seriousness?\nAnd then the living exponent in the daily life and habits--where is\nthis? May the Lord revive His work in the hearts of His workmen, and\nthen we may look for more of the results of the work.\n\nDo we mean to teach that the work of conversion depends upon the\nworkman? Far away be the monstrous notion! The work depends wholly and\nabsolutely on the power of the Holy Ghost, as the very chapter now\nlying open before us proves beyond all question. It must ever hold\ngood, in every department and every stage of the work, that it is \"not\nby might nor by power; but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.\"\n\nBut what kind of instrument does the Spirit ordinarily use? Is not\nthis a weighty question for us workmen? What sort of vessels are \"meet\nfor the Master's use?\" Empty vessels--clean vessels. Are we such? Are\nwe emptied of ourselves? Are we cured of our deplorable\nself-occupation? Are we \"clean?\" Have we clean hands? Are our\nassociations, our ways, our circumstances, clean? If not, how can the\nMaster use us in His holy service? May we all have grace to weigh\nthese questions in the divine presence! May the Lord stir us all up,\nand make us more and more vessels such as He can use for His glory!\n\nWe shall now proceed with our quotation. The whole passage is full of\npower. The character of the workman on the one hand, and of the work\non the other, demands our most serious attention.\n\n\"And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the\nword in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: so that ye were\nensamples [or models] to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.\nFor from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia\nand Achaia, but also in every place your faith to Godward is spread\nabroad; so that we need not to speak anything, for they themselves\nshow of us what manner of entering in we had unto you.\"\n\nThis was real work. It carried its own credentials with it. There was\nnothing vague or unsatisfactory about it--no occasion for any reserve\nin forming or expressing a judgment respecting it. It was clear,\ndistinct, and unmistakable. It bore the stamp of the Master's hand,\nand carried conviction to every mind capable of weighing the evidence.\nThe work of conversion was wrought, and the fruits of conversion\nfollowed in delightful profusion. The testimony went forth far and\nwide, so that the workman had no need to speak about his work. There\nwas no occasion for him to reckon up and publish the number of\nconversions at Thessalonica. All was divinely real. It was a thorough\nwork of God's Spirit as to which there could be no possible mistake,\nand about which it was superfluous to speak.\n\nThe apostle had simply preached the Word in the power of the Holy\nGhost, in much assurance. There was nothing vague, nothing doubtful\nabout his testimony. He preached as one who fully believed and\nthoroughly entered into what he was preaching about. It was not the\nmere fluent utterance of certain known and acknowledged truths--not\nthe cut and dry statement of certain barren dogmas. No; it was the\nliving outpouring of the glorious gospel of God, coming from a heart\nthat felt profoundly every utterance, and falling upon hearts prepared\nby God's Spirit for its reception.\n\nSuch was the work at Thessalonica--a blessed divine work--all real,\nthe genuine fruit of God's Spirit. It was no mere religious\nexcitement, nothing sensational, no high pressure, no attempt to \"get\nup a revival.\" All was beautifully calm. The workman, as we are told\nin Acts xvii., \"came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the\nJews; and as his manner was, he went in unto them, and three sabbath\ndays reasoned with them out of the Scriptures\"--Precious, powerful\nreasoning! would to God we had more of it in our midst!--\"opening and\nalleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from\nthe dead, and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.\"\n\nHow simple! Preaching Jesus out of the Scriptures! Yes, here lay the\ngrand secret of Paul's preaching. He preached a living Person, in\nliving power, on the authority of a living Word, and this preaching\nwas received in living faith, and brought forth living fruit, in the\nlives of the converts. This is the preaching that God has ordained and\nuses. It is not sermonizing, not religious talk, but the preaching of\nChrist by the Holy Ghost speaking through men who are themselves under\nthe power of what they are preaching. God grant us more of this!\n\n\n\n\nPART IV.\n\n\nThe last two verses of our chapter (1 Thess. i.) demand our very\nspecial attention. They furnish a remarkable statement of the real\nnature of conversion. They show, very distinctly, the depth,\nclearness, fulness, and reality of the work of God's Spirit in those\nThessalonian converts. There was no mistaking it. It carried its own\ncredentials with it. It was no uncertain work. It did not call for any\ncareful examination ere it could be accredited. It was a manifest,\nunmistakable work of God, the fruits of which were apparent to all.\n\"They themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto\nyou, and how _ye turned to God from idols_, to serve the living and\ntrue God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the\ndead, Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come\" (vers. 9, 10).\n\nHere, then, we have a divine definition of conversion--brief, but\ncomprehensive. It is a turning _from_, and a turning _to_. They turned\nfrom idols. There was a complete break with the past, a turning of the\nback, once and forever, on their former life and habits; a thorough\nsurrender of all those objects that had ruled their hearts and\ncommanded their energies. Those dear Thessalonians were led to judge,\nin the light of divine truth, their whole previous course, and not\nonly to judge it, but to abandon it unreservedly. It was no\nhalf-and-half work. There was nothing vague or equivocal about it. It\nwas a marked epoch in their history--a grand turning-point in their\nmoral and practical career. It was not a mere change of opinion, or\nthe reception of a new set of principles, a certain alteration in\ntheir intellectual views. It was far more than any or all of these\nthings. It was the solemn discovery that their whole past career had\nbeen one great, dark, monstrous lie. It was the real heart conviction\nof this. Divine light had broken in upon their souls, and in the power\nof that light they judged themselves and the entire of their previous\nhistory. There was an out-and-out surrender of that world which had\nhitherto ruled their hearts' affections; not a shred of it was to be\nspared.\n\nAnd what, we may ask, produced this marvelous change? Simply the word\nof God brought home to their souls in the mighty power of the Holy\nGhost. We have referred to the inspired account of the apostle's visit\nto Thessalonica. We are told that \"he reasoned with them out of the\nScriptures.\" He sought to bring their souls into direct contact with\nthe living and eternal word of God. There was no effort to act on\ntheir feelings and imagination. All this the blessed workman judged to\nbe utterly valueless. He had no confidence whatever in it. His\nconfidence was in the word and Spirit of God. He assures the\nThessalonians of this very thing in the most touching manner, in chap.\nii. of his epistle. \"For this cause,\" he says, \"thank we God without\nceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of\nus, ye received it _not as the word of men_, but, as it is in truth,\n_the word of God_, which effectually worketh also in you that\nbelieve.\"\n\nThis is what we may call a vital and cardinal point. The word of God,\nand that alone, in the mighty hand of the Holy Ghost, produced these\ngrand results in the case of the Thessalonians, which filled the heart\nof the beloved apostle with unfeigned thanksgiving to God. He rejoiced\nthat they were not linked on to him, but to the living God Himself, by\nmeans of His word. This is an imperishable link. It is as enduring as\nthe Word which forms it. The word of man is as perishable as himself;\nbut the word of the Lord endureth forever. The apostle, as a true\nworkman, understood and felt all this, and hence his holy jealousy, in\nall his ministry, lest the souls to whom he preached should, in any\nway, lean upon him instead of on the One whose messenger and minister\nhe was.\n\nHear what he says to the Corinthians: \"And I, brethren, when I came\nunto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring\nunto you _the testimony of God_. For I determined not to know anything\namong you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in\nweakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my\npreaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but _in\ndemonstration of the Spirit_ and of power; that your faith should not\nstand in the wisdom of men, but _in the power of God_\" (1 Cor. ii.\n1-5).\n\nHere we have true ministry--\"the testimony of God,\" and \"the\ndemonstration of the Spirit\"--the Word and the Holy Ghost. Nothing\nelse is of any value. All mere human influence, human power, and the\nresults produced by human wisdom or energy, are perfectly\nworthless--yea, positively mischievous. The workman is puffed up by\nthe apparent results of his work paraded and talked of, and the poor\nsouls that are acted upon by this false influence are deceived, and\nled into an utterly false position and false profession. In a word,\nthe whole thing is disastrous in the extreme.\n\nNot so when the word of God, in its mighty moral power, and the energy\nof the Holy Ghost, are brought to bear on the heart and conscience.\nThen it is we see divine results, as in the case of the Thessalonians.\nThen indeed it is made apparent, beyond all question, who is the\nworkman. It is not Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, but God Himself, whose\nwork accredits itself, and shall stand forever; all homage to His holy\nname! The apostle had no need to reckon up and publish the results of\nhis work at Thessalonica, or rather God's work by his means. It spoke\nfor itself. It was genuine. It bore, with unmistakable distinctness,\nthe stamp of God upon it, and this was quite enough for Paul; and it\nis quite enough for every true-hearted, self-emptied workman. Paul\npreached the Word, and that Word was brought home, in the quickening\nenergy of the Holy Ghost, to the hearts of the Thessalonians. It fell\ninto good ground, took root, and brought forth fruit in abundance.\n\nAnd let us mark the fruit. \"_Ye turned from idols._\" Here we have, in\none word, the whole life of every unconverted man, woman, or child on\nthe face of the earth. It is all wrapped up and presented to our view\nin the one expression, \"_idols_.\" It is not by any means necessary to\nbow down to a stock or a stone in order to be an idolater. Whatever\ncommands the heart is an idol; the yielding of the heart to that thing\nis idolatry, and the one who so yields it is an idolater. Such is the\nplain, solemn truth in this matter, however unpalatable it may be to\nthe proud human heart. Take that one great, crying, universal sin of\n\"covetousness.\" What does the inspired apostle call it? He calls it\n\"idolatry.\" How many hearts are commanded by money! How many\nworshipers bow down before the idol of gold! What is covetousness?\nEither a desire to get more, or the love of what we have. We have both\nforms in the New Testament. The Greek has a word to represent both.\nBut whether it be the desire to grasp, or the desire to hoard, in\neither case it is idolatry.\n\nAnd yet the two things may be very unlike in their outward\ndevelopment. The former, that is, the desire to get more, may often be\nfound in connection with a readiness to spend; the latter, on the\ncontrary, is generally linked with an intense spirit of hoarding.\nThere, for example, is a man of great business capacity--a thorough\ncommercial genius--in whose hand everything seems to prosper. He has a\nreal zest for business, an unquenchable thirst for making money. His\none object is to get more, to add thousand to thousand, to strengthen\nhis commercial foundation, and enlarge his sphere. He lives, thrives,\nand revels in the atmosphere of commerce. He started on his career\nwith a few pence in his pocket, and he has risen to the proud position\nof a merchant prince. He is not a miser. He is as ready to scatter as\nto obtain. He fares sumptuously, entertains with a splendid\nhospitality, gives munificently to manifold public objects. He is\nlooked up to and respected by all classes of society.\n\nBut he loves to get more. He is a covetous man--an idolater. True, he\ndespises the poor miser who spends his nights over his money-bags,\n\"holding strange communion with his gold;\" delighting his heart and\nfeasting his eyes with the very sight of the fascinating dust,\nrefusing himself and his family the common necessaries of life; going\nabout in rags and wretchedness, rather than spend a penny of the\nprecious hoard; who loves money, not for what it can get or give, but\nsimply for its own sake; who loves to accumulate, not that he may\nspend, but that he may hoard; whose one ruling desire is to die worth\nso much wretched dust--strange, contemptible desire!\n\nNow these two are apparently very different, but they meet in one\npoint; they stand on one common platform; they are both covetous, and\nthey are both idolaters.[1] This may sound harsh and severe, but it\nis the truth of God, and we must bow down before its holy authority.\nTrue it is that nothing is apparently more difficult to bring home to\nthe conscience than the sin of covetousness--that very sin which the\nHoly Ghost declares to be idolatry. Thousands might see it in the case\nof the poor degraded miser, who nevertheless would be shocked by its\napplication to a merchant prince. It is one thing to see it in others,\nand quite another to judge it in ourselves. The fact is, that nothing\nbut the light of the word of God shining in upon the soul, and\npenetrating every chamber of our moral being, can enable us to detect\nthe hateful sin of covetousness. The pursuit of gain--the desire to\nhave more--the spirit of commerce--the ability to make money--the\ndesire to get on--all this is so \"highly esteemed amongst men,\" that\nvery few, comparatively, are prepared to see that it is positively \"an\nabomination in the sight of God.\" The natural heart is formed by the\nthoughts of men. It loves, adores and worships the objects that it\nfinds in this world; and each heart has its own idol. One worships\ngold, another worships pleasure, another worships power. Every\nunconverted man is an idolater; and even converted men are not beyond\nthe reach of idolatrous influences, as is evident from the warning\nnote raised by the venerable apostle, \"Little children, keep\nyourselves from idols\" (1 John v. 21).\n\n  [1] The two Greek words to which we have alluded in the text are,\n  \u03c0\u03bb\u03b5\u03bf\u03bd\u03b5\u03be\u03b9\u03b1 (pleonexia--the desire to get more), and\n  \u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03b1\u03c1\u03b3\u03c5\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1 (philarguria--the love of money). Now it is the\n  former that occurs in Col. iii. 5--\"Covetousness, which is idolatry;\"\n  and there it stands in the terrible category with some of the very vilest\n  sins that stain the pages of human history.\n\nReader, will you permit us to put a plain, pointed question to you,\nere we proceed further? Are you converted? Do you profess to be so? Do\nyou take the ground of being a Christian? If so, have you turned from\nidols? Have you really broken with the world, and with your former\nself? Has the living word of God entered your heart, and led you to\njudge the whole of your past life, whether it has been a life of\ngayety and thoughtless folly, a life of busy money-making, a life of\nabominable vice and wickedness, or a life of mere religious\nroutine--Christless, faithless, worthless religion?\n\nSay, dear friend, how is it? Be thoroughly in earnest. Be assured\nthere is an urgent demand for out-and-out earnestness in this matter.\nWe cannot hide from you the fact that we are painfully conscious of\nthe sad lack of thorough decision amongst us. We have not, with\nsufficient emphasis or distinctness, \"turned from idols.\" Old habits\nare retained; former lusts and objects rule the heart. The temper,\nstyle, spirit and deportment do not bespeak conversion. We are sadly\ntoo like our former selves--too like the openly and confessedly\nworldly people around us.\n\nAll this is really terrible. We fear it is a sad hindrance to the\nprogress of the gospel and the salvation of souls. The testimony falls\npowerless on the ears of those to whom we speak, because we do not\nseem as though we ourselves really believe what we are talking about.\nThe apostle could not say to us, as he said to his dear Thessalonian\nconverts, \"From you sounded out the word of the Lord ... so that we\nneed not to speak anything.\" There is a want of depth, power and\nmarkedness in our conversion. The change is not sufficiently apparent.\nEven where there is a work, there is a tameness, feebleness and\nvagueness about it truly deplorable and discouraging.\n\nBut more of this in our next, if the Lord will.\n\n\n\n\nPART V.\n\n\nWe are now called to consider what we may term the positive side of\nthe great subject of conversion. We have seen that it is a turning\n_from_ idols--a turning from all those objects which ruled our hearts\nand engaged our affections--the vanities and follies, the lusts and\npleasures which made up the whole of our existence in the days of our\ndarkness and blindness. It is, as we read in Acts xxvi. 18, a turning\n_from_ darkness, and from the power of Satan; and, as we read in Gal.\ni. 4, a turning _from_ this present evil world.\n\nBut conversion is much more than all this. It would, in one sense, be\nbut a poor thing if it were merely a turning \"_from_ sin, the world,\nand Satan.\" No doubt it is a signal mercy to be delivered, once and\nforever, from all the wretchedness and moral degradation of our former\nlife; from the terrible thraldom of the god and prince of this world;\nfrom all the hollowness and vanity of a world that lieth in the arms\nof the wicked one; and from the love and practice of sin--the vile\naffections which once held sway over us. We cannot be too thankful for\nall that is included in this side of the question.\n\nBut, we repeat, there is very much more than this. The heart may feel\ndisposed to inquire, \"What have we gotten in lieu of all we have given\nup? Is Christianity merely a system of negations? If we have broken\nwith the world and self--if we have given up our former pleasures and\namusements--if, in short, we have turned our back upon what goes to\nmake up life in this world, what have we instead?\"\n\n1 Thessalonians i. 9 furnishes, in one word, the answer to all these\ninquiries--an answer full, clear, distinct, and comprehensive. Here it\nis--\"Ye turned to GOD.\"\n\nPrecious answer! Yes, unspeakably precious to all who know aught of\nits meaning. What have I got instead of my former \"idols?\" God!\nInstead of this world's vain and sinful pleasures? God! Instead of its\nriches, honors, and distinctions? God! Oh, blessed, glorious, perfect\nSubstitute! What had the prodigal instead of the rags of the far\ncountry? The best robe in the Father's house! Instead of the swine's\nhusks? The fatted calf of the Father's providing! Instead of the\ndegrading servitude of the far country? The Father's welcome, his\nbosom, and his table!\n\nReader, is not this a blessed exchange? Have we not, in the familiar,\nbut ever charming history of the prodigal a most touching and\nimpressive illustration of true conversion in both its sides? May we\nnot well exclaim, as we gaze on the inimitable picture, \"What a\nconversion! What a turning from and turning to!\" Who can utter it?\nWhat human tongue can adequately set forth the feelings of the\nreturned wanderer when pressed to the Father's bosom and bathed in the\nlight and love of the Father's house? The rags, the husks, the swine,\nthe slavery, the cold selfishness, the destitution, the famine, the\nmisery, the moral degradation--all gone, and gone forever; and instead\nthereof the ineffable delight of that bright and happy home, and,\nabove all, the exquisite feeling that all that festive joy which\nsurrounded him was wakened up by the very fact of his return--that it\nmade the Father glad to get him back!\n\nBut we shall, perhaps, be told that all this is but a figure. Yes; but\na figure of what? Of a precious, a divine reality; a figure of what\ntakes place in every instance of true conversion, if only it be looked\nat from a heavenly standpoint. It is not a mere surrender of the\nworld, with its thousand and one vanities and follies. It is this, no\ndoubt; but it is very much more. It is being brought to God, _brought\nhome_, brought to the Father's bosom, brought into the family;\nmade--not in the language of a barren formulary, but in the power of\nthe Spirit, and by the mighty action of the Word--a child of God, a\nmember of Christ, and an heir of the kingdom.\n\nThis, and nothing less, is conversion. Let the reader see that he\nthoroughly understands it. Let him not be satisfied with anything\nshort of this grand reality--this turning from darkness to light, from\nthe power of Satan, and from the worship of idols, to God. The\nChristian is, in one sense, as really brought to God now as if he were\nactually in heaven. This may seem strong, but it is blessedly true.\nHear what the apostle Peter says as to this point: \"Christ hath once\nsuffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to\"--what?\nHeaven when we die? Nay; but \"to bring us to God\" _now_. So, also, in\nRom. v. we read, \"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to\nGod by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be\nsaved by His life! And not only so, but we also _joy in God_, through\nour Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the\nreconciliation.\"\n\nThis is an immense principle. It is not within the compass of human\nlanguage to set forth all that is involved in being \"turned,\" or\n\"brought to God.\" Our adorable Lord Jesus Christ brings all who\nbelieve in His name into God's presence, in all His own perfect\nacceptability. They come in all the credit, and virtue, and value of\nthe blood of Jesus, and in all the fragrance of His most excellent\nname. He brings us into the very same position with Himself. He links\nus with Himself, and shares with us all He has, and all He is, save\nHis Deity, which is incommunicable. We are perfectly identified with\nHim. \"Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see\nMe; _because I live, ye shall live also_.\" Again, \"Peace I leave with\nyou, _my peace I give unto you_; not as the world giveth, give I unto\nyou. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.\" \"These\nthings have I spoken unto you, that _my joy might remain in you_, and\nthat your joy might be full.\" \"Henceforth I call you not servants, for\nthe servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you\nfriends, for _all things that I have heard of my Father I have made\nknown unto you._\"\n\nSo, also, in that marvelous prayer in John xvii., we read, \"I have\ngiven unto them the words which Thou gavest Me; and they have received\nthem, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have\nbelieved that Thou didst send Me. I pray for them; I pray not for the\nworld, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And\nall Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in them.\"\n\"I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because\n_they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.\" \"As Thou\nhast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the\nworld.\" \"And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that\nthey may be one, even as We are one_: I in them, and Thou in Me, that\nthey may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou\nhast sent Me, _and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me_. Father, _I\nwill that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am_;\nthat they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me; for thou\nlovedst Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the\nworld hath not known Thee, but I have known Thee, and these have known\nthat Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared unto them Thy name, and\nwill declare it; that _the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in\nthem, and I in them_.\"\n\nNow it is utterly impossible to conceive anything higher or more\nblessed than this. To be so thoroughly identified with the Son of God,\nto be so wholly one with Him as to share in the very same love\nwherewith He is loved by the Father, to partake of His peace, His joy,\nHis glory--all this involves the very highest possible measure and\ncharacter of blessing with which any creature could be endowed. To be\nsaved from the everlasting horrors of the pit of hell; to be pardoned,\nwashed, and justified; to be reinstated in all that Adam lost; to be\nlet into heaven on any ground or in any character whatsoever, would be\nmarvelous mercy, goodness, and loving-kindness; but to be brought to\nGod in all the love and favor of His own beloved Son, to be intimately\nassociated with Him in all His position before God--His acceptability\nnow--His glory by and by--this, truly, is something which only the\nheart of God could think of, and only His mighty power accomplish.\n\nWell, reader, all this is involved in the conversion whereof we speak.\nSuch is the magnificent grace of God, such the love wherewith He loved\nus, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, enemies in our\nminds by wicked works, serving divers lusts and pleasures, worshiping\nidols, the blind, degraded slaves of sin and Satan, children of wrath,\nand going straight to hell.\n\nAnd the best of it all is, that it both glorifies the name and\ngratifies the heart of God to bring us into this place of\ninconceivable blessedness, love, and glory. It would not satisfy the\nlove of His heart to give us any lower place than that of His own Son.\nWell might the inspired apostle exclaim, in view of all this\nstupendous grace, \"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus\nChrist, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly\nplaces in Christ; according as He hath chosen us in Him before the\nfoundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame\nbefore Him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of\nchildren by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of\nHis will, _to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath\nmade us accepted in the Beloved_, in whom we have redemption through\nHis blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His\ngrace\" (Eph. i.).\n\nWhat depth of love, what fulness of blessing, have we here! It is the\npurpose of God to glorify Himself, throughout the countless ages of\neternity, in His dealings with us. He will display, in view of all\ncreated intelligences, the riches of His grace, in His kindness toward\nus, by Christ Jesus. Our forgiveness, our justification, our perfect\ndeliverance, our acceptance--all the blessings bestowed upon us in\nChrist--are for the display of the divine glory throughout the vast\nuniverse forever. It would not meet the claims of God's glory, or\nanswer the affections of His heart, to have us in any other position\nbut that of His own well-beloved and only begotten Son.\n\nAll this is marvelous. It seems too good to be true. But it is worthy\nof God, and it is His good pleasure so to act toward us. This is\nenough for us. It may be, and most assuredly is, too good for us to\nget, but it is not too good for God to give. He acts toward us\naccording to the love of His heart, and on the ground of the\nworthiness of Christ. The prodigal might ask to be made as one of the\nhired servants, but this could not be. It would not be according to\nthe Father's heart to have him in the house as a servant. It must be\nas a son or not at all. If it were a question of desert, we do not\ndeserve the place of a servant any more than that of a son. But,\nblessed be God, it is not according to our deserts at all, but\naccording to the boundless love of His heart, and to the glory of His\nholy name.\n\nThis, then, is conversion. Thus we are _brought to God_. Nothing short\nof this. We are not merely turned from our idols, whatever they were,\nbut we are actually brought into the very presence of God, to find our\ndelight in Him, to joy in Him, to walk with Him, to find all our\nsprings in Him, to draw upon His exhaustless resources, to find in Him\na perfect answer to all our necessities, so that our souls are\nsatisfied, and that forever.\n\nDo we want to go back to the idols? Never! Have we any hankering after\nour former objects? Not if our hearts are realizing our place and\nportion in Christ. Had the prodigal any longings after the husks and\nthe swine when folded in the father's bosom, clothed in the father's\nhouse, and seated at the father's table? We do not, and cannot,\nbelieve it. We cannot imagine his heaving a single sigh after the far\ncountry when once he found himself within the hallowed circle of that\nbright and blissful home of love.\n\nWe speak according to the divine standard. Alas! alas! many profess to\nbe converted, and seem to go on for a season; but ere long they begin\nto grow cold, and get weary and dissatisfied. The work was not real.\nThey were not really brought to God. Idols may have been given up for\na time, but God Himself was never reached. They never found in Him a\nsatisfying portion for their hearts--never knew the real meaning of\ncommunion with Him--never tasted heart-satisfaction, heart-rest, in\nChrist. Hence, in process of time, the poor heart began to long once\nmore for the world, and back they went, and plunged into its follies\nand vanities with greater avidity than ever.\n\nSuch cases are very sad, very disappointing. They bring great reproach\non the cause of Christ, and are used as a plea for the enemy, and as a\nstumbling-block for anxious inquirers. But they leave the question of\ndivine conversion just where it was. The soul that is truly converted\nis one who has not merely been turned from this present evil world,\nand all its promises and pretensions, but who has been led by the\nprecious ministry of the Holy Ghost to find in the living God, and in\nHis Son Jesus Christ, all he can possibly want for time and eternity.\nSuch an one has divinely done with the world. He has broken with it\nforever. He has had his eyes opened to see, through and through, the\nwhole thing. He has judged it in the light of the presence of God. He\nhas measured it by the standard of the cross of Christ. He has weighed\nit in the balances of the sanctuary, and turned his back upon it\nforever, to find an absorbing and a commanding object in the Person of\nthat blessed One who was nailed to the accursed tree, in order to\ndeliver him, not only from everlasting burnings, but also from this\npresent evil world.\n\n\n\n\nPART VI.\n\n\nThe more we dwell on 1 Thess. i. 9, the more we are struck with its\nmarvelous depth, fulness, and power. It seems like sinking a shaft\ninto an inexhaustible mine. We have dwelt a little on that very\nfruitful and suggestive clause, \"_Turned to God from idols_.\" How much\nis wrapped up in it! Do we really understand the force and fulness of\nit? It is a wonderful thing for the soul to be brought to God--to know\nHim now as our resource in all our weakness and need--the spring of\nall our joys--our strength and shield--our Guide and Counsellor--our\nall in all--to be absolutely and completely shut up to Him, wholly\ndependent upon Him.\n\nReader, do you know the deep blessedness of all this in your own soul?\nIf you are a child of God, a truly converted soul, then it is your\nhappy privilege to know it, and you ought not to be satisfied without\nit. If we are \"turned to God,\" what is it for but to find in Him all\nwe can possibly want for time and eternity? Nothing can ever satisfy\nthe human soul but God Himself. It is not within the compass of earth\nto meet the cravings of the heart. If we had the wealth of the\nuniverse, and all that that wealth could procure, the heart would\nstill want more; there would still be an aching void which nothing\nunder the sun could fill.\n\nLook at the history of Solomon. Hear him recording his own experience.\n\"I, the preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem; and I gave my\nheart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are\ndone under heaven; this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men\nto be exercised therewith. I have seen all the works that are done\nunder the sun, and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That\nwhich is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting\ncannot be numbered. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am\ncome to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that\nhave been before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart had great experience\nof wisdom and knowledge. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to\nknow madness and folly. I perceived that this also is vexation of\nspirit. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he that increaseth\nknowledge increaseth sorrow. I said in my heart, Go to, now, I will\nprove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure; and behold, this also\nis vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad, and of mirth, what doeth it?\nI sought in my heart to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart\nwith wisdom, and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that\ngood for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all\nthe days of their life. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I\nplanted me vineyards; I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted\ntrees in them of all kind of fruits; I made me pools of water, to\nwater there with the wood that bringeth forth trees. I got me servants\nand maidens, and had servants born in my house; also, I had great\npossessions of great and small cattle, above all that were in\nJerusalem before me. I gathered me also silver and gold, and the\npeculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I gat me men singers\nand women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical\ninstruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more\nthan all that were before me in Jerusalem; also, my wisdom remained\nwith me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I\nwithheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my\nlabor; and this was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all\nthe works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had\nlabored to do; and behold, _all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and\nthere was no profit under the sun_\" (Eccle. i., ii.).\n\nSuch is the withering commentary upon all earth's resources as given\nby the pen of one who had all that earth could give--of one who was\nallowed to drain to the very dregs every cup of human and earthly\npleasure. And what was it all? \"Vanity and vexation of spirit.\" \"All\nthings are full of labor; man cannot utter it; the eye is not\nsatisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.\" The poor\nhuman heart can never be satisfied with the resources of earth.\nCreature streams can never quench the thirst of the immortal soul.\nMaterial things cannot possibly make us truly happy, even if they were\npermanent. \"All is vanity and vexation of spirit.\"\n\nThe truth of this must be proved by every human heart. Sooner or later\nall must find it out. Men may turn a deaf ear to it now; they may\nrefuse to listen to the Spirit's warning voice; they may vainly\nimagine that this poor world can yield them substantial comfort and\nhappiness; they may eagerly grasp at its riches, its honors, its\ndistinctions, its pleasures, its material comforts; but they will find\nout their mistake. And oh, how dreadful to find it out _too late_! How\nterrible to open one's eyes in hell, like the rich man in the parable!\nWhat human language can set forth the horrors of a soul shut out\nforever from the presence of God, and consigned to outer darkness, to\nthe place of weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth? It is\noverwhelming to think of it. What will it be to realize it? What will\nit be to find oneself in the tormenting flames of hell, at the other\nside of that impassable gulf where a single ray of hope can never\nbreak through the deep gloom of eternity?\n\nOh that men would think of all this in time! that they might flee from\nthe wrath to come, and lay hold on the blessed hope set before them in\nthe gospel; that they might \"turn to God.\" But alas! the god of this\nworld blinds their minds, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of\nChrist, who is the image of God, should shine into them. He engrosses\nthem with present things--business, money-making, pleasures, cares,\nlusts, anything and everything but the one thing, in comparison with\nwhich all earthly things are but as the small dust of the balance.\n\nBut we have digressed from our special theme, to which we must return.\n\nWe are particularly anxious to press upon the Christian reader the\nimmense importance of seeking to find all his resources in the living\nGod. We have only for a moment turned aside from this point, in order\nto sound a warning note in the ear of any unconverted, careless one\nwho may happen to take up this paper. We earnestly entreat the latter\nto turn to God. We entreat the former to seek a deeper acquaintance\nwith the One to whom, by grace, he has turned. We have the two things\nbefore us in penning these papers on the great subject of\n\"conversion.\" We can truly say, we long to see precious souls\nconverted to God, and we long to see converted souls happy in God.\n\nWe are increasingly convinced of the practical importance of\nChristians proving in their daily life that they have found thorough\nrest of heart in God. It has immense weight with worldly people. It is\na grand point gained when we are able, through grace, to tell the\nworld that we are independent of it; and the only way to do this is to\nlive in the abiding sense of what we have in God. This would impart a\nmoral elevation to our entire course and character. It would deliver\nus completely from that strong tendency to lean on human props and to\nbetake ourselves to creature streams which we have all more or less to\nlament, and which must assuredly issue in disappointment to us and\ndishonor to God.\n\nHow prone we are on all occasions to look to our fellow-men for\nsympathy, succor and counsel instead of looking directly and\nexclusively to God! This is a serious mistake. It is in principle to\nforsake the Fountain of living waters, and hew out for ourselves\nbroken cisterns which can hold no water. What can we expect? What must\nbe the issue? Barrenness and desolation. Our God, in very faithfulness\nto us, will cause our fellow-man to fail us, in order that we may\nlearn the folly of leaning upon an arm of flesh.\n\nHear what the prophet says on this great practical question: \"Thus\nsaith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh\nflesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall\nbe like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh,\nbut shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt\nland, and not inhabited.\"\n\nBut mark the contrast. \"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord,\nand whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the\nwaters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not\nsee when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be\ncareful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding\nfruit\" (Jer. xvii.).\n\nO reader, it is a grand reality to lean on the arm of the living\nGod--to find in Him our relief and our resource at all times, in all\nplaces, and under all circumstances. He never fails a trusting heart.\nHe will never disappoint us. He may see fit to keep us waiting for an\nanswer to our call, but the time we spend in waiting is well spent,\nand when the answer comes our hearts are filled with praise, and we\nare able to say, \"Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid\nup for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that\ntrust in Thee before the sons of men\" (Psa. xxxi. 19).\n\nIt is a great thing to be able to trust God before the sons of men, to\nconfess His sufficiency for our every exigence. But it must be a\nreality, and not mere profession. It is no use to talk of leaning on\nGod while at the same time we are, in one way or another, looking to\nsome poor mortal to help us. This is a sad delusion. But, alas! how\noften we fall under its power! We adopt the language of dependence\nupon God, but in reality we are looking to man, and letting him know\nour wants. We deceive ourselves and dishonor God, and the end is\ndisappointment and confusion of face.\n\nReader, let us look closely and honestly at this matter. Let us see to\nit that we understand the meaning of those precious words, \"Turned to\nGod.\" They contain the very essence of true happiness and true\nholiness. When the heart is really turned to God it has found the\ntrue, the divine secret of peace, rest, and full satisfaction; it\nfinds its all in God, and has no occasion whatever to turn to the\ncreature. Am I in any perplexity? I can look to God for guidance. He\nhas promised to guide me with His eye. What perfect guidance! Can man\ndo better for me? Surely not. God sees the end from the beginning. He\nknows all the bearings, all the belongings, all the roots and issues\nof my case. He is an infallible guide. His wisdom is unerring, and,\nmoreover, He loves me perfectly. Where could I find a better guide?\n\nAm I in want? I can go to God about it. He is the Possessor of heaven\nand earth. The treasures of the universe are at His disposal. He can\nhelp me if He sees it to be good for me; and if not, the pressure will\nbe much better for me than the relief. \"My God shall supply all your\nneed, according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus.\" Is not this\nenough? Why look to a creature stream? Why turn from such a God and go\nwith our wants to a human being? It is in reality giving up, so far,\nthe ground of faith, the life of simple dependence on God. It is\nactually dishonoring our Father. If I apply to my fellow for help, it\nis tantamount to saying that God has failed me. It is really betraying\nmy loving Father who has taken me up, body, soul and spirit, to do for\nme for time and eternity. He has pledged Himself to provide for all my\nwants, be they ever so many, ever so great, ever so varied. \"He that\nspared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He\nnot, with Him, also _freely_ give us _all things_?\" His word is, \"Call\nupon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt\nglorify Me.\"\n\nTrue, God uses the creature to meet our need; but this is a totally\ndifferent matter. The blessed apostle could say, \"God who comforteth\nthose that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.\" Paul\nwas looking to God for comfort, and God sent Titus to comfort him. Had\nPaul been looking to Titus, he would have been disappointed.\n\nThus it is in every case. Our immediate and exclusive reference must\nbe to God in all our need. \"We have turned _to God_ from idols;\" and\nhence in every exigence He is our sure resource. We can go to Him for\ncounsel, for succor, for guidance, for sympathy, for all. \"My soul,\nwait thou _only_ upon God, for my expectation is from Him. He _only_\nis my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be moved.\"\n\nWill this most blessed habit of looking only to God lead us to\nundervalue the channels through which His precious grace flows to us?\nThe very reverse. How could I undervalue one who comes to me directly\nfrom God, as His manifest instrument, to meet my need? Impossible. But\nI value him as a channel, instead of applying to him as a source. This\nmakes all the difference. We must never forget that true conversion\nmeans our being brought to God; and most surely, if we are brought to\nGod, it is in order that we should find in Him a perfect covering for\nour eyes, a perfect object for the heart, a perfect resource in all\nour exigencies, from first to last. A truly converted soul is one who\nis turned from all creature confidences, human hopes, and earthly\nexpectations, to find all he wants in the living and true God, and\nthat forever.\n\n\n\n\nPART VII.\n\n\nWe are now called to consider a deeply practical point in our subject.\nIt is contained in the clause, \"_To serve the living and true God_.\"\nThis is full of interest to every truly converted soul, every true\nChristian. We are called \"to serve.\" Our whole life, from the moment\nof our conversion to the close of our earthly career, should be\ncharacterized by a spirit of true, earnest, intelligent service. This\nis our high privilege, not to say our hallowed duty. It matters not\nwhat our sphere of action may be, what our line of life, or what our\ncalling; when we are converted, we have just got one thing to do,\nnamely, to serve God. If there be anything in our calling which is\ncontrary to the revealed will of God--contrary to the direct teaching\nof His word--then we must at once abandon it, cost what it may. The\nvery first step of an obedient servant is to step out of a false\nposition, be it what it may.\n\nWe are called to serve God, and everything must be tried by this\nstandard. The Christian has to ask himself this one question, \"Can I\nfulfil the duties of this situation to the glory of God?\" If not, he\nmust abandon it. If we cannot connect the name of God with our calling\nin life, then, assuredly, if we want to walk with God, if we aim at\nserving Him, if it be our one desire to be found well-pleasing in His\nsight, then we must give up that calling and look to Him to open some\npath for us in which we can walk to His praise.\n\nThis He will do, blessed be His name. He never fails a trusting soul.\nAll we have to do is to cleave to Him with purpose of heart, and He\nwill make the way plain before us. It may seem difficult at first. The\npath may appear narrow, rough, lonely; but our simple business is to\nstand for God, and not to continue for one hour in connection with\nanything contrary to His revealed will. A tender conscience, a single\neye, a devoted heart, will settle many a question, solve many a\ndifficulty, remove many a barrier. Indeed, the very instincts of the\ndivine nature, if only they be allowed to act, will guide in many a\nperplexity. \"The light of the body is the eye; therefore, when thine\neye is single, thy whole body also is full of light.\" When the purpose\nof the heart is true to Christ, true to His name and cause, true to\nthe service of God, the Holy Spirit opens up the precious treasures of\ndivine revelation to the soul, and pours a flood of living light upon\nthe understanding, so that we see the path of service as clear as a\nsunbeam before us, and we have only got to tread it with a firm step.\n\nBut we must never, for one moment, lose sight of the grand fact that\nwe are converted to the service of God. The outcome of the life which\nwe possess must ever take the form of service to the living and true\nGod. In our unconverted days we worshiped idols, and served divers\nlusts and pleasures; now, on the contrary, we worship God in the\nSpirit, and we are called to serve Him with all our ransomed powers.\nWe have turned to God, to find in Him our perfect rest and\nsatisfaction. There is not a single thing in the entire range of a\ncreature's necessities, for time and eternity, that we cannot find in\nour own most gracious God and Father. He has treasured up in Christ,\nthe Son of His love, all that can satisfy the desires of the new life\nin us. It is our privilege to have Christ dwelling in our hearts by\nfaith, and to be so rooted and grounded in love as to be able to\ncomprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth,\nand height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,\nthat we may be filled with all the fulness of God.\n\nThus filled, satisfied and strengthened, we are called to dedicate\nourselves, spirit, soul and body, to the service of Christ; to be\nsteadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. We\nshould have nothing else to do in this world. Whatever cannot be done\nas service to Christ ought not to be done at all. This simplifies the\nmatter amazingly. It is our sweet privilege to do everything in the\nname of the Lord Jesus, and to the glory of God. We sometimes hear\npeople speak of \"a secular calling,\" as contrasted with what is\n\"sacred.\" We question the correctness of such a distinction. Paul made\ntents and planted churches, but in both he served the Lord Christ. All\nthat a Christian does ought to be sacred, because it is done as\nservice to God. If this were borne in mind, it would enable us to\nconnect the very simplest duties of daily life with the Lord Himself,\nand to bring Him into them in such a way as to impart a holy dignity\nand interest to all that we have to do, from morning till night. In\nthis way, instead of finding the duties of our calling a hindrance to\nour communion with God, we should actually make them an occasion of\nwaiting on Him for wisdom and grace to discharge them aright, so that\nHis holy name might be glorified in the most minute details of\npractical life.\n\nThe fact is that the service of God is a much simpler matter than some\nof us imagine. It does not consist in doing some wonderful things\nbeyond the bounds of our divinely appointed sphere of action. Take the\ncase of a domestic servant. How can she serve the living and true God?\nShe cannot go about visiting and talking. Her sphere of action lies in\nthe shade and retirement of her master's house. Were she to run about\nfrom house to house, she would be actually neglecting her proper work,\nher divinely appointed business. Harken to the following sound and\nwholesome words: \"Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own\nmasters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again:\nnot purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the\ndoctrine of God our Saviour in all things\" (Titus ii. 9, 10).\n\nHere we see that the servant, by obedience, humility and honesty can\nadorn the doctrine of God just as effectually, according to her\nmeasure, as an evangelist ranging the world over in the discharge of\nhis high and holy commission.\n\nAgain, we read, \"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters\naccording to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your\nheart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as\n_the servants of Christ_, doing the will of God from the heart; with\ngood-will doing _service_, as to the Lord, and not to men; knowing\nthat whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of\nthe Lord, whether he be bond or free\" (Eph. vi.).\n\nHow lovely is all this! What a fine field of service is opened up for\nus here! How beautiful this \"fear and trembling!\" Where do we see it\nnowadays? Where is the holy subjection to authority? Where the\nsingleness of eye? Where the willing-hearted service? Alas! we see\nheadiness and high-mindedness, self-will, self-pleasing, and\nself-interest. How must all these things dishonor the Lord, and grieve\nHis Holy Spirit! How needful that our souls should be roused to a\nsense of what becomes us as those who are called to serve the living\nand true God! Is it not a signal mercy to every true Christian to know\nthat he can serve and glorify God in the most commonplace domestic\nduties? If it were not so, what would become of ninety-nine out of\nevery hundred Christians?\n\nWe have taken up the case of an ordinary domestic servant in order to\nillustrate that special line of practical truth now under our\nconsideration. Is it not most blessed for us to know that our God\ngraciously condescends to connect His name and His glory with the very\nhumblest duties that can devolve upon us in our ordinary domestic\nlife? It is this which imparts dignity, interest and freshness to\nevery little act, from morning till night. \"Whatsoever ye do, do it\n_heartily_, as unto the Lord, and not unto men.\" Here lies the\nprecious secret of the whole matter. It is not working for wages, but\nserving the Lord Christ, and looking to Him to receive the reward of\nthe inheritance.\n\nOh that all this were more fully realized and illustrated amongst us!\nWhat moral elevation it would give to the entire Christian life! What\na triumphant answer it would furnish to the infidel! What a withering\nrebuke to all his sneers and cavils! Better by far than ten thousand\nlearned arguments. There is no argument so forcible as an earnest,\ndevoted, holy, happy, self-sacrificing Christian life, and this life\ncan be displayed by one whose sphere of action is bounded by the four\nwalls of a kitchen.[2]\n\n  [2] It is remarkable that both in Eph. vi. and Col. iii. the address\n  to servants is far more elaborate than to any of the other classes. In\n  Titus ii. servants are specially singled out. There is no address to\n  husbands, none to masters, none to children. We do not attempt to\n  account for this, but we cannot help noticing it as a very interesting\n  fact; and most assuredly it teaches us what a very important place is\n  assigned in Christianity to one who, in those early days of the\n  Church's history, occupied the place of a slave. The Holy Ghost took\n  special pains to instruct such an one as to how he was to carry\n  himself in his most trying sphere of work. The poor slave might think\n  himself shut out from the service of God. So far from this, he is\n  sweetly taught that by simply doing his duty as in the sight of God he\n  could adorn the doctrine of God his Saviour, and bring glory to the\n  name of Jesus. Nothing can exceed the grace that shines in this.\n\nAnd not only does the practical life of a true Christian afford the\nvery best possible answer to the skeptic and the infidel, but it also\nmeets in a most satisfactory manner the objections of those who talk\nabout works, and insist upon putting Christians under the law, in\norder to teach them how to live. When people challenge us as to our\nnot preaching up works, we simply ask them, \"For what should we preach\nworks?\" The unconverted man cannot do any works, save \"wicked works,\"\nor \"dead works.\" \"They that are in the flesh\"--unconverted\npeople--\"cannot please God.\" Of what possible use can it be to preach\nworks to such? It can only cast dust in their eyes, blind their minds,\ndeceive their hearts, and send them down to hell with a lie in their\nright hand.\n\n_There must be genuine conversion to God._ This is a divine work from\nfirst to last. And what has the converted man got to do? He certainly\nhas not to work for life, because he has it, even life eternal, as\nGod's free gift, through Jesus Christ our Lord. He has not to work for\nsalvation, because he is saved already--\"saved in the Lord with an\neverlasting salvation.\" What, then, is he called to do? \"To serve the\nliving and true God.\" How? When? Where? In everything; at all times,\nand in all places. The converted man has nothing else to do but to\nserve God. If he does anything else, he is positively untrue,\nunfaithful to that blessed Lord and Master who, ere ever He called him\nto serve, endowed him with the life, and the grace, and the power,\nwhereby alone the service can be rendered.\n\nYes, reader, the Christian is called to serve. Let us never forget\nthis. He is privileged to \"present his body as a living sacrifice,\nholy and acceptable to God, which is his reasonable (his intelligent)\nservice.\" This settles the whole question. It removes all\ndifficulties; it silences all objections; it puts everything in its\nright place. It is not a question of what I am doing, but how I do\nit--not where I am, but how I conduct myself. Christianity as\ndisplayed in the New Testament is the outcome of the life of Christ in\nthe believer; it is Christ reproduced in the Christian's daily life,\nby the power of the Holy Ghost. Everything the Christian touches,\neverything he does, everything he says, his whole practical life, from\nLord's-day morning till Saturday night, should bear the impress and\nbreathe the spirit of that great practical clause on which we have\nbeen dwelling--\"serving the living and true God.\" May it be so more\nand more! May all the Lord's beloved people, everywhere, be really\nstirred up to seek more earnest, out-and-out, whole-hearted\ndevotedness to Christ and His precious service!\n\n\n\n\nPART VIII\n\n\nThe last words of our chapter--1 Thess. i.--now claim our attention.\nThey furnish a very striking and forcible proof of the clearness,\nfulness, depth and comprehensiveness of the apostle's testimony at\nThessalonica, and also of the brightness and reality of the work in\nthe young converts in that place. It was not only that they turned\nfrom idols to God, to serve the living and true God. This, through\ngrace, they did; and that, too, with uncommon power, freshness, and\nfervor.\n\nBut there was something more; and we may assert, with all possible\nconfidence, that there would have been a grand defect in the\nconversion and in the Christianity of those beloved disciples if that\nhad been lacking. _They were converted \"to wait for the Son of God\nfrom the heavens.\"_\n\nLet the reader give to this very weighty fact his most devout\nattention. The bright and blessed hope of the Lord's coming formed an\nintegral part of the gospel which Paul preached, and of the\nChristianity of those who were converted by his ministry. That blessed\nservant preached a full gospel. He not only declared that the Son of\nGod had come into the world to accomplish the great work of\nredemption, and lay the everlasting foundation of the divine glory and\ncounsels, but that He had gone back to the heavens, and taken His\nseat as the victorious, exalted and glorified Man, at the right hand\nof the throne of God; and that He is coming again; first, to receive\nHis people to Himself, and conduct them into the very innermost circle\nof His Father's house--the place prepared for them: and then to come\nforth _with_ them, to execute judgment upon His enemies--gather out of\nHis kingdom all that offend, and all that do iniquity, and set up His\nglorious dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of\nthe earth.\n\nAll this was included in the precious gospel which Paul preached, and\nwhich the Thessalonian converts received. We find an indirect but very\ninteresting intimation of this in a passage in Acts xvii., where the\ninspired writer records what the infidel Jews thought and said about\nthe apostle's preaching. \"But the Jews which believed not, moved with\nenvy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and\ngathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted\nthe house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And\nwhen they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto\nthe rulers of the city, crying, _These that have turned the world\nupside down_ are come hither also; whom Jason hath received; and these\nall do contrary to the decrees of C\u00e6sar, _saying that there is another\nking, Jesus_.\"\n\nSuch were the ideas which these poor, ignorant, prejudiced unbelievers\ngathered from the preaching of the Lord's beloved servants; and we can\nsee in them the elements of great and solemn truths--the complete\nupturning of the present system of things, and the establishment of\nthe everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. \"I will\noverturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until He\ncome whose right it is; and I will give it Him\" (Ezek. xxi. 27).\n\nBut not only did the Lord's coming and kingdom occupy a prominent\nplace in the _preaching_ of the apostle, it also shines brilliantly\nforth in all his _teaching_. Not only were the Thessalonians converted\nto this blessed hope, they were built up, established and led on in\nit. They were taught to live in the brightness of it every hour of the\nday. It was not a dry, barren dogma, to be received and held as part\nof a powerless, worthless creed; it was a living reality, a mighty\nmoral power in the soul--a precious, purifying, sanctifying, elevating\nhope, detaching the heart completely from present things, and causing\nit to look out, moment by moment--yes, reader, we repeat it with\nemphasis, moment by moment--for the return of our beloved Lord and\nSaviour Jesus Christ, who loved us, and gave Himself for us.\n\nIt is interesting to notice that in the two epistles to the\nThessalonians there is far more allusion to the Lord's coming than in\nall the other epistles put together. This is all the more remarkable\ninasmuch as they were the very earliest of Paul's epistles, and they\nwere written to an assembly very young in the faith.\n\nIf the reader will just glance rapidly through these two most precious\nwritings, he will find the hope of the Lord's return introduced in\nevery one of the eight chapters, and in connection with all sorts of\nsubjects. For example, in chap. i. we have it presented as the grand\nobject to be ever kept before the Christian's heart, let his position\nor his relationship be what it may--the brilliant light shining at the\nend of his long pilgrimage through this dark and toilsome world. \"Ye\nturned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God; and to\nwait for\"--what? The time of their death? No such thing, no allusion\nto such a thing. Death, for the believer, is abolished, and is never\npresented as the object of his hope. For what, then, were the\nThessalonian disciples taught to wait? \"For God's Son from heaven,\nwhom He raised from the dead.\"\n\nAnd then mark the beauteous addition! \"Jesus, which delivered us from\nthe wrath to come.\" This is the Person for whom we are waiting; our\nprecious Saviour; our great Deliverer; the One who undertook our\ndesperate case; who took, on our behalf, the cup of wrath from the\nhand of infinite Justice and exhausted it forever; who cleared the\nprospect of every cloud, so that we can gaze upward into heaven, and\nonward into eternity, and see nothing but the brightness and\nblessedness of His own love and glory, as our happy home throughout\nthe everlasting ages.\n\nOh, beloved Christian reader, how blessed to be looking out, morning,\nnoon, eventide, and midnight, for the coming of our gracious\nDeliverer! What a holy reality to be ever waiting for the return of\nour own loving and beloved Saviour and Lord! How separating and\nelevating, as we rise each morning to start on our daily course of\nduty--whatever that duty may be, whether the scrubbing of a floor or\nthe preaching of the gospel--to cherish the bright and blessed hope\nthat, ere the shades of evening gather round us, we may be summoned to\nascend in the folds of the cloud of glory to meet our coming Lord!\n\nIs this the dream of a wild fanatic or a visionary enthusiast? Nay, it\nis an imperishable truth, resting on the very same foundation that\nsustains the entire fabric of our most glorious Christianity. Is it\ntrue that the Son of God has trod this earth of ours in the person of\nJesus of Nazareth? Is it true that He lived and labored here, amid the\nsins and sorrows of poor, fallen humanity? Is it true that He sighed,\nand wept, and groaned, under the sense of the widespread desolation\nwhich sin had wrought in this world? Is it true that He went to the\ncross, and there offered Himself without spot to God, in order to\nvindicate the Divine Majesty; to answer all the claims of the throne\nof God; to destroy all the works of the devil; to make a public show\nof all the powers of hell; to put away sin by the sacrifice of\nHimself; to bear the sins of all those who, from the beginning to the\nend of time, should, through grace, believe in His name? Is it true\nthat He lay for three days and three nights in the heart of the\nearth, and on the first day of the week rose triumphant from the\ngrave, as the Head of the new creation, and ascended into the heavens,\nafter He had been seen by at least five hundred witnesses? Is it true\nthat fifty days after His resurrection He sent down the Holy Ghost, in\norder to fill and fit His apostles to be His witnesses to the ends of\nthe earth? Is it true that from the day of Pentecost to this very hour\nHe has been acting on His people's behalf as an Advocate with the\nFather, a great High Priest with God; interceding for us in all our\nfailures, sins and shortcomings, and sympathizing with us in all our\ninfirmities and in all our sorrows; and presenting continually our\nsacrifices of prayer and praise, in all the fragrance of His own\nglorious Person?\n\nAre all these things true? Yes, thank God, they are all divinely true,\nall set forth in the pages of the New Testament, with most marvelous\nfulness, clearness, depth, and power; all rest on the solid foundation\nof Holy Scripture--a foundation which not all the powers of earth and\nhell, men and devils, can ever touch.\n\nWell, then, the blessed hope of the Lord's coming rests on precisely\nthe same authority. It is not more true that our Lord Jesus Christ lay\nas a babe in the manger of Bethlehem, that He grew up to man's estate,\nthat He went about doing good, that He was nailed to the cross and\nlaid in the tomb, that He is now seated on the throne of the Majesty\nin the heavens, than that He will come again to receive His people to\nHimself. He may come to-night. No one can tell when He will come, but\nat any moment He may come. The only thing that detains Him is His\nlong-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all\nshould come to repentance. For eighteen long centuries has He waited\nin lingering love, mercy, and compassion; and during all that time\nsalvation has been ready to be revealed, and God has been ready to\njudge; but He has waited, and He still waits, in long-suffering grace\nand patience.\n\nBut He will come, and we should ever live in the hope of His coming.\nThus the apostle taught his beloved Thessalonians to live. Thus he\nlived himself. The blessed hope was intimately bound up with all the\nhabits and feelings of his daily life. Was it a question of reaping\nthe fruit of his labors? Hear what he says: \"For what is our hope, or\njoy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye, in the presence of our\nLord Jesus Christ, _at His coming_?\" He would see them all then and\nthere. No enemy will be allowed to hinder that meeting. \"We would have\ncome unto you, even I Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us.\"\nVery wonderful! Very mysterious! Yet so it was. Satan hindered an\nangel of God in the discharge of his business in the days of Daniel;\nand he hindered an apostle of Christ in the accomplishment of his\nloving desire to see his brethren at Thessalonica. But, thanks be to\nGod, he will not be able to hinder the joyful meeting of Christ and\nHis saints for which we wait. What a moment that will be! What\nprecious reunions! What sweet recognitions! What affectionate\ngreetings of dear old friends! But, far above all, Himself! His smile!\nHis welcome! His soul-stirring \"Well done!\"\n\nWhat a precious, soul-sustaining hope! Need we wonder at the prominent\nplace it occupied in the thoughts and the teachings of the blessed\napostle? He recurs to it on all occasions, and in connection with\nevery subject. Is it a question of progress in the divine life and\npractical godliness? Thus he puts it: \"And the Lord make you to\nincrease and abound in love one toward another, and toward all, even\nas we do toward you; to the end He may establish your hearts\nunblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, _at the coming of\nour Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints_.\"\n\nLet the reader specially mark the last clause of this touching and\nbeautiful quotation. \"_With all His saints._\" What admirable wisdom\nshines here! The apostle was about to touch directly upon an error\ninto which the Thessalonian believers had fallen in reference to their\ndeparted friends. They feared that those who had fallen asleep would\nnot participate in the joy of the Lord's coming. This error is\ncompletely demolished by that brief sentence, \"with _all_ His saints.\"\nNot one will be absent from that joyous meeting, that festive scene.\nBlessed assurance! Triumphant answer to all who would have us believe\nthat none will share the joy of our Lord's coming save those who see\nthis, that, and the other! \"With _all_ his saints,\" spite of their\nignorance and their errors, their wanderings and their stumblings,\ntheir shortcomings and their failures. Our blessed Saviour, the\neverlasting Lover of our souls, will not shut any of us out at that\nblissful moment.\n\nIs all this matchless grace to make us careless? God forbid! Nay, it\nis the abiding sense of it which alone can keep us alive to our holy\nresponsibility to judge everything in us and in our ways which is\ncontrary to the mind of Christ. And not only so, but the hope of our\nLord's return, if it be kept bright and fresh in the heart, _must_\npurify, sanctify and elevate our entire character and course as\nnothing else can. \"Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth\nhimself, even as He is pure.\" It is morally impossible for any one to\n_live_ in the hope of seeing his Lord at any moment and yet have his\nheart set upon worldly things--upon money-making, self-indulgence,\npleasure, vanity, folly. Let us not deceive ourselves. If we are daily\nlooking out for the Son of God from heaven, we must sit loose to the\nthings of time and sense. We may hold the doctrine of the Lord's\ncoming as a mere dogma in the intellect; we may have the entire range\nof prophetic truth mapped out before our mind's eye, without its\nproducing the smallest effect upon the heart, the character, or the\npractical life. But it is another thing altogether to have the whole\nmoral being, the entire practical career, governed by the bright and\nblessed hope of seeing the One who loveth us and hath washed us from\nour sins in His own most precious blood.\n\nWould there were more of this amongst us! It is to be feared that many\nof us have lost the freshness and power of our true and proper hope.\nThe truth of the Lord's coming has become so familiar as a mere\ndoctrine that we can flippantly speak of it, and discuss various\npoints in connection with it, and argue with people about it, and all\nthe while our ways, our deportment, our spirit and temper give the lie\nto what we profess to hold.\n\nBut we shall not pursue this sad and humbling side of the subject. May\nthe Lord look upon us, and graciously heal, restore and lift up our\nsouls! May He revive in the hearts of all His beloved people the\nproper Christian hope--the hope of seeing the bright and Morning Star.\nMay the utterance of the whole heart and the utterance of the whole\nlife be, \"Even so, come, Lord Jesus!\"\n\nHere we must close this paper. We had hoped to run through the two\nepistles to the Thessalonians in company with our readers, in order to\nprove and illustrate the statement that the hope of the Lord's return\nwas bound up in the heart of the apostle, with all the scenes,\ncircumstances and associations of Christian life. But we must allow\nthe reader to do this for himself. Sufficient, we trust, has been said\nto show that true conversion, according to apostolic teaching, cannot\nstop short of the blessed hope of the Lord's coming. A truly converted\nperson is one who has turned from idols--has broken with the\nworld--broken with his former self--turned to God, to find in Him all\nhe can possibly want for time and eternity, to serve Him, and Him\nonly--and, finally, \"to wait for the Son of God from heaven.\" Such we\nconceive to be the true and proper answer to the question, \"What is\nconversion?\"\n\nReader, art _thou_ converted? If not, what then? If thou art, does thy\nlife declare it?\n\n\n\n\nSIMON PETER:\n\nHIS LIFE AND ITS LESSONS\n\n\n\n\nPART I.\n\n\nWe propose, in dependence upon the Spirit's guidance, to write a few\npapers on the life and ministry of the blessed servant of Christ whose\nname stands at the head of this paper. We shall trace him through the\nGospels, through the Acts, and through the Epistles, for he appears in\nall the three grand divisions of the New Testament. We shall meditate\nupon his call, upon his conversion, his confession, his fall, his\nrestoration; in a word, we shall glance at all the scenes and\ncircumstances of his remarkable history, in which we shall find, if we\nmistake not, many valuable lessons which we may well ponder. May the\nLord the Spirit be our Guide and Teacher!\n\nFor the earliest notice of Simon Peter, we must turn to the first\nchapter of the Gospel of John. Here we find, at the very outset, a\nscene full of interest and instruction. Amongst those who had been\ngathered by the powerful ministry of John the Baptist there were two\nmen who heard him deliver his glowing testimony to the Lamb of God. We\nmust quote the words: \"Again the next day after John stood, and two of\nhis disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold\nthe Lamb of God.\"\n\nThese words fell with peculiar power upon the hearts of two of John's\ndisciples. Not that the words were specially addressed to them; at\nleast, we are not told so. But they were words of life, freshness, and\npower--words welling up from the depths of a heart that had found an\nobject in the person of Christ. On the preceding day, John had spoken\nof the work of Christ. \"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the\nsin of the world.\" And again, \"The same is he which baptizeth with the\nHoly Ghost.\"\n\nBut let the reader note particularly John's testimony to the _person_\nof the Lamb of God. \"John stood,\" riveted, no doubt, by the object\nwhich filled the vision of his soul. \"And looking upon Jesus, as he\nwalked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God.\" It was this that went right\nto the very heart of the two disciples who stood beside him, and so\naffected them that they left their master to follow this new and\ninfinitely more glorious Object that had been presented to their\nnotice.\n\nThere is always immense moral power in the testimony that emanates\nfrom an absorbed heart. There is nothing formal, official, or\nmechanical, in such testimony. It is the pure fruit of heart\ncommunion; and there is nothing like it. It is not the mere statement\nof true things about Christ. It is the heart occupied and satisfied\nwith Christ. It is the eye riveted, the heart fixed, the whole moral\nbeing centred and absorbed in that one commanding object that fills\nall heaven with His glory.\n\nThis is the kind of testimony we so much want both in our private life\nand in our public reunions. It is this that tells, with such marvelous\npower, on others. We never can speak effectively for Christ, unless\nour hearts are filled with Him. And so it is also, in reference to our\nmeetings. When Christ is the one absorbing object of every heart,\nthere will be a tone and an atmosphere which must tell in some way or\nother on all who enter the place. There may not be much gift, not much\nteaching--very little charm in the singing, for persons of musical\ntaste; but oh! there is heart-enjoyment of Christ. His name is as\nointment poured forth. Every eye is fixed on Him; every heart is\ncentred in Him; He is the commanding object--the satisfying portion.\nThe unanimous voice of the assembly seems to say, \"Behold the Lamb of\nGod,\" and this must produce its own powerful effect, either in\nattracting souls to Him, or in convincing them that the people in that\nassembly have gotten something of which they know nothing at all.\n\nBut let us note particularly the effect produced on the two disciples\nof John. \"They heard him speak and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus\nturned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?\nThey said unto Him, Rabbi--which is to say, being interpreted,\nMaster--where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They\ncame and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day; for it was\nabout the tenth hour.\" Thus the blessed testimony of the Baptist led\nthem to follow Jesus, and as they followed on, fresh light was poured\nupon their path, and they found themselves, at length, in the very\nabode of that One of whom they had heard their master speak.\n\nNor was this all, though it was much--with their own hearts' deepest\nlongings satisfied. There was now that delightful going out after\nothers which must, in every instance, be the result of close personal\nacquaintance and occupation with the Person of Christ. \"One of the two\nwhich heard John, and followed Jesus, was Andrew, Simon Peter's\nbrother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him,\nWe have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.\nAnd he brought him to Jesus.\"\n\nHere is something which we may well ponder. See how the circle of\nblessing widens! See the result of a single sentence uttered in truth\nand reality! It might seem to a carnal observer as though John had\nlost by his testimony. Far from it. That honored servant found his joy\nin pointing souls to Jesus. He did not want to link them on to\nhimself, or to gather a party round himself. \"John bare witness of\nHim, and cried saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh\nafter me is preferred before me.\" And again, \"This is the record of\nJohn, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask\nhim, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I\nam not the Christ. And they ask him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he\nsaith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then\nsaid they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them\nthat sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of\none crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as\nsaid the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the\nPharisees.\" What a fine moral lesson for Pharisees to be set down to!\n\"And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if\nthou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John\nanswered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth One\namong you, whom ye know not. He it is, who coming after me is\npreferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.\"\n\nIt is not very likely that the man who could give such answers, and\nbear such a testimony, would be, in the smallest degree, affected by\nthe loss of a few disciples. But, in good truth it was not loosing\nthem when they followed Jesus and found their abode with Him. Of this\nwe have the very finest evidence that could be furnished, from John's\nown lips, in reply to those who evidently thought that their master\nmight possibly feel at being left in the shade. \"They came unto John,\nand said unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom\nthou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all come to Him.\nJohn answered and said, _A man can receive nothing, except it be given\nhim from heaven_. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not\nthe Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is\nthe bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and\nheareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice:\n_this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must\ndecrease_\" (John iii. 26-30).\n\nNoble words! It was the joy of this most illustrious servant--this\ngreatest of woman-born, to hide himself behind his Master, and find\nall his personal springs in Him. As to himself, he was but a voice. As\nto his work, he was only baptizing with water, he was not worthy to\nloose the latchet of his Master's shoe.\n\nSuch was John. Such the man whose glowing testimony led the brother of\nSimon Peter to the feet of the Son of God. The testimony was clear and\ndistinct, and the work deep and real in the souls of those who\nreceived it.\n\nIt does the heart good to note the simple, earnest, forcible words of\nSimon's brother, Andrew. He is able to say, without reserve or\nhesitation, \"_We have found_ the Messias.\" It was this that led him to\nlook after his brother. He lost no time. Saved and blessed himself, he\nwould, at once, begin to lead his brother into the same blessing.\n\nHow simple! How morally lovely! How divinely natural! No sooner had he\nfound the Messias, than he went in search of his brother to tell him\nof his joy. It must ever be thus. We cannot doubt for a moment, that\nthe actual finding Christ for ourselves is the true secret of looking\nafter others. There is no uncertainty in Andrew's testimony--no\nwavering--no doubting or fearing. He does not even say, \"I hope I have\nfound.\" No; all is clear and distinct; and, we may say, with all\npossible assurance, it would not have done Simon Peter much good had\nit been anything else. An uncertain sound is not much use to any one.\n\nIt is a grand point to be able to say, \"_I have found Christ_.\"\nReader, can you say it? Doubtless, you have heard of Him. It may be\nyou have heard from the lips of some ardent lover of Jesus, \"Behold\nthe Lamb of God.\" But have you followed that blessed One? If so, you\nwill long to find some one to whom you can speak of your newly found\ntreasure, and bring him to Jesus. Begin at home. Get hold of your\nbrother, or your sister, or your companion, your fellow-student, your\nfellow-shopman, your fellow-workman, your fellow-servant, and whisper\nlovingly, but clearly and decidedly, into his ear, \"I have found\nJesus. Do come, taste and see how gracious He is. Come! oh do come to\nJesus.\" Remember this was the way that the great apostle Peter was\nfirst called. He first heard of Jesus from the lips of his own brother\nAndrew. This mighty workman--this great preacher who was blessed, on\none occasion, to three thousand souls--who opened the Kingdom of\nheaven to the Jew in Acts iii. and to the Gentile in Acts x.--this\nblessed servant was brought to Christ by the hand of his own brother\nin the flesh.\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\n\nThe notice which we have of our apostle, in John i., is very brief\nindeed, though, doubtless, there is much wrapped up in it. \"Andrew\nfirst findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, We have\nfound the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he\nbrought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, He said, Thou art\nSimon, the son of Jonas: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by\ninterpretation, A stone.\"\n\nNow, we have no record here of any deep spiritual work in the soul of\nSimon. We are told his name in the old creation, and his name in the\nnew; but there is no allusion whatever to those deep exercises of soul\nof which we know he was the subject. For these we must ask the reader\nto turn for a few moments to Luke v., where we have a marvelous piece\nof divine workmanship.\n\n\"And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the\nword of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships\nstanding by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them, and\nwere washing their nets. And He entered into one of the ships, which\nwas Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the\nland. And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.\"\n\nMark especially the moral grace that shines here. \"He _prayed_ him\nthat he would thrust out _a little_ from the land.\" Though Lord of all\ncreation--Possessor of heaven and earth--He nevertheless, as the\nlowly, gracious Man, courteously owns Simon's proprietorship, and\nasks, as a favor, that he would thrust out _a little_ from the shore.\nThis was morally lovely, and we may rest assured it produced its own\neffect upon the heart of Simon.\n\n\"Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into\nthe deep, and let down your nets for a draught.\" Simon was about to be\nwell paid for the loan of his boat. \"And Simon, answering, said unto\nHim, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing;\nnevertheless, at Thy word, I will let down the net.\" There was power,\nas well as grace, in that word! \"And when they had this done, they\nenclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their net brake. And they\nbeckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they\nshould come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships,\nso that they began to sink.\" Neither their nets nor their ships were\nable to sustain the fruit of divine power and goodness. \"When Simon\nPeter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me;\nfor I am a sinful man, O Lord.\"\n\nHere, then, we have the great practical effect produced in Peter's\nsoul by the combined action of grace and power. He is brought to see\nhimself in the light of the divine presence, where alone self can be\ntruly seen and judged. Simon had heard the word of Jesus addressed to\nthe multitude on the shore. He had felt the sweet grace and moral\nbeauty of His way towards himself. He had marked the display of divine\npower in the astonishing draught of fish. All told powerfully upon his\nheart and conscience, and brought him on his face before the Lord.\n\nNow this is what we may call a genuine work of conviction. Simon is in\nthe place of true self-judgment--a very blessed place indeed--a place\nfrom which all must start if they are to be much used in the Lord's\nwork, or if, indeed, they are ever to exhibit much depth or stability\nin the divine life. We need never look for any real power or progress\nunless there is a deep and solid work of the Spirit of God in the\nconscience. Persons who pass rapidly into what they call peace, are\napt to pass as rapidly out of it again. It is a very serious thing\nindeed to be brought to see ourselves in the light of God's presence,\nto have our eyes opened to the truth of our past history, our present\ncondition, and our future destiny. Simon Peter found it so in his day,\nand so have all those who have been brought to a saving knowledge of\nChrist. Hearken to Isaiah's words, when he saw himself in the powerful\nlight of the divine glory. \"Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a\nman of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean\nlips: _for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts_.\" So also\nin the case of the patriarch, Job. \"I have heard of Thee by the\nhearing of the ear; but now _mine eye_ _seeth Thee_. Wherefore _I\nabhor myself_, and repent in dust and ashes.\"\n\nThese glowing utterances reveal a deep and genuine work in both the\npatriarch and the prophet. And surely our apostle occupied the same\nmoral ground when he exclaimed, from the very depths of a broken\nheart, \"Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.\" If Simon is to\nbe called Cephas, he must be thoroughly broken up, and brought to the\nend of himself. If he is to be used to catch men, he must learn, in a\ndivine way, man's true condition. If he is to teach others that \"all\nflesh is as grass,\" he must learn the application of this great truth\nto his own heart.\n\nThus it is in every case. Look at Saul of Tarsus. What mean those\nthree days of blindness, during which he neither did eat nor drink?\nMay we not confidently affirm that they were serious days, perhaps the\nmost serious in the entire history of that remarkable man? They were,\ndoubtless, days in the which he was led down to the most profound\ndepths of his moral being, the deepest roots of his history, his\nnature, his character, his conduct, his religion. He was led to see\nthat his whole life had been a terrible mistake, an awful lie; that\nhis very career as a religious man had been one of mad rebellion\nagainst the Christ of God. All this, we may feel assured, passed in\nsolemn and soul-subduing review before the soul of this deeply,\nbecause divinely, convicted man. His repentance was no superficial\nwork; it was deep and thorough; it left its impress upon the whole of\nhis after course, character, and ministry. He, too, like Simon, was\nbrought to the end of himself, and there he found an Object that not\nonly met his deepest need, but also perfectly satisfied all the\ncravings and aspirations of his renewed being.\n\nNow, we must confess we delight in contemplating a spiritual work of\nthis kind. It is truly refreshing to dwell upon conversions of this\ntype. We greatly fear that in much of the work of our time there is a\nsad lack of depth and spiritual power, and, as a consequence, a lack\nof stability in the Christian character, of depth and permanency in\nthe Christian course. It may be that those of us who are engaged in\nthe work of evangelization are feeble and shallow in the divine life\nourselves, that we are not near enough to Christ to understand how to\ndeal with souls; that we do not know how to present the truth from\nGod's side of it; that we are more desirous of showing out how the\nsinner's need is met, than how the glory of God is secured and\nmaintained. We do not, perhaps, sufficiently press the claims of truth\nand holiness upon the consciences of our hearers. There is a want of\nfulness in the presentation of the truth of God, too much harping upon\none string; there is a barrenness and dreary monotony in the\npreaching, arising from lack of abiding near the fountain head, and\ndrinking into our own souls from the inexhaustible springs of grace\nand truth in the Person and work of Christ. Perhaps, too, we are more\noccupied with ourselves and our preaching than with Christ and His\nglory; more anxious to be able to parade the results of our work, than\nto be a sweet savour of Christ to Godward.\n\nWe cannot but feel the weight and seriousness of these considerations\nfor all who take part in the work of the gospel. We certainly do need\nto be more in the presence of God in reference to our service, for we\ncannot, by any possibility, hide from ourselves the fact, in reference\nto the preaching of this our day, that the fruit is small in quantity,\nand poor in quality. We desire to bless God for any display of His\ngrace and power in souls; though we are by no means able to accredit\nas genuine much that is boastfully paraded in the way of conversion.\nWhat we long for is a deep, genuine unmistakable work of the Holy\nGhost; a work which will prove itself, beyond all contradiction, by\nits permanent results in the life and character. It is one thing to\nreckon up and publish a number of cases of conversion, and quite\nanother to see these cases made good in actual fact. The Holy Ghost\ncan, and does, tell us at times in the page of inspiration the number\nof souls converted. He tells us of three thousand on one occasion. He\ncan do so, because He knows perfectly all about it. He can read the\nheart. He can distinguish between the spurious and the genuine. But\nwhen men undertake to count up and publish the number of their\nconverts, we must receive their statements with considerable reserve\nand caution.\n\nNot that we would be suspicious. God forbid; yea, we would earnestly\ncultivate a hopeful temper of soul. Still, we cannot but feel that it\nis better, in every case, to let the work speak for itself. All that\nis really divine is sure to be found, even though it be after many\ndays; whereas, on the other hand, there is immense danger, both for\nthe workman and his work, in an eager and hasty reckoning up and\npublishing of results.\n\nBut we must return to the lake of Gennesaret, and dwell for a moment\non the lovely grace that shines forth in our Lord's dealing with Simon\nPeter. The work of conviction was deep and real. There could be no\nmistaking it. The arrow had entered the heart, and gone right to its\nvery centre. Peter felt and owned that he was a man full of sin. He\nfelt he had no right to be near such an one as Jesus; and yet we may\ntruly say he would not for worlds have been anywhere else. He was\nperfectly sincere in saying, \"Depart from me,\" though we cannot but\nbelieve he had an inward conviction that the blessed One would do\nnothing of the kind. And if he had, he was right. Jesus could never\ndepart from a poor broken-hearted sinner--no, never. It was His\nrichest, deepest, joy to pour the healing balm of His love and grace\ninto a wounded soul. It was His delight to heal the broken heart. He\nwas anointed for that work, and it was His meat and His drink to do\nit, blessed forever be His holy name!\n\n\"And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt\ncatch men.\" Here was the divine response to the cry of a contrite\nheart. The wound was deep, but the grace was deeper still. The\nsoothing hand of a Saviour-God applied the precious balm. Simon was\nnot only convicted, but converted. He saw himself to be a man full of\nsin, but he saw the Saviour full of grace; nor was it possible that\nhis sin could be beyond the reach of that grace. Oh, no, there is\ngrace in the heart of Jesus, as there is power in His blood, to meet\nthe very chief of sinners. \"Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch\nmen. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook\n_all_, and followed Him.\"\n\nThis was real work. It was a _bona fide_ case, as to which there could\nbe no question; a case of conviction, conversion, and consecration.\n\n\n\n\nPART III.\n\n\nWe closed our last paper with these suggestive words, \"_They forsook\nall, and followed Him_\"--words expressive, at once, of thorough\nseparation from the things of time and of nature, and of whole-hearted\nconsecration to Christ and His interests.\n\nBoth these we see in Simon Peter. There was a deep and blessed work\nwrought in his soul at the lake of Gennesaret. He was given to see\nhimself, in the light of the divine presence, where alone self can be\nreally seen and judged. We have no reason to suppose that, viewed from\na human standpoint, Simon was worse than his neighbors. On the\ncontrary, it is more than probable, that so far as his outward life\nwas concerned, it was more blameless than that of many around him. He\nwas not, like the great apostle of the Gentiles, arrested at the very\nheight of a mad career of rebellion against Christ and His cause. He\nis introduced to us, by the inspired historian, in the pursuit of his\nquiet and honest calling as a fisherman.\n\nBut then Scripture expressly informs us that, \"There is no difference,\nfor all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God\" (Rom. iii.).\nAnd it repeats this statement, in chap. x. of the same epistle, basing\nit upon another footing, \"There is no difference between the Jew and\nthe Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon\nHim.\"\n\nReader, see that you really understand this most important doctrine.\nIt is not that there are not broad lines of distinction, in a moral\nand social point of view, between men. Most assuredly there are such.\nThere is, for example, a vast difference between the wretched drunkard\nwho comes home, or is carried home, night after night, worse than a\nbeast, to his poor broken-hearted wife and squalid, starving children,\nand a sober, industrious man, who realizes his responsibility as a\nhusband and a father, and seeks to fulfil the duties attaching to such\nrelationships.\n\nNow, we judge it would be a very great mistake indeed to ignore such a\ndistinction as this. We believe that God, in His moral government of\nthe world, recognizes it. Contrast, for a moment, the drunkard's home\nwith that of the sober man. Yea, contrast their whole career, their\nsocial position, their course and character. Who can fail to recognize\nthe amazing difference between the two? There is a certain way of\npresenting what is called, \"The no-difference doctrine\" which, to say\nthe least of it, is far from judicious. It does not allow the margin\nwhich, as we believe, Scripture suggests, wherein to insert great\nsocial and moral distinctions between men and men--distinctions which\nonly blindness itself can refuse to see. If we look at the present\ngovernment of God, we cannot but see that there is a very serious\ndifference indeed between one man and another. Men reap as they sow.\nThe drunken spendthrift reaps as he sows; and the sober, industrious,\nhonest man reaps as he sows. The enactments of God's moral government\nare such as to render it impossible for men to escape, even in this\nlife, the consequences of their ways.\n\nNor is this all. Not only does God's present government take\ncognizance of the conduct of men, causing them to reap, even here, the\ndue reward of their deeds but when Scripture opens to our view, as it\ndoes in manifold places, the awful judgment to come, it speaks of\n\"books being opened.\" It tells us that men \"shall be judged _every man\naccording to their works_.\" In short, we have close and accurate\ndiscrimination, and not a promiscuous huddling of men and things.\n\nAnd further, be it remembered, that the word of God speaks of degrees\nof punishment. It speaks of \"few stripes\" and \"many stripes.\" It uses\nsuch words as \"more tolerable\" for one than another.\n\nWhat mean such words, if there be not varied grounds of judgment,\nvaried characters of responsibility, varied measures of guilt, varied\ndegrees of punishment? Men may reason; but \"the Judge of all the earth\nwill do right.\" It is of no possible use for people to argue and\ndiscuss. Every man will be judged and punished according to his deeds.\nThis is the teaching of Holy Scripture; and it would be much better\nand safer and wiser for men to submit to it than to reason against it,\nfor they may rest fully assured of it that the judgment-seat of Christ\nwill make very short work of their reasonings. Impenitent sinners will\nbe judged and punished according to their works: and, although men\nmay affect to believe that it is inconsistent with the idea of a God\nof love that any of His creatures should be condemned to endure\neternal punishment in hell, still sin must be punished; and those who\nreason against its punishment have only a one-sided view of God's\nnature and character. They have invented a god of their own who will\nconnive at sin. But it will not do. The God of the Bible, _the God\nwhom we see at the cross_, the God of Christianity will, beyond all\nquestion, execute judgment upon all who reject His Son; that judgment\nwill be according to every man's works; and the result of that\njudgment will, inevitably, be \"The lake that burneth with fire and\nbrimstone,\" forever and forever.\n\nWe deem it of the utmost importance to press on all whom it may\nconcern the line of truth on which we have been dwelling. It leaves\nwholly untouched the real truth of the no-difference doctrine; but, at\nthe same time, it qualifies and adjusts the mode of presenting that\ntruth. It is always well to avoid an ultra one-sided way of stating\nthings. It damages truth and stumbles souls. It perplexes the anxious,\nand gives a plea to the caviler. The full truth of God should always\nbe unfolded, and thus all will be right. Truth puts men and things in\ntheir right places, and maintains a holy moral balance which is\nabsolutely priceless.\n\nIs it then asserted that there is a difference? Not as regards the\nquestion of righteousness before God. On this ground, there is not a\nshadow of difference, for \"all have sinned and come short of the\nglory of God.\" Looked at in the light of that glory, all human\ndistinctions vanish. All are lost, guilty and condemned. From the very\nlowest strata of society--its deepest dregs, up to the loftiest\nheights of moral refinement, men are seen, in the light of the divine\nglory, to be utterly and hopelessly lost. They all stand on one common\nground, are all involved in the one common ruin. And not only so, but\nthose who plume themselves on their morality, refinement, orthodoxy,\nand religiousness, are further from the Kingdom of God than the vilest\nof the sons and daughters of men, as our Lord said to the chief\npriests and elders, \"Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the\nharlots go into the Kingdom of God before you\" (Matt. xxi.).\n\nThis is very humbling to human pride and pretension. It is a doctrine\nto which none will ever submit until they see themselves as Simon\nPeter saw himself in the immediate presence of God. All who have ever\nbeen there will fully understand those self-condemning words, \"Depart\nfrom me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.\" These were accents flowing\nfrom the depths of a truly penitent and contrite soul. There is what\nwe may venture to call a lovely inconsistency in them. Simon had no\nsuch thought as that Jesus would depart from him. He had, we may feel\nassured, an instinctive sense that that blessed One who had spoken\nsuch words to him, and shown such grace, could not turn away from a\npoor broken-hearted sinner. And he judged rightly. Jesus had not come\ndown from heaven to turn His back upon any one who needed Him. \"He\ncame to seek and to save that which is lost.\" \"This is a faithful\nsaying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the\nworld to save sinners.\" \"Him that cometh unto Me, I will _in no wise_\ncast out.\" A Saviour-God had come down into this world, not, surely,\nto turn away from a lost sinner, but to save him and bless him, and\nmake him a blessing. \"Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.\"\n\nSuch was the grace that shone upon the soul of Simon Peter. It removed\nhis guilt, hushed his fears, and filled him with joy and peace in\nbelieving. Thus it is in every case. Divine pardon follows human\nconfession--follows it with marvelous rapidity. \"I said, I will\nconfess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the\niniquity of my sin.\" God delights to pardon. It is the joy of His\nloving heart to cancel our guilt, and fill our souls with His own\nblessed peace, and to make us the messengers of His grace to others.\n\nNot that we are called in the same way, or to the same work, as our\napostle; but surely we are called to follow the Lord, and cleave to\nHim, with purpose of heart. This is the blessed privilege and sacred\nduty of every saved soul on the face of the earth; we are imperatively\ncalled upon to break with the world, and follow Christ.\n\nIt is not a question of abandoning our proper calling in life, as in\nSimon's case. Few indeed and far between are the cases in which such\na course of action is fitting. Many, alas! have assayed to do this,\nand have entirely broken down, simply because they were not called of\nGod _to_ it, or sustained of God _in_ it. We are convinced that, as a\nrule, it is better for every man to work with his hands or his brains\nat some bread-winning calling, and preach and teach as well, if gifted\nto do so. There are exceptions, no doubt, to the rule. There are some\nwho are so manifestly called, fitted, used, and sustained of God, that\nthere can be no possible mistake as to their course. Their hands are\nso full of work, their every moment so engrossed with ministry in\nspeaking or writing, teaching publicly and from house to house, that\nit would be a simple impossibility for them to take up what is termed\na secular calling--though we like not the phrase. All such have to go\non with God, looking only to Him, and He will infallibly maintain them\nunto the end.\n\nStill, admitting, as we are bound to do fully, the exceptions to the\nrule, we are nevertheless convinced that, as a rule, it is better in\nevery way for men to be able to preach and teach without being\nchargeable to any. It gives moral weight, and it furnishes a fine\ntestimony against the wretched hirelingism of Christendom so\ndemoralizing to souls, and so damaging, in every way, to the cause of\nChrist.\n\nBut, Christian reader, we have to distinguish between abandoning our\nlawful calling and breaking with the world. The former may be quite\nwrong; the latter is our bounden duty. We are called to rise up, in\nthe spirit of the mind and in the firm purpose of the heart, out of\nall merely worldly influences, to break every worldly link, and lay\naside every weight, in order to follow our blessed Lord and Master. We\nare to be absolutely and completely for Him in this world, as He is\nfor us in the presence of God. When this is really the case with us,\nit matters not whether we are sweeping a crossing or evangelizing a\ncontinent. All is done to Him. This is the one grand point. If Christ\nhas His due place in our hearts, all will be right. If He has not,\nnothing will be right. If there is any under current in the soul, any\nsecondary object, any worldly motive, any selfish aim or end, there\ncan be no progress. _We must make Christ and His cause our absorbing\nobject._\n\n\n\n\nPART IV.\n\n\nThe more deeply we ponder the history of professing Christians,\nwhether as furnished by the pen of inspiration, or as coming within\nthe range of personal observation, the more fully we must see the vast\nimportance of a complete break with the world, at the outset. If there\nbe not this, it is vain to look for inward peace, or outward progress.\nThere may be a measure of clearness as to the doctrines of grace, the\nplan of salvation, as it is called, justification by faith, and the\nlike. But unless there is the thorough judgment of self, and the\ncomplete surrender of this present evil world, peace and progress must\nbe out of the question. How can there be peace where _self_, in some\none or other of its thousand shapes, is fostered? And how can there be\nprogress where the heart is hankering after the world, halting between\ntwo opinions, and vacillating between Christ and present things?\nImpossible. As well might a racer expect to get on in the race while\nstill lingering about the starting post, and encumbering himself with\nheavy weights.\n\nIs it then, that peace is to be found by denying self and giving up\nthe world? Most certainly not. But neither can peace ever be found\nwhile self is indulged and the world retained. True peace is found\n_only_ in Christ--peace of conscience in His finished work--peace of\nheart in His blessed Person. All this is clear enough. But how comes\nit to pass that hundreds of people who know, or profess to know, these\nthings have no settled peace, and never seem to take a single step in\nadvance? You meet them, week after week, month after month, year after\nyear, and there they are in the same position, in the same state, and\nwith the same old story, chronic cases of self-occupation, stereotyped\nworld-borderers, \"ever learning, and never able to come to the\nknowledge of the truth.\" They seem to delight in hearing the gospel\nclearly preached, and truth fully unfolded. In fact, they cannot\nendure anything else. But, for all that, they are never clear, bright\nor happy. How can they be? They are halting between two opinions; they\nhave never broken with the world; they have never surrendered a whole\nheart to Christ.\n\nHere, we are persuaded, lies the real secret of the whole matter as\nregards that class of persons now before us. \"A double-minded man is\nunstable in all his ways.\" A man who tries to keep one eye on the\nworld, and the other on Christ, will be found to have no eye for\nChrist, but both eyes for the world. It must be so: Christ must be all\nor nothing; and hence it is the very height of absurdity to talk of\npeace or progress, where Christ is not the absorbing object of the\nsoul. Where He is, there will never be any lack of settled peace; and\nthere will be progress. The Holy Ghost is jealous for the glory of\nChrist, and He can never minister comfort, consolation, or strength to\na heart divided between Him and the world. It could not be. He is\ngrieved by such unfaithfulness; and instead of being the minister of\ncomfort, He must be the stern reprover of indulged selfishness,\nworldliness, and vacillation.\n\nLet us look at the case of our apostle. How refreshing it is to\ncontemplate his thorough-going style! His starting was of the right\nsort. \"He forsook all and followed Christ.\" There was no halting here,\nat all events; no vacillating between Christ and present things.\nBoats, nets, fish, natural ties, all are unhesitatingly and\nunreservedly surrendered, not as a matter of cold duty or legal\nservice, but as the grand and necessary result of having seen the\nglory and heard the voice of the Son of God.\n\nThus it was with Simon Peter, at the opening of his remarkable career.\nAll was clear and unequivocal, whole-hearted and decided, so far as\nthe starting was concerned; and we must bear this in mind, as we\npursue his after history. No doubt, we shall find mistakes and\nstumblings, failure, ignorance, and sin; but, underneath, and in spite\nof all this, we shall find a heart true to Jesus--a heart divinely\ntaught to appreciate the Christ of God.\n\nThis is a grand point. Blunders may well be borne with, when the heart\nbeats true to Christ. Some one has remarked that, \"The blunderers do\nall the work.\" If this be so, the reason is that those blunderers have\nreal affection for their Lord; and that is precisely what we all want.\nA man may make a great many mistakes, but if he can say when\nchallenged by his Lord, \"Thou knowest that I love Thee,\" he is sure to\ncome right in the end; and not only so, but, even in the very midst\nof his mistakes, our hearts are much more drawn to him than to the\ncold, correct, sleek professor, who thinks of himself, and seeks to\nmake the best of both worlds.\n\nSimon Peter was a true lover of Christ. He had a divinely given sense\nof His preciousness, of the glory of His Person, and the heavenly\ncharacter of His mission. All this comes out, with much force and\nfreshness, in his varied confessions of Christ, even before the day of\nPentecost. We shall glance at one or two of these, not with any view\nto chronological order, but simply to illustrate and prove the lovely\ndevotedness of this true-hearted servant of Christ.\n\nLet us turn to Matt. xvi. \"When Jesus came into the coasts of C\u00e6sarea\nPhilippi, he asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the\nSon of man, am?\" Weighty question! Upon the answer to this question\nhangs the whole moral condition and future destiny of every human\nbeing under the sun. All really depends upon the heart's estimate of\nChrist. This it is, which like a great moral indicator, reveals a\nman's true state, character, bent and object, in all things. It is not\nmerely a question of his outward life, or of his profession of faith.\nThe former may be blameless, and the latter orthodox; but, if\nunderneath all this blameless morality and orthodox profession, there\nbe not one true pulsation of the heart for Christ, no divinely wrought\nsense of what, and who, and whence He is, then verily all the morality\nand the orthodoxy are but the trappings with which a guilty,\nhell-deserving sinner adorns himself in the eyes of his fellows, or\nwith which he deceives himself as to the awful eternity which lies\nbefore him. \"What think ye of Christ?\" is the all-deciding question;\nfor God the Holy Ghost has emphatically declared that, \"If any\nman\"--no matter who or what he be--\"love not the Lord Jesus Christ,\nlet him be Anathema Maranatha\" (1 Cor. xvi. 22).\n\nHow awful is this! And how remarkable to find it at the close of such\nan epistle as the first to the Corinthians! How forcibly it declares\nto all who will only bend their ears to listen, that love to Christ is\nthe basis of all sound doctrine, the motive spring of all true\nmorality! If that blessed One be not enthroned at the very centre of\nthe heart's affections, an orthodox creed is an empty delusion; and an\nunblemished reputation is but dust cast in a man's eyes to prevent him\nseeing his true condition in the sight of God. The Christians at\nCorinth had fallen into many doctrinal errors and moral evils, all\nneeding rebuke and correction; but when the inspiring Spirit\npronounces His awful anathema, it is levelled, not at the introducers\nof any one special error, or moral pravity, but at \"any man who loves\nnot the Lord Jesus Christ.\"\n\nThis is peculiarly solemn at all times; but specially so for the day\nin which our lot is cast, when the Person and glory of Christ are so\nlittle thought of or cared for. A man may actually blaspheme Christ,\ndeny His deity or His eternal Sonship, and yet be received into\nprofessing Christian circles, and allowed to preside at so-called\nreligious meetings. Surely all this must be dreadful in the sight of\nGod, whose purpose it is \"that all men should honor the Son even as\nthey honor the Father;\" and that every knee should bow, and every\ntongue confess to Jesus as Lord of all. God is jealous for the honor\nof His Son; and the man that neglects, rejects, and blasphemes that\nblessed One will yet have to learn and own the eternal justice of that\nmost solemn decree, \"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let\nhim be Anathema Maranatha.\"\n\nHow momentous, therefore, the question put by our Lord Christ to His\ndisciples, \"Whom do _men_ say that I, the Son of man, am?\" Alas, alas!\n\"men\" knew nothing, cared nothing about Him. They knew neither who He\nwas, what He was, nor whence He was. \"Some say that thou art John the\nBaptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.\"\nIn a word, there was endless speculation, because there was utter\nindifference and thorough heartlessness. The human heart has not so\nmuch as a single true thought about Christ, not one atom of affection\nfor Him. Such is the awful condition of the very best of men until\nrenewed by divine grace. They know not, they love not, they care not\nfor the Son of God--the Beloved of the Father's heart--the Man on the\nthrone of heaven's majesty. Such is their moral condition, and hence\ntheir every thought, word, and act is contrary to God. They have not a\nsingle feeling in common with God, for the most distinct of all\nreasons, that the One who is everything to Him is nothing to them.\nChrist is God's standard, and every one and everything must be\nmeasured by Him. The heart that does not love Christ has not a single\npulsation in unison with the heart of God; and the life that does not\nspring from love to Christ however blameless, respectable, or splendid\nin the eyes of men, is a worthless, objectless, misspent life in the\njudgment of God.\n\nBut how truly delightful to turn from all the heartlessness and\nindifference of \"men,\" and harken to the testimony of one who was\ntaught of God to know and own who the Son of man was! \"Simon Peter\nanswered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.\"\nHere was the true answer. There was no vain speculation here, no\nuncertainty, no may be this, or may be that. It was divine testimony\nflowing from divinely given knowledge. It was not yea and nay, but yea\nand amen to the glory of God. We may rest fully assured that these\nglowing words of Simon Peter went up, like fragrant incense, to the\nthrone of God, and refreshed the heart of the One who sat there. There\nis nothing in all the world so precious to God as a heart that, in any\nmeasure, appreciates Christ. Let us never forget this!\n\n\"And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon\nBarjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My\nFather which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art\nPeter; and upon this Rock I will build My Church; and the gates of\nhell shall not prevail against it.\"\n\nHere we have the very first direct allusion to the Church, or Assembly\nof Christ; and the reader will note that our Lord speaks of it as yet\nfuture. He says, \"I _will_ build My Church.\" He was the Rock, the\ndivine foundation; but ere a single stone could be built on Him, He\nmust die.\n\nThis is a grand cardinal truth of Christianity--a truth which our\napostle had yet to learn, notwithstanding his brilliant and beautiful\nconfession. Simon Peter was not yet prepared for the profound mystery\nof the cross. He loved Christ, and he had been taught of God to own\nHim in a very full and blessed manner; but he had yet much to learn\nere he could take in the soul-subduing truth that this blessed Son of\nthe living God must die, ere even he, as a living stone, could be\nbuilt upon Him. \"From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His\ndisciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things\nof the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be\nraised again the third day.\"\n\nHere the solemn truth begins to break through the clouds. But Simon\nPeter is not prepared for it. It withered up all his Jewish hopes and\nearthly expectations. What! The Son of the living God must die! How\ncould it be? The glorious Messiah be nailed to a cross! \"Then Peter\ntook Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, (or\npity Thyself) Lord, this shall not be unto Thee.\"\n\nSuch is man! Such was even Simon Peter! He would fain turn the blessed\nLord away from the cross! He would, in his ignorance, frustrate the\neternal counsels of God, and play into the hands of the devil! Poor\nPeter! What a rock he would be for the Church to be built upon! \"The\nLord turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan, thou art\nan offence unto Me; for thou savorest not the things that be of God,\nbut those that be of men.\"\n\nWithering words? Who would have thought that \"Blessed art thou, Simon\nBarjona,\" should so speedily be followed by, \"Get thee behind Me,\nSatan?\"\n\n\n\n\nPART V.\n\n\nWe must still linger a little over the deeply interesting and\ninstructive scene in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew. It brings\nbefore us two great subjects, namely, \"The Church,\" and \"The Kingdom\nof Heaven.\" These things must never be confounded. As to the first, it\nis only to be found in the New Testament. Indeed, as has often been\nremarked, verse 18 of our chapter contains the very first direct\nallusion in the volume of God to the subject of the Church, or\nassembly, of Christ.\n\nThis, though familiar to many of our readers, may present a difficulty\nto others. Many Christians and Christian teachers strongly maintain\nthat the doctrine of the Church is distinctly unfolded in Old\nTestament Scripture. They consider that the saints of the Old\nTestament belonged to the Church; in fact, that there is no\ndifference, whatever; all form one body; all stand on one common\nground; and that to represent the Lord's people in New Testament times\nas in a higher position, or endowed with higher privileges than\nAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is a delusion. It seems strange to such to\nassert that Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, did not belong to the\nChurch--were not members of the body of Christ--were not endowed with\nthe selfsame privileges as believers now. Trained from their earliest\ndays to believe that all God's people, from the beginning to the end\nof time, stand on the same ground, and form one common body, they find\nit impossible to admit of any difference. It seems to them presumption\non the part of Christians to assert that they are in any respect\ndifferent from God's beloved people of old--those blessed worthies of\nwhom we read in Hebrews xi., who lived a life of faith and personal\ndevotedness, and who are now in heaven with their Lord.\n\nBut the all-important question is, \"What saith the Scripture?\" It can\nbe of no possible use to set up our own thoughts, our own reasonings,\nour own conclusions, in opposition to the word of God. It is a very\neasy matter for men to reason, with great apparent force, point, and\ncleverness, about the absurdity and presumption of the notion that\nChristians are in a better and higher place, and more privileged, than\nGod's people of old.\n\nBut this is not the proper way in which to approach this great\nsubject. It is not a question of the difference _personally_ between\nthe Lord's people at different periods. Were it so, where should we\nfind, amongst the ranks of Christian professors, any one to compare\nwith an Abraham, a Joseph, a Moses, or a Daniel? Were it a question of\nsimple faith, where could we find in the entire history of the Church\na finer example than the father of the faithful? Were it a question of\npersonal holiness, where could we find a brighter illustration than\nJoseph? For intimacy with God, and acquaintance with His ways and\nmind, who could go beyond Moses? For unswerving devotedness to God\nand His truth, could we find a brighter example than the man who went\ndown into the lions' den rather than not pray toward Jerusalem?\n\nHowever, let it be distinctly understood that it is not by any means a\npersonal question, or a comparison of people, but of dispensational\nposition. If this be clearly seen, it will, we doubt not, remove out\nof the way a great deal of the difficulty which many pious people seem\nto feel in reference to the truth of the Church.\n\nBut above and beyond all this stands the question, What does Scripture\nteach on the subject? If any one had spoken to Abraham about being a\nmember of the body of Christ, would he have understood it? Could that\nhonored and beloved saint of God have had the most remote idea of\nbeing linked by an indwelling Spirit to a living Head in heaven?\nUtterly impossible. How could he be a member of a body which had no\nexistence? And how could there be a body without a Head? And when do\nwe first hear of the Head? When the Man Christ Jesus, having passed\nthrough death and the grave, ascended into the heavens, and took His\nseat at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Then, and not until\nthen, did the Holy Ghost come down to form the Body, and link it by\nHis presence to the glorified Head above.\n\nThis, however, is rather anticipating a line of argument which is yet\nto come before us. Let us here put another question to the reader. If\nany one had spoken to Moses about a body composed of Jews and\nGentiles,--a body whose constituent parts had been drawn from among\nthe seed of Abraham and the cursed race of the Canaanites,--what would\nhe have said? May we not safely assert that his whole moral being\nwould have shrunk with horror from the thought? What! Jews and\nCanaanites--the seed of Abraham and uncircumcised Gentiles--united in\none body? Impossible for the lawgiver to take in such an idea. The\nfact is, if there was one feature which more strongly than another\nmarked the Jewish economy, it was the rigid separation by divine\nappointment of Jew and Gentile. \"Ye know,\" says Simon Peter, \"how that\nit is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or to\ncome unto one of another nation.\"\n\nSuch was the order of things under the Mosaic economy. It would have\nbeen a flagrant transgression on the part of a Jew to climb over that\nmiddle wall of partition which separated him from all the nations\naround; and hence the thought of a union between Jew and Gentile could\nnot possibly have entered into any human mind; and the more faithful a\nman was to the existing order of things under the law, the more\nopposed he must have been to any such thought.\n\nNow, in the face of all this, how can any one seek to maintain that\nthe truth of the Church was known in Old Testament times, and that\nthere is no difference whatever between the position of a Christian\nand that of an Old Testament believer? The fact is that even Simon\nPeter himself found it extremely difficult to take in the idea of\nadmitting the Gentiles into the Kingdom of Heaven. Though he was\nentrusted with the keys of that kingdom, he was very reluctant indeed\nto use them for the admission of the Gentiles. He had to be expressly\ntaught by a heavenly vision, ere he was prepared to fulfil the\ncommission with which he was charged by his Lord in Matthew xvi.\n\nNo, reader, it is of no possible use to stand against the plain\ntestimony of Scripture. The truth of the Church was not--could not--be\nknown in Old Testament times. It was, as the inspired apostle tells\nus, \"hid in God\"--hid in His eternal counsels--\"not made known to the\nsons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets\nby the Spirit,[3] that the Gentiles should be _fellow-heirs_, and of\n_the same body_, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the\ngospel.\" (Eph. iii.)\n\n  [3] The \"prophets,\" in this passage, are those of the New Testament.\n  This is evident from the expression, \"_Now revealed_.\" He could not\n  speak of a thing being \"now revealed\" to men who had been dead for\n  hundreds of years. Besides, had the apostle meant Old Testament\n  prophets, the order would assuredly have been \"Prophets and apostles.\"\n  We have a similar expression in Eph. ii. 20: \"Built upon the\n  foundation of the apostles and prophets.\" He does not say, \"prophets\n  and apostles.\" The truth is that the apostles and prophets formed the\n  first layer of the foundation of the Church of which Jesus Christ is\n  the chief Corner-stone; and this is an additional proof that the\n  Church had no existence save in the secret counsels of God until our\n  Lord Christ, having accomplished the work of redemption, ascended into\n  the heavens, and sent down the Holy Ghost to baptize believers--Jews\n  and Gentiles--into one body.\n\nThe reader may also refer with real profit and interest to Rom. xvi.\n25, 26: \"Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my\ngospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to _the\nrevelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world\nbegan_, but _now is made manifest_, and by the scriptures of the\nprophets (literally, by the prophetic writings, that is, of the New\nTestament), according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made\nknown to all nations for the obedience of faith.\"\n\nWe can only reach the great mystery of the Church by walking over the\nbroken-down middle wall of partition. \"Wherefore remember, that ye\nbeing in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called\nUncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh\nmade by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens\nfrom the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of\npromise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now, in\nChrist Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh _by the\nblood of Christ_. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and\nhath broken down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in His\nflesh the enmity, the law of commandments in ordinances, for to make\nin Himself of twain one new man, making peace; and that He might\nreconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the\nenmity thereby; and came and preached peace to you which were afar\noff, and to them that were nigh. For through Him we both have access\nby one Spirit unto the Father.\" (Eph. ii. 11-18.)\n\nThus, from all that has passed before us, the reader will, we trust,\nfully see why it is that our Lord in His word to Simon Peter speaks of\nthe Church as a future thing. \"Upon this rock _I will build_ my\nChurch.\" He does not say, \"I have been,\" or, \"I am, building my\nChurch.\" Nothing of the kind. It could not be. It was still \"hid in\nGod.\" The Messiah had to be cut off and have nothing--nothing, for the\npresent, as regards Israel and the earth. He must be rejected,\ncrucified, and slain, in order to lay the foundation of the Church. It\nwas utterly impossible that a single stone could be laid in this new,\nthis wondrous building until \"the chief Corner-stone\" had passed\nthrough death and taken His place in the heavens. It was not in\nincarnation, but in resurrection, that our Lord Christ became Head of\na body.\n\nNow our apostle was not in the least prepared for this. He did not\nunderstand one jot or tittle of it. That Messiah should set up a\nkingdom in power and glory--that He should restore Israel to their\ndestined pre-eminence in the earth--all this he could understand and\nappreciate--he was looking for it. But a suffering Messiah--a rejected\nand crucified Christ--of this he could not hear just then. \"Be it far\nfrom Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee.\" These were the words\nwhich drew forth that withering rebuke with which we closed our last\npaper, \"Get thee behind Me, Satan; thou art an offence unto Me; for\nthou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of\nmen.\"\n\nWe may gather the gravity of his error from the severity of the\nrebuke. Peter had much to learn, much to go through, ere he could\ngrasp the great truth which His Lord was putting before him. But he\ndid grasp it, by the grace of God, and confess it, and teach it with\npower. He was led to see not only that Christ was the Son of the\nliving God, but that He was a rejected Stone, disallowed of men, but\nchosen of God and precious; and that all who through grace come to Him\nmust share His rejection on earth as well as His acceptance in heaven.\nThey are perfectly identified with Him.\n\n\n\n\nPART VI.\n\n\nAt the close of John vi. we have a very clear and beautiful confession\nof Christ from the lips of our apostle--a confession rendered all the\nmore touching and forcible by the circumstances under which it was\ndelivered.\n\nOur blessed Lord, in His teachings in the synagogue at Capernaum, had\nunfolded truth which puts the poor human heart to the test, and\nwithers up all the pretensions of man in a very remarkable manner. We\ncannot here attempt to enter upon the subject of our Lord's discourse,\nbut the effect of it is thus recorded:--\"From that time many of His\ndisciples went back, and walked no more with Him.\" They were not\nprepared for the reception of such heavenly doctrine. They were\noffended by it, and they turned their backs upon that blessed One who\nalone was worthy of all the affections of the heart, and of the homage\nand devotion of the whole moral being. \"_They went back, and walked no\nmore with Him._\"\n\nNow we are not told what became of these deserters, or whether they\nwere saved or not. No such question is raised. We are simply told that\nthey abandoned Christ, and ceased to be any longer publicly identified\nwith His name and His cause. How many, alas! have since followed their\nsad example! It is one thing to profess to be the disciples of\nChrist, and another thing altogether to stand with firm purpose of\nheart on the ground of public testimony for His name, in thorough\nidentification with a rejected Lord. It is one thing for people to\nflock to Christ because of the benefits which He bestows, and it is\nquite another to cleave to Him in the face of the world's scorn and\ncontempt. The application of the doctrine of the cross very speedily\nthins the ranks of professors. In the chapter before us we see at one\nmoment multitudes thronging enthusiastically around the Man who could\nso marvelously supply their need, and the next moment abandoning Him,\nwhen His teaching offended their pride.\n\nThus it has been, thus it is, and thus it will be until that day in\nthe which the despised Stranger of Nazareth shall reign from pole to\npole, and from the river to the ends of the earth. We are ready enough\nto avail ourselves of the benefits and blessings which _a loving\nSaviour_ can bestow upon us, but when it becomes a question of\nfollowing _a rejected Lord_ along that rough and lonely path which He\nhas trodden for us in this sinful world, we are disposed, like those\nof old, to go back, and walk no more with Him.\n\nThis is very sad and very humiliating. It proves how little we know of\nHis heart, or of what that heart desires from us. Jesus longs for\nfellowship. He does not want patronage. It does not meet the desire of\nHis heart to be followed, or admired, or gazed at, because of what He\ncan do or give. He delights in a heart taught of God to appreciate\nHis Person, for this glorifies and gratifies the Father. He retired\nfrom the gaze of an excited and tumultuous throng who would fain make\nHim a king, because they had eaten of the loaves and were filled; but\nHe could turn, with touching earnestness, to the little band of\nfollowers who still remained, and challenge their hearts with the\nquestion, \"Will ye also go away?\"\n\nHow deeply affecting! How it must have touched the hearts of all, save\nthat one who had no heart for aught but money--who was \"a thief\" and\n\"a devil!\" Alas! alas! a moment was approaching when all were to\nforsake Him and fly--when He was to be left absolutely _alone_,\nforsaken of men, forsaken of God--utterly and awfully deserted.\n\nBut that moment was yet future; and it is peculiarly refreshing to\nharken to the fine confession of our beloved apostle, in reply to the\ndeeply affecting inquiry of his Lord. \"Then Simon Peter answered Him,\nLord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we\nbelieve and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living\nGod.\"\n\nWell indeed might he say, \"To whom shall we go?\" There was not another\nthroughout the wide universe of God to whom the heart could turn. He\nalone could meet their every need, satisfy their every right desire,\nfill up every chamber of the heart. Simon Peter felt this, and hence,\nwith all his mistakes, his failures, and his infirmities, his loving\nand devoted heart turned with earnest affection to his beloved Lord.\nHe would not abandon Him, though little able to rise to the height of\nHis heavenly teaching. There was a link binding him to Jesus Christ\nwhich nothing could snap. \"Lord, to whom shall we go?\"--whither shall\nwe betake ourselves?--on whom could we reckon beside? True, there may\nbe trial and difficulty in the path of true discipleship. It may prove\na rough and a lonely path. The heart may be tried and tested in every\npossible way. There may be deep and varied sorrow--deep waters, dark\nshadows; but in the face of all we can say, \"To whom shall we go?\"\n\nAnd mark the singular fulness of Peter's confession. \"Thou _hast_ the\nwords of eternal life;\" and then, \"Thou _art_ that Christ, the Son of\nthe living God.\" We have the two things, namely, what He _has_, and\nwhat He _is_. Blessed be His name, Christ has all we can possibly want\nfor time and eternity. Words of eternal life flow from His lips into\nour hearts. He causes those who follow Him to \"inherit substance.\" He\nbestows upon them \"durable riches and righteousness.\" We may truly say\nthat, in comparison of what Christ has to give, all the riches,\nhonors, dignities, and pleasures of this world are but dross. They all\npass away as the vapors of the morning, and leave only an aching void\nbehind. Nothing that this world has to offer can possibly satisfy the\ncravings of the human soul. \"All is vanity and vexation of spirit.\"\nAnd not only so--it must be given up. If one had all the wealth of\nSolomon, it lasts but a moment in comparison with that boundless\neternity which lies before every one of us. When death approaches, all\nthe riches of the universe could not purchase one moment's respite.\nThe last great enemy gives no quarter. He ruthlessly snaps the link\nthat connects man with all that his poor heart prizes and loves upon\nearth, and hurries him away into eternity.\n\nAnd what then? Yes, this is the question. Who can answer it? Who can\nattempt to picture the future of a soul that passes into eternity\nwithout God, without Christ, without hope? Who can describe the\nhorrors of one who, all in a moment, opens his eyes to the fact--the\ntremendous fact--that he is lost, lost forever--hopelessly, eternally,\nlost? It is positively too dreadful to dwell upon it. And yet it must\nbe looked at; and if the reader is still of the world, still\nunconverted, careless, thoughtless, unbelieving, we would earnestly\nentreat of him now, just now, to give his earnest attention to the\nweighty and all-important question of his soul's salvation--a\nquestion, in comparison with which all other questions dwindle into\nutter insignificance. \"What shall it profit a man, if he should gain\nthe whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in\nexchange for his soul?\" It is, beyond all question, the most egregious\nfolly that any one can be guilty of to put off the grand business of\nhis soul's salvation.\n\nAnd if any one inquire what he has to do in this business, the answer\nis _Nothing_--\"nothing, either great or small.\" Jesus has the words\nof eternal life. He it is who says, \"Verily, verily, I say unto you,\nhe that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, _hath_\neverlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but _is passed_\nfrom death unto life.\"\n\nHere is the hinge on which the whole matter moves. Harken to the words\nof Christ. Believe in Him that sent His blessed Son. Put your trust in\nGod, and you shall be saved; you shall have eternal life, and never\ncome into judgment.\n\nNor is this all. Simon Peter, in his lovely confession, does not\nconfine himself to what Christ has to give, precious and blessed as\nthat is, but he also speaks of what He is. \"Thou art that Christ, the\nSon of the living God.\" This is full of deepest interest for the\nheart. Christ not only gives us eternal life, but He also becomes the\nobject of our heart's affections--our satisfying portion, our\nunfailing resource, our infallible Guide and Counselor, our constant\nreference, in all our need, in all our pressure, in all our sorrows\nand difficulties. We need never go to any one else for succor,\nsympathy, or guidance. We have all we want in Him. He is the eternal\ndelight of the heart of God, and He may well be the delight of our\nhearts here and hereafter, now and forever.\n\n\n\n\nPART VII.\n\n\nThe close of Matt. xiv. presents a scene in the life of our apostle on\nwhich we may dwell with profit for a few moments. It furnishes a very\nfine illustration of his own touching inquiry, \"Lord, to whom shall we\ngo?\"\n\nOur Lord having fed the multitude, and sent His disciples across the\nsea, retired into a mountain, to be alone in prayer. In this we have a\nstriking foreshadowing of the present time. Jesus has gone on high.\nIsrael is for the present set aside, but not forgotten. Days of\ntrouble will come--rough seas and stormy skies will fall to the lot of\nthe remnant; but their Messiah will return, and deliver them out of\nall their troubles. He will bring them to their desired haven, and all\nwill be peace and joy for the Israel of God.\n\nAll this is fully unfolded on the page of prophecy, and is of the\ndeepest interest to every lover of God and His word; but for the\npresent we can merely dwell upon the inspired record concerning Simon\nPeter, and seek to learn the lesson which that record so forcibly\nteaches. \"And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into\na ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the\nmultitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up\ninto a mountain apart to pray; and when the evening was come, He was\nthere alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed\nwith waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the\nnight Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples\nsaw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a\nspirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto\nthem, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter\nanswered Him, and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on\nthe water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the\nship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind\nboisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying,\nLord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and\ncaught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst\nthou doubt?\"\n\nThis brief passage presents to our view in a very forcible way some of\nthe leading features of Simon Peter's character. His zeal, his energy,\nhis real devotedness of heart, no one can for a moment call in\nquestion; but these very qualities--beautiful as they surely are--led\nhim not unfrequently into a position of such prominence as to render\nhis weak points all the more conspicuous. A man of less zeal, less\nenergy, would have remained on board the ship, and thus avoided\nPeter's failure and breakdown. Perhaps, too, men of cooler temperament\nwould condemn as unwarrantable rashness Peter's act in leaving the\nship, or pronounce it a piece of forwardness which justly deserved a\nhumiliating rebuff.\n\nAll this may be so; but we are free to confess that the zeal, energy\nand devotedness of this beloved servant of Christ have far more\npowerful charms for the heart than the cool, calculating,\nself-considering spirit which, in order to avoid the shame and\nhumiliation of a defeat, refuses to take a bold and decided step for\nChrist. True it is that Peter in the interesting scene now before us\ncompletely broke down. But why did he? Was it because he left the\nship? No; but because he ceased to look in simple faith to Jesus. Here\nlay the root of his failure. Had he only kept his eye on the Master,\nhe could have walked on the water though ever so rough. Faith can walk\non rough water as easily as on smooth. Nature cannot walk on either.\nIt is not a question of the state of the water, but the state of the\nheart. Circumstances have nothing to do with faith, except, indeed,\nthat when difficult and trying, they develop its power and brightness.\nThere was no reason whatever, in the judgment of faith, why Peter\nshould have failed in his walk on the water. Faith looks not at the\nthings that are seen and temporal, but at the things which are unseen\nand eternal. It endures as seeing Him who is invisible. \"Faith is the\nevidence of things _not seen_.\" It lifts the heart above the winds and\nwaves of this rough world, and keeps it in perfect peace, to the\npraise of Him who is the Giver of faith, as of \"every good and perfect\ngift.\"\n\nBut our beloved apostle utterly failed in faith on the occasion now\nbefore us. He, as we, alas! so often do, took his eye off the Lord\nand fixed it on his surroundings, and as a consequence he immediately\nbegan to sink. It must ever be so. We cannot get on for a single\nmoment save as we have the living God as a covering for our eyes. The\ngrand motto for the life of faith is, \"Looking off unto Jesus.\" It is\nthis alone which enables us to \"run the race set before us,\" be the\nway rough or smooth. When Peter came down out of the ship, it was\neither Christ or drowning. He might well say at such a moment, \"Lord,\nto whom shall I go?\" Whither could he turn? When on board the ship, he\nhad its timbers between him and death, but when on the water he had\nnothing but Jesus.\n\nAnd was not He enough? Yes, verily, if only Peter could have trusted\nHim. This is the point. All things are possible to him that believeth.\nStorms are hushed into a perfect calm, rough seas become like glass,\nlofty mountains are leveled, when faith brings the power of God to\nbear. The greater the difficulties, the brighter the triumphs of\nfaith. It is in the furnace that the real preciousness of faith is\ndisplayed. Faith has to do with God, and not with men or things. If we\ncease to lean on God, we have nothing but a wild, watery waste--a\nperfect chaos--around us, where nature's resources must hopelessly\nfail.\n\nAll this was proved by Simon Peter when he came down out of the ship\nto walk on the water; and every child of God and every servant of\nChrist must prove it in his measure, for Peter's history is full of\ngreat practical lessons for us all. If we want to walk above the\ncircumstances of the scene through which we are passing--if we would\nrise superior to its influences--if we would be able to give an\nanswer, clear, distinct, and decided, to the skepticism, the\nrationalism and the infidelity of the day in which we live--then,\nassuredly, we must keep the eye of faith firmly fixed on \"the Author\nand Perfecter of faith.\" It is not by logical skill or intellectual\npower we shall ever meet the arguments of the infidel, but by an\nabiding sense, a living and soul-satisfying apprehension, of the\nall-sufficiency of Christ--Himself--His work--His word--to meet our\nevery need, our every exigence.\n\nBut it may be the reader feels disposed to condemn Peter for leaving\nthe ship. He may think there was no need for his taking such a step.\nWhy not abide with his brethren on board the vessel? Was it not\npossible to be quite as devoted to Christ in the ship as on the water?\nAnd, further, did not the sequel prove that it would have been far\nbetter, and safer, and wiser, for Peter to remain where he was, than\nto venture forth on a course which he was not able to pursue?\n\nTo all this we reply that our apostle was evidently governed by an\nearnest desire to be nearer to his Lord. And this was right. He saw\nJesus walking on the water, and he longed to be with Him. And,\nfurther, he had the direct authority of his Lord for leaving the ship.\nWe fully and freely grant that without this it would have been a\nfatal mistake to leave his position; but the moment that word \"Come\"\nfell on his ear he had a divine warrant for going forth upon the\nwater--yea, to have remained would have been to miss great blessing.\n\nThus it is in every case. We must have authority before we can act in\nanything. Without this, the greater our zeal, energy, and apparent\ndevotedness, the more fatal will be our mistake, and the more mischief\nwe shall do to ourselves, to others, and to the cause of Christ. It is\nof the very last possible importance in every case, but especially\nwhere there is a measure of zeal, earnestness, and energy, that there\nshould be sober subjection to the authority of the Word. If there be\nnot this, there is no calculating the amount of mischief which may be\ndone. If our devotedness flow not in the channel of simple obedience,\nif it rush over the embankments formed by the word of God, the\nconsequences must be most disastrous.\n\nBut there is another thing which stands next in importance to the\nauthority of the _divine Word_, and that is the abiding realization of\nthe _divine presence_. These two things must never be separated if we\nwant to walk on the water. We may be quite clear and settled in our\nown minds, having distinct authority for any given line of action; but\nif we have not with equal distinctness the sense of the Lord's\npresence with us--if our eyes are not continually on the living\nGod--we shall most assuredly break down.\n\nThis is very serious, and demands the gravest consideration of the\nChristian reader. It was precisely here that Peter failed. He did not\nfail in obedience, but in realized dependence. He acted on the word of\nJesus in leaving the ship, but he failed to lean on the arm of Jesus\nin walking on the water; hence his terror and confusion. Mere\nauthority is not enough; we want power. To act without authority is\nwrong. To act without power is impossible. The authority for starting\nis the word. The power to proceed is the divine presence. The\ncombination of the two must ever yield a successful career. It matters\nnot in the smallest degree what the difficulties are if we have the\nstable authority of Holy Scripture for our course, and the blessed\nsupport of the presence of God in pursuing it. When God speaks, we\nmust obey; but in order to do so, we must lean on His arm. \"Have not I\ncommanded you?\" \"Lo, I am with you.\"\n\nHere are the two things so absolutely essential to every child of God\nand every servant of Christ. Without these, we can do nothing; with\nthem, we can do all things. If we have not a \"Thus saith the Lord,\" or\n\"It is written,\" we cannot enter upon a path of devotedness; and if we\nhave not His realized presence, we cannot pursue it. It is quite\npossible to be right in setting out, and yet to fail in going on.\n\nIt was so in the case of Simon Peter, and it has been so in the case\nof thousands since. It is one thing to make a good start, and another\nthing to make good progress. It is one thing to leave the ship, and\nanother thing to walk on the water. Peter did the former, but he\nfailed in the latter. This beloved servant of Christ broke down in his\ncourse; but where did he find himself? In the arms of a loving\nSaviour. \"Lord, save me!\" How touching! How deeply affecting! He casts\nhimself upon a well-known love--a love which was yet to meet him in\nfar more humiliating circumstances. Nor was he disappointed. Ah, no!\nBlessed be God, no poor failing creature can ever appeal to that love\nin vain. \"And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught\nhim, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou\ndoubt?\" Exquisite grace! If Peter failed to reach his Lord, his Lord\ndid not fail to reach him. If Peter failed in faith, Jesus could not\nfail in grace. Impossible. The grace of our Lord Jesus is exceeding\nabundant. He takes occasion from our very failures to display His rich\nand precious love. Oh, how blessed to have to do with such a tender,\npatient, loving Lord! Who would not trust Him and praise Him, love Him\nand serve Him?\n\n\n\n\nPART VIII.\n\n\nWe have now to follow our beloved apostle into the darkest and most\nhumbling scene in his entire history--a scene which we could hardly\nunderstand or account for if we did not know something of the infinite\ndepths of divine grace on the one hand, and, on the other hand, of the\nterrible depths into which even a saint of God or an apostle of Christ\nis capable of plunging if not kept by divine power.\n\nIt seems very wonderful to find on the page of inspiration the record\nof the fall of such an eminent servant of Christ as Simon Peter. We,\nin our wisdom, would judge it best to draw the curtain of silence over\nsuch an event. Not so the Holy Ghost. He has seen fit to tell us\nplainly of the errors, and failures, and sins, of such men as Abraham,\nMoses, David, Peter, and Paul, in order that we may learn holy lessons\nfrom such records--lessons of human frailty, lessons of divine grace,\nlessons full of solemn warning, and yet of most precious consolation\nand encouragement. We learn what we are, and we learn what God is. We\nlearn that we cannot trust ourselves for a single moment; for, if not\nkept by grace, there is no depth of sin into which we are not capable\nof falling; but we learn to trust the eternal stability of that grace\nwhich has dealt with the erring ones and sinning ones of other days,\nand to lean with ever-growing confidence on the One who is \"the same\nyesterday, to-day, and for ever.\"\n\nNot one of the four evangelists omits the fall of Peter. Let us open\nat Matt. xxvi.; \"And when they had sung a hymn they went out into the\nmount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended\nbecause of Me this night; for it is written, I will smite the\nShepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But\nafter I am risen again I will go before you into Galilee. Peter\nanswered and said unto Him, Though all shall be offended because of\nThee, yet will I never be offended.\"\n\nIn these few words Peter lets out the real root of the whole matter.\nThat root was self-confidence--alas! alas! no uncommon root amongst\nus. We do not in the least question Peter's sincerity. We feel\nperfectly sure he meant all he said; and, further, that he had not the\nmost remote idea of what he was about to do. He was ignorant of\nhimself, and we generally find that ignorance and self-confidence go\ntogether. Self-knowledge destroys self-confidence. The more fully self\nis known, the more it must be distrusted. If Peter had known himself,\nknown his tendencies and capabilities, he never would have uttered the\nwords which we have just penned. But so full was he of self-confidence,\nthat when his Lord told him expressly what He was about to do, he\nreplied, \"Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee.\"\n\nThis is peculiarly solemn. It is full of instruction for us all. We\nare all so ignorant of our own hearts that we deem ourselves incapable\nof falling into certain gross sins. But we should, every one of us,\nbear in mind that if not kept each moment by the grace of God, we are\ncapable of anything. We have materials in us for any amount or\ncharacter of evil; and whenever we hear any one saying, \"Well, I\ncertainly am a poor, failing, stumbling creature, but I am not capable\nof doing the like of that,\" we may feel assured he does not know his\nown heart; and not only so, but he is in imminent danger of falling\ninto some grievous sin. It is well to walk humbly before our God,\ndistrusting self, and leaning on Him. This is the true secret of moral\nsafety at all times. Had Peter realized this, it would have saved him\nhis terrible downfall.\n\nBut Peter was self-confident, and, as a consequence, he failed to\nwatch and pray. This was another stage in his downward journey. Had he\nonly felt his utter weakness, he would have sought for strength\ndivine. He would have cast himself on God for grace to help in time of\nneed. Look at the blessed Master! He, though God over all, blessed\nforever, yet being a Man, having taken the place of the creature, and\nfully entering into His position, was agonizing in prayer while Peter\nwas fast asleep. Yes, Peter slept in the garden of Gethsemane while\nhis Lord was passing through the deepest anguish He had yet tasted,\nthough deeper still lay before Him. \"Then cometh Jesus with them unto\na place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here,\nwhile I go and pray yonder. And He took with Him Peter and the sons of\nZebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith He unto\nthem, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; tarry ye here,\nand watch with Me. And He went a little further, and fell on His face,\nand prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass\nfrom Me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. And He cometh\nunto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and _saith unto Peter_,\nWhat! could ye not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye\nenter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh\nis weak.\"\n\nWhat tender grace! What readiness to make allowance! What moral\nelevation! And yet He felt the sad want of sympathy, the cold\nindifference to His sore agony. \"I looked for some to take pity, but\nthere was none; and for comforters, but I found none.\" How much is\ninvolved in these words! He looked for comforters. That perfect human\nheart craved sympathy; but, alas! there was none for Him. Even Peter,\nwho declared himself ready to die with Him, fell asleep in view of the\nagonies of Gethsemane.\n\nSuch is man--yea, the very best of men! Self-confident, when he ought\nto be self-distrusting--sleeping, when he ought to be watching; and,\nwe may add, fighting, when he ought to be submitting. \"Then Simon\nPeter, having a sword, drew it, and smote the high priest's servant,\nand cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.\" How\nincongruous, how utterly out of place, was a sword in company with the\nmeek and lowly Sufferer! \"Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy\nsword into the sheath: the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I\nnot drink it?\" Peter was entirely out of the current of his Master's\nspirit. He had not a thought in common with Him in reference to His\npath of suffering. He would fain defend Him with carnal weapons,\nforgetting that His kingdom was not of this world.\n\nAll this is peculiarly solemn. To find a dear and honored servant of\nChrist failing so grievously is surely sufficient to teach us to walk\nvery softly. But, alas! we have not yet reached the lowest point in\nPeter's downward course. Having used his sword in defence of his\nMaster, we next find him \"following afar off.\" \"Then took they Jesus,\nand led Him, and brought Him to the high priest's house. And _Peter\nfollowed afar off_. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of\nthe hall, and were set down together, _Peter sat down among them_.\"\n\nWhat company for an apostle of Christ! \"Can a man touch pitch, and not\nbe defiled by it? Can one walk on burning coals, and his feet not be\nburned?\" It is terribly dangerous for the Christian to sit down among\nthe enemies of Christ. The very fact of his doing so proves that\ndecline has set in, and made serious progress. In Peter's case the\nstages of decline are strongly marked. First, boasting in his own\nstrength; secondly, sleeping when he ought to have been praying;\nthirdly, drawing his sword when he ought to have been meekly bowing\nhis head; fourthly, following afar off; fifthly, making himself\ncomfortable in the midst of the open enemies of Christ.\n\nThen comes the last sad scene in this terrible drama. \"And as Peter\nwas beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high\npriest; and when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him,\nand said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied,\nsaying, _I know not, neither understand I, what thou sayest_. And he\nwent out into the porch; and the cock crew. And a maid saw him again,\nand began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. _And he\ndenied it again._ And a little after, they that stood by said again to\nPeter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art a Galilean, and thy\nspeech agreeth thereto. But _he began to curse and to swear, I know\nnot this man of whom ye speak_. And the second time the cock crew. And\nPeter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the\ncock crow twice thou shalt deny Me thrice. And when he thought\nthereon, he wept.\" (Mark xiv. 66-72.)\n\nLuke adds a most touching clause: \"_And the Lord turned and looked\nupon Peter._ And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had\nsaid unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And\nPeter went out, and wept bitterly.\"\n\nHow deeply affecting is all this! Only think of a saint of God, and an\napostle of Christ, cursing and swearing that he did not know his\nLord! Does the reader feel disposed to question the fact that Peter\nwas, spite of all this, a genuine saint of God? Some do question it,\nbut their questioning is a gross mistake. They find it hard to\nconceive such a thing as a true child of God falling so terribly. It\nis because they have not yet thoroughly learnt what flesh is. Peter\nwas as really a saint of God in the palace of the high priest as he\nwas on the mount of transfiguration. But he had to learn himself, and\nthat, too, by as humiliating and painful a process as any soul could\nwell be called to pass through. Doubtless, if any one had told Peter,\na few days before, that he would ere long curse and swear that he did\nnot know his Lord, he would have shrunk with horror from the thought.\nHe might have said, like one of old, \"Is thy servant a dog that he\nshould do this thing?\" Yet so it was. We know not what we may do until\nwe are in the circumstances. The great thing for us all is to walk\nhumbly with our God day by day, deeply sensible of our own utter\nweakness, and clinging to Him who is able to keep us from falling. We\nare safe only in the shelter of His presence. Left to ourselves, we\nare capable of anything, as our apostle found to his deep sorrow.\n\nBut the Lord was watching over His poor erring servant. He never lost\nsight of him for a single moment, He had His eye upon the whole\nprocess. The devil would have smashed the vessel in hopeless fragments\nif he could. But he could not. He was but an instrument in the divine\nhand to do a work for Peter which Peter had failed to do for himself.\n\"Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift\nyou as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and\nwhen thou art converted (or restored), strengthen thy brethren.\"\n\nHere we are permitted to see the root of the matter. Peter needed to\nbe sifted, and Satan was employed to do the work--just as in the case\nof Job, and the man in 1 Cor. v. It seems very wonderful, very\nmysterious, very solemn, that Satan should be so used. Yet so it is.\nGod uses him \"for the destruction of the flesh.\" He cannot touch the\nspirit. That is eternally safe. But it is terrible work to get into\nSatan's sieve. Peter found it so, and so did Job, and so did that\nerring Corinthian.\n\nBut oh, the _grace_ of those words! \"I have prayed for thee\"--not that\nhe might not fall, but, having fallen, that his faith might not fail,\nhis confidence might not give way. Nothing can surpass the grace that\nshines out here. The blessed One knew all that was to happen--the\nshameful denial--the cursing and swearing; and yet, \"I have prayed for\nthee that thy faith fail not\"--that thy confidence in the eternal\nstability of my grace may not give way.\n\nPerfectly marvelous! And then, the _power_ of that look! \"The Lord\nturned, and looked upon Peter.\" It was this that broke Peter's heart,\nand drew forth a flood of bitter, penitential tears.\n\n\n\n\nPART IX.\n\n\nWe are now called to consider the intensely interesting subject of\nSimon Peter's restoration, in which we shall find some points of the\nutmost practical importance. If in his fall we learn the frailty and\nfolly of man, in his restoration we learn the grace, wisdom, and\nfaithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fall was, indeed, deep,\nterrible, and humiliating. The restoration was complete and marvelous.\nWe may rest assured that Simon Peter will never forget either the one\nor the other; nay, he will remember them with wonder, love, and\npraise, throughout the countless ages of eternity. The grace that\nshines in Peter's restoration is the same which is displayed in his\nconversion. Let us glance at some of the salient points. It can be but\nthe merest glance, as our space is limited. And first let us look at\n\n\nTHE PROCURING CAUSE.\n\nThis we have given us with peculiar force by the pen of the inspired\nevangelist Luke. \"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath\ndesired to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat.\" If Satan had\nbeen suffered to have his way, poor Simon would have been hopelessly\nruined. But no; he was merely employed as an instrument, as he had\nbeen in Job's case, to do a needed work, and, when that work was done,\nhe had to retire. He dare not go one hair's breadth beyond his\nappointed sphere. It is well to remember this. Satan is but a\ncreature--crafty, wily, powerful, no doubt, but a creature who can\nonly go as far as he is permitted by God. Had Peter walked softly, had\nhe humbly and earnestly looked for divine help, had he been judging\nhimself in secret, there would have been no need of Satan's sifting.\nThanks be to God, Satan has no power whatever with a soul that walks\nhumbly with God. There is perfect shelter, perfect safety, in the\ndivine presence; and there is not an arrow in the enemy's quiver that\ncan reach one who leans in simple confidence upon the arm of the\nliving God. Here our apostle failed, and hence he had to pass through\na very severe process indeed, in order that he might learn himself.\n\nBut, oh, the power and preciousness of those words, \"_I have prayed\nfor thee_!\" Here assuredly lay the secret--here was the procuring\ncause of Simon's restoration. The prayer of Jesus sustained the soul\nof His erring servant in that terrible hour when the enemy would fain\nhave crushed him to powder. What could Satan do in opposition to the\nall-powerful intercession of Christ? Nothing. That wonderful prayer\nwas the ground of Peter's safety, when, to human view, all seemed\nhopelessly gone.\n\nAnd for what did our Lord pray? Was it that Peter might not commit the\nawful sin of denying Him? Was it that he might not curse and swear?\nClearly not. What then? \"I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail\nnot.\"\n\nCan aught exceed the grace that shines here? That gracious, loving,\nfaithful Lord, in view of Peter's terrible sin--knowing all he was\nabout to do, all the sad forgetfulness--could actually plead for him\nthat, spite of all, his confidence might not give way--that he might\nnot lose the sense of the eternal stability of that grace which had\ntaken him up from the depth of his ruin and guilt.\n\nMatchless grace! Nothing can surpass it in brightness and blessedness.\nHad it not been for this prayer, Peter's confidence must have given\nway. He never could have survived the awful struggle through which his\nsoul passed when thinking of his dreadful sin. When he came to\nhimself, when he reflected upon the whole scene, his expressions of\ndevotedness, \"Though all should deny Thee, yet will I never deny\nThee\"--\"Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee\"--\"I\nam ready to go with Thee to prison and to death\"--to think of all\nthese words, and yet that he should deny his beloved Lord with cursing\nand swearing, was overpowering.\n\nIt is a dreadful moment in the soul's history when one wakes up to the\nconsciousness of having committed sin--sin against light, knowledge,\nand privilege--sin against divine grace and goodness. Satan is sure to\nbe specially busy at such a crisis. He casts in the most terrible\nsuggestions--raises all manner of questions--fills the heart with\nlegal reasonings, doubts, and fears--causes the soul to totter on the\nfoundation.\n\nBut, thanks and praise to our God, the enemy cannot prevail. \"Hitherto\nshalt thou come, and no further.\" The all-prevailing intercession of\nour divine Advocate sustains the faith so sorely tried, carries the\nsoul through the deep and dark waters, restores the broken link of\ncommunion, heals the spiritual wounds, lifts up the fallen one, brings\nback the wanderer, and fills the heart with praise and thanksgiving.\n\"I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not; and when thou art\nrestored, strengthen thy brethren.\" Here we have set before us in the\nmost touching way _the procuring cause_ of Simon Peter's restoration.\nWe shall now look for a moment at\n\n\nTHE PRODUCING MEANS.\n\nFor this, too, we are indebted to the evangelist Luke. Indeed it is\nthrough him the inspiring Spirit has given us so much of what is\nexquisitely human--so much of what goes straight to our very hearts,\nin subduing power--so much of God coming out in loveliest human form.\n\nWe have already noticed Peter's gradual descent--his sad progress,\nfrom one stage to another, in moral distance and culpable\ndecline--forgetting to watch and pray--following afar off--warming\nhimself at the enemy's fire--the cowardly denial--the cursing and\nswearing. All this was down! down! down! shamefully and awfully down.\nBut when the erring, straying, sinning one had reached the very lowest\npoint, then comes out, with heavenly lustre, the grace that shines in\nthe procuring cause and the producing means of his restoration. The\nformer we have in Christ's _prayer_; the latter in Christ's _look_.\n\"The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word\nof the Lord, how He had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou\nshalt deny Me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.\"\n\nYes, here it is; \"The Lord _looked_\"--\"Peter remembered\"--Peter\nwept--\"wept bitterly.\" What a look! What a remembrance! What a\nweeping! What human heart can conceive, what tongue express, what pen\nportray, all that is wrapped up in that one look? We can well believe\nthat it went right home to the very centre of Peter's soul. He will\nnever forget that marvelous look, so full of mighty moral power--so\npenetrating--so melting--so soul-subduing.\n\n\"Peter went out, and wept bitterly.\" This was the turning point. Up to\nthis all was darkly downward. Here divine light breaks in upon the\ndeep moral gloom. Christ's most precious prayer is having its answer,\nHis powerful look is doing its work. The fountain of the heart is\nbroken up, and penitential tears flow copiously forth, demonstrating\nthe depth, reality, and intensity of the work within.\n\nThus it must ever be, and thus it will ever be when the Spirit of God\nworks in the soul. If we have sinned, we must be made to feel, to\njudge, and to confess our sin--to feel it deeply, judge it thoroughly,\nand confess it fully. It will not do merely to say, in levity,\nflippancy, or mere formality, \"I have sinned.\" There must be reality,\nuprightness, and sincerity. God desires truth in the inward parts.\nThere was nothing light, flippant, or formal about our beloved apostle\nin the hour of his fall and repentance. No, all was intensely real. It\ncould not but be so with such a procuring cause, and such a producing\nmeans. The prayer and look of Peter's Lord displayed their precious\nresults in Peter's restoration.\n\nNow the reader will do well to notice that the prayer and look of our\nLord Jesus Christ set forth, in a very striking and beautiful manner,\nthe two grand aspects of Christ's present ministry as our Advocate\nwith the Father. We have the value and prevalency of His intercession,\nand the power and efficacy of His word in the hands of the Holy Ghost,\nthat \"other Advocate.\" Christ's _prayer_ for Peter answers to His\nintercession for us. His _look_ upon Peter answers to His word brought\nhome to us in the power of the Holy Ghost. When we sin--as, alas! we\ndo in thought and deed--our blessed and adorable Advocate speaks to\nGod on our behalf. This is the procuring cause of our repentance and\nrestoration. But He speaks to us on God's behalf. This is the\nproducing means.\n\nWe shall not dwell upon the great subject of the advocacy here, having\nrecently sought to unfold it in our papers on \"The All-sufficiency of\nChrist.\" We shall close this paper with a brief reference to two or\nthree of the moral features of Peter's restoration--features which,\nbe it well remembered, must be looked for in every case of true\nrestoration. In the first place there is\n\n\nTHE STATE OF THE CONSCIENCE.\n\nNow, as to the full and complete restoration of Peter's conscience\nafter his terrible fall, we have the most unquestionable evidence\nafforded in his after history. Take the touching scene at the sea of\nTiberias, as given in John xxi.[4] Look at that dear, earnest,\nthorough man, girding his fisher's coat around him, and plunging into\nthe sea, in order to get to the feet of his risen Lord! He waits\nneither for the ship nor for his companions, but in all the lovely\nfreshness and liberty of a divinely restored conscience, he rushes to\nhis Saviour's feet. There is no tormenting fear, no legal bondage, no\ndoubt, darkness, or distance. His conscience is perfectly at rest. The\nprayer and the look--the two grand departments of the work of\nadvocacy--had proved effectual. Peter's conscience was all right,\nsound, and good; and hence he could find his home in the presence of\nhis Lord--his holy, happy home.\n\n  [4] We have no record of Peter's first meeting with his Lord, after\n  the resurrection.\n\nTake another striking and beautiful evidence of a restored conscience.\nLook at Peter in Acts iii. There he stands in the presence of\nassembled thousands of Jews, and boldly charges them with having\n\"denied the Holy One and the Just\"--the very thing which he himself\nhad done though under circumstances very different. How could Peter do\nthis? How could he have the face to speak so? Why not leave it to\nJames or John to prefer this heavy charge? The answer is blessedly\nsimple. Peter's conscience was so thoroughly restored, so perfectly at\nrest, because perfectly purged, that he could fearlessly charge the\nhouse of Israel with the awful sin of denying the Holy One of God. Was\nthis the fruit of moral insensibility? Nay, it was the fruit of divine\nrestoration. Had any one of the congregation gathered in Solomon's\nporch undertaken to challenge our apostle as to his own shameful\ndenial of his Lord, we can easily conceive his answer. The man who had\n\"wept bitterly\" over his sin would, we feel assured, know how to\nanswer such a challenge. Not that his bitter weeping was the\nmeritorious ground of his restoration; nothing of the kind, it only\nproved the reality of the work of repentance in his soul. Moral\ninsensibility is one thing, and a restored conscience, resting on the\nblood and advocacy of Christ, is quite another.\n\nBut there is another thing involved in a true work of restoration, and\nthat is\n\n\nTHE STATE OF THE HEART.\n\nThis is of the very utmost importance in every instance. No\nrestoration can be considered divinely complete which does not reach\nthe very depths of the heart. And hence, when we turn back to the\nscenes on the shore of the sea of Tiberias, we find the Lord dealing\nvery closely and very powerfully with the state of Peter's heart. We\ncannot attempt to expatiate, much as we should like to do so, on one\nof the most affecting interviews in the entire volume of God. We can\ndo little more than quote the inspired record, but that is quite\nenough.\n\nIt is deeply interesting to notice that there is no allusion--not the\nmost remote--to past scenes, during that wonderful dinner, provided,\ncooked, and dispensed by the risen Lord! But \"when they had dined,\nJesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more\nthan these?\" Here Simon is recalled by the words of his faithful Lord\nto his self-confident profession. He had said, \"Though all shall be\noffended, yet will not I.\" Then the searching question, three times\nrepeated, evidently calls back the threefold denial.\n\nPeter's _heart_ is touched--the moral _root_ of the whole matter is\nreached. This was absolutely necessary in Peter's case, and it is\nabsolutely necessary in every case. The work of restoration can never\nbe thorough unless the roots of things are reached and judged. Mere\nsurface work will never do. It is of no use to crop the sprouts; we\nmust get down to the depths, the hidden springs, the moral sources,\nand judge them in the very light of the divine presence.\n\nThis is the true secret of all genuine restoration. Let us ponder it\ndeeply. We may rest assured it demands our most solemn consideration.\nWe are all too apt to rest satisfied with cropping off the sprouts\nthat appear above the surface of our practical daily life, without\ngetting at the roots; and the sad consequence is that the sprouts\nquickly appear again, to our sorrow and shame, and the dishonor of our\nLord's name. The work of self-judgment must be more profound if we\nwould really make progress. We are terribly shallow, light, and\nflippant. We greatly lack depth, seriousness, and moral gravity. We\nwant more of that heart-work which was wrought in Simon the son of\nJonas on the shore of the sea of Tiberias. \"Peter was grieved because\nHe said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me?\" The knife of the\ndivine Operator had reached the root of the moral disease, and that\nwas enough. It was needful, but it was enough; and the grieved and\nself-judged Simon Peter has only to fall back upon the great fact that\nhis Lord knew all things. \"Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest\nthat I love Thee.\" It is as though he had said, \"Lord, it demands the\neye of Omniscience itself to discern in the heart of the poor erring\none a single spark of affection for Thee.\"\n\nReader, this truly is real work. We have before us a thoroughly\nrestored soul--restored in conscience, restored in heart. And if it be\nasked, \"What remains?\" the answer is, We see a servant\n\n\nRESTORED TO HIS WORK.\n\nSome would tell us that if a man falls, he can never recover his\nposition; and no doubt, under _government_, we must reap as we sow.\nBut _grace_ is another thing altogether. Government drove Adam out of\nEden, and never replaced him there, but grace announced the victorious\nSeed of the woman. Government kept Moses out of Canaan, but grace\nconducted him to Pisgah's top. Government sent a perpetual sword upon\nDavid's house, but grace made the son of Bathsheba the wisest and\nwealthiest of Israel's kings.\n\nThis distinction must never be lost sight of. To confound grace and\ngovernment is to commit a very grave mistake indeed. We cannot attempt\nto enter upon this weighty subject here, having done so in one of our\nearlier volumes. But let the reader seek to understand it, and bear it\never in mind.\n\nAs to Simon Peter, we not only see him restored to the work to which\nhe was called at the first, but to something even higher. \"Feed My\nlambs--shepherd My sheep\"--is the new commission given to the man who\nhad denied his Lord with an oath. Is not this something beyond\n\"catching men?\" \"When thou art restored, strengthen thy brethren.\" Can\nanything in the way of service be more elevated than shepherding\nsheep, feeding lambs, and strengthening brethren? There is nothing in\nall this world nearer or dearer to the heart of Christ than His sheep,\nHis lambs, His brethren: and hence He could not have given Simon Peter\na more affecting proof of His confidence than by committing to his\ncare the dearest objects of His deep and tender love.\n\nAnd then mark the closing words, \"Verily, verily, I say unto thee,\nwhen thou wast _young_, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither\nthou wouldest; but when thou shalt be _old_, thou shalt stretch forth\nthy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou\nwouldest not. This spake He, signifying by what death he should\nglorify God. And when He had spoken this, He saith unto him, FOLLOW\nME.\"\n\nWhat weighty words are these! Who can tell their depth, power, and\nsignificance? What a contrast between Simon, \"_young_,\" restless,\nforward, blundering, boastful, self-confident; and Peter, \"_old_,\"\nsubdued, mellowed, passive, crucified! What a difference between a man\nwalking whither he would, and a man following a rejected Lord along\nthe dark and narrow pathway of the cross, home to glory!\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\n\nWe could not close this series of papers without glancing, however\ncursorily, at the way in which our apostle discharged his various\ncommissions. We see him \"catching men;\" opening the kingdom of heaven\nto the Jew and to the Gentile; and, finally, feeding and shepherding\nthe lambs and sheep of the flock of Christ.\n\nElevated services these, for any poor mortal to be called to, and more\nespecially for one who had fallen so deeply as Simon Peter. But the\nremarkable power with which he was enabled to fulfil his blessed\nservice proved beyond all question the reality and completeness of his\nrestoration. If, at the close of the Gospels, we see Peter restored in\nheart and conscience, in the Acts and in his epistles we see him\nrestored to his work.\n\nWe cannot attempt to go into details; but a point or two must be\nbriefly noticed. There is something uncommonly fine in Peter's address\nin the third chapter of Acts. We can only quote a sentence or two:\n\"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our\nfathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and\n_denied Him_ in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let\nHim go. But _ye denied the Holy One and the Just_.\"\n\nWhat a splendid evidence we have here of Peter's complete restoration!\nIt would have been utterly impossible for him to charge his audience\nwith having denied the Holy One if his own soul had not been fully and\nblessedly restored. Alas! he, too, had denied his Lord; but he had\nrepented, and wept bitterly. He had been down in the depths of\nself-judgment, just where he desired to see every one of his hearers.\nHe had been face to face with his Lord, just where he longed to see\nthem. He had been given to taste the sweetness, the freeness, the\nfulness, of the pardoning love of God, to prove the divine efficacy of\nthe atonement and the prevalency of the advocacy of Christ. He was\npardoned, healed, restored; and as such he stood in their presence a\nliving and striking monument of that grace which he was unfolding to\nthem, and which was amply sufficient for them as it had proved for\nhim. \"Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be\nblotted out.\"\n\nWho could more distinctly and emphatically utter such precious words\nthan the erring, restored and forgiven Peter? If any one of his\naudience had ventured to remind the preacher of his own history, what\nwould he have said in reply? Doubtless he would have had little to say\nabout himself, but much, very much, to say about that rich and\nprecious grace which had triumphed over all his sin and failure--much,\nvery much, about that precious blood which had canceled forever all\nhis guilt, and given perfect peace to his conscience--much, very much,\nabout that all-prevailing advocacy to which he owed his full and\nperfect restoration.\n\nPeter was just the man to unfold to others those glorious themes in\nwhich he had so thoroughly learnt to find his strength, his comfort,\nand his joy. He had proved in no ordinary way the reality and\nstability of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was no mere empty\ntheory, no mere doctrine or opinion, with him. It was all intensely\nreal to him. His very life and salvation were bound up in it. He knew\nthe heart of Christ in a very intimate way. He knew its infinite\ntenderness and compassion, its unswerving devotedness in the face of\nmany stumbles, shortcomings, and sins; and hence he could bear the\nmost distinct and powerful testimony to the whole house of Israel to\nthe power of the name of Jesus, the efficacy of His blood, and the\ndeep and infinite love of His heart. \"His name, through faith in His\nname, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know; yea, the faith\nwhich is by Him hath given him _this perfect soundness_ in the\npresence of you all.\"\n\nWhat power in these words! How refreshing is the testimony to the\npeerless name of Jesus! It is perfectly delightful at all times, but\nspecially so in this infidel day in which our lot is cast--a day so\nmarked by the determined and persistent effort of the enemy to exclude\nthe name of Jesus from every department.\n\nLook where you will, whether it be in the domain of science, of\nreligion, of philanthropy, or moral reform, and you see the same\nsedulous and diligently pursued purpose to banish the name of Jesus.\nIt is not said so in plain terms, but it is so nevertheless.\nScientific men, the professors and lecturers in our universities, talk\nand write about \"the forces of nature\" and the facts of science in\nsuch a way as practically to exclude the Christ of God from the whole\nfield of nature. Scripture tells us, blessed be God, that by the Son\nof His love \"All things were created that are in heaven, and that are\nin earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or\nprincipalities or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him:\nand He is before all things, and _by Him all things consist_.\" And\nagain, speaking of the Son, the inspiring Spirit says, \"Who being the\nbrightness of God's glory, and the express image of His person, and\n_upholding all things by the word of His power_, when He had by\nHimself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on\nhigh.\" (Col. i., Heb. i.)\n\nThese passages lead us to the divine root of the matter. They speak\nnot of \"the forces of nature,\" but of the glory of Christ, the power\nof His hand, the virtue of His word. Infidelity would rob us of\nChrist, and give us, instead, \"the forces of nature.\" We vastly prefer\nour own beloved Lord. We delight to see His name bound up,\nindissolubly, with creation in all its vast and marvelous fields. We\nvastly prefer the eternal record of the Holy Ghost to all the\nfinely-spun theories of infidel professors. We rejoice to see the name\nof Jesus bound up in every department of religion and philanthropy. We\nshrink with ever-increasing horror from every system, every club,\nevery order, every association, that dares to shut out the glorious\nname of Jesus from its schemes of religion and moral reform. We do\nsolemnly declare that the religion, the philanthropy, the moral\nreform, which does not make the name of Jesus its Alpha and its Omega,\nis the religion, the philanthropy and the moral reform of hell. This\nmay seem strong, severe, ultra, and narrow-minded, but it is our deep\nand thorough conviction, and we utter it fearlessly, in the presence\nof all the infidelity and superstition of the day.\n\nBut we must return to our apostle's discourse, which has wakened up\nthose glowing sentiments in the very depths of the soul.\n\nHaving charged home their terrible sin upon the consciences of his\nhearers, he proceeds to apply the healing, soothing balm of the\ngospel, in words of marvelous power and sweetness: \"And now, brethren,\nI wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But\nthose things which God before had showed by the mouth of all His\nprophets that Christ should suffer, _He hath so fulfilled_.\" Nothing\ncan exceed the grace of this. It recalls the words of Joseph to his\ntroubled brethren: \"It was not you that sent me hither, but God.\" Such\nis the exquisite grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, such the infinite\nlove and goodness of our God.\n\n\"Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted\nout, when the time of refreshing shall come from (or by) the presence\nof the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was\npreached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of\nrestitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all\nHis holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the\nfathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your\nbrethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He\nshall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul which\nwill not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.\nYea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as\nmany as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the\nchildren of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our\nfathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds\nof the earth be blessed. _Unto you first_ God, having raised up His\nSon Jesus, _sent Him to bless you_, in turning away every one of you\nfrom his iniquities.\"\n\nThus did this dear and honored apostle, in the power of the Holy\nGhost, throw wide open the kingdom of heaven to the Jews, in pursuance\nof his high commission as recorded in the sixteenth chapter of the\nGospel of Matthew. It is what we may well call a splendid testimony,\nfrom first to last. Most gladly would we linger over it; but our\nlimited space forbids. We can only commend it to the earnest study of\nthe reader, and pass on, for a few moments, to the tenth chapter of\nActs which records the opening of the kingdom to the Gentile.\n\nWe assume that the reader understands the truth in reference to the\nkeys of the kingdom of heaven being committed to Peter. We shall not\ntherefore occupy his time or our own in combating the ignorant\nsuperstition which attributes to our apostle what we may rest assured\nhe would have rejected with intense and holy horror, namely, the power\nto let souls into heaven. Detestable folly! which, while it\nobstinately refuses Christ, who is God's _only_ way to heaven, will\nblindly build upon some poor sinful mortal like ourselves who himself\nwas a debtor to the sovereign grace of God and the precious blood of\nChrist for his entrance into the Church on earth and into heaven\nabove.\n\nBut enough of this. All intelligent Christians understand that the\napostle Peter was commissioned, by his Lord and ours, to open the\nkingdom of heaven to both Jew and Gentile. To him were committed the\nkeys, not of the Church, nor yet of heaven, but of \"the kingdom of\nheaven;\" and we find him using them in Acts iii. and x.\n\nBut he was by no means so alert in taking up the latter as he was in\ntaking up the former. Prejudice--that sad hindrance then, now, and\nalways--stood in the way. He needed to have his mind enlarged to take\nin the divine purpose in respect to the Gentiles. To one trained amid\nthe influences of the Jewish system, it seemed one thing to admit Jews\ninto the kingdom, and quite another to admit Gentiles. Our apostle had\nto get further instruction in the school of Christ ere his mind could\ntake in the \"no difference\" doctrine. \"Ye know,\" he says to\nCornelius, \"how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew\nto keep company or come unto one of another nation.\" Thus had it been\nin days gone by; but now all was changed. The middle wall was broken\ndown--the barriers were swept away; \"God hath shewed me that I should\nnot call any man common or unclean.\" He had seen, in a vessel which\ncame from heaven, and returned thither, \"_all manner_ of fourfooted\nbeasts,\" and a voice from heaven had commanded him to slay and eat.\nThis was something new to Simon Peter. It was a wonderful lesson he\nwas called to learn on the housetop of Simon the tanner. He was there,\nfor the first time, taught that \"God is no respecter of persons,\" and\nthat what God hath cleansed no man may call common.\n\nAll this was good and healthful for the soul of our apostle. It was\nwell to have his heart enlarged to take in the precious thoughts of\nGod--to see the old barriers swept away before the magnificent tide of\ngrace flowing from the heart of God over a lost world--to learn that\nthe question of \"clean\" or \"unclean\" was no longer to be decided by an\nexamination of hoofs and habits (Lev. xi.)--that the same precious\nblood of Christ which could cleanse a Jew could cleanse a Gentile\nalso; and, moreover, that the former needed it just as much as the\nlatter.\n\nThis, we repeat, was most valuable instruction for the heart and\nunderstanding of Simon Peter; and if the reader wants to know how far\nhe took it in and appreciated it, he has but to turn to Acts xv. and\nread the apostle's own commentary upon the matter. The Church had\nreached a solemn crisis. Judaizing teachers had begun their terrible\nwork. They would fain bring the Gentile converts under the law. The\noccasion was intensely interesting and deeply important--yea, solemnly\nmomentous. The very foundations were at stake. If the enemy could but\nsucceed in bringing the Gentile believers under the law, all was gone.\n\nBut, all praise to our ever-gracious God, He did not abandon His\nChurch to the power or wiles of the adversary. When the enemy came in\nlike a flood, the Spirit of the Lord raised up a standard against him.\nA great meeting was convened--not in some obscure corner, but at\nJerusalem, the very centre and source of all the religious influence\nof the moment--the very place, too, from whence the evil had emanated.\nGod took care that the great question should not be decided at Antioch\nby Paul and Barnabas, but at Jerusalem itself, by the unanimous voice\nof the apostles, elders, and the whole Church, governed, guided and\ntaught by God the Holy Ghost.\n\nAt this great meeting our apostle delivered himself in a style that\nstirs the very deepest springs of our spiritual life. Hear his words:\n\"And when there had been much disputing\"--Alas! how soon the miserable\ndisputing began--\"Peter rose up and said unto them, Men, brethren, ye\nknow how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the\nGentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.\nAnd God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the\nHoly Ghost even as He did unto us, and put _no difference between us\nand them_, purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, _why tempt\nye God_ to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our\nfathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that by the grace of\nour Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved _even as they_.\"\n\nThis is morally grand. He does not say, \"They shall be saved even as\nwe.\" No; but \"We shall be saved even as they\"--on the same ground,\nafter the same model, in the same way. The Jew comes down from his\nlofty dispensational position, only too thankful to be saved, just\nlike the poor Gentile, by the precious grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nHow those words of the apostle of the circumcision must have refreshed\nand delighted the heart of Paul as he sat at this never-to-be-forgotten\nmeeting! Not that Paul sought in any way the countenance, the support,\nor authority of man. He had received his gospel and his commission,\nnot from Peter, but from Peter's Lord; and from Him, too, not as the\nMessiah on earth, but as the risen and glorified Son of God in heaven.\nStill, we cannot doubt that the testimony of his beloved\nfellow-laborer was deeply interesting and cordially welcome to the\napostle of the Gentiles. We can only say, Alas! alas! that there\nshould have been aught in the after-course of that fellow-laborer in\nthe smallest degree inconsistent with his splendid testimony at the\nconference. Alas! that Peter's conduct at Antioch should vary so much\nfrom his words at Jerusalem. See Gal. ii.\n\nBut such is man, even the best of men, if left to himself. And the\nhigher the man is, the more mischief he is sure to do if he makes a\nstumble. We shall not, however, dwell on the sad and painful scene at\nAntioch, between those two most excellent servants. They are both now\nin heaven, in the presence of their beloved Lord, where the\nremembrance of past failure and sin only enhances the value of that\nblood which cleanseth from all sin, and of that grace which reigns,\nthrough righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord.\nThe Holy Ghost has thought proper to record the fact that our apostle\nfailed in frankness and integrity at Antioch; and further, that the\nblessed apostle of the Gentiles had to withstand him to the face; but\nwe are not going to expatiate upon it. We would profit by it, as well\nwe may, for it is full of deep instruction and solemn warning. If such\na one as the apostle Peter, after all his experience, his fall and\nrestoration, his long course of service, his intimate acquaintance\nwith the heart of Christ, all the instruction he had received, all his\ngifts and knowledge, all his powerful preaching and teaching--if such\na one as this could, after all, dissemble through fear of man, or to\nhold a place in man's esteem, what shall we say for ourselves? Simply\nthis:\n\n    \"O Lamb of God, still keep me close to Thy pierced side;\n    'Tis only there in safety and peace I can abide.\n    When foes and snares surround me, when lusts and fears within,\n    The grace that sought and found me, alone can keep me clean.\"\n\nMay the Lord greatly bless to our souls our meditation on the history\nof Simon Peter! May his life and its lessons be used of the Holy Ghost\nto deepen in our souls the sense of our own utter weakness and of the\nmatchless grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n\n\n\nCHRISTIAN PERFECTION:\n\nWHAT IS IT?\n\n\nThere are few thoughtful students of the New Testament who have not,\nat some time or another, felt a little perplexed as to the real force\nand application of the word \"perfect,\" which is of frequent\noccurrence. This word is used in such a variety of connections that it\nis deeply important we should be clear as to what the Holy Ghost means\nby it in each particular case. We believe the context will, generally\nspeaking, guide as to a right understanding of the just sense and\napplication of the word in any given passage. We are aware that the\nsubject of \"Christian Perfection\" has given rise to much theological\nstrife and controversy; but we must at the outset assure our readers\nthat it is not by any means our intention to take up the question in a\ncontroversial way; we shall merely seek to bring under their notice\nthe various passages in the New Testament in which the word \"perfect\"\noccurs, or at least some of the leading instances of its use, trusting\nthe Lord to use what He may give us to write, for the glory of His\nname and the profit of those precious souls for whom we ever desire to\nwrite. We shall not trace the word in the order in which it occurs,\nbut rather in that order which the real need of the soul would\nnaturally suggest. In this way we shall find that the first great\naspect of Christian perfection is presented to us in the ninth verse\nof the ninth chapter of Hebrews, and may be denominated\n\n\nPERFECTION AS TO THE STATE OF THE CONSCIENCE.\n\n\"Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered\nboth gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the\nservice _perfect_ (\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03c9\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9) as pertaining to the\nconscience.\" The apostle, in this passage, is drawing a contrast\nbetween the sacrifices under the Mosaic economy, and the sacrifice of\nChrist. The former could never give a perfect conscience, simply\nbecause they were imperfect in themselves. It was impossible that the\nblood of a bullock or of a goat could ever give a perfect conscience.\nHence, therefore, the conscience of a Jewish worshiper was never\nperfect. He had not, if we may use the expression, reached his moral\nend as to the condition of his conscience. He could never say that his\nconscience was perfectly purged, because he had not yet reached a\nperfect sacrifice.\n\nWith the Christian worshiper, however, it is different. He has,\nblessed be God, reached his moral end. He has arrived at a point, so\nfar as the state of his conscience is concerned, beyond which it is\nutterly impossible for him to go. He cannot get beyond the blood of\nJesus Christ. He is perfect as to his conscience. As is the sacrifice,\nso is the conscience that rests thereon. If the sacrifice is\nimperfect, so is the conscience. They stand or fall together. Nothing\ncan be simpler, nothing more solid, nothing more consolatory, for any\nawakened conscience. It is not at all a question of what I am; _that_\nhas been fully and forever settled. I have been found out, judged, and\ncondemned in myself. \"In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good.\" I\nhave got to the end of myself, and there I have reached the blood of\nChrist. I want no more. What could be added to that most precious\nblood? Nothing. I am perfect, as to the state of my conscience. I do\nnot want an ordinance, a sacrament, or a ceremony, to perfect the\ncondition of my conscience. To say so, to think so, would be to cast\ndishonor upon the sacrifice of the Son of God.\n\nThe reader will do well to get a clear and firm hold of this\nfoundation-point. If there be any darkness or uncertainty as to this,\nhe will be wholly unable to understand or appreciate the various\naspects of \"Christian Perfection\" which are yet to pass in review\nbefore us. It is quite possible that many pious people fail to enjoy\nthe unspeakable blessing of a perfect conscience by reason of\nself-occupation. They look in at self, and not finding aught there to\nrest upon--who ever did?--they deem it presumption to think of being\nperfect in any respect whatever. This is a mistake. It may be a pious\nmistake, but it is a mistake. Were we to speak of perfection in the\nflesh (what many, alas, are vainly aiming at), then, verily, true\npiety might recoil with just horror from the presumptuous and silly\nchimera. But, thank God, our theme is not perfection in the flesh,\nthrough any process of improvement, moral, social, or religious. This\nwould be poor, dreary, depressing work indeed. It would be setting us\nto look for perfection in the old creation, where sin and death reign.\nTo look for perfection amid the dust of the old creation were a\nhopeless task. And yet how many are thus engaged! They are seeking to\n_improve man and mend the world_; and yet, with all this, they have\nnever reached, never understood--yea, they actually deny--the very\nfirst and simplest aspect of Christian perfection, namely, perfection\nas to the state of the conscience in the presence of God.\n\nThis latter is our thesis, and we want the anxious reader to\nunderstand it in its simplicity, in order that he may see the solid\nfoundation of his peace laid down by the very hand of God Himself. We\nwant him, ere he lays aside this paper, to enter into the joyful sense\nof sins perfectly forgiven, and his conscience perfectly purged by the\nblood of Jesus. The entire matter hinges upon the question of the\nsacrifice. What has God found in that sacrifice? Perfection. Well,\nthen, that perfection is for you, anxious one, and you should at once\nand forever enjoy it. Remember, it is not a question as to what you\nare, nor yet as to what you think about the blood of Christ. No, dear\nfriend: the question is, What does God think about the blood of His\nown Son? This makes all so clear. Say, is it clear to you? Can you now\nrest in it? Is your conscience set free by being brought in contact\nwith a perfect sacrifice? Oh that it may be so! May God's Spirit now\nshow you the fulness and perfectness of Christ's atoning work with\nsuch clearness, vividness and power that your whole being may be\nemancipated, and your heart filled with praise and thanksgiving!\n\nIt makes the heart bleed to think of the thousands of precious souls\nkept in darkness and bondage when they ought to be walking in the\nlight and liberty which flow from a perfectly purged conscience. So\nmany things are mixed up with the simple testimony of the Word and\nSpirit of God as to the value of Christ's work that it is wholly\nimpossible for the heart to get liberated. You will get a little bit\nof Christ, and a little bit of self; a little bit of grace, and a\nlittle bit of law; a little bit of faith, and a little bit of works.\nThus the soul is kept hovering between confidence and doubt, hope and\nfear, just as one or other of the ingredients predominates in the\nmixture, or happens to be tasted at the moment. How rare is the gem of\nfull, free, present, and eternal salvation! We would fain cause that\ngem to sparkle in all its divine and heavenly lustre under the gaze of\nthe reader at this moment. Then shall the chains of his spiritual\nbondage drop off. If the Son shall make him free he shall be free\nindeed, and thus be able to rise in the power of this freedom and\ntrample the legal system beneath his feet.\n\nThe more we ponder the question now before us--and we have pondered it\na good deal--the more we are convinced that the true secret of all\nthe error, confusion and perplexity in which so many are involved in\nreference to it will be found in the fact that they do not clearly\nunderstand death and resurrection--the new birth--the new creation.\nWere this grand truth only laid hold of in power it would make all\nclear as to the state of the conscience. So long as I am seeking to\ntranquilize my conscience by efforts after self-improvement, so long I\nmust be either miserable or self-deceived. It does not matter in the\nleast what means I adopt in carrying on the process; the issue must be\none and the same. If I attempt to take up the profession of\nChristianity for the purpose of bettering _self_--improving nature or\nmending my condition in the old creation--I must be a total stranger\nto the bliss of a perfect conscience. \"All flesh is as grass.\" The old\ncreation lies under the withering influences of sin and its curse. A\nrisen Christ is the Head of the new creation--\"the beginning of the\ncreation of God\"--\"the first-begotten from among the dead\" (\u03b5\u03ba\n\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u03bd\u03b5\u03ba\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd).\n\nHere in very deed is perfection for the conscience. What more do I\nwant? I see the One who hung upon the cross, charged with the full\nweight of all my sins, now crowned with glory and honor at the right\nhand of God, amid the full blaze of heaven's majesty. What can be\nadded to this? Do I want ordinances, rites, ceremonies, or sacraments?\nSurely not. I dare not add aught to the death and resurrection of the\neternal Son of God. The ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper\nsymbolize and celebrate that grand reality; and, so far, they are\nprecious to the Christian--most precious. But when, instead of being\nused to symbolize and celebrate death and resurrection, they are used\nto displace it,--used as patches upon the old creation, as crutches\nfor the old man,--they must be regarded as a snare, a curse, from\nwhich may the Lord deliver the souls of His people!\n\nWe would fain dwell upon this our first point because of its immense\nimportance in this day of ordinances, traditionary religion, and\nself-improvement. We should like to ponder it--to elaborate,\nillustrate and enforce it--in order that the reader may get a clear,\nfull, bold grasp of it. But we look to God the Holy Ghost to do His\nown work in this matter; and if He will graciously bring the heart\nunder the power of the truth which has been so feebly unfolded, then\nindeed will there be both ability and leisure to look at the second\ngreat aspect of Christian perfection, namely,\n\n\nPERFECTION AS TO THE OBJECT OF THE HEART.\n\nHere, again, we are ushered into the new creation. Christ died to give\nme a perfect conscience. He lives to give me a perfect object. But it\nis very clear that until I have tasted the deep blessedness of the\nformer, I can never be properly occupied with the latter. I must have\na perfect conscience ere my heart can be at leisure to go out after\nthe person of Christ. How few of us really taste the sweetness of\ncommunion with a risen Christ! How little do any of us know of that\nfixedness of heart upon Him as our one paramount, engrossing,\nundivided object! We are occupied with our own things. The world\ncreeps in, in one way or another; we live in the region of nature; we\nbreathe the atmosphere--the dark, heavy, murky atmosphere--of the old\ncreation; self is indulged; and thus our spiritual vision becomes\ndimmed, we lose our sense of peace, the soul becomes disturbed, the\nheart unhinged, the Holy Ghost grieved, the conscience exercised. Then\nthe eye is turned in upon self and back upon its actings. The time\nthat else might be spent in holy and happy occupation with our Object\nis, and must be, devoted to the business of self-judgment--heavy, but\nneeded work!--in order to get back into the enjoyment of what we\nshould never have lost, even a perfect conscience.\n\nNow, the moment the eye is turned off from Christ darkness must set\nin--ofttimes darkness that may be felt. It is only as the eye is\nsingle that the body is full of light. And what, beloved reader, is a\nsingle eye but having Christ for our one object? It is thus that light\ndivine pours in upon us, until every chamber of our moral being\nbecomes lighted up, and we become lights for others, \"as when the\nbright shining of a candle doth give thee light.\" In this way the soul\nis kept happily free from obscurity, perplexity, and anxiety. It finds\nall its springs in Christ. It is independent of the world, and can\nmove on, singing--\n\n    \"Salvation in that name is found,\n      Cure for my grief and care;\n    A healing balm for every wound:\n      All, all I want is there.\"\n\nIt is impossible for words to convey the power and blessedness of\nhaving Jesus ever before the heart as an object. It is perfection, as\nwe have it in Philippians iii. 15, where the apostle says, \"Let us\ntherefore, as many as be _perfect_ (\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9), be thus minded:\nand if in anything ye be differently minded (\u03b5\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03c9\u03c2), God\nshall reveal even this unto you.\" When Christ stands before the heart\nas our absorbing and satisfying object, we have reached our moral end\nso far as an object is concerned; for how can we ever get beyond the\nperson of Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead\nbodily, and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge?\nImpossible. We cannot get beyond the blood of Christ, for the\nconscience; neither can we get beyond the person of Christ, for the\nheart; we have therefore reached our moral end in both; we have\nperfection as to the state of the conscience, and as to the object of\nthe heart.\n\nHere, then, we have both peace and power--peace for the conscience,\nand power over the affections. It is when the conscience finds sweet\nrepose in the blood that the emancipated affections can go forth and\nfind their full play around the person of Jesus. And oh, what tongue\ncan tell, what pen unfold, the mighty moral results of gazing upon\nChrist? \"But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the\nglory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to\nglory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord\" (2 Cor. iii. 18). Observe,\n\"_Beholding ... are changed_.\" There is no legal bondage--no restless\neffort--no anxious toiling. We gaze, and gaze, and--what then?\nContinue to gaze, and as we gaze we become morally assimilated to the\nblessed Object, through the transforming power of the Holy Ghost. The\nimage of Christ is engraved upon the heart, and reflected back in ten\nthousand ways in our practical career, from day to day.\n\nReader, remember, this is the only true idea of Christianity. It is\none thing to be a religious man, it is quite another to be a\nChristian. Paul was a religious man before his conversion; but he was\na Christian afterwards. It is well to see this. There is plenty of\nreligion in the world, but, alas, how little Christianity! And why?\nSimply because Christ is not known, not loved, not cared for, not\nsought after. And even where His work is looked to for salvation--where\nHis blood is trusted for pardon and peace--how little is known or\nthought of Himself! We are ready enough to take salvation through the\ndeath of Jesus, but oh, beloved reader, how far off do we keep from\nHis blessed Person! How little does He get His true place in our\nhearts! This is a serious loss. Indeed, we cannot but believe that the\npale, flickering light of modern profession is the fruit of habitual\ndistance from Christ, the central sun of Christianity. How can there\npossibly be light, heat, or fruitfulness, if we wander amid the gloomy\nvaults and dark tunnels of this world's pleasures, its politics, or\nits religion? It is vain to expect it. And even where we make\nsalvation our object--when we are occupied with our spiritual\ncondition, feeding upon our experiences and looking after our frames\nand feelings--we must become weak and low, inasmuch as these things\nare certainly not Christ.\n\nThere are many who, as we say, have retired from the world, have given\nup its balls, its parties, its theatres, its exhibitions, its\nconcerts, its flower shows, its numberless and nameless vanities, who,\nnevertheless, have not found their object in a risen and glorified\nChrist. They have retired from the world, but have gone in upon\nthemselves. They are seeking an object _in their religion_; they are\nengrossed with forms of pietism; they are feeding upon the workings of\na morbid conscience or a superstitious mind; or they are trafficking\nin the experience of yesterday. Now, these persons are just as far\nfrom happiness--as far from the true idea of Christianity, as the poor\npleasure-hunters of this world. It is quite possible to give up\npleasure-hunting and become a religious mope--a morbid, melancholy\nmystic--a spiritual hypochondriac. What do I gain by the change?\nNothing; unless, indeed, it be a vast amount of self-deception. I have\nretired from the world around, to find an object in the world\nwithin--a poor exchange!\n\nHow different is this from the true Christian! There he stands, with\na tranquilized conscience and an emancipated heart, gazing upon an\nObject that absorbs his whole soul. He wants no more. Talk to him\nabout this world's pleasure? Ask him, has he been to this or that\nExhibition? What is his calm and dignified reply? Will he merely tell\nyou of the sin, the harm, of such things? Nay; what then? \"I have\nfound my _all_ in Christ. I have reached my moral end. I want no\nmore.\" This is the Christian's reply. It is a poor affair when we come\nto talk of the harm of this or that. It often happens that persons who\nspeak thus are occupied, not with Christ, but with their own\nreputation, their character, their consistency with themselves. Of\nwhat use is all this? Is it not self-occupation, after all? What we\nwant is to keep the eye fixed on Christ; then the heart will follow\nthe eye, and the feet will follow the heart. In this way our path will\nbe as the shining light, shining more and more until it becomes lost\nin the blaze of the perfect and everlasting day of glory.\n\nMay God, in His infinite mercy, grant to the writer and reader of\nthese pages to know more of what it is to have reached our moral end,\nboth as to the state of the conscience and as to the object of the\nheart!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn considering the subject of Christian perfection, it might seem\nsufficient to say that the believer is perfect in a risen Christ:\n\"Complete in Him which is the head of all principality and power.\"\nThis, surely, comprehends everything. Nothing can be added to the\ncompleteness which we have in Christ. All this is blessedly true; but\ndoes it not still hold good that the inspired writers use the word\n\"perfect\" in various ways? And is it not important that we should\nunderstand the sense in which the word is used? This, we presume, will\nhardly be questioned. We cannot suppose for a moment that any\nthoughtful reader of Scripture would be satisfied to dismiss the\nmatter without prayerfully seeking to understand the exact force and\njust application of the word in each particular passage in which it\noccurs. It is plain that the word \"perfect\" in Heb. ix. 9 is not\napplied in the same way as it is in Phil. iii. 15. And is it not\nright--is it not profitable--is it not due to our own souls and to the\nsacred volume--to seek, through grace, to understand the difference?\nFor our part, we cannot question it; and in this confidence we can\nhappily pursue our examination of the subject of Christian perfection\nby calling the reader's attention, in the third place, to\n\n\nPERFECTION IN THE PRINCIPLE OF OUR WALK.\n\nThis is unfolded to us in Matt. v. 48: \"Be ye therefore perfect\n(\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9), even as your Father which is in heaven is\nperfect.\" \"How,\" it may be asked, \"can we be perfect as our Father\nwhich is in heaven? How can we reach to such an elevated point as\nthis? How can we attain to so lofty a standard? We can understand our\nbeing perfect as to the conscience, inasmuch as this perfection is\nbased upon what Christ has done for us. And we can also understand\nour being perfect as to the object of the heart, inasmuch as this\nperfection is based upon what Christ is to us. But to be perfect as\nour Father in heaven seems entirely beyond us.\" To all this it may be\nsaid that our blessed Lord does not ask us to do impossibilities. He\nnever issues a command without furnishing the needed grace to carry it\nout. Hence, therefore, when He calls upon us to be perfect as our\nFather, it is plain that He confers upon us a holy privilege, that He\ninvests us with a high dignity, and it is our place to seek to\nunderstand and appropriate both the one and the other.\n\nWhat, then, is meant by our being perfect as our Father in heaven? The\ncontext of Matt. v. 48 furnishes the answer: \"But I say unto you, Love\nyour enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate\nyou, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;\nthat (\u03bf\u03c0\u03c9\u03c2) ye may be the sons (\u03c5\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9) of your Father which is in\nheaven; for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and\nsendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.... Be ye therefore perfect,\neven as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.\"\n\nHere we have a lovely phase of Christian perfection, namely,\nperfection in the principle of our walk. We are called to walk in\ngrace toward all, and in so doing to be imitators of God as dear\nchildren. Our Father sends His sunshine and His showers even upon His\nenemies. He deals in grace with all. This is our model. Are we formed\nupon it? Reader, search and see. Are you perfect in the principle of\nyour walk? Are you dealing in grace with your enemies and those who\nare in your debt? Are you demanding your rights? Are you, in\nprinciple, taking your fellow by the throat, and saying, \"Pay me that\nthou owest?\" If so, you are not \"perfect as your Father.\" He is\ndealing in grace, and you are dealing in righteousness. Were He to act\nas you are acting, the day of grace would close, and the day of\nvengeance open. Had He dealt with you as you are now dealing with\nothers, you should long since have been in that place where hope is\nunknown.\n\nLet us ponder this. Let us see to it that we are not misrepresenting\nour heavenly Father. Let us aim at perfection in the principle of our\ndaily walk. It will cost us something. It may empty the purse, but it\nwill fill the heart; it may contract our pecuniary resources, but it\nwill enlarge our spiritual circle. It will bring us into closer\ncontact and deeper fellowship with our heavenly Father. Is not this\nworth something? Truly it is. Would that we felt its worth more\ndeeply! Would that we felt more of the dignity conferred upon us in\nour being called to represent, in this evil, selfish, dark world, our\nheavenly Father, who pours in rich profusion His blessings upon the\nunthankful and the unholy. There is no use in preaching grace if we do\nnot act it. It is of little avail to speak of God's dealing in\nlong-suffering mercy if we are dealing in high-handed justice.\n\nBut, it may be said by some, \"How ever could we carry out such a\nprinciple? We should be robbed and ruined. How could business be\ncarried on if we are not to enforce our rights? We should be imposed\nupon and plundered by the unprincipled and the designing.\" This is not\nthe mode in which to arrive at a just conclusion on our point. An\nobedient disciple never says, \"How?\" The question is, \"Does the Lord\nJesus call upon me to be perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect?\"\nAssuredly. Well, then, am I aiming at this when I summon my\nfellow-creature to a bar of justice? Is this like my Father? Is this\nwhat He is doing? No; blessed be His name! He is on a throne of grace.\nHe is reconciling the world. He is not imputing trespasses. This is\nplain enough. It only needs full subjection of heart. Let us bow our\nsouls beneath the weight of this most glorious truth. May we gaze upon\nthis most lovely aspect of Christian perfection, and seek to aim at\nthe attainment of it. If we pause to reason about results, we shall\nnever reach the truth. What we want is, that moral condition of soul\nthat fully owns the power and authority of the Word. Then, though\nthere may be failure in detail, we have always a touchstone by which\nto test our ways, and a standard to which to recall the heart and\nconscience. But if we reason and argue--if we deny that it is our\nprivilege to be perfect in the sense of Matt. v. 48--if we justify our\ngoing to _law_ when our Father is not going to law, but acting in the\nmost unqualified _grace_, we deprive ourselves of that perfect model\non which our character and ways should ever be formed.\n\nMay God the Holy Spirit enable us to understand, to submit to, and\ncarry out in practical life, this perfect principle! It is most\nlamentable to see the children of God adopting in daily life a course\nof acting the direct opposite of that adopted by their heavenly\nFather. We ought to remember that we are called to be His moral\nrepresentatives. We are His children by spiritual regeneration, but we\nare called to be His sons in moral assimilation to His character and\npractical conformity to His ways. \"Do good to them that hate you ...\n_that ye may be_ the sons of your Father which is in heaven.\" Striking\nwords! In order to our being morally and characteristically the sons\nof God, we are called to do good to our enemies. This is what He does,\nand we are called to be like Him. Alas, how little we enter into this!\nHow unlike we are! Oh for a more faithful representation!\n\nTime and space would fail us to dwell, as we should like to do, upon\nthis deeply practical part of our subject; we must therefore pass on,\nin the fourth place, to the consideration of\n\n\nPERFECTION IN THE CHARACTER OF OUR SERVICE.\n\n\"I have not found thy works perfect (\u03c0\u03b5\u03c0\u03bb\u03b7\u03c1\u03c9\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03b1) before God\"\n(Rev. iii. 2). The English reader should be informed that the word\nhere rendered \"perfect\" is not the same as that used in the three\npassages already referred to. It is usually translated \"fulfilled\"--\n\"finished\"--\"accomplished.\" Its use in reference to the works of the\nChurch of Sardis teaches us a deeply solemn and heart-searching\nlesson. There was a name to live; but the works were not fulfilled\nunder the immediate eye of God. There is nothing more dangerous to a\nChristian than to have \"_a name_.\" It is a positive snare of the\ndevil. Many a professor has fallen by means of being occupied with a\nname. Many a useful servant has been destroyed by the effort to keep\nup a name. If I have gotten a reputation in any department of\nservice--as an active evangelist--a gifted teacher--a clear and\nattractive writer--a man of prayer--a man of faith--a person of\nremarkable sanctity, or great personal devotedness--a benevolent\nperson--a name for anything, in short--I am in imminent danger of\nmaking shipwreck. The enemy will lead me to make my reputation my\nobject instead of Christ. I shall be working to keep up a name instead\nof the glory of Christ. I shall be occupied with the thoughts of men\ninstead of doing all my work under the immediate eye of God.\n\nAll this demands intense watchfulness and rigid censorship over\nmyself. I may be doing the most excellent works, but if they are not\nfulfilled in the presence of God they will prove a positive snare of\nthe devil. I may preach the gospel--visit the sick--help the poor--go\nthrough the entire range of religious activity--and never be in the\npresence of God at all. I may do it for a name--do it because others\ndo it, or expect me to do it. This is very serious, beloved reader.\nIt demands real prayer--self-emptiness--nearness to and dependence\nupon God--singleness of eye--holy consecration to Christ. Self\ncontinually intrudes upon us. Oh this self, self, self, even in the\nvery holiest things; and all the while we may appear to be very active\nand very devoted. Miserable delusion! We know of nothing more terrible\nthan to have a religious name without spiritual life, without Christ,\nwithout a sense of God's presence possessing the soul.\n\nReader, let us look closely into this. Let us see that we begin,\ncontinue, and end our work under the Master's eye. This will impart a\npurity and a moral elevation to our service beyond all price. It will\nnot cripple our energy, but it will tend to raise and intensify our\naction. It will not clip our wings, but it will guide our movements.\nIt will render us independent of the thoughts of men, and fully\ndeliver us from the slavery of seeking to maintain a name, or keep up\na reputation--miserable, degrading bondage! May the good Lord grant us\nfull deliverance from it! May He give us grace to fulfil our works,\nwhatever they may be, few or many, small or great, in His own blessed\npresence!\n\nHaving said thus much in reference to the _character_ of our service,\nwe shall close with a few lines on\n\n\nPERFECTION IN OUR EQUIPMENT FOR SERVICE.\n\n\"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for\ndoctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in\nrighteousness: that the man of God may be _perfect_ (\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2)\nthoroughly furnished unto all good works\" (2 Tim. iii. 16,\n17). Here, again, we have a different word, and one which only occurs\nin this one place in the entire New Testament. It is most expressive.\nIt signifies _present readiness_ for any exigence. The man who is\nacquainted with, and subject to the word of God, is ready for every\nemergency. He has no need to go and cram for an occasion--to consult\nhis authorities--to make himself up on a point. He is _ready now_. If\nan anxious inquirer comes, he is ready; if a curious inquirer comes,\nhe is ready; if a skeptic comes, he is ready; if an infidel comes, he\nis ready. In a word, he is always ready. He is perfectly equipped for\nevery occasion.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Lord be praised for all these aspects of Christian perfection!\nWhat more do we want? Perfection as to the conscience; perfection in\nobject; perfection in walk; perfection in the character of service;\nperfection in our equipment. What remains? What wait we for? Just\nthis--perfection in glory--perfect conformity in spirit, and soul, and\nbody, to the image of our glorified Head in heaven!\n\nMay the Lord so work on our hearts by His Spirit, producing that which\nis well-pleasing in His sight, that we may stand \"perfect and complete\nin all the will of God!\"\n\n                                                            C. H. M.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TRIBE OF LEVI ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES.\n\n\n  First Class.\n\n  GERSHON, meaning,        _A stranger, or exile_.\n\n  LAEL        \"            _Dedicated, or belonging to God_.\n\n  ELIASAPH    \"            _God hath added_.\n\n  SHIMEI      \"            _Renowned_.\n\n  LIBNI       \"            _White_.\n\n\nSecond Class.\n\n  KOHATH      \"            _Assembly_.\n\n  HEBRON      \"            _Association, communion_.\n\n  AMRAM       \"            _Exalted people, or of the exalted One_.\n\n  IZHAR       \"            _Oil_.\n\n  UZZIEL      \"            _The strength of God_.\n\n\nThird Class.\n\n  MERARI      \"            _Bitter_.\n\n  MAHLI       \"            _Sick, sickly_.\n\n  MUSHI       \"            _Yielding, forsaking_.\n\n  ABIHAIL     \"            _Father of strength_.\n\n  ZURIEL      \"            _My rock is God_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF THE TRIBE OF LEVI CONSIDERED\n\n\nThere are few exercises more profitable for the Christian than that of\nreflecting upon the character of God as unfolded in the history of the\nsaints and fathers of ancient times recorded in the scriptures of the\nOld Testament: and indeed this might be expected from the very nature\nof the subject, which is such that, whatever be its extent, it unfolds\nprinciples to us which stand intimately connected with all that is\nimportant for us to know or be established in. Thus, whether we get\nthe dealings of God on a limited scale, as with any one of the fathers\n_personally_, or more widely extended, as with the seed of Israel\nafterwards, it is nevertheless the same lesson we are called upon to\nlearn, namely, _God and man_. Now, this is what should enhance\nexceedingly the value of the Old Testament to the Christian; almost\nthe great body of its teaching is of the above character: and not only\nso, but it also (as looked at in this point of view) guards\neffectually against the mere exercise of imagination; for when we\nconsider the history of any man or people, it is not necessary that we\nshould decide positively what is _shadowed out_ therein;[5] it is\nenough for us to see that we have before us a more or less extensive\ndevelopment of the character and actings of God and man; and this,\nwithout ever descending beneath the surface of Scripture, cannot fail\nof being instructive and edifying to the soul.\n\n  [5] In many of the Old Testament narratives, however, the instruction\n  is so manifestly typical that even the most cautious reader, if at all\n  familiar with Scripture, cannot refuse to look at it in that point of\n  view.\n\nBut, of all the histories of the Old Testament embodying instruction\nof the above character, I believe there are few more copious, deep and\nvaried than that which is about to engage our attention. If the\nnarrative of a soul taken up by sovereign and eternal grace from the\npit of corruption and deep depravity, carried through the various\nstages which grace and truth had enacted for sinful man, until at last\nhe is set down in the very sanctuary of God and established in the\nenjoyment of the covenant of life and peace forever; if, I say, such a\nnarrative would possess charms and present attractions to us, then\ndoes the history of Levi abound in this. It is only a matter of\nastonishment that a history fraught with such rich and varied\ninstruction has not occupied more of the thoughts of those luminaries\nof the Church whose writings have been a source of comfort and\ninstruction to all who have been taught to value the truth of God.\n\nYet, much as I see in the history of Levi, and much as I admire what I\ndo see, I could not think of directing the reader's thoughts to the\nsubject without informing him that I purpose doing little more than to\nbring before his mind in a connected way the various scriptures which\ntreat of this most interesting question; however, these scriptures are\nso plain and striking that no one who is at all familiar with\nScripture truths can fail to enter into them. Now, as I purpose, with\nthe Lord's blessing and grace, to follow the history of Levi through\nall the scriptures in which it is brought before us, I will commence\nwith\n\n     HIS BIRTH,\n\n     As recorded in GENESIS xxix. 34.\n\n     \"And she (Leah) conceived again, and bare a son: and said,\n     Now this time will my husband be _joined_ unto me, because I\n     have borne him three sons: therefore was his name called\n     Levi\" (that is, 'joined;' see margin).\n\nHere, then, we are presented with the birth and name of this most\nremarkable character--a name of wondrous significance as looked at in\nconnection with his after history, whether in nature's wild and\nlawless extravagance, in which we find him \"_joined_\" with his brother\nin the perpetration of a deed of blood and murder (Gen. xxxiv.), or in\nthe day when he was called to drink deeply and largely of the cup of\nGod's electing grace, when \"_joined_\" with Aaron in \"the work of the\ntabernacle\" (Num. viii.).\n\n     GENESIS xxxiv. 25, 26.\n\n     \"And it came to pass on _the third day_, when they were\n     sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi,\n     Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the\n     city boldly, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor\n     and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took\n     Dinah out of Shechem's house and went out.\"\n\nAs the Spirit of God in Jacob has furnished us with a striking\ncommentary on the above piece of cruelty, we will consider the\nscripture in which the commentary is given, namely:\n\n     GENESIS xlix. 5-7.\n\n     \"Simeon and Levi _are brethren_; instruments of cruelty are\n     in their habitations. O my soul, _come not thou into their\n     secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou\n     united_: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their\n     self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger,\n     for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel; _I\n     will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel_.\"\n\nWe have here a truly humbling view of human nature as looked at in the\nlight of the holiness of God. It is as if the Lord would say to us,\nLook here! behold a man clothed in nature's blackest garb, and\npresenting nature's most forbidding aspect. Examine him closely, in\norder that you, seeing what _man is_ when stripped of all that false\nclothing which ignorance or vain self-righteousness would put upon\nhim, may know the rich aboundings of My grace, which can avail to lift\neven such a one into the loftiest heights of communion--heights which\nhuman conception would utterly fail to mount, but which My grace,\nthrough the blood of the cross, can make available to the very chief\nof sinners.\n\nIn reading such a description as that which the above passage presents\nto us, how needful it is for the sinner to bear in mind that it is\nnot only in the light of _God's holiness_ that he is called to look at\nhimself, but also in the light of _His grace_. When this is learned he\nneeds not be afraid to penetrate deeply into the dark recesses of his\nheart's corruption; for if God in grace _fill_ the scene, the sinner\n(so far as his own righteousness is concerned) must necessarily be\n_out_ of the scene; and then it is no longer a question of what _we_\nthink about sin, but how _God_ will deal with it in grace, and that is\nsimply to put it away forever--yea, to bury it forever in the waters\nof His forgetfulness: thus it will be placing _our sin_ side by side\nwith _God's grace_; which is what the gospel invites us to do, and\nwhich, moreover, is the only way to arrive at a proper settlement of\nthe question of sin. On the other hand, where this saving principle is\nnot known--not believed--the sinner will undoubtedly seek to make the\nload of his guilt as light as possible, in order that he may have as\nlittle to do as he may. This will ever lead to the most unutterable\nand intolerable bondage; or if not to this, to that which is much\nworse, even to detestable religious pride, which is of all things most\ntruly abominable in the sight of God.\n\nReader, if you have not as yet got the question of sin settled between\nyour conscience and God, ponder, I do beseech you, what I have now\nstated; for to know this principle in spirit is life eternal. Christ\nhas, _once for all_, borne sin's deepest curse in His own body on the\ntree, and now even _Levi_ can lift up his head; for although he be by\nnature only conversant with \"_instruments of cruelty_,\" things which\nmust have kept God forever at a distance from \"his secret and his\nassembly;\" although he be by nature _cruel_, _fierce_, _self-willed_,\n_scattered_, _and divided_, yet God can, in the exercise of His mercy,\nmake him conversant with \"the instruments of the tabernacle,\" bring\nhim into the enjoyment of the covenant of _life_ and _peace, in union_\nwith the great head of the priestly family, and, in the power of this\nblessed union, cause him to have his \"_lights and perfections with his\nHoly One_\" (Deut. xxxiii. 8; Mal. ii. 4, 5). However, we must not\nanticipate the teaching of passages which are yet to come under our\nnotice; I will therefore close my remarks on this part of our subject\nby requesting my reader to compare attentively the character of Levi,\nas above recorded, with that which the apostle Paul, quoting from the\nPsalms, has given of man generally, whether Jew or Gentile: \"There is\n_none_ righteous, no, not one; there is _none_ that understandeth,\nthere is _none_ that seeketh after God. They are _all_ gone out of the\nway, they are _together_ become unprofitable; there is none that doeth\ngood, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their\ntongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips,\nwhose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: _their_ FEET ARE SWIFT\nTO SHED BLOOD: _destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way\nof peace have they not known_: there is no fear of God before their\neyes\" (Rom. iii. 10-18).\n\n     EXODUS xxxii. 25-29.\n\n     \"And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron\n     had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)\n     then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is\n     on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons\n     of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said\n     unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man\n     his sword by his side and go in and out from gate to gate\n     throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and\n     every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the\n     children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and\n     there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.\n     For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to the\n     Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother;\n     that He may bestow upon you a blessing this day.\"\n\nHere a new scene opens to us, and we are called to witness the dawning\nof a new day upon Levi; a day, moreover, which may justly lead us to\nanticipate great things. It is true we get him here likewise with his\nsword by his side, but, oh, for what a different purpose, and in what\na different cause! It is not now in anger and self-will slaying a man,\nbut in holy jealousy and care for the honor of the Lord God of Israel,\nand in simple obedience to His command; and although this may, and\nwill, lead to the very cutting off of a brother, a son, or a friend,\nLevi cares not; for the word is, \"Consecrate yourselves to the Lord,\nthat He may bestow upon you a blessing.\" This was enough for Levi; and\nalthough by nature he was vile and utterly unfit either for the\nfellowship or service of God, yet is he now the foremost in jealous\nvindication of His holy name and worship against those who would seek\nto \"turn their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.\"\nNor is Levi now seen \"_joined_\" with his brother Simeon--no, he might\njoin in league with him in the days of his wickedness for the\nperpetration of deeds of blood; but here, as I before observed, we get\nthe opening of a new scene, and therefore he is seen \"joined\" with the\nLord and His servant Moses for the execution of righteous judgment\nupon idolatry.\n\nAnd henceforth, in following the footsteps of Levi, we shall find\nthat, instead of being \"swift to shed blood,\" they are to be \"swift\"\nin following the movements of the cloud, and \"swift\" in performing the\nservice of the tabernacle.\n\nIt would, of course, be quite foreign to our subject to dwell upon the\nsad and humbling scene that called out the above act of service on the\npart of Levi. Suffice it to say that it was, as we know, on the part\nof Aaron and the camp, a ceasing to exercise faith in the fact that\nMoses was _alive_ in the presence of God for them. The consequence of\nwhich was an entire forgetfulness of the mighty Hand and stretched out\nArm that had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, and of their\npresent position _in the wilderness_; hence, as might be expected,\n\"the people _sat down to eat and drink_ and rose up to play.\" May the\nLord preserve us from like forgetfulness; and, seeing \"those things\nwere written for our admonition,\" may we be truly admonished thereby\nnot to \"lust after evil things.\"\n\nWe shall now pass on to the next scripture, where we get the Lord's\nown thoughts upon the above act of service, namely,\n\n     DEUTERONOMY xxxiii. 8-11.\n\n     \"And of Levi he (Moses) said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim\n     be with thy Holy One, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and\n     with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; who\n     said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him;\n     neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own\n     children: for they have observed Thy word and kept Thy\n     covenant. They shall teach Jacob Thy judgments, and Israel\n     Thy law; they shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt\n     sacrifice upon Thine altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and\n     accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of\n     them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that\n     they rise not again.\"\n\nIn this passage we have real Levite service brought before us in the\nwords, \"who said unto his father and mother, I have not seen him,\"\netc. The _true_ and _decided_ servant of God will ever have to\nexperience something of this; indeed, the measure thereof will just be\nin proportion to the faithfulness and power of his walk: \"flesh and\nblood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;\" therefore every heir of that\nkingdom must show himself in readiness to deny all the claims which\n\"flesh and blood\" would make on him, whether in himself or in others.\nMost happily does the address to \"the queen,\" in Ps. xlv., connect\nitself with this point: \"_Harken_, O daughter, and _consider_, and\n_incline thine ear; forget also thine own people_ and thy father's\nhouse; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy\nLord, and worship thou Him\" (vers. 10, 11). We have all to watch\nagainst a tendency to be influenced by the claims of flesh and blood,\nin our testimony for Christ. He Himself has said on this subject that\n\"no man having put his hand to the plow and _looking back_, is fit for\nthe kingdom of God\" (Luke ix. 62). And, as some one has observed, it\nwas upon this point that the prophet Elisha's character seemed a\nlittle defective, for when Elijah cast his mantle over him, or, in\nother words, when he had put upon him the high honor of making him a\nprophet of the Lord God, Elisha's heart seemed to yearn after home,\nand he said, \"Let me, I pray thee, _kiss my father and my mother_, and\n_then_ I will _follow thee_\" (1 Kings xix. 20). Now this was most\nnatural, and, as some would say, amiable and affectionate; but, oh,\namiability and natural affection have often hindered people from\nentering as they should into the Lord's service; and although it is\none of the marks of the latter-day apostasy to be \"without natural\naffection,\" yet does Moses, in the above-cited passage, ask the Lord\nto bless Levi, because \"he said unto his father and his mother, I have\nnot seen him, neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his\nown children.\" How grossly inconsistent would it have been for Levi to\nhave said, \"Let me kiss my father and my mother,\" when called to enter\nupon the Lord's work; and not less so is it for us to allow the claims\nof \"flesh and blood\" to interfere with our true hearted Levite service\nto our God, who has done so much for _us_.\n\nBut let us carefully observe the blessed consequences of this decision\nof character on the part of Levi. These are, first, \"They shall _teach\nJacob_ Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law.\" Secondly, \"They shall put\nincense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon _Thine altar_.\"\nThirdly, \"Bless his substance.\" Fourthly, \"Accept the work of his\nhands.\" Fifthly, \"Smite through the loins of them that rise against\nhim, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.\" All these\nfruits are distinct, and yet intimately connected, as springing from\nthe same source, namely, simple, devoted and uncompromising obedience\nto the Lord. As to the first of these fruits, how true it is that it\nis only the man who himself endeavors to walk in power before God that\ncan speak with effect to the hearts and consciences of others; nothing\nelse will do--nothing else will tell, either upon the hearts or in the\nlives of Christians. There may be, and, alas, is much of mere\nsystematic teaching and preaching of things which the mere intellect\nmay have received, and which, by a natural fluency of language, we may\nbe able to give out; but all such teaching is vain, and had much\nbetter be avoided in the sight of God. True, it might often give to\nour public assemblies an appearance of barrenness and poverty which\nour poor, proud hearts could ill brook; but would it not be far better\nto keep silence than to substitute mere carnal effort for the blessed\nenergy of the Holy Spirit?\n\nTrue ministry, however, the ministry of the Spirit, will always\ncommend itself to the heart and conscience. We can always know the\nsource from which a man is drawing who speaks in \"the words which the\nHoly Ghost teacheth,\" and with the ability which God giveth; and while\nwe should ever pray to be delivered from the mere effort of man's\nintellect to handle the truth of God amongst us, we should diligently\ncultivate that power to teach which stands connected, as in Levi's\ncase, with the denial of the claims of flesh and blood, and with\nentire devotedness to the Lord's service.\n\nIn the second consequence above referred to we have a very elevated\npoint: \"They shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice\nupon Thine altar.\" This is worship. We put incense before God when we\nare enabled, in the power of communion, to present in His presence the\nsweet odor of Christ in His person and work. This is our proper\noccupation as members of the chosen and separated tribe.\n\nBut it is particularly instructive to look at both the above mentioned\nconsequences in connection; i.e., the Levites in ministry to their\nbrethren, and the Levites in worship before God: it was as acceptable\nin the sight of God, and as divine an exercise of his functions, for a\nLevite to instruct his brethren as it was for him to burn incense\nbefore God. This is very important. We should never separate these two\nthings. If we do not see that it is the same Spirit who must qualify\nus to speak _for_ God as to speak _to_ Him, there is a manifest want\nof moral order in our souls. If we could keep this principle clearly\nbefore our minds, it would be a most effectual means of maintaining\namongst us the true dignity and solemnity of ministry in the Word:\nhaving lost sight of it has been productive of very sad consequences.\nIf we imagine for a moment that we can teach Jacob by any other power\nor ability than that by which we put incense before God, or if we\nimagine that one is not as acceptable before God as the other, we are\nnot soundly instructed upon one of the most important points of truth;\nfor, as some one has observed, \"Let us look at this point illustrated\nin the personal ministry of Christ, and we shall no longer say that\nteaching by the Holy Ghost is inferior to praise by the same, for\nsurely the apostleship of Christ when He came _from God_ was as sweet\nin its savor to God as His priesthood when _He went to God_ to\nminister to Him in that office. The candlestick in the holy place\nwhich diffused the light of life--God's blessed name--was as valuable,\nat least in His view, as the altar in the same place, which presented\nthe perfume of praise.\"\n\nWe now come to speak of the third point, namely, \"Bless, Lord, his\nsubstance.\" This is just what we might have expected; an _increase_ of\nblessing will ever be the result of real true-hearted devotedness to\nChrist. \"Every branch in Me that beareth fruit He purgeth, that it may\nbring forth more fruit;\" \"The diligent soul shall be made fat;\" and\n\"To him that hath shall _more_ be given.\" Levi had exhibited much\ndiligence of soul in the Lord's service--he had shown himself in\nreadiness to vindicate His name in strong and decided opposition to\nevery mere human thought and affection; and now the Lord will show\nLevi that He is not unrighteous to forget his work and labor of love,\n\"for He will bless his substance.\" We find the apostle Paul bringing\nforward the same principle to his son Timothy when he tells him to\n\"meditate on these things; _give thyself wholly_ to them, that _thy\nprofiting may appear to all_.\" Here he connects the \"profiting\" with\nthe \"giving himself wholly:\" this will ever be the case; and if we\nwould experience more than we do the meaning and power of the words,\n\"Bless, Lord, his substance,\" we must first endeavor to enter into the\nmeaning of what goes before, namely, \"who said to his father and to\nhis mother, I have not known him,\" etc. \"Every one that hath forsaken\nhouses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or\nchildren, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold,\nand shall inherit everlasting life\" (Matt. xix. 29).\n\nNot less striking is the connection between what has just been stated\nand our fourth point, namely, \"Accept the work of his hands.\" This I\nconceive to be a point of the greatest importance to us, and one which\ninvolves a question upon which we frequently display much want of\nintelligence. We often find it difficult to reconcile the idea of\nsalvation through free grace with that of an increase of blessing and\npower for walking in obedience; and yet we find the two things\nconstantly maintained in Scripture; thus we read, \"He that hath My\ncommandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that\nloveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and _will\nmanifest Myself_ to him.\" And, again, \"If a man love Me, he will keep\nMy words; and My Father will love him, _and We will come unto him and\nmake Our abode with him_\" (John xiv. 21, 23).\n\nThis is very clear and decided upon the subject: we see here that the\nmanifestation of the Son is made to depend on our keeping the\ncommandments of Christ. Grace takes up a sinner and leads him into the\nknowledge of the full forgiveness of his sins through faith in the\nblood of the Lord Jesus Christ: but all this is simply a means to an\nend: it is, in a word, to set him down in a position of responsibility\nto Christ, which position he by nature could never have sustained,\nbecause \"the carnal mind is enmity against God; it is not subject to\nthe law of God, neither indeed can be.\" If, then, a man be put into a\nplace of responsibility, it is clear that the more faithfully and\ndiligently he maintains that place, the more enlarged will be his\ncommunion.\n\nA father may have two children, the one obedient, the other the very\nreverse; now, they are both his children; neither the obedience of the\none nor the disobedience of the other can interfere in the least with\nthe relationship existing between them; but can we have a question as\nto which of them would enjoy most of the father's presence and\naffection? Surely not; a father likes to be obeyed, and will love the\nobedient child. There may be extraordinary cases where, from a warped\njudgment or a blind and unmeaning partiality, the disobedient, lawless\nson may have more of the heart of the parent than the other; but this\nis not so with God: His judgment is clear and unerring: He can\naccurately distinguish between the one that honors Him and the one\nthat despises Him: the former \"He will honor,\" the latter He will\n\"lightly esteem.\" The Lord does not ask a sinner _dead_ in trespasses\nand sins to serve Him, for all such a one could do would be polluted\nwith sin--his very prayers are polluted--his meditations are\npolluted--his acts of benevolence are polluted; in a word, he is all\npolluted, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, and\ntherefore can do nothing acceptable in the sight of God. But the Lord\nquickens those that are dead in trespasses and sins, and then teaches\nthem to \"walk worthy of Him as dear children,\" and to be fruitful in\nevery good word and work, to the praise of His name: and when we do\nthis He graciously condescends to \"accept the work of our hands.\" But\nnot only does Scripture abound with precepts which confirm what has\nbeen above stated, it also affords numerous examples and illustrations\nof the same; thus, for instance, the case of Abraham and Lot, in the\nopening of the book of Genesis. These were both servants of God, but\nyet how differently they walked! one loved God; the other loved the\nwell-watered plains of Sodom: and the consequence was, that while the\nLord Himself could meet with Abraham, and sup with him, and, moreover,\nunfold to him His counsels with reference to Sodom, He merely sends\n_angels_ to Sodom, and we can plainly perceive in their manner toward\nLot their marked disapproval of his circumstances, for when he invites\nthem into his house, they reply, \"_Nay, but we will abide in the\nstreet all night_.\"\n\nThis is plain: the angels of the Lord would rather abide all night in\nthe streets of guilty Sodom than go in to a child of His who was not\nwalking in obedience; nor does the fact that they afterwards consented\nto go in at all interfere with the point which I am seeking to\nestablish; no, their answer speaks volumes of the most solemn and\npractical instruction to us; they enter into _Lot's house_, it is\ntrue; but if they do, it is only to counteract the sad effects of\n_Lot's sin_. May we, then, seek, by prayer and communion with God, to\nkeep ourselves in the path of obedience, so that we may prove in our\nsoul's happy experience the meaning of the prayer in our text, \"Accept\nthe work of his hands.\"\n\nWe have now arrived at the fifth and last point in this branch of our\nsubject, namely, \"Smite through the loins of them that rise against\nhim, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.\" This is\nproperly the last point, when there shall be neither \"adversary nor\nevil occurrent,\" we shall rest from our labor and conflict, and enter\ninto possession of that upon which hope now feeds; therefore, when it\ncan be said of our enemies \"that they rise not again,\" we shall be\nhappy indeed.\n\nHowever, there is much of practical value in this point in the\nconnection in which it stands here, i.e., as _a consequence_ of\nobedience; there is nothing that gives the soul such marvelous power\nover enemies as an obedient, holy walk. Every step we take in real\nobedience to Christ is, so far, a victory gained over the flesh, and\nthe devil; and every fresh victory ministers fresh power for the\nconflict which follows; thus we grow. And on the other hand, every\nbattle _lost_ only serves to weaken us, while it gives power to our\nenemies to attack us again. Thus we see that the man whose heart is\ntruly devoted to the Lord will have power to teach--power to worship;\nhe will increase in substance, for Christ causes those that love Him\n\"to inherit _substance_\" (Prov. viii.). He will enjoy more of God's\nfavor and of the light of His countenance, for \"them that honor Me I\nwill honor;\" and, finally, he will have enlarged power over all\nenemies. All these are the fruits of that true Levite devotedness\nwhich will enable a man to say \"to his father, and to his mother, I\nhave not seen him;\" or, in other words, those fruits can only be\nenjoyed by one who is ready to \"leave all and follow Christ.\" This\nbeing the case, then, we can have little difficulty in accounting for\nthe poverty in gifts of ministry--the poverty in worship--the\nmeagreness of growth--the many interruptions in the enjoyment of\ndivine favor--the almost total lack of power over enemies of which we\nhave all to complain. Many seek to satisfy themselves by saying that\nwe cannot expect the same power in gifts and worship now as that which\nfell to the lot of the saints in the apostolic day, and this, of\ncourse, we are not going to deny; but then, the question is, Have we\nas much power and freshness in these things as we might have? I\nbelieve we have not--and why? Is not Levi's God our God? Yes, He is,\nblessed be His name, and the same everlasting and abundant fountain of\nblessing as ever He was, but we, alas, are _far behind_ in the matter\nof Levi's true devotedness; and this is the root of it all, for it\nremains unalterably true that \"to him that hath shall _more_ be\ngiven,\" and \"we cannot serve two masters.\" This is true--solemn--and\npractical.\n\nWe are now called to consider a scripture which will unfold to us at\nonce the wondrous secret of how a sinner so degraded as Levi could\nhold a place of such elevation and nearness to God as that which he\nafterwards occupied. There is nothing in a sinner by nature with which\nGod could hold any intercourse; therefore, if ever He brings any one\ninto a place of blessing and high communion, He does so in _pure\ngrace_, and thus _excludes_ \"boasting\" altogether, for \"no flesh shall\nglory in His presence.\" Those who look upon it as presumption in a\nsinner to speak of holding a place of such nearness to God, seem to\nlose sight of this completely. It could never be _pride_ that would\nlead any one into a place where _he_ would be broken to pieces, and be\nshown that he was altogether corrupt and worthless; if God were to\nelevate _flesh_, and bring flesh into a place of nearness to Himself,\nthen indeed there would be some force in the objection on the ground\nof presumption; but God does no such thing: the flesh is so far gone\nin ruin that it cannot be improved, and therefore God declares in the\nCross His mind about the flesh, namely, that it is a condemned thing;\nbut He, by the same Cross, gives the poor sinner _life_, and in the\npower of _that life_, and not in the power of life in the flesh, He\nbrings the sinner into His presence and sets him down at His table; so\nthat it is not the presumption of a poor prodigal that assigns the\nplace which he is to occupy, but the _grace_ and boundless\nlovingkindness of the father: thus, God says to Noah, \"The end of all\nflesh is come before Me,\" and what then? \"Make thee an ark of gopher\nwood\"--and in that ark is Noah raised up beyond the region of\njudgment, and a judged world, into a place of undisturbed communion.\nNow, we shall find the very same principles developed in God's\ndealings with Levi, in the scripture which is about to engage our\nattention. I shall first consider their cleansing; and, secondly,\ntheir position and service. First, their cleansing as recorded in\n\n     NUMBERS viii. 5-14.\n\n     \"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the Levites\n     from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And\n     thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle\n     water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their\n     flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make\n     themselves clean. Then let them take a young bullock with\n     his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil; and\n     another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.\n     And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of\n     the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly\n     of the children of Israel together: and thou shalt bring the\n     Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel shall\n     put their hands upon the Levites: and Aaron shall offer the\n     Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of\n     Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord. And\n     the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the\n     bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering,\n     and the other for a burnt offering, unto the Lord, to make\n     an atonement for the Levites. And thou shalt set the Levites\n     before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an\n     offering unto the Lord. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites\n     from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be\n     Mine.\"\n\nThis passage furnishes us with a very rich and blessed branch of our\ninteresting subject. We were enabled to see, in looking at Levi by\nnature, that such was his character that God would have no fellowship\nwith him whatever, and that, so far as Levi was concerned, he should\nabide forever in _his own habitation_, in company with the\n\"instruments of cruelty\" which were therein. But God will not leave\nhim there, and therefore God must Himself provide the remedy--God\nHimself must cleanse this self-willed, cruel and fierce man. And here\nwe are invited to recall a thought which occurred to the mind in the\nopening of this paper, viz., that man's sin must ever be brought into\nthe presence of God's grace. Levi had nothing else to look to; his\nsin was such as to preclude every thought of human remedy; the law\ncondemned Levi's nature; and God had pronounced him unfit for His\npresence. And what, then, had Levi to do? Could he set himself with\nheart and soul to keep the law? Impossible: the law had not only\ncondemned his works, but pronounced the curse of God upon his very\nnature. The law said, \"Thou shalt do no murder;\" and having said this,\nit added, \"_Cursed_ is every one that continueth not in all things\nthat are written in the book of the law, to do them.\" But Levi had\nmurder in his nature, therefore Levi's nature was cursed.\n\nWhat, then, could Levi do? Might he not cast himself over upon the\nmercy of God, with the hope that He would deal lightly with his sins?\nNo; by no means: God had given forth His solemn and unalterable\ndecree, \"O my soul, come not thou into their secret;\" God could not\ncome into a habitation wherein were \"instruments of cruelty.\"\n\nThus, then, Levi was completely shut up, without a single means of\nescape; the law nailed him down to this one point, \"Answer my\ndemands.\" And all that Levi had towards the discharge of these demands\nwas, \"anger, fierceness, murder, self-will, cruelty,\" etc.: poor\nresources, alas! Nor would the law of God enter into any composition\nwith the sinner; it should have \"the uttermost farthing,\" or else the\nword was, \"_cursed art thou_.\" Therefore Levi, _as a man alive in the\nflesh_, or, in other words, Levi, as seeking to get life through the\nlaw, was judged, condemned, and set aside, and it only remained for\nhim to take thus the place of _one dead_, in order that God might _in\ngrace_ quicken him into new life, which God was ready and willing to\ndo, and which, as we shall see, He graciously did, according to His\nown marvelous thoughts, and in His own way.[6] Levi, then, had just to\nsee himself as one that was, in God's account, _dead_, as we read,\n\"for they (i.e., the Levites) are wholly given unto me from among the\nchildren of Israel; _instead_ of such as open every womb, even\n_instead_ of the first-born of all the children of Israel, have I\ntaken them unto me: for all the first-born of the children of Israel\nare mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every first-born\nin the land of Egypt, _I sanctified them for myself_; _and I have\ntaken the Levites for all the first-born of the children of Israel_\"\n(chap. viii. 16-18).\n\n  [6] The reader will, of course, bear in mind that what is stated about\n  Levi in this paper is to be regarded as _typical_ of that which the\n  believer now knows in _reality_ through the Holy Ghost.\n\nThe Lord passed through the land of Egypt with the sword of justice\nunsheathed, to smite _all_ the first-born, nor would Israel's\nfirst-born have escaped, had not the sword fallen upon the neck of the\nspotless victim; and thus, as some one has beautifully observed,\n\"There was death in every house, not only in the houses of the\nEgyptians, but also in those of the Israelites: in the former, it was\nthe _death of Egypt's first-born_; in the latter, the death of God's\nLamb.\"\n\nThe Levites, then, were taken _instead_ of those upon whom the sword\nof the destroying angel should have fallen; or, in other words, _the\nLevites were_, _typically_, _a dead and risen people_, and thus were\nno longer looked at in the circumstances of nature, but of _new life_\nthrough grace, in which they were placed by God Himself. And here let\nme observe that this is the path which every sinner must travel if he\nwould know experimentally anything of Levi's after history. There is\nno other way in which to escape from the judgment of the law on the\none hand, or from the horrid workings of indwelling corruption on the\nother, than simply to see ourselves \"_dead_\" to both, and \"_alive_\nunto God through Jesus Christ.\" \"How shall we,\" says the apostle,\n\"that are _dead to sin_ live any longer therein? Know ye not that so\nmany of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His\ndeath? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that,\nlike as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,\neven so we also should walk in newness of life\" (Rom. vi. 2-4). And,\nagain, \"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become _dead_ to the _law_\nby the body of Christ, that ye should be _married to another_, even to\nHim who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto\nGod\" (chap. vii. 4). But not only are death and resurrection the only\npossible means by which a sinner can escape the condemnation of the\nlaw and the tyrannical sway of sin, they are also the only means by\nwhich he can acceptably serve God. The flesh, or carnal mind, cannot\nserve God, for it is not subject to His law, neither indeed can be;\ntherefore we infer that the sources of that life by which we can serve\nGod are not to be found in the flesh, but only in union with the Lord\nJesus in resurrection. \"If a man abide not _in me_, he is cast forth\nas a branch and is withered\" (John xv. 6). Consequently, when God\nwould bring Levi into a place of nearness and service to Himself, He\nshows him to us as passing through those circumstances which, in the\nclearest manner, illustrate _death and resurrection_; for they are\ntaken instead of those that were as dead, but who escaped through the\ndeath of the lamb: and then, having thus passed through the\ncircumstances of death, they are told in chap. viii. to \"_put off the\nold man and put on the new_\"--for that is the meaning of the \"washing\nof water,\" and \"shaving of the flesh,\" etc. This is in full keeping\nwith what the apostle states to his son Titus: \"For we ourselves also\nwere sometime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and\npleasures, _living in malice and envy_, hateful, and hating one\nanother. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour\ntoward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done,\nbut according to His mercy He saved us, by the _washing of\nregeneration_, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us\nabundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour\" (Titus iii. 3-6).\n\nBut in order that we may have a clearer and more comprehensive view of\nthe ground upon which the Levites stood before God, I would refer, in\nas brief and concise a manner as I can, to the offerings connected\nwith their consecration: these were the burnt offering, the meat\noffering, and the sin offering; all, as we shall see, showing out the\nLord Jesus Christ in His varied aspects.[7] And first, the burnt\noffering: the principles unfolded in this offering are brought out in\nthe first chapter of Leviticus, where we read, \"If his offering be a\nburnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he\nshall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle\nof the congregation before the Lord\" (ver. 3).\n\n  [7] It may be well just to observe here that in considering the\n  offerings above referred to I have merely looked at them with\n  reference to the question of Levi's history.\n\nHere, then, is something real for the soul to feed on and rejoice in.\nWe have in the burnt offering the Lord Jesus Christ, in all His\nfulness and perfections, as offering Himself \"_without spot to God_,\"\nand also as accepted before God _for us_. In this He was found to be\n\"_a male without blemish_;\" so much so, that the One in whose sight\nthe very heavens are not clean, could say, \"In whom I am well\npleased;\" and again, \"Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth.\"\n\nBut further, this unblemished offering presents Himself voluntarily at\nthe door of the tabernacle. \"No man,\" says the Lord Jesus, speaking of\nHis life, \"taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have\npower to lay it down, and I have power to take it again: this\ncommandment have I received of My Father.\" And truly, in tracing the\nway of the blessed Jesus through this defiled world, we can recognize\nthis feature of the burnt offering in a very striking manner. From\nfirst to last His course was marked with all the steadiness and divine\nuninterrupted calmness of true devotedness to God. The billows of dark\nand fierce temptation might roll and toss themselves with a rage and\nfury which would have crushed one less than God. The devil might stir\nup all his deadly malice against Him; man might display all his\nenmity--enmity which could only be outdone by the eternal friendship\nof this devoted One. His disciples, moreover, may refuse to \"watch\nwith Him one hour.\" Death may arm himself with all his ghastly\nterrors, and pour out a cup mixed with hell's bitterest ingredients;\nand further, display his deadly sting in all its infernal keenness and\npower to wound. The grave may conjure up all its unutterable horrors\nto make one grand struggle for \"_victory_,\" but _all_ in vain. The\nanswer of this unblemished voluntary offering to all these was, \"My\nmeat and my drink is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish\nHis work.\" He had His eye upon one object, and that was \"the joy that\nwas set before Him.\" He looked forward to the moment when He would be\nable to draw forth from the inexhaustible treasuries of eternal love\nthe rich and princely fruits of His hard-bought victory, and pour\nthem forth in divine profusion upon the \"travail of His soul;\" even\nthe Church, which He loved, and purchased with His own precious blood.\nHe eagerly anticipated \"the morning without clouds,\" when, surrounded\nby the myriads of His ransomed brethren, He will sound forth in\neverlasting strains the mighty answer to all the foul aspersions of\nthe enemy as to the love of God toward the sinner. All these\nattractions, I say, He had before Him, and therefore He marched onward\nin the greatness of His strength; \"He _steadfastly_ set His face to go\nto Jerusalem.\" Lord Jesus Christ, invigorate our poor cold hearts to\nsound forth the eternal honors of Thine adorable name; and may our\nlives be more and more the decided evidence of our hearts--love to\nThee, for \"Thou alone art worthy!\" All this is surely most blessed for\nus; but, blessed as it is, it is not all; there are other strokes from\nthe pencil of the Divine Artist, calculated, in the highest degree, to\ncaptivate our spiritual tastes, yea, more, to feed our souls. \"He\nshall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and _it shall\nbe accepted for him_, to make atonement for him\" (ver. 4). Here, then,\nis grace! Levi, the self-willed, cruel, fierce, and blood-shedding\nLevi, is accepted in all the perfectness and acceptableness of this\n\"unblemished male\" before God: whatever of excellency, whatever of\nvalue, whatever of purity, God beheld in this offering, that did He\nlikewise behold in Levi as \"accepted _in_ the offering.\" Thus, look at\nLevi _apart from_ the offering, and you will find him such that God\ncould not come into _his_ assembly: but look at him as _in the\noffering_, and you find him, through grace, as pure and as perfect as\nthe offering itself. Nothing could surpass this most excellent grace.\nThe grace that could take up a sinner from such a pit of corruption as\nthat in which Levi lay groveling, and lead him into such high\nelevation, deserves the highest note of praise; and, blessed be God,\nit shall, ere long, have it from all who, like Levi, have felt its\nsacred power.\n\nHowever, we must not enter too minutely into the detail of this burnt\noffering, and there are just two points further to which I will refer.\nThe first is presented to us in ver. 6: \"And he shall flay the burnt\noffering, and cut it into his pieces.\" Here we see at once to what a\nprocess of strict, jealous and uncompromising scrutiny the Lord Jesus\nexposed Himself in offering Himself before God. It was not enough that\nthe animal should be APPARENTLY \"without blemish,\" for the skin, or\n_outward surface_, might look very well, and at the same time the\noffering be not at all fit for God's altar; therefore the _outward\nsurface_ must be removed, in order that this offering may be examined\nin all its sinews, joints and veins, and thus be found, as to _the\nsprings of action_, _the structure of his frame_, and the source and\nchannels of the life that animated him, a perfectly unblemished\noffering. But further, \"_he shall cut it into his pieces_,\" i.e., take\nthe offering asunder, and examine its various parts, in order that it\nmay not only form a perfect whole, but that each distinct joint may\nbe found perfect. Thus, in whatever aspect we look at the Lord Jesus,\nwe get divine perfection. He could say to God, \"Thou hast tried Me,\nand shalt find nothing;\" and God could answer, \"I am well pleased.\" He\ncould say of the devil, \"The prince of this world cometh, and hath\nnothing _in Me_;\" and the devil could reply, \"I know Thee, who thou\nart, the _Holy One of God_.\" He could say to men, \"Which of you\nconvinceth Me of sin?\" and man could answer, \"Truly this was a\n_righteous man_.\" Thus, I say, our divine burnt-offering, who\nvoluntarily presented Himself at God's altar, and there poured forth\nHis most precious blood, was found, in every feature and in every\naspect, pure and perfect in the very highest sense of the word, and\nconfessed so by heaven, earth, and hell.[8]\n\n  [8] We may also observe, in the act of cutting the offering into his\n  pieces, this important truth, that in whatever relationship of life we\n  contemplate the Lord Jesus, we find the same unsullied perfection;\n  whether we consider Him as a public or as a private character, in one\n  position or another, all is alike. Not so with man--here there must be\n  failure in one way or another. If a man is a good public character, he\n  may be the very plague of the family circle, and _vice versa_. And,\n  surely, in all this we learn the glorious truth which shall shortly be\n  owned by all created intelligences, that \"He _alone_ is worthy.\"\n\nAll, therefore, having been found pure, and fit for God's altar, it\nbecomes the happy place of _Aaron's sons_ to send up before God the\nsweet savor of this most acceptable offering, as we read: \"And the\n_sons_ _of Aaron_ the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay\nthe wood in order upon the fire. And _the priests_, Aaron's _sons_,\nshall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that\nis on the fire which is upon the altar. But _his inwards and his legs_\nshall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn _all_ on the altar,\nto be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor\nunto the Lord\" (vers. 7-9). The fat of the offering was God's peculiar\npart; no one could with impunity touch that; yea, the punishment for\nso doing was the same as for eating blood; i.e., it was as wrong and\nas daringly presumptuous for a man to intrude upon God's portion of\nthe offering as it was for him to assume life in his own right, which\nlatter was an open denial of the state of death and ruin in which he\nwas by reason of sin. God, then, I say, claimed the fat. He alone\ncould feed upon the inward excellency and peerless perfections of\nJesus, just as in the case of the unmeasured ointment in Exodus xxx.,\nwhere we see, as well as in the above cited passage, that the infinite\nmind of God could alone appreciate the infinite value of Christ. But\nwe find _the head_ burnt in connection with the fat, showing us, I\nsuppose, that both the hidden energies of the Lord Jesus and the seat\nof His understanding were equally suited to be a sweet savor unto God.\nLastly, the inwards and legs were washed and burned upon the altar,\nshowing us that the secret thoughts, purposes and counsels of the Lord\nJesus, as well as the outward development of these in His _walk_, were\nperfectly pure and fit for the altar: and, in connection with this\nlast point, one cannot help dwelling with comfort upon the marvelous\ncontrast between the Lord Jesus and His poor people. How often may our\n_outward walk_, typified by \"the legs,\" appear quite right in the eye\nof man, when, at the same time, perhaps, in the eye of God, our\n\"_inwards_\" may be full of gross impurity. But it is well for us that\nsuch was not the case with our great Head: in Him _all was alike_, for\n_all was pure_. May our hearts, dear Christian reader, enter more and\nmore fully, under the teaching of the Spirit, into the intrinsic\nexcellency of the Lord Jesus; and may we be enabled daily, standing at\nthe altar before God, to send up in His presence the savor of all\nthis!\n\nAs to the meat offering, we need not enter minutely into it. It was\ncomposed, as we know, of that which sprang from _the earth_, and such\nas aptly shadowed out \"the Man Christ Jesus,\" the frankincense thereon\nmarking the entire devotedness of all the actings of Christ's human\nnature to God His Father. Nothing was done by Him to meet man's eye,\nor man's approbation; nothing was done to produce mere effect; no,\n_all was directly before God_. Whether we trace the footsteps of the\nLord Jesus, while, for thirty years, _He was subject_ to His parents\nat home; or while, for three years, He was engaged in public ministry\namongst the Jews--all was alike: all showed forth the pure\nfrankincense that marked Him, in all things, as God's peculiar and\ndevoted servant. We may observe further that this meat offering was\n_baked_ with oil, and _anointed_ with oil; thus showing forth, I\nsuppose, the incarnate Son of God, who was first \"_conceived_ of the\nHoly Ghost\" (Matt. i. 20), and then \"_anointed_ with the Holy Ghost\"\n(Matt. iii. 16; Acts x. 38).\n\nWe now come to speak of the sin offering, and may the Lord graciously\nrefresh our spirits while dwelling for a little on the blessed\nprinciples unfolded therein. The sin offering is brought before us in\nLeviticus iv., from whence we may select one case for our present\npurpose. \"If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin\nof the people, then _let him_ bring for his sin which he hath sinned a\nyoung bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering. _And\nhe shall bring_ the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the\ncongregation before the Lord, and shall lay his hand upon the\nbullock's head and kill the bullock before the Lord\" (vers. 3, 4).\n\nThe reader will, no doubt, observe a marked difference between the\nabove passage and that in which the burnt offering was referred to;\nand the difference so far mainly consists in this, that in the last\ncited passage the words \"_voluntary will_\" are not found, and this was\nquite to be looked for. In the burnt offering we were enabled to\nrecognize the Lord Jesus Christ _offering_ Himself voluntarily before\nGod, in which aspect of His blessed work He could say, \"No man taketh\nit (My life) from Me, _I lay it down of Myself_.\" In other words, He\noffered Himself \"of His own voluntary will at the door of the\ntabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.\" But in the sin\noffering it is quite different: \"_He shall be brought_\" and \"_He shall\nbe killed_;\" i.e., instead of _coming_, _He shall be brought_; and\ninstead of laying down His life of _Himself_, His life _shall be taken\nfrom Him_. These, I say, are important distinctions, and such as arise\nfrom the very nature of the two offerings. In the burnt offering the\nLord Jesus is seen offering Himself in all the unblemished perfectness\nwhich belonged to Him; and in this His soul had great delight, because\nHe was presenting that before God which was so acceptable to Him. But\nin the sin offering the Lord Jesus is seen standing in connection with\nthat which His pure and spotless soul must have deeply abhorred and\nkeenly resented--abhorred and resented, indeed, in a way of which we\ncannot form the faintest idea. He is seen, in a word, as standing in\nconnection with _sin_: yea, more, as \"made sin\" (2 Cor. v. 21). _Thus_\nit was that the prophet, through the Spirit, viewed Him when he said,\n\"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our\niniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with _His\nstripes_ we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have\nturned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the\niniquity of us all\" (Isa. liii. 5, 6).\n\nNow I believe that by looking at the two offerings in connection we\nget a very deep and wondrous view of sin's dark and dreadful enormity\nin the sight of God: for sin in this point of view appears sinful\njust according to the measure of Christ's perfectness in God's\naccount. If in the burnt offering we were enabled to see that such was\nthe beauty and excellency of Christ that His _whole man_ could go up\nbefore God as a sweet savor, and that God could \"find nothing in Him\"\nbut perfection, as a necessary consequence then we must see in the sin\noffering the blackness and heinousness of sin, which could oblige God\nto hide His face from \"His elect, in whom His soul delighted.\"\n\nThis brings us to the next point connected with the sin offering,\nviz., \"He shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head\" (ver. 4). Here\nwe have at once the secret of the deep and profound mystery of the\nthree hours' darkness.\n\nIt was before observed that God had to hide His face from the Lord\nJesus on the cross, but how are we to account for such a mysterious\ncircumstance? Simply by the words, \"he (the sinner) shall lay his hand\nupon the bullock's head.\" If, in contemplating the burnt offering, we\nwere struck by the fact that all the perfectness of the offering was\ncommunicated to the \"fierce and cruel\" Levi, so here we are called\nupon to adore the grace that devised the wondrous plan whereby that\ncould be effected, which was by imputing to the offering all the sin\nand defilement of Levi, and dealing with the sin of Levi in the person\nof the sin offering, in order that Levi himself might be dealt with in\nthe person of the burnt offering.\n\nAnd all this, be it observed, is conveyed to us in the action of \"the\nlaying on of hands.\" This action was performed in both cases; i.e.,\nLevi laid his hands on the head of the burnt-offering, and Levi laid\nhis hands on the head of the sin offering. As to the _act_, it was the\nsame in each case; but oh, how different the results! they were, in a\nword, as different as life and death, heaven and hell, sin and\nholiness. In fact, we cannot conceive a wider contrast than that which\nis observable in the results of this action, to all appearance the\nsame in each case. We may, perhaps, be able to form some idea of it by\nconsidering that the act of imposition of hands was at once the\nimputation of _sin_ to one \"_who knew no sin_,\" but was \"holy,\nharmless, undefiled,\" and whose very nature abhorred _all sin_. And,\non the other hand, it was the imputation of _perfect righteousness_ to\none who was by nature \"a cruel, fierce, and self-willed murderer.\"[9]\nFurthermore, the act of imposition of hands obliged the One who from\nbefore all worlds dwelt in the bosom of the Father to travel far away\ninto the cold and barren regions of death and darkness, where the\ngenial and life-giving rays of His Father's countenance, which He\nalone could truly appreciate, had never penetrated; and standing upon\nthe confines of which, He cried out, \"_If it be possible_, let this\ncup pass from Me!\" and again, when these gloomy regions, with their\nten thousand unutterable horrors, burst upon His spotless soul, \"My\nGod, My God, WHY HAST THOU forsaken Me?\" And, on the other hand, it\nenabled the one who dwelt in \"the habitations of cruelty,\" into whose\n\"assembly\" God could not come, to stand in the very blaze of the light\nof God's throne. These considerations, I say, may perhaps assist our\nconceptions in some measure upon this astounding truth. Now, the\napostle states the same truth in the didactic language of the New\nTestament when he says, \"He (God) hath _made Him_ to be _sin for us_,\nthat _we_ might be _made the righteousness_ of God _in Him_\" (2 Cor.\nv. 21). That is, He hath made the One whose perfectness is seen in the\nburnt offering to be judged _as sin_, and treated as such in the sin\noffering, in order that _we_, who deserved the treatment of the sin\noffering, might be treated as accepted in the burnt offering.\n\n  [9] I would observe here that in speaking of \"the imputation of\n  righteousness,\" I by no means desire to be understood as giving any\n  countenance to the prevailing theory of \"the imputed righteousness of\n  Christ.\" Of this expression, so much in use in the theology of the\n  present day, it would be sufficient to say that it is nowhere to be\n  found in the oracles of God. I read of \"the righteousness of God\"\n  (Rom. iii. passim), and, moreover, of the imputation of righteousness\n  (Rom. iv. 11), but never of \"the righteousness of Christ.\" It is true,\n  we read of the Lord Jesus being \"_made of God_ unto us righteousness\"\n  (Jer. xxiii. 6), but these passages do not support the above theory. I\n  would further add that the moral effect of this idea will be found to\n  be decidedly pernicious, because it of _necessity_ supposes the\n  believer as standing apart from the Lord Jesus, whereas the doctrine\n  of Scripture is that the believer is \"made the righteousness of God IN\n  HIM\" (2 Cor. v. 21). And again, \"we are IN HIM that is true, even in\n  _His Son Jesus Christ_\" (1 Jno. v. 20).\n\nI would also observe here that there is much force and value in the\nword \"_made_:\" it shows out most fully that righteousness was just as\nforeign to the nature of man as sin was to the nature of Christ. Man\nhad no righteousness of his own, or, in other words, he knew no\nrighteousness, and therefore he had to be \"_made_\" righteousness.\nChrist \"_knew no sin_,\" and therefore had to be \"_made sin_\" in order\nthat we might be _made_ righteousness, even \"the righteousness of God\n_in Him_.\" But further, we learn from the passage to which we are\nreferring that the Lord Jesus having been \"made sin for us,\" is not\nmore real, not more true, not more palpable, than that the believer is\n\"_made righteousness_ in Him.\"\n\nIf there be any truth or reality in the record concerning the cross\nand passion of the Lord Jesus, then, it is plain that the moment a\nsoul acts faith upon Christ in His death and resurrection, that moment\nhe is accepted in all the acceptableness of Christ. His consciousness\nof this is, of course, quite another question: a truth and the\nrealization of a truth are quite distinct.\n\nThe measure of our realization will be in proportion to the measure of\nour communion with God. If we are satisfied to move at a cold and\nheartless distance from God, our consciousness of the power and value\nof any truth will, as a consequence, be meagre and shallow: while,\ntherefore, it is not to be forgotten that the root and source of all\nlife and communion is the truth stated in the passage to which we are\nalluding, it is manifest that the more we walk in communion with Him\nwho gives us the life, the more shall we enjoy both Himself and the\nlife which He gives. Dear Christian reader, let us pray that the cross\nand passion of the Lord Jesus may sink so deeply into our hearts that\nwe may have on the one hand such a view of the loathsomeness of sin as\nshall lead us to abhor it with a holy abhorrence \"all the days of our\nlife,\" and on the other hand such a view of the amazing love of God as\nshall constrain us \"to live not unto ourselves but unto Him who died\nfor us and rose again.\"\n\nThus, then, we see that the laying on of hands shows forth nothing\nless than _a change of places_ on the part of the sinner and the\nSaviour. The sinner was _out_ of the favor of God: \"O my soul, come\nnot thou into their habitation.\" The Saviour was _in_ the favor of\nGod, \"_daily His delight_,\" dwelling in His bosom from before all\nworlds. But the amazing plan of redemption _shows us the Saviour out\nof the favor of God_, _and God forsaking Him_, _while at the same time\na condemned malefactor is brought at once into the very presence of a\nloving and pardoning God_. Amazing, deep, inconceivable, eternal love!\nunfathomable wisdom! love which soars far aloft above the most\ngigantic conception! wisdom which has written everlasting contempt\nupon all the power and base designs of the great enemy of God and man!\nFor, ere Levi could be introduced into the enjoyment of the \"covenant\nof _life_ and _peace_\" (Mal. ii. 5), a spotless Victim must stand the\nshock of the king of terrors and all his thunders. But who is this\nVictim? We ask not, \"Who is this King of glory?\" but _Who_ is this\nVictim? The answer to this question it is which gives to the plan of\nredemption its grandest and most divine characteristic. The Victim was\nnone less than the Son of God Himself! Yes! here was love, here was\nwisdom. The Son of God had to stoop because man had exalted himself.\nAnd surely we may say, If God had not entered upon the work, _all_,\n_all_ were lost, and that forever. No mere mortal could have entered\ninto that dark scene where sin was being atoned for; no one but the\nSon of God could have sustained the weight which, in the garden and on\nthe cross, rested on the shoulders of the \"One that was mighty.\" And\nhere we might refer to the Lord's language to His disciples when He\nwas about to enter into conflict with the adversary: \"Hereafter I will\nnot talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath\nnothing in Me\" (John xiv. 30). Why could He not \"talk much with them?\"\nBecause He was just going to enter upon the work of atonement, in\nwhich they could do nothing, because the prince of this world, had he\ncome, would have had _plenty in them_; but then, the moment He, as it\nwere, in spirit passes through that sorrowful hour, He says, \"_Arise_,\nlet us go hence;\" i.e., although we could not move a single step in\nthe achievement of the victory, yet we could enjoy the fruits of it;\nand not only so, but _display_ the fruits of it in a life of service\nand fruit-bearing to God, which forms the subject of teaching in the\nnext chapter.\n\nHere, then, is what gives peace to the awakened conscience of the\nsinner. God Himself has done the work. God has triumphed over all\nman's wickedness and rebellion, and now every soul who feels his need\nof pardon and peace can draw near in faith and holy confidence and\nreap the fruits of this wondrous triumph of grace and mercy.\n\nAnd now, dear reader, if _you_ have not as yet made these wondrous\nfruits your own; if you have not as yet cast the whole burden of your\nsins on God's eternal love as seen in the cross, I ask you, Why do you\nstand aloof? Why do you doubt? Perhaps you feel the hardness of your\nheart, perhaps you are ready to say that you feel yourself even now\nunmoved by the contemplation of all the deep sorrow endured by the Son\nof God. Well, what of that? If it be a question of _your_ guilt, you\nmay go much farther than even this, for in that hour of which we have\nbeen speaking you stood unmoved, looked on with cold and heartless\nindifference, while all creation owned the wondrous fact. Yea, more,\nyou yourself crucified the incarnate God, you spat in His face, and\nplunged your spear into His side. Do you shrink back and say, \"Oh, not\nso bad!\" I say _it was the act of the human heart_; and if you have a\nhuman heart, it was your act. But the Scriptures at once decide this\npoint, for it is written, \"For of a truth against Thy holy child\nJesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, _with\nthe Gentiles_ and the people of Israel, were gathered together\" (Acts\niv. 27). This passage, I say, proves that all the world were\n_representatively_ around the cross. But why insist on this? Simply to\nshow forth the riches of the grace of God, which can only be seen in\nall its effulgent lustre in the cross; and therein it is seen mounting\nfar above all man's sin and malignant rebellion; for when man, in the\nfiendish pride of his heart, could plunge his spear into the side of\nincarnate Deity, God's cry was--BLOOD! and through _that blood\n\"remission of sins, beginning at Jerusalem_.\" Thus, \"where _sin_\nabounded, _grace_ did _much more abound_,\" and \"grace REIGNS through\nrighteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord.\"\n\nEnough, I trust, has been said to show the grounds upon which the\nLevites stood before God. These grounds were free and _eternal\ngrace_--grace exercised toward them through the blood, which is the\nonly channel through which grace can flow. Man has been found to be\n_utterly ruined_ before God, and therefore it must be a question\neither of salvation through _free grace_, or eternal damnation; for\n\"by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh living be justified.\"\nBut then, while man is by nature utterly unfit to render anything like\nan acceptable righteousness or service to God, yet, when God gives us\n_new life_ through grace, He, of course, looks for the development of\nthat life. In other words, grace brings the soul into circumstances of\nresponsibility and service, and it is as we meet those circumstances\nthat God is glorified in us and our souls grow in the knowledge of\nGod. Thus it was in the case of the leper: up to a certain point in\nhis history he had nothing to do, _the priest_ was the sole actor. But\nwhen the priest had done his part; when, by virtue of _the blood_\nwhich had been shed, he had pronounced him \"clean,\" the leper had\n_then_ to begin to \"_wash himself_\" (Lev. xiv. 8). Now we shall find\nthat the history of Levi develops all these principles most fully.\n\nWe have hitherto been engaged with Levi's condition and character by\nnature and also the wondrous remedy devised by grace to meet him in\nhis lost estate, and not only to save him _from_ that estate but also\nto raise him up to an elevation which could never have entered into\nthe heart of man, even into the very tabernacle of God. We shall now,\nwith God's blessing and grace, proceed to examine that high elevation\nto which we have referred, and also the service which it involved, as\nput before us in\n\n     NUMBERS iii.\n\n     \"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, _Bring the tribe of\n     Levi near_, and present them before Aaron the priest, that\n     they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge,\n     and the charge of the whole congregation before the\n     tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the\n     tabernacle. And they shall keep _all the instruments of the\n     tabernacle_ of the congregation, and the charge of the\n     children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And\n     thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron, and to his sons:\n     they are wholly given unto him out of the children of\n     Israel\" (vers. 5-9).\n\nHere, then, God's marvelous purposes of grace toward Levi fully open\nbefore us, and _truly_ marvelous they are indeed. We see that the\nsacrifices were but a means to an end; but both the means and the end\nwere in every way worthy of each other. The means were, in one word,\n\"death and resurrection,\" and _all included therein_. The end was,\n_nearness_ to God, and _all included therein_.\n\nLooking at Levi by nature, there could not be any point farther\nremoved from God than that at which he stood; but _grace_ in exercise,\nthrough the blood, could _lift him up_ out of that ruin in which he\nstood, and \"bring him nigh,\" yea, bring him into association with the\ngreat head of the priestly family, there to serve in the tabernacle.\nThus, we read, \"You _hath He quickened who were dead_ in trespasses\nand sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of\nthis world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the\nspirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.... _But God_,\nwho is _rich in mercy_, for His _great love_ wherewith _He loved us_,\neven _when we were dead in sins_, hath quickened us _together with\nChrist_ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and\nmade us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus\" (Eph. ii.\n1-6). And again, \"But _now_, _in Christ Jesus_, ye who sometime were\n_afar off_, are _made nigh_ by the blood of Christ\" (ver. 13).\n\nWhen _nature_ is left free to work, it will ever go as far away from\n_God_ as it can. This is true since the day when man said, \"I heard\n_Thy voice_, and I was _afraid_ and I hid myself\" (Gen. iii. 10). But\nwhen grace is left free and sovereign to work, it will ever bring the\nsoul \"nigh.\" Thus it was with Levi. He was by nature \"_black as the\ntents of Kedar_;\" by grace, \"comely as the curtains of Solomon:\" by\n_nature_ he was \"_joined_\" in a covenant of murder; by _grace_\n\"joined\" in a covenant of \"life and peace.\" The former, because he was\n\"_fierce and cruel_;\" the latter, because he feared and was afraid of\nthe Lord's name. (Comp. Gen. xlix. 6, 7; Mal. ii. 5.) Furthermore,\nLevi was by _nature_ conversant with the \"instruments of cruelty;\" by\n_grace_, with \"_the instruments of God's tabernacle_:\" by _nature_ God\ncould not come into _Levi's assembly_; by _grace_, Levi is brought\ninto _God's assembly_: by nature, \"his feet were swift _to shed\nblood_;\" by grace, _swift_ to follow the movements of the cloud\nthrough the desert, in real, patient service to God. In a word, Levi\nhad become a \"_new creature_,\" and \"old things had passed away,\" and\ntherefore he was no longer to \"live unto himself,\" but unto Him who\nhad done such marvelous things for him in grace.\n\nI would further observe, on the last cited passage, that the Levites\nare, in the first place, declared to be God's property, and then they\nare \"WHOLLY GIVEN UNTO AARON.\" Thus we read: \"_Thine they were_, _and\nThou gavest them Me_, and they have kept Thy word\" (John xvii. 6). And\nagain, \"All that _the Father giveth Me_ shall come to Me\" (John vi.\n37).\n\nI would now look a little into the detail of their service, in which,\nI doubt not, we shall find much to edify and refresh us.\n\nWe find that although the whole tribe of Levi were, _as to standing_,\n\"_joined with Aaron_,\" yet, as to _service_, they were divided into\nclasses. \"All had not the same office;\" and this is what we might have\nexpected, for, although in the matter _of life_ and _standing_ they\nwere all _on a level_, yet, in the development of that life, and in\nthe manifestation of the power of that standing, they would, no doubt,\ndisplay different measures; and not only so, but there would also be\nseen an assignment to each of distinct position and line of service,\nwhich would serve to distinguish him from his brethren in a very\nmarked and decided manner. And here I would observe that I know of\nnothing connected with the walk and service of the Christian which\ndemands more attention than this point to which I am now alluding,\nviz., _unity_ in the matter of life and standing, and at the same time\nthe greatest variety in the manifestation of character and in the line\nof service. A due attention to this important point would save us from\nmuch of that \"unwise\" comparing of ourselves and our service with the\npersons and services of others, which is most unholy, and, as a\nconsequence, most unhealthy.[10] And not only would it lead thus to\nbeneficial results in a negative point of view, it would also have a\nmost happy effect in producing and cultivating originality and\nuniqueness of Christian character. But while there was this diversity\nin the line of service amongst the Levites, it is also to be\nremembered that there was _manifested unity_. The Levites were _one\npeople_, and seen as such; they were \"_joined_\" with Aaron in the work\nof the tabernacle; moreover, THEY HAD ONE STANDARD, round which they\n_all_ rallied, and that was \"the tabernacle of the congregation,\" the\nwell known type of Christ in His character and offices. And, indeed,\nthis was one of the ends which God had in view in calling out the\nLevites by His grace from amongst the people of Israel; it was that\nthey should stand in marked association with Aaron and his sons, and\nin that association bear the tabernacle and all pertaining thereto on\ntheir shoulders, through the barren wilderness around.[11]\n\n  [10] It is worthy the serious attention of the Christian reader who\n  may desire the unity of the Church, that the tribe of Levi in the\n  desert was a truly striking example of what may be termed \"unity in\n  diversity.\" Gershon was in one sense totally different from Merari,\n  and Merari was totally different from Kohath; and yet Gershon, Merari\n  and Kohath were _one_: they should not, therefore, contend about their\n  service, because they were _one_; nor yet would it have been right to\n  confound their services, because they were totally different. Thus,\n  attention to _unity_ would have saved them from contention, and\n  attention to _diversity_ would have saved them from confusion. In a\n  word, all things could only be \"done decently and in order\" by a due\n  attention to the fact of there being \"unity in diversity.\"\n\n  [11] I say \"one of the ends,\" for we should ever remember that the\n  grand object before the divine mind in redemption is to show in the\n  ages to come His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus; and this\n  object will be secured even though our poor puny services had never\n  been heard of.\n\nGod did not call out the Levites _merely_ that they might escape the\nsad effects of God's absence from their assembly; or, in other words,\nGod had more than THEIR blessing and security in view in His dealings\nwith them. He designed that they should serve in the tabernacle, and\nthus be to His praise and glory. We shall, however, I trust, see this\nprinciple upon which I am dwelling in a clearer and stronger point of\nview as we proceed in our subject.\n\nWe find that Levi had three sons, viz., \"Gershon, and Kohath, and\nMerari\" (Num. iii. 17). These formed the heads of the three classes\nalluded to, and we shall find that the nature of the service of each\nwas such as of necessity to impart that tone of character signified by\ntheir very name. Thus: \"Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and\nthe family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites.\nAnd the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be\nEliasaph, the son of Lael. And the charge of the sons of Gershon in\nthe tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle and the\ntent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the\ntabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the court, and the\ncurtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by\nthe altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service\nthereof\" (vers. 21-26).\n\nHere was Gershon's work, to carry through the waste and howling\nwilderness the tabernacle and its coverings. This was indeed _true\nLevite service_, but it was most blessed service, and its antitype in\nthe Church now is what we should much seek after, because it is that\nwhich alone puts the Christian into his right place in the world,\ni.e., the place of a STRANGER. There could be but little\nattractiveness in the rams' skins and badgers' skins; but, little as\nthere was, it was, nevertheless, the high privilege of the Gershonite\nto take them all up and bear them cheerfully on his shoulders across\nthe trackless sands. What, then, are we to understand by the covering\nof the tabernacle? I believe, in a word, it shadowed out the character\nof the Lord Jesus Christ. It was that which would meet the eye. There\nmight be, and were, other services among the Levites of a very blessed\nnature, but surely it was most elevated service to carry through the\ndesert that which so strikingly prefigured the character of Christ.\n\nThis is what makes the saint \"a stranger\" (as the name Gershon\nimports) in the world. If we are walking in _the manifestation of the\ncharacter of the Lord Jesus_, and in so doing realize our place as _in\nthe wilderness_, we may rest assured it will impart a very decided\ntone of strangership to our character in the world. And oh, would that\nwe knew much more of this. The Church has laid down the rams' skins\nand badgers' skins, and with them the Gershonite character: in other\nwords, the Church has ceased to walk in the footsteps of her rejected\nLord and Master, and the consequence has been that instead of being\nthe wearied and worn stranger, as she should be, treading the parched\nand sterile desert, with the burden on the shoulders, she has settled\nherself down in the green places of the world and made herself at\nhome. But there was another feature of the stranger character shadowed\nout in the curtain, viz., _anticipation_. This was most blessed--God\ndwelling in curtains showed plainly that neither God nor the ark of\nHis strength had found a resting-place, but were _journeying on_\ntowards \"_a rest that remained_.\"\n\nAnd how could there be a _rest_ in the desert? There were no rivers\nand brooks _there_--no old corn _there_--no milk and honey _there_.\nTrue, the smitten rock sent forth its refreshing streams to meet their\nneed, and heaven sent down their _daily bread_; but all this was not\nCanaan. They were still in the desert, eating wilderness food and\ndrinking wilderness water, and it was Gershon's holy privilege to\ncarry upon his shoulders that which in the fullest manner expressed\nall this, viz., THE CURTAIN. \"Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me\nan house for Me to dwell in? Whereas I have not _dwelt_ in any house\nsince the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt,\neven to this day, but have _walked_ in a _tent_ and in a _tabernacle_\"\n(2 Sam. vii. 5, 6). Here, too, we have sadly failed. The Church grew\nweary of the curtain, and wished to build a house before the time; she\ngrew weary of \"_walking in a tent_,\" and earnestly desired to \"_dwell\nin a house_.\"\n\nAnd truly we have all to watch and pray against this disposition to\ngrow weary of our Gershonite character. There is nothing so trying to\nnature as continual labor in a state of expectancy; our hearts love\nrest and fruition, and therefore nothing but the continual remembrance\nthat \"our sufficiency is of God\" can at all sustain us in our Gershon\nor stranger condition.\n\nLet us therefore remember that we bear on our shoulders the curtains,\nand have beneath our feet the sand of the desert, above our heads the\npillar of cloud, and before us \"the land of rest\" clothed in\nnever-withering green, and, both as a stimulus and a warning, let us\nremember that \"He that endureth to the end THE SAME shall be\nsaved.\"[12]\n\n  [12] It would surely be of all importance in this day, when so many\n  are declining from the narrow path of obedience to the written Word,\n  and entering upon the wide and bewildering field of human tradition,\n  to bear in mind that the Levite, when carrying the tabernacle through\n  the desert, found no support nor guide _from beneath_; no, _the grace_\n  in which he stood was his _sole support_, and _the pillar above_ his\n  _sole guide_. It would have been miserable indeed had he been left to\n  find a guide in the footmarks on the sand, which would change at every\n  wind that blew. _But all the sand did for him was to add to his labor\n  and toil while he endeavored to follow the heavenly guide above his\n  head._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe shall next consider the Merarite feature of character; for,\nalthough the family of Merari does not stand next in order in the\nchapter, yet there is a kindredness of spirit, as it were, arising out\nof the very nature of their service, that would link them together in\nthe mind. But, not only is there this intimate connection between the\nservices of these two classes of Levites, which would lead us to link\nthem together thus, the Lord Himself presents them to us in marked\nunity of service, for we read, \"And the Kohathites set forward bearing\nthe sanctuary; and _the other_ (i.e., the Gershonites and the\nMerarites) _did set up the tabernacle against they came_\" (Num. x.\n21). Here, then, we see that it was the great business of these two\nfamilies to pass onward through the desert in holy companionship,\nbearing with them, wherever they went, \"_the tabernacle_,\" and,\nmoreover, the tabernacle as looked at in its character of outward\nmanifestation or testimony; which would, as a matter of course, put\nthose who carried it thus into a place of _very laborious_\ndiscipleship. \"And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari\nshall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the\npillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof,\nand all that serveth thereto, and the pillars of the court round\nabout, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords\" (chap. iii.\n36, 37). Here, then, was what Merari had to do: he had to take his\nplace here or there, according to the movement of the cloud, and _set\nup_ the boards of the tabernacle in their sockets of silver--and all\nthis, be it remembered, upon the sand of the desert.[13]\n\n  [13] It has been well observed that in the tabernacle God was seen\n  bringing all His glory into immediate connection with _the sand of the\n  desert_: and when the high priest went into the holy place, he found\n  himself in the very presence of that glory, _with his feet upon the\n  sand of the desert_ likewise. In the temple, however, this was not the\n  case, for the floor of the house was _overlaid with gold_ (1 Kings vi.\n  30).\n\n  So is it with the Christian now; he has not as yet his feet upon the\n  \"pure gold\" of the heavenly city, but his deepest and most abiding\n  knowledge of God is that which he obtains in connection with his\n  sorrow, toil and conflict in the wilderness.\n\nCould anything be more opposed to another than the nature of all that\nMerari had to set up was to the waste and howling wilderness around?\nWhat could be more unlike than silver and barren sand? But Merari\nmight not shrink from all this; no, his language was, when he had\narrived at a spot in the desert at which the cloud halted, \"I am come\nto set up the patterns of things in heaven in the very midst of all\nthe desolation and misery of the wilderness around.\" All this was most\nlaborious, and would, no doubt, impart to the character of Merari a\ntone of sadness or sorrow which was at once expressed in his name,\nwhich means \"_sorrow_.\"\n\nAnd surely the antitype of all this in the Church now will fully\nconfirm what has been stated about the character of Merari. Let any\none take his stand firmly and decidedly in the world _for Christ_--let\nhim penetrate into those places where \"the _world_\" is really seen in\nits vigor--let him oppose himself, _firm as a rock_, to the deep and\nrapid tide of worldliness, and _there_ let him begin to set up \"_the\nsockets of silver_,\" and, rest assured of it, he will find such a\ncourse attended with very much sorrow and bitterness of soul; in a\nword, he will realize it to be a path in which the cross is to be\ntaken up \"_daily_,\" and not only taken up, but borne. Now, if any\nfurther proof were needed of the above interpretation, we have a most\nstriking one in the fact that there are but _very few_ of the\nlaborious Merarite character to be found; and why is this? Simply\nbecause the exhibition of such a character will ever be attended with\nvery much labor and sorrow to nature, and nature loves ease, and\ntherefore human nature never could be a Merarite; nothing will make us\ntrue Merarites but deep communion with Him who was \"THE MAN OF\nSORROWS.\"\n\nThere is something in the service of Gershon from which one does not\nshrink so much as from that of Merari. For what had Gershon to do? He\nhad to place the curtains and badgers' skins over the boards _which\nhad been already set up by his laborious and sorrowful brother_. And\njust so now: if a laborious servant of God has gone to a place where\nhitherto the world and Satan have reigned supreme, and there raised a\ntestimony for Christ, it will be comparatively easy for another to go\nand walk on in the simple _manifestation_ of Christian character,\nwhich would of itself put him into the place of \"a stranger.\"\n\nBut, although nature may assume the character of a misanthropist, yet\nnothing but grace can make us Merarites, and _the true Merarite_ is\nthe _true philanthropist_, because he introduces that which alone _can\nbless_; and the very fact that a Merarite should have to take a place\nof sorrow is a most convincing proof that the world is an evil place.\nThere was no need of a Merarite in Canaan, nor a Gershonite either:\nfor the Merarite was _happy there_, and the Gershonite _at home_. But\nthe world is not the Levite's home, and therefore if any will carry\nthe curtains, he must be a stranger; and if any will carry the sockets\nand boards, he must be a man of sorrow; for when He who was a true\nGershonite and a true Merarite came into the world He was emphatically\n_the Man of sorrows_, _who had not where to lay His head_.\n\nHowever, if the Gershonite and the Merarite had to occupy a place in\nwhich they endured not a little of \"the burden and heat of the day,\"\nyet the Lord graciously met them in that with a very rich reward, for\n\"He is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love,\" and\ntherefore, if they had to labor and toil _amongst_ their brethren,\nthey were blessedly ministered to _by_ their brethren. Thus we read\nconcerning the offerings of the princes: \"And the Lord spake unto\nMoses, saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of\nthe tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the\nLevites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took the\nwagons and the oxen and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and\nfour oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their\nservice. And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of\nMerari according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son\nof Aaron the priest. _But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none_,\nbecause _the service of the sanctuary_ belonging unto them was that\nthey should bear upon their shoulders\" (Num. vii. 4-9).\n\nHere we see that the service of Gershon and Merari was that which met\nthe rich and blessed ministrations of their brethren. Grace had filled\nthe hearts and affections of the princes, and not only filled but\noverflowed them, and in its overflow it was designed to refresh the\nspirits of the homeless Gershonite and sorrowful Merarite: on the\nother hand, the Kohathites had no part in these ministrations; and\nwhy? Because _their service_, as we shall see presently, was in\n_itself_ a rich reward indeed. We see the very same doctrine taught in\nthe case of the Levites generally, as contrasted with the priests, in\nchap. xviii., where we read: \"And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou\nshalt have no inheritance in their land, neither _shalt thou have any\npart among them_: _I am thy part and thine inheritance among the\nchildren of Israel_\" (ver. 20).\n\nOn the other hand, He says of the Levites, \"Behold, I have given the\nchildren of Levi all the tenth in _Israel for an inheritance_, _for\ntheir service which they serve_, even the service of the tabernacle of\nthe congregation.\"\n\nAnd again, \"Ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households,\nfor _it is your reward_ for your service in the tabernacle of the\ncongregation\" (vers. 21, 31).\n\nAaron occupied a position so truly elevated that any inheritance in\nthe way of earthly things would have been to him most degrading;\nwhereas the Levites (looked at in one aspect) had not this high\nstanding, but had much hard labor; and consequently, while Aaron's\nvery place and service was \"_his reward_,\" the Levites had to get _a\ntenth_ for \"_their reward_.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe come now to consider the third and last division of the Levites,\nviz., the Kohathites, of whom we read, \"The families of the sons of\nKohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. And the\nchief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites\nshall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. And their charge shall be the\nark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the\nvessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and\nall the service thereof\" (chap. iii. 29-31). We can now have no\ndifficulty in understanding why it was that Kohath had no share in the\nministrations of the princes. Gershon and Merari might need wagons and\noxen to carry the boards, etc., but not so Kohath; his charge was too\nprecious to be committed to any or aught but himself, and therefore it\nwas his high and honored place to carry all upon his shoulders. What a\nprivilege, for example, to be allowed to carry _the ark_, _the table_,\nor _the golden candlestick_! And would it not have argued an entire\nabsence of ability to appreciate his elevated calling if he had sought\nfor the assistance of oxen in his holy service? What, then, we ask,\nwould have been the effect produced upon the character of Kohath by\nthis his service? Would it not have imparted a very elevated tone\nthereto? Surely it would. What can be more elevated, at least as far\nas development of character in the world is concerned, than the\ndisplay of that congregational spirit which is expressed in the name\nof Kohath? Should not Christians be found rebuking, by a _real_ union\n_in everything_, man's oft-repeated attempt at forming associations\nfor various purposes? And how can they effect that if it be not by\ngathering more closely around their common centre, Christ, in all the\nblessed fulness and variety of that Name? a fulness and variety\ntypified by the varied furniture of the tabernacle, some of the most\nprecious parts of which were designed to be borne on the shoulders of\nthis favored division of the tribe of Levi.\n\nAnd surely we may safely assert that what would lead the saints now\ninto more of the congregational spirit is just communion with Him whom\nthe ark and table shadowed forth. If we were more conversant with\nChrist as the ark, covering in this scene of death, and, moreover,\nwith the table of showbread, whereon stood _the food of the\npriests_--if, I say, we knew more of Christ in these blessed aspects\nof His character--we should not be as we are, _a proverb_ and a byword\nby reason of our gross disunion. But, alas, as the Church grew weary\nof the curtains and the boards, and laid aside her Gershonite and\nMerarite character, so has she laid aside her Kohathite character,\nbecause she has ceased to carry the ark and the table upon her\nshoulder, and cast those precious pearls which were, through the grace\nof God, her peculiar property, to the swine, and thus has she lost her\nelevated character and position in the world.\n\nThus, let us review those three grand features of character shown\nforth in the tribe of Levi.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n1st. Strangership. \"Therefore the world _knoweth us not_, because it\nknew Him not.\" \"Here we have no abiding city.\" \"Dearly beloved, I\nbeseech you _as strangers and pilgrims_, abstain from fleshly lusts,\nwhich war against the soul.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n2d. Sorrow in the world. \"_In the world_ ye shall have tribulation.\"\n\"If they have _persecuted Me_, they will also _persecute you_.\" \"I\nRECKON that _the sufferings of this present_ time are not worthy to be\ncompared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.\" \"After that\n_ye have suffered awhile_, make you perfect\"--\"_ye have need_ of\npatience\"--\"ye yourselves know that ye are appointed thereunto.\" \"If\nwe _suffer_ with Him, we shall also reign with Him.\" \"These are they\nthat came out of _great tribulation_, and have washed their robes and\nmade them white in the blood of the Lamb.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n3d. Union. \"That they _all may be one_.\" \"He should gather together in\n_one_ the children of God that are _scattered_ abroad.\" \"That He might\nreconcile _both_ unto God in ONE body by the cross.\" And here, again,\nI would request of my reader to bear in mind that, while there was\nthis beautiful diversity in the character and line of service of the\nLevites, yet they were _one people_, and that _manifestly_--they were\n_one_ in _life_, _one_ in standing, _one_ in calling, _one_ in\ninheritance; and so should it be with Christians _now_. We are not to\nexpect uniformity of opinion on every point, nor yet are we to look\nfor a perfect correspondence in the line of service and development of\nlife; but then the saints should be seen as _one people_--_one_ in\nworship,[14] _one_ in labor, _one_ in object, _one_ in sympathy; in a\nword, _one_ in everything that belongs to them in common as the people\nof God.\n\n  [14] I say, _one in worship_; and I would press this point, because at\n  the present day it seems to be a thought in the minds of many that\n  there may be unity in service and at the same time the greatest\n  diversity in worship. I would appeal to the spiritual mind of the\n  Christian reader, and I would ask him, Can this really be? What should\n  we say to a family who would unite, or appear to do so, for the\n  purpose of carrying on their father's work, but who could not, by\n  reason of division, meet around their father's table? Could such unity\n  satisfy a father who loved his children?\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHow sadly out of order it would have been for a Levite to call upon\none of the uncircumcised of the nations around to assist him in\ncarrying any part of the tabernacle! and yet we hear Christians now\njustifying and insisting upon the propriety of conduct not less\ndisorderly, viz., calling upon the openly unconverted and profane to\nput their hands to the Lord's work. Thus we see that the Levites have\nbecome scattered, and have forsaken their posts. The Gershonite has\nrefused to carry the curtains because he has become weary of the\nstranger condition; the Merarite has laid down the boards and sockets\nbecause he grew weary of bearing the cross, and the Kohathite has\ndegraded his high and holy office by making it the common property of\nthose who have not authority from God to put their hands thereunto.\nThus the name of God is blasphemed among the heathen by us, and we do\nnot \"sigh and cry for the abominations\" thus practiced, but lift up\nour heads in proud indifference as if it all were right, and as if the\ncamp of God were moving onward in all heavenly order, under the\nguidance of the cloud, communicated by the silver trumpets. \"My\nbrethren, these things ought not so to be.\" May we walk more humbly\nbefore our God, and, while we mourn over the sad fact that \"Overturn,\noverturn, overturn\" has been written by the finger of God upon all\nhuman arrangements, let us remember that it is only \"_until He come\nwhose right it is_,\" and then _all_ shall be set right forever, for\nGod, in all things, shall be fully glorified through Jesus Christ.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThus, dear reader, have we followed Levi in his course; and oh, what a\nmarvelous course has it been! a course, every step of which displays\nthe visible marks of sovereign grace abounding over man's sin--grace,\nwhich led God to stoop from His throne in the heavens to visit \"the\nhabitations of cruelty,\" in order to lift a poor perishing sinner from\nthence, and bring him, through the purging power of the blood, into a\nplace of marvelous blessing indeed, even into the very tabernacle of\nGod, there to be employed about the instruments of God's house. We\nhave found Levi to have been indeed the one who \"was _dead_ and is\n_alive_ again, who was _lost_ and is found.\" May we, then, adore the\ngrace that could do such mighty acts! and if we have felt in our\nhearts the operations of the same grace in delivering us from the\ndeath and darkness of Egypt, may we remember that its effects should\nbe to constrain us to live, not unto ourselves, but unto Him who died\nfor us and rose again. We are now in the wilderness, where we are\ncalled to carry the tabernacle. May we cheerfully move onward,\n\"_declaring_ PLAINLY that we seek a country,\" and anxiously look out\nfor \"THE REST THAT REMAINS.\"\n\n\n\n\nPART I.\n\nGLAD TIDINGS\n\n\"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that\nwhosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting\nlife\" (John iii. 16).\n\n\nThere are some passages of holy Scripture which seem to contain, in a\nline or two, an entire volume of most precious truth. The verse which\nwe have just penned is one of such. It is part of our Lord's memorable\ndiscourse with Nicodemus, and it embodies, in a condensed form, a very\nfull statement of gospel truth--a statement which may well be termed,\n\"Glad Tidings.\"\n\nIt should ever be borne in mind, both by preachers and those to whom\nthey preach, that one grand object of the gospel is to bring God and\nthe sinner together in such a way as to secure the sinner's eternal\nsalvation. It reveals a _Saviour God_ to a _lost man_. In other words,\nit presents God to the sinner in the very character that meets the\nsinner's need. A Saviour is precisely what suits the lost, just as a\nlife-boat suits a drowning man, or a physician a sick man, or bread a\nhungry man. They are fitted the one for the other; and when God as a\nSaviour, and man as a lost sinner, meet together, the whole question\nis settled forever. The sinner is saved, because God is a Saviour. He\nis saved according to the perfection which belongs to God, in every\ncharacter He wears, in every office He fills, in every relationship He\nsustains. To raise a question as to the full and everlasting salvation\nof a believing soul, is to deny that God is a Saviour. So it is in\nreference to justification. God has revealed Himself as a Justifier;\nand hence, the believer is justified according to the perfection which\nattaches to God in that character. If a single flaw could be detected\nin the title of the very weakest believer, it would be a dishonor to\nGod as a Justifier. Grant me but this, that God is my Justifier, and I\nargue, in the face of every opposer and every accuser, that I am, and\nmust be, perfectly justified.\n\nAnd, on the same principle, grant me but this, that God has revealed\nHimself as a Saviour, and I argue, with unclouded confidence and holy\nboldness, that I am, and must be, perfectly saved. It does not rest\nupon aught in me, but simply and entirely upon God's revelation of\nHimself. I know He is perfect in everything; and, therefore, perfect\nas my Saviour. Hence, I am perfectly saved, inasmuch as the glory of\nGod is involved in my salvation. \"There is no God else beside Me: a\njust God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me.\" What then? \"_Look_\nunto _Me_, and be ye saved, _all the ends of the earth_; for I am God,\nand there is none else\" (Isa. xlv. 21, 22). One believing _look_ from\na lost sinner to a just God and a Saviour, secures eternal salvation.\n\"_Look!_\" How simple! It is not \"Work\"--\"Do\"--\"Pray\"--\"Feel\"--no; it\nis simply \"Look.\" And what then? Salvation--everlasting life. It must\nbe so, because God is a Saviour; and the precious little word \"look\"\nfully implies all this, inasmuch as it expresses the fact that the\nsalvation which I want is found in the One to whom I look. It is all\nthere, ready for me, and one look secures it--secures it\nforever--secures it for _me_. It is not a thing of to-day or\nto-morrow; it is an eternal reality. The bulwarks of salvation behind\nwhich the believer retreats have been erected by God Himself--the\nSaviour-God, on the sure foundation of Christ's atoning work; and no\npower of earth or hell can ever shake them. \"Wherefore also it is\ncontained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief\nCorner-stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him shall not\nbe confounded\" (Isa. xxviii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 6).\n\nBut let us now turn directly to the profound and comprehensive passage\nwhich forms the special subject of this paper. In it, most assuredly,\nwe listen to the voice of a Saviour-God--the voice of Him who came\ndown from heaven to reveal God in such a way as He had never been\nrevealed before. It is a marvelously blessed fact that God has been\nfully revealed in this world--revealed, so that we--the writer and the\nreader of these lines--may know Him, in all the reality of what He\nis--know Him, each for himself, with the utmost possible certainty,\nand have to do with Him, in all the blessed intimacy of personal\ncommunion.\n\nReader, think of this! Think, we beseech you, of this amazing\nprivilege. You may know God for yourself, as _your_ Saviour, _your_\nFather, _your_ own very God. You may have to do with Him; you may lean\nupon Him, cling to Him, walk with Him, live and move and have your\nbeing in His own most blessed presence, in the bright sunshine of His\nloving countenance, under His own immediate eye.\n\nThis is life and peace. It is far more than mere theology or\nsystematic divinity. These things have their value, but, be it\nremembered, a man may be a profound theologian, an able divine, and\nyet live and die without God and perish eternally. Solemn, awful,\noverwhelming thought! A man may go down to hell, into the blackness\nand darkness of an eternal night, with all the dogmas of theology at\nhis fingers' ends. A man may sit in the professor's chair, stand in\nthe pulpit and at the desk; he may be looked up to as a great teacher\nand an eloquent preacher: hundreds may sit at his feet and learn,\nthousands may hang on his lips and be enraptured, and, after all, he\nhimself may descend into the pit, and spend a dismal, miserable\neternity in company with the most profane and immoral.\n\nNot so, however, with one who knows God as He is revealed in the face\nof Jesus Christ. Such a one has gotten life eternal. \"This,\" says\nChrist, \"is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God,\nand Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent\" (John xvii. 3). It is not life\neternal to know theology or divinity. A man may sit down to the study\nof these, as he would to study law or medicine, astronomy or geology,\nand all the while know nothing of God, and therefore be without divine\nlife, and perish in the end.\n\nSo also as to mere religiousness. A man may be the greatest devotee in\nthe world. He may most diligently discharge all the offices, and\nsedulously attend upon all the ordinances of systematic religion; he\nmay fast and pray; hear sermons and say prayers; be most devout and\nexemplary; and all the while know nothing of God in Christ; yea, he\nmay live and die without God, and sink into hell forever. Look at\nNicodemus. Where could you find a better sample of religious human\nnature than in him? A man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a\nmaster in Israel; one, moreover, who seemed to discern in the miracles\nof our Lord the clear proofs of His divine mission; and yet the word\nto him was, \"Ye must be born again.\" We have no need, surely, to go\nfarther than this to prove that a man may be not only religious, but\nactually a guide and a teacher of others, and yet not have divine life\nin his soul.\n\nBut it is not so with one who knows God in Christ. Such a one has life\nand an object. He has God Himself for his priceless portion. This is\ndivine. It lies at the very foundation of personal Christianity and\ntrue religion. It is above and beyond everything. It is not, we\nrepeat, mere theology, divinity, or religiousness; it is God Himself,\nknown, trusted, and enjoyed. It is a grand, unmistakable reality. It\nis the soul of theology, the groundwork of divinity, the life of true\nreligion. There is nothing in all this world like it. It is something\nwhich must be _felt_ in order to be known. It is acquaintance with\nGod, confidence in Him, and enjoyment of Him.\n\nNow, it may be that the reader is disposed to ask, \"How can I possess\nthis priceless treasure? How can I know God for myself, in this\nliving, saving, powerful manner? If it be true that without this\npersonal knowledge of God I _must_ perish eternally, then how am I to\nobtain it? What am I to do, what am I to be, in order to know God?\"\nThe answer is, God has revealed Himself. If He had not, we may say\nwith decision that nothing that we could do, nothing that we could be,\nnothing in us or of us, could possibly make us acquainted with God. If\nGod had not manifested Himself, we should have remained forever in\nignorance of Him and perished in our ignorance. But, seeing that He\nhas come forth from the thick darkness and showed Himself, we may know\nHim according to the truth of His own revelation, and find, in that\nknowledge, everlasting life, and a spring of blessedness at which our\nransomed souls shall drink throughout the golden ages of eternity.\n\nWe know of nothing which so clearly and forcibly proves man's utter\nincompetency to do aught towards procuring life, as the fact that the\npossession of that life is based upon the knowledge of God: and this\nknowledge of God must rest upon the _revelation_ of God. In a word, to\nknow God is life, to be ignorant of Him is death.\n\nBut where is He to be known? This is, in very deed, a grave question.\nMany a one has had to cry out, with Job, \"Oh, that I knew where I\nmight find Him.\" Where is God to be found? Am I to look for Him in\ncreation? Doubtless, His hand is visible there; but ah! that will not\ndo for me. A Creator-God will not suit a lost sinner. _The hand of\npower_ will not avail for a poor, guilty wretch like me. I want _a\nheart of love_. Yes, I want a heart that can love me in all my guilt\nand misery. Where can I find this? Shall I look into the wide domain\nof providence--the widely extended sphere of God's government? Has God\nrevealed Himself there in such a way as to meet me, a poor lost one?\nWill providence and government avail for one who knows himself to be a\nhell-deserving sinner? Clearly not. If I look at these things, I may\nsee what will perplex and confound me. I am short-sighted and\nignorant, and wholly unable to explain the ins and outs, the bearings\nand issues, the why and the wherefore, of a single event in my own\nlife, or in the history of this world. Am I able to explain all about\nthe loss of _The London_? Can I account for the fact that a most\nvaluable life is suddenly cut short, and an apparently useless one\nprolonged? There is a husband and the father of a large family; he\nseems perfectly indispensable to his domestic circle and yet, all in a\nmoment, he is cut down, and they are left in sorrow and destitution;\nwhile, on the other hand, yonder lies a poor bed-ridden creature, who\nhas outlived all her relations, and is dependent on the parish, or on\nindividual benevolence. She has lain there for years, a burden to\nsome, no use to any. Can I account for this? Am I competent to\ninterpret the voice of Providence in this deeply mysterious\ndispensation? Certainly not. I have nothing in or of myself wherewith\nto thread my way through the mazes of the labyrinth of what is called\nprovidence. I cannot find a Saviour-God there.\n\nWell, then, shall I turn to the law--to the Mosaic economy--the\nLevitical ceremonial? Shall I find what I want there? Will a Lawgiver,\non the top of a fiery mount, wrapped in clouds and thick darkness,\nsending forth thunders and lightnings, or hidden behind a veil--will\nsuch a One avail for me? Alas! alas! I cannot meet Him--I cannot\nanswer His demands nor fulfil the conditions. I am told to love Him\nwith all my heart, with all my mind, and with all my strength; but I\ndo not know Him. I am blind and cannot see. I am alienated from the\nlife of God, an enemy by wicked works. Sin has blinded my mind,\nblunted my conscience, and hardened my heart. The devil has completely\nperverted my moral being, and led me into a state of positive\nrebellion against God. I want to be renewed in the very source of my\nbeing ere I can do what the law demands. How can I be thus renewed?\nOnly by the knowledge of God. But God is not revealed in the law.\nNay, He is hidden--hidden behind an impenetrable cloud, an unrent\nveil. Hence I cannot know Him there. I am compelled to retire from\nthat fiery mount, and from that unrent veil, and from the whole\neconomy of which these were the characteristic features, the prominent\nobjects, still crying out, \"Oh! that I knew where I might find Him.\"\nIn a word, then, neither in creation, nor in providence, nor in the\nlaw, is God revealed as \"a just God and a Saviour.\" I see a God of\npower in creation: a God of wisdom in providence; a God of justice in\nthe law; a God of love _only_ in the face of Jesus Christ. \"_God was\nin Christ_, reconciling the world unto Himself\" (2 Cor. v. 19).\n\nTo this stupendous fact we call the reader's earnest attention; that\nis, if he be one who does not yet know the Lord. It is of the very\nlast possible importance that he be clear as to this. Without it there\ncan be nothing right. To know God is the first step. It is not merely\nknowing some things about God. It is not unrenewed nature turning\nreligious, trying to do better, endeavouring to keep the law. No,\nreader; it is none of these things. It is God, known in the face of\nJesus Christ. \"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of\ndarkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the\nknowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.\" This is\nthe deep and blessed secret of the whole matter. The reader, so far as\nhis natural condition is concerned, is in a state of darkness. There\nis not so much as a single ray of spiritual light. He is, spiritually\nand morally, just what creation was physically before that sublime and\ncommanding utterance fell from the lips of the Almighty Creator, \"Let\nthere be light.\" All is dark and chaotic, for the \"god of this world\nhath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of\nthe glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine\nunto them\" (2 Cor. iv. 4-6).\n\nHere are two things; namely, the god of this world blinding the mind,\nand seeking to hinder the in-shining of the precious life-giving beams\nof the light of God's glory; and, on the other hand, God, in His\nmarvelous grace, shining in the heart, to give the light of the\nknowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Thus all hinges\nupon the grand reality of the knowledge of God. Is there light? It is\nbecause God is known. Is there darkness? It is because God is not\nknown. No doubt there are various measures in the experience and\nexhibition of this light: but there is light, because there is the\nknowledge of God. So also there may be various forms of darkness; some\nmore hideous than others; but there is darkness because God is not\nknown. The knowledge of God is light and life. Ignorance of God is\ndarkness and death. A man may enrich himself with all the treasures of\nscience and literature; but if he does not know God, he is in the\ndarkness of primeval night. But, on the other hand, a man may be\nprofoundly ignorant of all human learning; but if he knows God, he\nwalks in broad day-light.\n\nIn the passage of Scripture which is engaging our attention, namely,\nJohn iii. 16, we have a very remarkable illustration of the character\nof the entire Gospel of John, and especially the opening chapters. It\nis impossible to meditate upon it without seizing this interesting\nfact. In it we are introduced to God Himself, in that wondrous aspect\nof His character and nature, as loving _the world_, and giving His\nSon. In it, too, we find, not only the \"world\" as a whole, but the\nindividual sinner, under that most satisfactory title of \"whosoever.\"\nThus God and the sinner are together--God, _loving_ and _giving_; and\nthe sinner, _believing_ and _having_. It is not God judging and\nexacting; but God loving and giving. The former was law; the latter,\ngrace; that was Judaism; this, Christianity. In the one, we see God\ndemanding obedience in order to life; in the other, we see God giving\nlife as the only basis of obedience. In the one, we see man struggling\nfor life, but never obtaining it; in the other, we see man receiving\nlife as a free gift, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such is\nthe contrast between the two systems--a contrast which cannot be too\ndeeply pondered. \"The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came\nby Jesus Christ\" (John i. 17).\n\nBut let us mark the way in which this is unfolded in our text. \"God so\nloved the world.\" Here we have the wide aspect of the love of God. It\nis not confined to any particular nation, tribe, caste, or family. It\nembraces the whole world. God is love; and, being so, it is not a\nquestion of the fitness or worthiness of the object of His love. It is\nwhat He _is_. He is love, and He cannot deny Himself. It is the very\nenergy and activity of His nature. The heart may have many a question,\nmany an exercise as to its state and condition before God, and very\nright it should have them. The Spirit Himself may produce such\nexercises and raise such questions; but, after all, the grand truth\nshines forth in all its lustre, \"God is love.\" Whatever we are,\nwhatever the world is, that is what God is; and we know that the truth\nas to God forms the deep and rich substratum which underlies the whole\nsystem of Christianity. The soul may pass through deep and sore\nconflict, under the sense of its own wretchedness; there may be many\ndoubts and fears; many dark and heavy clouds; weeks, months, or years\nmay be spent under the law, in one's inward self-consciousness, and\nthat, moreover, long after the mere intellect has yielded its assent\nto the principles and doctrines of evangelical truth. But, after all,\nwe must be brought into direct personal contact with God Himself--with\nwhat He is--with His nature and character, as He has revealed Himself\nin the gospel. We have to acquaint ourselves with Him, and He is love.\n\nObserve, it does not say merely that God is _loving_, but that He is\n_love_. It is not only that love is an attribute of His character,\nbut it is the very activity of His nature. We do not read that God is\njustice, or holiness; He is just and He is holy; but it would not\nexpress the full and blessed truth to say that God is loving; He is\nmuch more, He is love itself. Hence, when the sinner--\"whosoever\" he\nbe, it matters not--is brought to see his own total and absolute ruin,\nhis hopeless wretchedness, his guilt and misery, the utter vanity and\nworthlessness of all within and around him, (and there is nothing in\nthe whole world that can satisfy his heart, and nothing in his heart\nthat can satisfy God, or satisfy even his own conscience) when these\nthings are opened in any measure to his view, then is he met by this\ngrand substantial truth that \"God is love,\" and that He so loved the\nworld as to give His only-begotten Son.\n\nHere is life and rest for the soul. Here is salvation, full, free, and\neverlasting, for the poor, needy, guilty, lost one;--salvation resting\nnot upon anything in man or of man, upon aught that he is or can be,\naught that he has done or can do, but simply upon what God is and has\ndone. God _loves_ and _gives_, and the sinner _believes_ and _has_.\nThis is far beyond creation, government, or law. In creation, God\nspake and it was done. He called worlds into existence by the word of\nHis mouth. But we hear nothing, throughout the entire record of\ncreation, of God loving and giving.\n\nSo as to government, we see God ruling in unsearchable wisdom, amid\nthe armies of heaven, and among the children of men: but we cannot\ncomprehend Him. We can only say, as to this subject, that\n\n    \"God moves in a mysterious way,\n      His wonders to perform;\n    He plants His footsteps in the sea,\n      And rides upon the storm.\n    Deep in unfathomable mines\n      Of never failing skill,\n    He treasures up His bright designs,\n      And works His sovereign will.\"\n\nFinally, as to the law, it is, from beginning to end, a perfect system\nof command and prohibition--a system perfect in its action as testing\nman, and making manifest his entire alienation from God. \"The law\nworketh wrath.\" And again, \"By the law is the knowledge of sin.\" But\nwhat could such a system do in a world of sinners? Could it give life?\nImpossible. Why? Because man could not fulfil its holy requirements.\n\"If there had been a law given which could have given life, then\nverily, righteousness should have been by the law.\" But no; the law\nwas a ministration of death and condemnation. (See 2 Cor. iii.) The\nonly effect of the law, to anyone who is under it, is the pressure of\ndeath upon the soul, and of guilt and condemnation upon the\nconscience. It cannot possibly be otherwise with an honest soul under\nthe law.\n\nWhat, then, is needed? Simply this, the knowledge of the love of God,\nand of the precious gift which that love has bestowed. This is the\neternal groundwork of all. Love, and the gift of love. For, be it\nobserved and ever remembered, that God's love could never have reached\nus save through the medium of that gift. God is holy, and we are\nsinful. How could we come near Him? How could we dwell in His holy\npresence? How could sin and holiness ever abide in company?\nImpossible. Justice demands the condemnation of sin; and if love will\nsave the sinner, it must do so at no less a cost than the gift of the\nonly-begotten Son. Darius loved Daniel, and labored hard to save him\nfrom the lions' den; but his love was powerless because of the\nunbending law of the Medes and Persians. He spent the night in sorrow\nand fasting. He could weep at the mouth of the den; but he could not\nsave his friend. His love was not mighty to save. If he had offered\nhimself to the lions instead of his friend, it would have been morally\nglorious; but he did not. His love told itself forth in unavailing\ntears and lamentations. The law of the Persian kingdom was more\npowerful than the love of the Persian king. The law, in its stern\nmajesty, triumphed over an impotent love which had nothing but\nfruitless tears to bestow upon its object.\n\nBut the love of God is not like this--eternal and universal praise to\nHis name! His love is mighty to save. It _reigns_ through\nrighteousness. How is this? Because \"God _so_ loved the world that He\ngave His only-begotten Son.\" The law had declared in words of awful\nsolemnity, \"The soul that sinneth it shall die.\" Was this law less\nstern, less majestic, less stringent, than the law of the Medes and\nPersians? Surely not. How then, was it to be disposed of? It was to be\nmagnified and made honorable, vindicated and established. Not one jot\nor tittle of the law could ever be set aside. How, then, was the\ndifficulty to be solved? Three things had to be done: the law had to\nbe magnified; sin condemned; the sinner saved. How could these grand\nresults be reached? We have the answer in two bold and vivid lines\nfrom one of our own poets--\n\n    \"On Jesus' cross this record's graved,\n    Let sin be damned, and sinners saved.\"\n\nPrecious record! May many an anxious sinner read and believe it! Such\nwas the amazing love of God, that He spared not His own Son, but\ndelivered Him up for us all. His love cost Him nothing less than the\nSon of His bosom. When it was a question of creating worlds, it cost\nHim but the word of His mouth: but when it was a question of loving a\nworld of sinners, it cost His only-begotten Son. The love of God is a\nholy love, a righteous love, a love acting in harmony with all the\nattributes of His nature, and the claims of His throne. \"Grace\n_reigns_, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Christ Jesus\nour Lord.\" The soul can never be set at liberty till this truth be\nfully laid hold of. There may be certain vague hopes in the mercy of\nGod, and a measure of confidence in the atoning work of Jesus, all\ntrue and real so far as it goes; but true liberty of heart cannot\npossibly be enjoyed until it is seen and understood that God has\nglorified Himself in the manner of His love toward us. Conscience\ncould never be tranquilized, nor Satan silenced, if sin had not been\nperfectly judged and put away. But \"God _so_ loved the world that He\ngave His only-begotten Son.\" What depth and power in the little word\n\"so\"!\n\nIt may here be needful to meet a difficulty which often occurs to\nanxious souls, in reference to the question of appropriation.\nThousands have been harassed and perplexed by this question, at some\nstage or other of their spiritual history; and it is not improbable\nthat many who shall read these pages may be glad of a few words on the\nsubject. Many may feel disposed to ask, \"How am I to know that this\nlove, and the gift of love, are intended for _me_? What warrant have\n_I_ for believing that 'everlasting life' is for _me_? I know the plan\nof salvation; I believe in the all-sufficiency of the atonement of\nChrist for the forgiveness and justification of all who truly believe.\nI am convinced of the truth of all that the Bible declares. I believe\nwe are all sinners, and moreover, that we can do nothing to save\nourselves--that we need to be washed in the blood of Jesus, and to be\ntaught and led by the Holy Ghost, ere we can please God here, and\ndwell with Him hereafter. All this I fully believe, and yet I have no\nassurance that I am saved, and I want to know on what authority I am\nto believe that my sins are forgiven and that I have everlasting\nlife.\"\n\nIf the foregoing be, in any measure, the language of the reader--if it\nbe, at all, the expression of his difficulty, we would, in the first\nplace, call his attention to two words which occur in our precious\ntext (John iii. 16), namely, \"_world_\" and \"_whosoever_.\" It seems\nutterly impossible for anyone to refuse the application of these two\nwords. For what, let us ask, is the meaning of the term \"_world_\"?\nWhat does it embrace? or, rather, what does it not embrace? When our\nLord declares that \"God so loved the world,\" on what ground can the\nreader exclude himself from the range, scope, and application of this\ndivine love? On no other ground whatever, unless he can show that he\nalone belongs not to the world, but to some other sphere of being. If\nit were declared that \"the world\" is hopelessly condemned, could\nanyone making a part of that world avoid the application of the\nsentence! Could he exclude himself from it? Impossible. How then can\nhe--why should he--exclude himself, when it is a question of God's\nfree love, and of salvation by Christ Jesus?\n\nBut, further, we would ask, What is the meaning, what is the force of\nthe familiar word, \"_whosoever_\"? Assuredly it means \"_anybody_;\" and\nif anybody, why not the reader? It is infinitely better, infinitely\nsurer and more satisfactory to find the word \"whosoever\" in the\ngospel than to find my own name there, inasmuch as there may be a\nthousand persons in the world of the same name; but \"whosoever\"\napplies to me as distinctly as though I were the only sinner on the\nface of the earth.\n\nThus, then, the very words of the gospel message--the very terms used\nto set forth the glad tidings, are such as leave no possible ground\nfor a difficulty as to their application. If we listen to our Lord in\nthe days of His flesh, we hear such words as these: \"God so loved the\n_world_ that He gave His only-begotten Son, that _whosoever_ believeth\nin Him might not perish, but have everlasting life.\" Again, if we\nlisten to Him after His resurrection, we hear these words, \"Go ye into\n_all the world_, and preach the gospel to _every creature_\" (Mark\nxvi.). And lastly, if we listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost sent\nfrom a risen, ascended, and glorified Lord, we hear such words as\nthese: \"The same Lord over all is rich unto _all_ that call upon Him.\nFor _whosoever_ shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved\"\n(Rom. x. 12, 13).\n\nIn all the above-cited passages we have two terms used, one general,\nthe other particular, and both together so presenting the message of\nsalvation as to leave no room whatever for anyone to refuse its\napplication. If \"all the world\" is the scope, and \"every creature\" is\nthe object of the precious gospel of Christ, then, on what ground can\nanyone exclude himself? Where is there authority for any sinner out\nof hell to say that the glad tidings of salvation are not for him?\nThere is none. Salvation is as free as the air we breathe--free as the\ndewdrops that refresh the earth--free as the sunbeams that shine upon\nour pathway; and if any attempt to limit its application, they are\nneither in harmony with the mind of Christ, nor in sympathy with the\nheart of God.\n\nBut it may be that some of our readers would, at this stage of the\nsubject, feel disposed to ask us, \"How do you dispose of the question\nof election?\" We reply, \"Very simply, by leaving it where God has\nplaced it, namely, as a landmark in the inheritance of the spiritual\nIsrael, and not as a stumbling-block in the pathway of the anxious\ninquirer.\" This we believe to be the true way of dealing with the\ndeeply important doctrine of election. The more we ponder the subject,\nthe more thoroughly are we convinced that it is a mistake on the part\nof the evangelist or preacher of the gospel to qualify his message,\nhamper his subject, or perplex his hearers, by the doctrine of\nelection or predestination. He has to do with lost sinners in the\ndischarge of his blessed ministry. He meets men where they are, on the\nbroad ground of our common ruin our common guilt, our common\ncondemnation. He meets them with a message of full, free, present,\npersonal, and eternal salvation--a message which comes fresh, fervent,\nand glowing from the very bosom of God. His ministry is, as the Holy\nGhost declares in 2 Cor. v., \"a ministry of reconciliation,\" the\nglorious characteristics of which are these, \"God in Christ\" ...\n\"reconciling the world unto Himself\" ... \"not imputing their\ntrespasses;\" and the marvelous foundation of which is, that God has\nmade Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the\nrighteousness of God in Him.\n\nDoes this trench, in the smallest degree, upon the blessed and clearly\nestablished truth of election? By no means. It leaves it, in all its\nintegrity and in its full value, as a grand fundamental truth of Holy\nScripture, exactly where God has placed it; not as a preliminary\nquestion to be settled ere the sinner comes to Jesus, but as a most\nprecious consolation and encouragement to him when he has come. This\nmakes all the difference. If the sinner be called upon to settle\nbeforehand the question of his election, how is he to set about it?\nWhither is he to turn for a solution? Where shall he find a divine\nwarrant for believing that he is one of the elect? Can he find a\nsingle line of Scripture on which to base his faith as to his\nelection? He cannot. He can find scores of passages declaring him to\nbe lost, guilty and undone--scores of passages to assure him of his\ntotal inability to do aught in the matter of his own salvation--hundreds\nof passages unfolding the free love of God, the value and efficacy of\nthe atonement of Christ, and assuring him of a hearty welcome to come\n_just as he is_, and make God's blessed salvation his own. But if it\nbe needed for him to settle the prior question of his predestination\nand election, then is his case hopeless, and he must, in so far as he\nis in earnest, be plunged in black despair.\n\nAnd is it not thus with thousands at this moment through the\nmisapplication of the doctrine of election? We fully believe it is,\nand hence our anxiety to help our readers by setting the matter in\nwhat we judge to be the true light before their minds. We believe it\nto be of the utmost importance for the anxious inquirer to know that\nthe standpoint from which he is called to view the cross of Christ is\nnot the standpoint of election, but of conscious ruin. The grace of\nGod meets him as a lost, dead, guilty sinner; not as an elect one.\nThis is an unspeakable mercy, inasmuch as he knows he is the former,\nbut cannot know that he is the latter until the gospel has come to him\nin power. \"Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.\" How did\nhe know it? \"Because our gospel came not unto you in word only, but\nalso in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance\" (1 Thess.\ni. 4, 5). Paul preached to the Thessalonians as lost sinners; and when\nthe gospel had laid hold of them as lost, he could write to them as\nelect.\n\nThis puts election in its right place. If the reader will turn for a\nmoment to Acts xvii., he will there see how Paul discharged his\nbusiness as an evangelist amongst the Thessalonians: \"Now when they\nhad passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to\nThessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his\nmanner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with\nthem out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must\nneeds have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this\nJesus whom I preach unto you is Christ.\" So, also, in that passage at\nthe opening of 1 Cor. xv.: \"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the\ngospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and\nwherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory\nwhat I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I\ndelivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that\nChrist died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was\nburied, and that He rose again the third day, according to the\nScriptures\" (verses 1-4).\n\nFrom this passage, and many others which might be quoted, we learn\nthat the apostle preached not merely a doctrine, but a person. He did\nnot preach election. He taught it to saints, but never preached it to\nsinners. This should be the evangelist's model at all times. We never\nonce find the apostles preaching election. They preached Christ--they\nunfolded the goodness of God--His loving-kindness--His tender\nmercy--His pardoning love--His gracious readiness to receive all who\ncome in their true character and condition as lost sinners. Such was\ntheir mode of preaching, or, rather, such was the mode of the Holy\nGhost in them; and such, too, was the mode of the blessed Master\nHimself. \"_Come unto Me_, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and\n_I will give_ you rest.\" \"If _any man_ thirst, let him come unto Me\nand drink.\" \"Him that cometh to Me I will _in no wise_ cast out\"\n(Matt. xi.; John vi., vii.).\n\nHere are no stumbling-blocks in the way of anxious inquirers--no\npreliminary questions to be settled--no conditions to be fulfilled--no\ntheological difficulties to be solved. No, the sinner is met on his\nown ground--met as he is--met just now. There is rest for the weary,\ndrink for the thirsty, life for the dead, pardon for the guilty,\nsalvation for the lost. Do these free invitations touch the doctrine\nof election? Assuredly not. And what is more, the doctrine of election\ndoes not touch them. In other words, a full and free gospel leaves\nperfectly untouched the grand and all-important truth of election; and\nthe truth of election, in its proper place, leaves the gospel of the\ngrace of God on its own broad and blessed base, and in all its divine\nlength, breadth, and fulness. The gospel meets us as lost, and saves\nus; and then, when we know ourselves as saved, the precious doctrine\nof election comes in to establish us in the fact that we can never be\nlost. It never was the purpose of God that poor anxious souls should\nbe harassed with theological questions or points of doctrine. No;\nblessed forever be His name, it is His gracious desire that the\nhealing balm of His pardoning love, and the cleansing efficacy of the\natoning blood of Jesus, should be applied to the spiritual wounds of\nevery sin-sick soul. And as to the doctrines of predestination and\nelection, He has unfolded them in His Word to comfort His saints, not\nto perplex poor sinners. They shine like precious gems on the page of\ninspiration, but they were never intended to lie as stumbling-blocks\nin the way of earnest seekers after life and peace. They are deposited\nin the hand of the teacher to be unfolded in the bosom of the family\nof God; but they are not intended for the evangelist, whose blessed\nmission is to the highways and hedges of a lost world. They are\ndesigned to feed and comfort the children, not to scare and stumble\nthe sinner. We would say, and that with real earnestness, to all\nevangelists, Do not hamper your preaching with theological questions\nof any sort or description. Preach Christ. Unfold the deep and\neverlasting love of a Saviour-God. Seek to bring the guilty,\nconscience-smitten sinner into the very presence of a pardoning God.\nThunder, if you please, if so led, at the conscience--thunder loud at\nsin--thunder forth the dread realities of the great white throne, the\nlake of fire, and everlasting torment; but see that you aim at\nbringing the guilt-stricken conscience to rest in the atoning virtues\nof the blood of Christ. Then you can hand over the fruits of your\nministry to the divinely qualified, to be instructed in the deeper\nmysteries of the faith of Christ. You may rest assured that the\nfaithful discharge of your duty as an evangelist will never lead you\nto trespass on the domain of sound theology.\n\nAnd to the anxious inquirer we would say with equal earnestness, Let\nnothing stand in your way in coming this moment to Jesus. Let theology\nspeak as it may, you are to listen to the voice of Jesus, who says,\n\"_Come unto Me_.\" Be assured there is no hindrance, no difficulty, no\nhitch, no question, no condition. You are a lost sinner, and Jesus is\na full Saviour. Put your trust in Him, and you are saved forever.\nBelieve in Him, and you will know your place amongst the \"elect of\nGod\" who are \"predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son.\"\nBring your sins to Jesus and He will pardon them, cancel them by His\nblood, and clothe you in a spotless robe of divine righteousness. May\nGod's Spirit lead you now to cast yourself simply and entirely upon\nthat precious, all-sufficient Saviour!\n\nWe will now notice, very briefly, three distinct evils resulting from\na wrong application of the doctrine of election, namely:\n\nI. The discouragement of really earnest souls, who ought to be helped\non in every possible way. If such persons are repulsed by the question\nof election, the result must be disastrous in the extreme. If they are\ntold that the glad tidings of salvation are only for the elect--that\nChrist died only for such, and hence only such can be saved--that\nunless they are elect they have no right to apply to themselves the\nbenefits of the death of Christ: if, in short, they are turned from\nJesus to theology--from the heart of a loving, pardoning God to the\ncold and withering dogmas of systematic divinity, it is impossible to\nsay where they may end; they may take refuge either in superstition on\nthe one hand, or in infidelity on the other. They may end in high\nchurch, broad church, or no church at all. What they really want is\nChrist, the living, loving, precious, all-sufficient Christ of God. He\nis the true food for anxious souls.\n\nII. But, in the second place, careless souls are rendered more\ncareless still by a false application of the doctrine of election.\nSuch persons, when pressed as to their state and prospects, will fold\ntheir arms and say, \"You know I cannot believe unless God give me the\npower. If I am one of the elect, I must be saved; if not, I cannot. I\ncan do nothing, but must wait God's time.\" All this false and flimsy\nreasoning should be exposed and demolished. It will not stand for a\nmoment in the light of the judgment-seat of Christ. Each one will\nlearn there that election furnished no excuse whatever, inasmuch as it\nnever was set up by God as a barrier to the sinner's salvation. The\nword is, \"_Whosoever_ will, let him take the water of life _freely_.\"\nThe very same form of speech and style of language which removes the\nstumbling-block from the feet of the anxious inquirer snatches the\nplea from the lips of the careless rejecter. No one is shut out. All\nare invited. There is neither barrier on the one hand, nor a plea on\nthe other. All are made welcome; and all are responsible. Hence, if\nany one presumes to excuse himself for refusing God's salvation, which\nis as clear as a sunbeam, by urging God's decrees, which are entirely\nhidden, he will find himself fatally mistaken.\n\nIII. And now, in the third and last place, we have frequently seen\nwith real sorrow of heart the earnest, loving, large-hearted\nevangelist damped and crippled by a false application of the truth of\nelection. This should be most carefully avoided. We hold that it is\nnot the business of the evangelist to preach election. If he is\nrightly instructed, he will _hold_ it; but if he is rightly directed,\nhe will not _preach_ it.\n\nIn a word, then, the precious doctrine of election is not to be a\nstumbling-block to the anxious--a plea for the careless--a damper to\nthe fervent evangelist. May God's Spirit give us to feel the adjusting\npower of truth!\n\nHaving thus briefly endeavored to clear away any difficulty arising\nfrom the misuse of the precious doctrine of election, and to show the\nreader, \"whosoever\" he be, that there is no hindrance whatever to his\nfull and hearty acceptance of God's free gift, even the gift of His\nonly-begotten Son, it now only remains for us to consider the result,\nin every case, of this acceptance, as set forth in the words of our\nLord Jesus Christ: \"God so loved the world, that He gave His\nonly-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,\nbut have everlasting life.\"\n\nHere, then, we have the result in the case of every one who believes\nin Jesus. He shall never perish, but possesses everlasting life. But\nwho can attempt to unfold all that is included in this word \"perish\"?\nWhat mortal tongue can set forth the horrors of the lake that burneth\nwith fire and brimstone, \"where their worm dieth not, and the fire is\nnot quenched\"? We believe, assuredly, that none but the One who used\nthe word, in speaking to Nicodemus, can fully expound it to anyone;\nbut we feel called upon to bear our decided and unequivocal testimony\nas to what He has taught on the solemn truth of eternal punishment. We\nhave occasionally referred to this subject, but we believe it demands\na formal notice; and inasmuch as the word \"_perish_\" occurs in the\npassage which has been occupying our thoughts, we cannot do better\nthan call the reader's attention to it.\n\nIt is a serious and melancholy fact that the enemy of souls and of the\ntruth of God is leading thousands, both in Europe and America, to call\nin question the momentous fact of the everlasting punishment of the\nwicked. This he does on various grounds, and by various arguments,\nadapted to the habits of thought and moral condition and intellectual\nstandpoint of individuals. Some he seeks to persuade that God is too\nkind to send anyone to a place of torment. It is contrary to His\nbenevolent mind and His beneficent nature to inflict pain on any of\nHis creatures.\n\nNow, to all who stand, or affect to stand, upon this ground of\nargument, we would suggest the important inquiry, \"What is to be done\nwith the sins of those who die impenitent and unbelieving?\" Whatever\nthere may be in the idea that God is too kind to send sinners to hell,\nit is certain that He is too holy to let sin into heaven. He is \"of\npurer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity\" (Hab. i.\n13). God and evil cannot dwell together. This is plain. How, then, is\nthe case to be met? If God cannot let sin into heaven, what is to be\ndone with the sinner who dies in his sins? He must perish! But what\ndoes this mean? Does it mean annihilation--that is, the utter\nextinction or blotting out of the very existence of body and soul?\nNay, reader, this cannot be. Many would like this, no doubt. \"Let us\neat and drink, for to-morrow we die,\" would, alas, suit many thousands\nof the sons and daughters of pleasure who think only of the present\nmoment, and who roll sin as a sweet morsel under their tongue. There\nare millions on the surface of the globe who are bartering their\neternal happiness for a few hours of guilty pleasure, and the crafty\nfoe of mankind seeks to persuade such that there is no such place as\nhell, no such thing as the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone;\nand in order to obtain a footing for this fatal suggestion, he bases\nit upon the plausible and imposing notion of the kindness of God.\n\nReader, do not believe the arch-deceiver. Remember, God is holy. He\ncannot let sin into His presence. If you die in your sins you must\nperish, and this word \"perish\" involves, according to the clear\ntestimony of Holy Scripture, eternal misery and torment in hell. Hear\nwhat our Lord Jesus Christ saith, in His solemn description of the\njudgment of the nations: \"Then shall the King say also to them on His\nleft hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into _everlasting_ fire,\nprepared for the devil and his angels\" (Matt. xxv. 41). And while you\nharken to these awfully solemn accents, remember that the word\ntranslated \"everlasting\" occurs seventy times in the New Testament,\nand is applied as follows: \"Everlasting fire\"--\"eternal\nlife\"--\"everlasting punishment\"--\"eternal damnation\"--\"everlasting\nhabitations\"--\"the everlasting God\"--\"eternal weight of\nglory\"--\"everlasting destruction\"--\"everlasting consolation\"--\"eternal\nglory\"--\"eternal salvation\"--\"eternal judgment\"--\"eternal\nredemption\"--\"the eternal Spirit\"--\"eternal inheritance\"--\"everlasting\nkingdom\"--\"eternal fire.\"\n\nNow, we ask any candid, thoughtful person, upon what principle can a\nword be said to mean _eternal_ when applied to the Holy Ghost or to\nGod, and only _temporary_ when applied to hell-fire or the punishment\nof the wicked? If it means eternal in the one case, why not also in\nthe other? We have just glanced at a Greek Concordance, and we should\nlike to ask, Would it be right to mark off some half-dozen passages in\nwhich the word \"everlasting\" occurs, and write opposite to each these\nwords: \"Everlasting here only means for a time\"? The very thought is\nmonstrous. It would be a daring and blasphemous insult offered to the\nvolume of inspiration. No, reader, be assured of it, you cannot touch\nthe word \"everlasting\" in one case without touching it also in all the\nseventy cases in which it occurs. It is a dangerous thing to tamper\nwith the Word of the living God. It is infinitely better to bow down\nunder its holy authority. It is worse than useless to seek to avoid\nthe plain meaning and solemn force of that word \"perish\" as applied to\nthe immortal soul of man. It involves, beyond all question, the awful,\nthe ineffably awful reality of burning forever in the flames of hell.\nThis is what Scripture means by \"perishing.\" The votary of pleasure,\nor the lover of money, may seek to forget this. They may seek to drown\nall thought of it in the glass or in the busy mart. The sentimentalist\nmay rave about the divine benevolence; the skeptic may reason about\nthe possibility of eternal fire; but we are intensely anxious that the\nreader should rise from this paper with the firm and deeply wrought\nconclusion and hearty belief that the punishment of all who die in\ntheir sins will be eternal in hell as surely as the blessedness of all\nwho die in the faith of Christ will be eternal in the heavens. Were it\nnot so, the Holy Ghost would most assuredly have used a different\nword, when speaking of the former, from that which He applies to the\nlatter. This, we conceive, is beyond all question.\n\nBut there is another objection urged against the doctrine of eternal\npunishment. It is frequently said, \"How can we suppose that God would\ninflict eternal punishment as a penalty for a few short years of sin?\"\nWe reply, It is beginning at the wrong end to argue in this way. It\nis not a question of time as viewed from man's standpoint, but of the\ngravity of sin itself as looked at from God's standpoint. And how is\nthis question to be solved? Only by looking at the Cross. If you want\nto know what sin is in God's sight, you must look at what it cost Him\nto put it away. It is by the standard of Christ's infinite sacrifice,\nand by that alone, that you can rightly measure sin. Men may compare\ntheir few years with God's eternity; they may compare their short span\nof life with that boundless eternity that stretches beyond; they may\nseek to put a few years of sin into one scale, and an eternity of woe\nand torment into the other, and thus attempt to reach a just\nconclusion: but it will never do to argue thus. The question is, Did\nit require an infinite atonement to put away sin? If so, the\npunishment of sin must be eternal. If nothing short of an infinite\nsacrifice could deliver from the consequences of sin, those\nconsequences must be eternal.\n\nIn a word, then, we must look at sin from God's point of view, and\nmeasure it by His standard, else we shall never have a just sense of\nwhat it is or what it deserves. It is the height of folly for men to\nattempt to lay down a rule as to the amount or duration of the\npunishment due to sin. God alone can settle this. And, after all, what\nwas it that produced all the misery and wretchedness, the sickness and\nsorrow, the death and desolation, of well-nigh six thousand years?\nJust _one_ act of disobedience--the eating of a forbidden fruit. Can\nman explain this? Can human reason explain how one act produced such\nan overwhelming amount of misery? It cannot. Well, then, if it cannot\ndo this, how can it be trusted when it attempts to decide the question\nas to what is due to sin? Woe be to all those who commit themselves to\nits guidance on this most momentous point!\n\nAh, reader, you must see that God alone can estimate sin and its just\ndeserts, and He alone can tell us all about it. And has He not done\nso? Yes, verily, He has measured sin in the cross of His Son; and\nthere, too, He has set forth in the most impressive manner what it\ndeserves. What, think you, must that be that caused the bitter cry,\n\"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\" If God forsook His\nonly-begotten Son when He was made sin, must He not also forsake all\nwho are found in their sins? But how can they ever get rid of them? We\nbelieve the conclusion is unavoidable. We consider that the infinite\nnature of the atonement proves unanswerably the doctrine of eternal\npunishment. That peerless and precious sacrifice is at once the\nfoundation of our eternal life and of our deliverance from eternal\ndeath. It delivers from eternal wrath and introduces to eternal glory.\nIt saves from the endless misery of hell and procures for us the\nendless bliss of heaven. Thus, whatever side of the Cross we look at,\nor from whatever side we view it, we see eternity stamped upon it. If\nwe view it from the gloomy depths of hell or from the sunny heights of\nheaven, we see it to be the same infinite, eternal, divine reality.\nIt is by the Cross we must measure both the blessedness of heaven and\nthe misery of hell. Those who put their trust in that blessed One who\ndied on the cross obtain everlasting life and felicity. Those who\nreject Him must sink into endless perdition.\n\nWe do not by any means pretend to handle this great question\ntheologically, or to adduce all the arguments that might be advanced\nin defence of the doctrine of eternal punishment; but there is one\nfurther consideration which we must suggest to the reader as tending\nto lead him to a sound conclusion, and that is the immortality of the\nsoul.[15] \"God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and\nman became a living soul.\" The fall of man in nowise touched the\nquestion of the soul's immortality. If, therefore, the soul is\nimmortal, annihilation is impossible. The soul must live forever.\nOverwhelming thought! Forever! Forever! Forever! The whole moral being\nsinks under the awful magnitude of the thought. It surpasses all\nconception and baffles all mental calculation. Human arithmetic can\nonly deal with the finite. It has no figures by which to represent a\nnever-ending eternity. But the writer and the reader must live\nthroughout eternity either in that bright and blessed world above or\nin that terrible place where hope can never come.\n\n  [15] For a full examination of this subject, the reader is referred to\n  \"Facts and Theories as to a future state,--the Scripture doctrine\n  considered with reference to current denials of eternal punishment,\"\n  by F. W. Grant, 640 pp., $1,50 (with full index of texts and subjects\n  examined.)\n\nMay God's Spirit impress our hearts more and more with the solemnity\nof eternity, and of immortal souls going down into hell. We are\ndeplorably deficient in feeling as to these weighty realities. We are\ndaily thrown in contact with people, we buy and sell and carry on\nintercourse in various ways with those who must live forever, and yet\nhow rarely do we seek occasion to press upon them the awfulness of\neternity and the appalling condition of all who die without a personal\ninterest in the blood of Christ!\n\nReader, let us ask God to make us more earnest, more solemn, more\nfaithful, more zealous in pleading with souls, in warning others to\nflee from the wrath to come. We want to live more in the light of\neternity, and then we shall be better able to deal with others.\n\nIt only remains for us now to ponder the last clause of the fruitful\npassage of Scripture which has been under consideration (John iii.\n16). It sets forth the positive result, in every case, of simple faith\nin the Son of God. It declares, in the simplest and clearest way, the\nfact that every one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is a\npossessor of everlasting life. It is not merely that his sins are\nblotted out; that is blessedly true. Nor is it merely that he is saved\nfrom the consequences of his guilt, which is equally true. But there\nis more. The believer in Jesus has a new life, and that life is in\nthe Son of God. He is placed upon a new footing altogether. He is no\nlonger looked at in the old Adam condition, but in a risen Christ.\n\nThis is an immense truth, and one of deepest possible moment. We\nearnestly pray the reader's calm and prayerful attention while we\nseek, in some feeble way, to present to him what we believe to be\nwrapped up in the last clause of John iii. 16.\n\nThere is in the minds of many a very imperfect sense of what we get by\nfaith in Christ. Some seem to view the atoning work of Christ merely\nas a remedial measure for the sins of our old nature--the payment of\ndebts contracted in our old condition. That it is all this we need not\nsay; blessed be God for the precious truth. But it is much more. It is\nnot merely that the sins are atoned for, but the nature which\ncommitted them is condemned and set aside by the cross of Christ, and\nis to be \"_reckoned_\" dead by the believer. It is not merely that the\ndebts contracted in the old condition are canceled, but the old\ncondition itself is completely ignored by God, and is to be so\naccounted by the believer.\n\nThis great truth is doctrinally unfolded in 2 Cor. v., where we read,\n\"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed\naway; behold, all things are become new\" (ver. 17). The apostle does\nnot say, \"If any man be in Christ he is pardoned--his sins are\nforgiven--his debts paid.\" All this is divinely true; but the\nstatement just quoted goes very much farther. It declares that a man\nin Christ is a new creation altogether. It is not the old nature\npardoned, but completely set aside, with all its belongings, and a new\ncreation introduced in which there is not a single shred of the old.\n\"All things are become new; and all things are of God.\"\n\nNow this gives immense relief to the heart. Indeed, we question if any\nsoul can enter into the full liberty of the gospel of Christ until he\nlay hold, in some measure, of the truth of the \"new creation.\" There\nmay be a looking to Christ for pardon, a vague hope of getting to\nheaven at the last, a measure of reliance on the goodness and mercy of\nGod--there may be all this, and yet no just sense of the meaning of\n\"everlasting life,\" no happy consciousness of being \"a new\ncreation\"--no understanding of the grand fact that the old Adam nature\nis entirely set aside, the old condition in which we stood done away\nin God's sight.\n\nBut it is more than probable that some of our readers may be at a loss\nto know what is meant by such terms as \"the old Adam nature\"--\"the old\ncondition\"--\"the flesh\"--\"the old man,\" and such like. These\nexpressions may fall strangely on the ears of those for whom we\nspecially write; and we certainly wish to avoid shooting over the\nheads of our readers. As God is our witness, there is one thing we\nearnestly desire, one object which we would ever keep before our\nminds, and that is the instruction and edification of our readers; and\ntherefore we would rather run the risk of being tedious than make use\nof phrases which convey no clear or intelligible idea to the mind.\nSuch terms as \"the old man\"--\"the flesh,\" and the like, are used in\nScripture in manifold places: for example, in Rom. vi. we read, \"Our\n_old man_ is crucified with Him (Christ), that _the body of sin_ might\nbe destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin\" (ver. 6).\n\nNow what does the apostle mean by the \"old man\"? We believe he means\nman as in that Adam nature which we inherited from our first parents.\nAnd what does he mean by \"the body of sin\"? We believe he means the\nwhole system or condition in which we stood in our unregenerate,\nunrenewed, unconverted state. The old Adam, then, is declared to be\ncrucified--the old condition of sin is said to be destroyed\n(annulled)--by the death of Christ. Hence the soul that believes on\nthe Lord Jesus Christ is privileged to know that he--his sinful,\nguilty self--is looked upon by God as dead and set aside completely.\nHe has no more existence as such before God. He is dead and buried.\n\nObserve, it is not merely that our sins are forgiven, our debts paid,\nour guilt atoned for; but the man in the nature that committed the\nsins, contracted the debts, and incurred the guilt, is put forever out\nof God's sight. It is not God's way to forgive us our sins and yet\nleave us in the same relations in which we committed them. No; He has,\nin His marvelous grace and vast plan, condemned and abolished forever,\nfor the believer, the old Adam relationship, with all its belongings,\nso that it is no longer recognized by Him. We are declared, by the\nvoice of holy Scripture, to be \"crucified\"--\"dead\"--\"buried\"--\"risen\"\nwith Christ. God tells us we are so, and we are to \"_reckon_\"\nourselves to be so. It is a matter of faith, and not of feeling. If I\nlook at myself from _my_ standpoint, or judge by my feelings, I shall\nnever, can never understand this truth. And why? Because I feel myself\nto be just the same sinful creature as ever. I feel that there is sin\nin me; that in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing; that my old\nnature is in nowise changed or improved; that it has the same evil\ntendencies as ever, and, if not mortified and kept down by the\ngracious energy of the Holy Spirit, it will break out in its true\ncharacter.\n\nAnd it is just here, we doubt not, that so many sincere souls are\nperplexed and troubled. They are looking at themselves, and\n_reasoning_ upon what they see and feel, instead of resting in the\ntruth of God, and _reckoning_ themselves to be what God tells them\nthey are. They find it difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile what\nthey feel in themselves with what they read in the word of God--to\nmake their inward self-consciousness harmonize with God's revelation.\nBut we must remember that faith takes God at His word. It ever thinks\nwith Him on all points. It believes what He says because He says it.\nHence, if God tells me that my old man is crucified, that He no longer\nsees me as in the old Adam state, but in a risen Christ, I am to\nbelieve, like a little child, what He tells me, and walk in the faith\nof it from day to day. If I look in at myself for evidences of the\ntruth of what God says, it is not faith at all. Abraham \"considered\nnot his own body, now dead, when he was about an hundred years old;\nneither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb; he staggered not at the\npromise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory\nto God\" (Rom. iv. 19, 20).\n\nThis is the great principle which underlies the whole Christian\nsystem. \"Abraham believed God,\" not something about God, but God\nHimself. This is faith. It is taking God's thoughts in place of our\nown. It is, in short, allowing God to think for us.\n\nNow, when we apply this to the subject before us, it makes it most\nsimple. He that believeth in the Son of God hath everlasting life.\nMark, it is not he that believeth something about the Son of God. No,\nit is he that believeth in Himself. It is a question of simple faith\nin the person of Christ; and everyone that has this faith is the\nactual possessor of everlasting life. This is the direct and positive\nstatement of our Lord in the Gospels. It is repeated over and over\nagain. Nor is this all. Not only does the believer thus possess\neternal life, but by the further light which the epistles throw upon\nthis grand question he may see that his old self--that which he was in\nnature--that which the apostle designates \"the old man\"--is accounted\nby God dead and buried. This may be difficult to understand; but the\nreader must remember he must believe not because he understands, but\nbecause it is written in God's word. It is not said, \"Abraham\nunderstood God.\" No; but he \"believed God.\" It is when the heart\nbelieves that light is poured in upon the understanding. If I wait\ntill I understand in order to believe, I am leaning to my own\nunderstanding, instead of committing myself in childlike faith to\nGod's word.\n\nReader, ponder this! You may say you cannot understand how your sinful\nself can be looked upon as dead and gone while you feel its workings,\nits heavings, its tossings, its tendencies, continually within you. We\nreply, or rather God's eternal Word declares, that if your heart\nbelieves in Jesus, then is all this true for you, namely, you _have_\neternal life; you _are_ justified from all things; you _are_ a new\ncreation; old things _are_ passed away; _all_ things _are_ become new;\nand _all_ things _are_ of God. In a word, you are \"_in Christ_,\" and\n\"_as_ He is, so _are_ you in this world\" (1 John iv. 17).\n\nAnd is not this a great deal more than the mere pardoning of your\nsins, the canceling of your debts, or the salvation of your soul from\nhell? Assuredly it is. And suppose we were to ask you on what\nauthority you believe in the forgiveness of your sins. Is it because\nyou feel, realize, or understand? Nay; but because it is written, \"To\nHim give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever\nbelieveth in Him shall receive remission of sins\" (Acts x. 43). \"The\nblood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin\" (1 John\ni. 7). Well, then, upon precisely the same authority you are to\nbelieve that your old man has been crucified, that you are not in the\nflesh, not in the old creation, not in the old Adam relation; but\nthat, on the contrary, you are viewed by God as actually in a risen\nand glorified Christ--that He looks upon you as He looks upon Christ.\n\nTrue it is--alas, how true!--the flesh is in you, and you are still\nhere, as to the fact of your condition, in this old world, which is\nunder judgment. But then, hear what your Lord saith, when speaking\nabout you to His Father: \"They are not of the world, even as I am not\nof the world.\" And again, \"As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even\nso have I also sent them into the world.\"\n\nHence, therefore, if you will just bow to God's word, if you will\nreason not about what you see in yourself, and feel in yourself, and\nthink of yourself, but simply _believe_ what God says, you will enter\ninto the blessed peace and holy liberty flowing from the fact that you\nare not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; not in the old creation, but\nin the new; not under law, but under grace; not of the world, but of\nGod. You have passed clean off the old platform which you occupied as\na child of nature and a member of the first Adam, and you have taken\nyour place on a new platform altogether as a child of God and a member\nof Christ.\n\nAll this is vividly prefigured by the deluge and the ark, in the days\nof Noah. (See Gen. vi.-viii.) \"And God looked upon the earth, and,\nbehold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the\nearth. And God said unto Noah, _The end of all flesh_ is come before\nMe; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I\nwill destroy them with the earth.\" Here, then, was, in type, the end\nof the old creation. All was to pass under the waters of judgment.\nWhat then? \"Make thee an ark of gopher wood.\" Here we have set forth a\nfigure of the new thing. That ark, floating peacefully over the dark\nabyss of waters, was a type of Christ, and the believer in Him. The\nold world, together with man, was buried beneath the waves of\njudgment, and the only object that remained was the ark--the vessel of\nmercy and salvation, riding in safety and triumph over the billows.\nThus it is now, in truth and reality. There is nothing before the eye\nof God but a risen, victorious and glorified Christ, and His people\nlinked with Him. The end of _all_ flesh has come before God. It is not\na question of some very gross forms of \"flesh,\" or of nature, of that\nmerely which is \"vile and refuse.\" No; it is \"the _end_ of _all_.\"\nSuch is the solemn, sweeping verdict; and then--what? A risen Christ.\nNothing else. All in Him are seen by God as He is seen. All out of Him\nare under judgment. It all hinges upon this one question, \"Am I in or\nout of Christ?\" What a question!\n\nReader, are you in Christ? Do you believe in His name? Have you given\nHim the confidence of your heart? If so, you have \"eternal life\"--you\nare \"a new creature\"--\"old things are passed away.\" God does not see\na single shred of the old thing remaining for you. \"All things are\nbecome new, and all things are of God.\" You may say you do not _feel_\nthat old things are all passed away. We reply, God says they are, and\nit is your happy privilege to _believe_ what He says, and \"_reckon_\"\nyourself to be what He declares you are. God speaks according to that\nwhich is true of you in Christ. He does not see you in the flesh, but\nin Christ. There is absolutely nothing before the eye of God but\nChrist: and the very weakest believer is viewed as part of Christ,\njust as your hand is a part of your body. You have no existence before\nGod apart from Christ--no life--no righteousness--no holiness--no\nwisdom--no power. Apart from Him, you have nothing, and can be\nnothing. In Him you have all and are all, He says; you are thoroughly\nidentified with Christ. Marvelous fact! Profound mystery! Most\nglorious truth! It is not a question of attainment or of progress. It\nis the settled and absolute standing of the feeblest member of the\nChurch of God. True, there are various measures of intelligence,\nexperience, and devotedness; but there is only one life, one standing,\none position before God, and that is Christ. There is no such thing as\na higher or lower Christian life. Christ is the believer's life, and\nyou cannot speak of a higher or a lower Christ. We can understand the\nhigher stages of Christian life; but there is no spiritual\nintelligence in speaking of a higher Christian life.\n\nThis is a grand truth, and we earnestly pray that God the Spirit may\nopen it fully to the mind of the reader. We feel assured that a\nclearer understanding thereof would chase away a thousand mists,\nanswer a thousand questions, and solve a thousand difficulties. It\nwould not only have the effect of giving settled peace to the soul,\nbut also of determining the believer's position in the most distinct\nway. If Christ is my life--if I am in Him and identified with Him,\nthen not only do I share in His acceptance with God, but also in His\nrejection by this present world. The two things go together. They form\nthe two sides of the one grand question. If I am in Christ and as\nChrist before God, then I am in Christ and as Christ before the world:\nand it will never do to accept the result of this union before God and\nrefuse the result of it as regards the world. If we have the one, we\nmust have the other likewise.\n\nAll this is fully unfolded in John xvii. There we read on the one\nhand, \"The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may\nbe one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may\nbe made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast\nsent Me, and _hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me_\" (vers. 22, 23).\nAnd, on the other hand, we read, \"I have given them Thy Word; and _the\nworld hath hated them_, because they are not of the world, even as I\nam not of the world\" (ver. 14). This is as plain and positive as\nanything can be. And be it remembered that, in this wondrous\nscripture, our Lord is not speaking merely of the apostles, but, as He\nsays, of \"them also who shall believe on Me through their word,\" that\nis, of all believers. Hence it follows that all who believe in Jesus\nare one with Him as accepted above, and one with Him as rejected\nbelow. The two things are inseparable. The Head and the members share\nin one common acceptance in heaven, and in one common rejection upon\nearth. Oh that all the Lord's people entered more into the truth and\nreality of this! Would that we all knew a little more of the meaning\nof fellowship with a heaven-accepted, earth-rejected Christ!\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\nTHE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION\n\n     \"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to\n     Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry\n     of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ,\n     reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their\n     trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of\n     reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as\n     though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's\n     stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be\n     sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the\n     righteousness of God in Him\" (2 Cor. v. 18-21).\n\n\nThe fifth chapter of second Corinthians is a most weighty section of\nInspiration. Its closing lines contain the special thesis of the\nfollowing pages; but ere we proceed with it, we must call the reader's\nattention to some most interesting and important points presented in\nthe course of the chapter.\n\nAnd, first of all, let us dwell for a moment on the opening sentence,\n\"_We know_.\" In it we have the language of Christian certainty. It\ndoes not say, \"We _hope_.\" Still less does it say, \"We _fear_,\" or \"We\n_doubt_.\" No; such language would not express that unclouded certainty\nand calm assurance which it is the privilege of the very feeblest\nchild of God to possess. And yet, alas, how few, even of the children\nof God, enjoy this blessed certainty--this calm assurance! Many there\nare who look upon it as the height of presumption to say, \"We know.\"\nThey seem to think that doubts and fears argue a proper condition of\nsoul--that it is impossible for anyone to be sure--that the most we\ncan expect is to cherish a vague hope of reaching heaven when we die.\n\nNow, it must be admitted that if we ourselves had aught to do with the\nground of certainty or assurance, then it would indeed be the very\nheight of folly to think of being sure; then assuredly our hope would\nbe a very vague one. But, thanks be to God, it is not so. We having\nnothing whatever to do with the ground of our certainty, it lies\nentirely outside of ourselves, and it must be sought only and\naltogether in the eternal word of God. This renders it blessedly\nsimple. It makes the whole question hinge upon the truth of God's\nword. Why am I sure? Because God's word is true. A shadow of\nuncertainty or misgiving on my part would argue a want of authority or\nsecurity in the word of God. It really comes to this: Christian\ncertainty rests on the faithfulness of God. Before you can shake the\nformer, you must shake the latter.\n\nWe can understand this simple principle by our dealings with one\nanother. If my fellow man makes a statement to me, and I express the\nsmallest doubt or misgiving, or if I feel it without even expressing\nit, I am calling in question his truthfulness, or credibility. If he\nis a faithful, competent authority, I have no business to entertain a\nsingle doubt. My certainty is linked with his credibility. If he is a\ncompetent authority, I may enjoy perfect repose as to the matter\nconcerning which he has spoken. Now, we all know what it is to receive\nin the most unqualified way the testimony of man, and to repose with\ncalmness therein. It is not a question of feeling, but of receiving\nwithout a single question a plain statement, and resting on the\nauthority of a competent witness. Well, then, as we have it in the\nFirst Epistle of John, \"If we receive the testimony of man, the\ntestimony of God is greater.\" So, also, our Lord said to the men of\nHis time, \"If I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me?\" (John viii.)\nHe appeals to the truth of what He says as the reason why, or the\nground on which, He expected to be believed.\n\nThis, Christian reader, is a very weighty principle, and one which\ndemands special attention on the part of all anxious inquirers, as\nalso on the part of all who undertake to deal with such. There is a\nstrong and constant tendency to look _within_ for the ground of\nassurance--to build upon certain feelings, experiences, and exercises,\neither past or present--to look back at some special process through\nwhich we have passed, or to look in at certain impressions or\nconvictions of our own minds, and to find in these the ground of our\nconfidence, the warrant for our faith. This will never do. It is\nimpossible to find settled peace or calm repose in this way.\nFeelings, however true and real, change and pass away. Experiences,\nhowever genuine, may prove defective. Impressions and convictions may\nprove utterly false. None of these things, therefore, can form a solid\nground of Christian certainty. This latter must be sought and found in\nGod's word alone. It is not in feelings, not in experiences, not in\nimpressions or convictions, not in reasonings, not in human traditions\nor doctrines, but simply in the unchangeable, eternal Word of the\nliving God. That Word which is settled forever in heaven, and which\nGod has magnified according to all the stability of His name, can\nalone impart peace to the mind and stability to the soul.\n\nTrue, it is only by the gracious ministry of the Holy Ghost that we\ncan properly grasp and ever hold fast to the word of God; but still it\nis His Word, and that Word _alone_, that forms the ground of Christian\ncertainty and the true basis and authority for the Christian in the\nentire range of practical life and action. We cannot be too simple as\nto this. We can only adopt the opening sentence of our chapter, and\nsay, \"We know,\" when we take God's word as the all-sufficient ground\nof our personal confidence. It will not do to be in any wise propped\nup by human authority. Thousands of the people of God have been made\nto taste the bitterness of leaning upon the commandments and doctrines\nof men. It is sure to end in disappointment and confusion, sooner or\nlater. The edifice which is built upon the sand of human authority\nmust fall at some time or other; whereas that which is founded on the\nrock of God's eternal truth shall stand forever. God's word imparts\nits own stability to the soul that leans upon it. \"Therefore thus\nsaith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a\nsure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste\" (Isa. xxviii.\n16).\n\nAs is the foundation, so is the faith that builds thereon. Hence the\nsolemn importance of seeking to lead souls to build _only_ upon God's\nprecious Word. Look at the anxiety of the apostle Paul in reference to\nthis matter. Hear what he says to the Corinthians who were in such\ndanger of being led away by human leadership and human authority. \"And\nI, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or\nof wisdom, declaring unto you _the testimony of God_. For I determined\nnot to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.\nAnd I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.\nAnd my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's\nwisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That your\nfaith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God\"\n(1 Cor. ii. 1-5).\n\nHere is a grand model for all preachers and teachers. Paul declared\nthe \"testimony of God,\" nothing more, nothing less, nothing different.\nAnd not only so, but he delivered that testimony in such a way as to\nconnect the souls of his hearers immediately with the living God.\nPaul did not want the Corinthians to lean upon him; nay, he \"trembled\"\nlest they should be tempted to do so. He would have done them a\ngrievous wrong had he in anywise come in between their souls and the\ntrue source of all authority--the true foundation of confidence and\npeace. Had he led them to build upon himself, he would have robbed\nthem of God, and this would have been a wrong indeed. No marvel,\ntherefore, that he was among them \"in fear and in much trembling.\"\nThey were evidently very much prone to set up and follow after human\nleaders, and thus miss the solid reality of personal communion with\nand dependence upon the living God. Hence the jealous care of the\napostle in confining himself to the testimony of God; in delivering to\nthem _only_ that which he had received of the Lord (see 1 Cor. xi. 23,\nxv. 3), lest the pure water should suffer in its passage from its\nsource in God to the souls of the Corinthians--lest he should in the\nsmallest degree impart the color of his own thoughts to the precious\ntruth of God.\n\nWe see the same thing in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians. \"For\nthis cause also,\" says the faithful servant of Christ, \"thank we God\nwithout ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye\nheard of us, ye received it _not as the word of men_, but, _as it is\nin truth, the word of God_, which effectually worketh also in you that\nbelieve\" (chap. ii. 13). Had he been seeking his own things, he would\nhave been glad to obtain influence over the Thessalonians by linking\nthem on to himself and leading them to lean upon him. But no; he\nrejoices in seeing them in living connection, in direct and realized\nassociation with God Himself. This is always the effect of true\nministry, as it is ever the object of the true minister. Unless the\nsoul be livingly linked with God, there is really nothing done. If it\nbe merely following men--receiving what they say because they say\nit--an attachment to certain preachers or teachers because of\nsomething in their style and manner, or because they seem to be very\nholy, very separated, or very devoted--all this will come to naught.\nThose human links will soon be snapped asunder. The faith that stands\nin any measure in the wisdom of men will prove hollow and worthless.\nNothing will prove permanent, nothing will endure, but that faith\nwhich rests on the testimony and in the power of the only true God.\n\nChristian reader, we earnestly invite your attention to this point. We\ndo indeed feel its importance at the present moment. The enemy is\nseeking diligently to lead souls away from God, away from Christ, away\nfrom the holy Scriptures. He is seeking to get them to build on\nsomething short of _the truth_. He does not care what it is, provided\nit is not Christ. It may be reason, tradition, religiousness, human\npriesthood, fleshy pietism, holiness in the flesh, sectarianism,\nmorality, good works, service (so called), human influence, patronage,\nphilanthropy, anything short of Christ, short of God's word, short of\na lively, personal, direct faith in the living God Himself.\n\nNow it is the sense of this pressing home upon the heart that leads us\nto urge with earnestness upon the reader the necessity of being\nthoroughly clear as to the ground on which he is at this moment\nstanding. We want him to be able to say in the face of all around him,\n\"_I know._\" Nothing less than this will stand. It will not do to say,\n\"_I hope._\" No; there must be certainty. There must be the ability to\nsay, \"We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were\ndissolved, _we have_ a building of God, an house not made with hands,\neternal in the heavens.\" This is the language of faith, the language\nof a Christian. All is calm, clear, and sure, because all is of God.\nThere may be an \"if\" with regard to \"the earthly house.\" It may be\ndissolved, it may crumble into dust. All that belongs to this scene\nmay bear the stamp of death; it may change and pass away, but the Word\nof the Lord endureth forever, and the faith that grasps and rests upon\nthat Word partakes of its eternal stability. It enables one to say,\n\"_I know_ that _I have_.\" Naught but faith can say this. Reason can\nonly say, \"I doubt;\" superstition, \"I fear:\" only faith can say, \"I\nknow and am sure.\"\n\nAn infidel teacher once said to a dying woman whom he had\nindoctrinated with his infidel notions, \"Hold fast, Mary.\" What was\nher reply? \"I can't hold fast, for you have never given me anything to\nhold by.\" Cutting rebuke! He had taught the poor woman to doubt, but\nhe had given her nothing to believe; and then, when flesh and heart\nwere failing, when earthly scenes were passing away and the dread\nrealities of eternity were crowding in upon her soul's vision,\ninfidelity altogether failed her; its wretched cobwebs could afford no\nrefuge, no covering, in view of death and judgment. How different the\ncondition of the believer--of the one who, in all simplicity of heart\nand humility of mind, takes his stand on the solid rock of Holy\nScripture! Such an one can calmly say, \"_I am now ready_ to be\noffered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good\nfight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth\nthere is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the\nrighteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to\nall them, also, that love His appearing\" (2 Tim. iv. 6-8).\n\nIt is more than probable that some may find it difficult to reconcile\nthe calm certainty expressed in the first verse of our chapter with\nthe groan of ver. 2. But the difficulty will vanish the moment we are\nenabled to see the true reason of the groan. \"For in this we groan,\nearnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from\nheaven, if so be that, being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For\nwe that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that\nwe would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be\nswallowed up of life.\"\n\nHere we see that the very certainty of having \"a building of God, an\nhouse not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,\" makes us groan to\npossess it. The apostle did not groan in doubt or uncertainty. He did\nnot groan under the weight of guilt or fear. Still less did he groan\nbecause he could not satisfy the desires of the flesh or of the mind,\nor because he could not surround himself with this world's perishable\npossessions. No; he longed for the heavenly building--the divine, the\nreal, the eternal. He felt the heavy burden of the poor, crumbling\ntabernacle; it was a grievous hindrance to him. It was the only link\nwith the scene around, and as such it was a heavy clog of which he\nlonged to be rid.\n\nBut, most clearly, he would not, and could not, have groaned for the\nheavenly house if he had a single question on his mind with respect to\nit. Men are never anxious to get rid of the body unless they are sure\nof possessing something better; nay, they grasp this present life with\nintense eagerness, and tremble at the thought of the future, which is\nall darkness and uncertainty to them. They groan at the thought of\nquitting the body; the apostle groaned because he was in it.\n\nThis makes all the difference. Scripture never contemplates such a\nthing as a Christian groaning under sin, guilt, doubt, or fear; or\nsighing after the riches, honors or pleasures of this vain,\nsin-stricken world. Alas, alas, they do thus groan through ignorance\nof their true position in a risen Christ and their proper portion in\nthe heavens! But such is not the ground or character of the groan in\nthe scripture now before us; Paul saw with distinctness his house in\nthe heavens; and, on the other hand, he felt the heavy burden of the\ntabernacle of clay; and he ardently longed to lay aside the latter and\nbe clothed with the former.\n\nHence, then, there is the fullest harmony between \"_we know_\" and \"_we\ngroan_.\" If we did not know for a certainty that we have a building of\nGod, we should like to hold our earthly house as long as possible. We\nsee this constantly. Men cling to life. They leave nothing untried to\nkeep body and soul together. They have no certainty as to heaven. They\ncannot say, \"we _know_\" that \"we _have_\" anything there. On the other\nhand, they have a terrible dread of the future, which to their vision\nis wrapped up in clouds and thick darkness. They have never committed\nthemselves in calm confidence to God and His word; they have never\nfelt the tranquilizing power of His love. They have viewed Him as an\nangry Judge instead of seeing Him as the sinner's Friend--a just God\nand a Saviour--the righteous Justifier. No marvel, therefore, if they\nshrink with terror from the thought of meeting Him.\n\nBut it is a totally different thing with a man who knows God as his\nFather--his Saviour--his best Friend; who knows that Jesus died to\nsave him from his sins, and from all the consequences thereof. Such an\none can say:\n\n    \"I have a home above,\n      From sin and sorrow free;\n    A mansion which eternal Love\n      Designed and formed for me.\n\n    \"The Father's gracious hand\n      Has built this blest abode;\n    From everlasting it was planned,\n      The dwelling-place of God.\n\n    \"The Saviour's precious blood\n      Has made my title sure;\n    He passed through death's dark, raging flood,\n      To make my rest secure.\"\n\nThese are the breathings of simple faith, and they perfectly harmonize\nwith the groans of a spirit \"that looks beyond its cage and longs to\nflee away.\" The believer finds his body of sin and death a heavy\nburden, and longs to be free from the encumbrance, and to be clothed\nupon with a body suited to his new and eternal state--a new creation\nbody--a body perfectly free from every trace of mortality. This cannot\nbe until the morning of resurrection, that glorious moment, long\nlooked for, when the dead in Christ shall rise and the living saints\nbe changed, in a moment; when death shall be swallowed up in victory,\nand mortality shall be swallowed up of life.\n\nIt is for this we groan, not that we would be unclothed, but clothed\nupon. The unclothed state is not _the_ object, though we know that to\nbe absent from the body is to be present with the Lord; and to depart\nand be with Christ is far better. The Lord Jesus is waiting that\nglorious consummation, and we wait in sympathy with Him. Meanwhile,\n\"the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until\nnow. And not only so, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits\nof the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for\nthe adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved in\nhope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why\ndoth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we\nwith patience wait for it\" (Rom. viii. 22-25).\n\nThus, then, beloved reader, we have before us a very distinct answer\nto the question, \"Why does the believer groan?\" He groans, being\nburdened. He groans in sympathy with a groaning creation, with which\nhe is linked by means of a body of sin and death--a body of\nhumiliation. He sees around him, day by day, the sad fruits of sin. He\ncannot pass along the streets of our cities and towns without having\nbefore his eyes a thousand proofs of man's sad state. He hears on one\nside the wail of sorrow; on another, the cry of distress. He sees\noppression, violence, corruption, strife, heartless villany and its\nvictims. He sees the thorn, and the briar. He notes the various\ndisturbing forces which are abroad in the physical, the moral, and the\npolitical world. He marks the varied forms of disease and misery\naround him. The cry of the poor and the needy, the widow and the\norphan, falls sadly upon his ear and upon his heart; and what can he\ndo but send up from the deepest depths of his spiritual nature a\nsympathetic groan, and long for the blissful moment when \"the\ncreation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into\nthe liberty of the glory of the sons of God?\" It is impossible for a\ntrue Christian to pass through a world like this without groaning.\nLook at the blessed Master Himself; did not He groan? Yes, verily.\nMark Him as He approached the grave of Lazarus, in company with the\ntwo weeping sisters. \"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the\nJews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and\nwas troubled, and said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him,\nLord, come and see. Jesus wept\" (Jno. xi. 33-35).\n\nWhence came those tears and groans? Was He not approaching the grave\nof His friend as the Prince of Life--the Quickener of the dead--the\nConqueror of death--the Spoiler of the grave? Why, then, did He groan?\nHe groaned in sympathy with the objects of His love, and with the\nwhole scene around Him. His tears and groans emanated from the\nprofound depths of a perfect human heart which felt, according to God,\nthe true condition of the human family and of Israel in particular. He\nbeheld around Him the varied fruits of sin. He felt for man, He felt\nfor Israel. \"In all their afflictions He was afflicted.\" He was a Man\nof sorrows and acquainted with grief. He never even cured a person\nwithout bearing upon His spirit the reality of that with which He was\ndealing. He did not, He would not, lightly bid away death, disease,\nand sorrow. No: He entered into it all, as man; and that, too,\naccording to the infinite perfections of His divine nature. He bore it\nall upon His spirit, in the reality of it, before God. Though\nperfectly free from it all, and above it all, yet did He in grace\nvoluntarily enter into it most thoroughly, so as to taste, and prove,\nand know it all, as none else could know it.\n\nAll this is fully expressed in Matt. viii., where we read the\nfollowing words: \"When the even was come, they brought unto Him many\nthat were possessed with devils; and He cast out the spirits with His\nword, and healed all that were sick; that it might be fulfilled which\nwas spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, _Himself took our\ninfirmities, and bare our sicknesses_\" (vers. 16, 17).\n\nWe have very little idea of what the heart of Jesus felt as He passed\nthrough this sorrowful, because sinful, world; and we are far too apt\nto miss the reality of His sufferings by confining them merely to what\nHe endured on the cross, and also by supposing that because He was God\nover all, blessed for ever, He did not feel all that a human heart is\ncapable of feeling. This is a sad loss. Indeed we may say it is an\nincalculable loss. The Lord Jesus, as the Captain of our salvation,\nwas made perfect through sufferings. See Heb. ii., where the inspired\nwriter distinguishes carefully between \"the suffering of death,\" and\nthe \"sufferings\" of the Captain of our salvation. In order to save\nsinners from _wrath_, \"He tasted death for every man,\" and having\ndone so, we see Him \"crowned with glory and honor.\" But in order to\n\"_bring many sons to glory_,\" He had to be \"perfected through\nsufferings.\" And now all true believers have the unspeakable privilege\nof knowing that there is One at the right hand of the Majesty in the\nheavens who, when in this world of sin and woe, tasted every form of\nsuffering and every cup of sorrow which it was possible for any human\nheart to know. He could say, \"Reproach hath broken My heart, and I am\nfull of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was\nnone, and for comforters, but I found none\" (Ps. lxix. 20).\n\nHow deeply affecting is all this! But we cannot pursue this subject\nhere. We have merely touched upon it in connection with the question,\n\"Why does the believer groan?\" We trust that the reader will see\nclearly the true answer to this inquiry; and that it will be most\nevident to his mind that the groans of a Christian proceed from the\ndivine nature which he actually possesses, and cannot therefore, by\nany possibility, be occasioned by doubts or fears, on the one hand,\nnor yet by selfish desires or the insatiable cravings of nature, on\nthe other. But that, on the contrary, the very fact of his possessing\neverlasting life, through faith in Christ, and the blessed assurance\nof having a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, causes\nhim to long for that blessed, indestructible building, and to groan\nbecause of his connection with a groaning creation, as well as in\nsympathy therewith.\n\nIf any further proof were needed, on this deeply interesting question,\nwe have it in verses 5 and 6 of our chapter (2 Cor. v.), where the\napostle goes on to say, \"Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame\nthing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.\nTherefore we are _always confident_ (not doubting or fearing), knowing\nthat whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord\n(for we walk by faith, not by sight), we are confident, I say, and\nwilling rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the\nLord\" (vers. 5-8).\n\nHere we have two grand cardinal truths laid down, namely, first, The\nbeliever is God's workmanship; and secondly, God has given him the\nearnest of the Spirit. Most marvellous--most glorious facts! Facts\nwhich demand the attention of the reader. Everyone who simply and\nheartily believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is God's workmanship. God\nhas created him anew in Christ Jesus. Clearly, therefore, there can be\nno possible ground for questioning his acceptance with God, inasmuch\nas God can never call in question His own work. He will, assuredly, no\nmore do this in His new creation, than He did in the old. When God\nlooked upon His work, in the opening of the Book of Genesis, it was\nnot to judge it or call it in question, but to announce it very good,\nand express His complacency in it. So now, when God looks upon the\nvery feeblest believer, He sees in him His own workmanship, and most\nassuredly, He is not going, either here or hereafter, to call in\nquestion His own work. God is a rock, His work is perfect, and the\nbeliever is God's work; and because he is His work He has sealed him\nwith the Holy Ghost.\n\nThe same truth is stated in Ephesians ii. where we read, \"For we are\nGod's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God\nhath before ordained that we should walk in them.\" This, we may truly\nsay, is a point of the weightiest moment. It claims the grave\nattention of the reader who desires to be thoroughly established in\nthe truth of God as to what a Christian--what Christianity really is.\nIt is not a ruined, lost, guilty sinner seeking to work himself up\ninto something or other fit for God. It is the very reverse. It is\nGod, in the riches of His grace, on the ground of the atoning death of\nChrist, taking up a poor, dead, worthless, condemned thing--a guilty,\nhell-deserving sinner, and creating him anew in Christ Jesus. It is,\nas it were, God beginning _de novo_--on the new, as we may say--to\nform man in Christ, to place him on a new footing altogether, not now\nas an innocent being on a creation basis, but as a justified one, in a\nrisen Christ. It is not man's old condition improved by human effort\nof any sort or description; but it is God's new workmanship in a\nrisen, ascended, and glorified Christ. It is not man's own garment\npieced or patched by human device in any shape or form whatever; but\nit is God's new garment introduced in the person of Christ, who\nhaving, in infinite grace, gone down into the dust of death, and\nendured, on man's behalf, the judgment of sin, the righteous wrath of\na sin-hating God, was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,\nand is become the Head of the new creation--\"The beginning of the\ncreation of God\" (Rev. iii. 14).\n\nNow, it must be perfectly clear to the reader, that if our Lord Jesus\nChrist be, in very deed \"the _beginning_\" of God's creation, then we\nmust begin at the beginning, else we have done absolutely nothing at\nall. We may labor and toil--we may do our very utmost, and be\nperfectly sincere in our doing--we may vow and resolve--we may seek to\nimprove our state, to alter our course, to mend our ways, to live in a\ndifferent way--but all the while we are in the old creation, which has\nbeen completely set aside, and is under the judgment of God; we have\nnot begun at \"the beginning\" of God's new creation, and, as a\nnecessary consequence, we have gained nothing at all. We have been\nspending our strength for nought and in vain. We have been putting\nforth efforts to improve a thing which God has condemned and set aside\naltogether. We are, to use a very feeble figure indeed, like a man who\nis spending his time, his pains, and his money in painting and\npapering a house that has been condemned by the government surveyor,\non account of the rottenness of the foundation, and which must be\ntaken down at once.\n\nWhat should we say to such a man? Should we not deem him very foolish?\nDoubtless. But if it be folly to paint and paper a condemned house,\nwhat shall we say to those who are seeking to improve a condemned\nnature--a condemned world? We must say this, at least, they are\npursuing a course which must, sooner or later, end in disappointment\nand confusion.\n\nOh that this were understood and entered into! Would to God that\nChristians more fully entered into it! Would to God that all Christian\nwriters, preachers, and teachers entered into it, and set it forth\ndistinctly with pen and voice! At the least, we earnestly desire that\nthe reader should thoroughly grasp it. We are most fully persuaded\nthat it is pre-eminently \"truth for the times.\" It is truth to meet\nthe need of thousands of souls--to remove their burdens, relieve their\nhearts and consciences--solve their difficulties--chase away their\nclouds. There are, at this moment, throughout the length and breadth\nof Christendom, countless multitudes engaged in the fruitless work of\npainting and papering a condemned house--a house on which God has\npronounced judgment, because of the hopelessly ruined condition of its\nfoundations. They are seeking to do little jobs of repairs here and\nthere throughout the house, forgetting, or perhaps not knowing, that\nthe whole building is very shortly to be demolished by order of the\ndivine government. Some are doing this with the utmost sincerity, amid\nmuch sore exercise of soul, and many tears, because they cannot\nsucceed in satisfying their own hearts even, much less the claims of\nGod. For God demands a perfect thing, not a patched-up ruin. There is\nno use in seeking to cover with paper and paint old walls tottering on\na rotten foundation. God cannot be deceived by surface work, by\nshallow outside appearances. The foundations are bad, the whole thing\nmust come down, and we must put our whole trust in Him who is \"the\nbeginning of the creation of God.\"\n\nReader, pause here for a moment's calm and serious reflection. Ask\nyourself the question, \"Am I seeking to patch up a ruin? Am I seeking\nto improve the old nature? Or have I really found my place in God's\nnew creation, of which a risen Christ is the Head and Beginning?\"\nRemember, we beseech you, that you cannot possibly engage in more\nfruitless toil than seeking to make yourself better. Your efforts may\nbe sincere, but they must, in the long run, prove worthless. Your\npaper and paint may be all good and genuine enough, but you are\nputting them on a condemned ruin. You cannot say of your unrenewed\nnature that it is \"God's workmanship;\" and, most assuredly, _your_\ndoings, _your_ good works, _your_ religious exercises, _your_ efforts\nto keep the ten commandments--nothing, in short, that _you_ can do,\ncould possibly be called \"God's workmanship.\" It is yours, and not\nGod's. He cannot acknowledge it. He cannot seal it with His Spirit. It\nis all false and good for nothing. If you cannot say, \"He that hath\nwrought us for the selfsame thing is God,\" you have really nothing.\nYou are yet in your sins. You have not begun at God's beginning. You\nare yet \"in the flesh:\" and the voice of Holy Scripture declares that\n\"they that are in the flesh _cannot_ please God\" (Rom. viii).\n\nThis is a solemn and sweeping sentence. A man out of Christ is \"in the\nflesh;\" and such a man cannot please God. He may be most religious,\nmost moral, most amiable, most benevolent, a most excellent master, a\ngenerous friend, a liberal giver, a genial companion, a patron of the\npoor, upright and honorable in all his dealings, he may be an eloquent\npreacher and a popular writer, and all the while not be \"_in Christ_,\"\nbut \"in the flesh,\" and therefore he \"cannot please God.\"\n\nCan aught be more solemn than this? Only to think of how far a person\nmay go in all that is deemed excellent among men, and yet not be in\nChrist, but in his sins--in the flesh--in the old creation--in the\ncondemned house. And be it noted that it is not a question of gross\nsins, of scandalous living, in all its varied, hideous shapes of\nimmorality, in its deeper and darker shades; no, the declaration of\nHoly Scripture is, that \"they that are in the flesh cannot please\nGod.\" This, truly, is most soul-subduing, and calls for deep and\nsolemn reflection on the part of every thoughtful and earnest soul.\n\nBut it may be that, to the reader's view, difficulties and stumbling\nblocks still surround this most weighty subject. He may still be\nutterly at a loss to know what is meant by the expression, \"In the\nflesh.\" If so it will, we fondly hope, help him not a little to\nremember that Scripture speaks of _two men_--\"the first man\" and \"the\nSecond Man.\" These two men are presented as the heads of two distinct\nraces. Adam _fallen_ is the head of one race; Christ _risen_ is the\nHead of the other race. Now, the very fact of there being \"a Second\nMan\" proves that the first man had been set aside: for if the first\nman had proved faultless, then should no place have been sought for\nthe second. This is clear and unquestionable. The first man is a total\nwreck--an irreparable ruin. The foundations of the old edifice have\ngiven way; and albeit, in man's view, the building seems to stand, and\nto be capable of being repaired, yet, in God's view it is completely\nset aside, and a Second Man--a new edifice--set up, on the solid and\nimperishable ground of redemption.\n\nHence, we read, in Gen. iii., that God \"_drove out the man_; and He\nplaced at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming\nsword which turned _every way_, to keep the way of the tree of life.\"\nIn other words, the first man was driven out, and every possible way\nof return was closed against him, as _such_. He could only get back by\n\"a new and living way,\" namely, through the rent veil of the Saviour's\nflesh. The flaming sword \"turned every way,\" so that there was\npositively no way by which the first man could ever get back to his\nformer state. The only hope, now, was through \"the seed of the\nwoman\"--\"the Second Man.\" The flaming sword declared, in symbolic yet\nimpressive language, the truth, which comes out in the New Testament\ndivested of all symbol and shadow, namely, that \"they that are in the\nflesh _cannot_ please God\"--\"Ye must be born again.\" Every unconverted\nman, woman, and child is part and parcel of the first man, fallen,\nruined, set aside, and driven out. He is a member of the first\nAdam--the old race--a stone in the old condemned building.\n\nThus it stands, if we are to be guided by Scripture. The head and his\nrace go together. As is the one, so is the other; what is true of the\none is true of the other. They are, in God's view, absolutely\nidentical. Was the first Adam fallen when he became the head of a\nrace? Was he driven out? Was he completely set aside? Yes, verily, if\nwe are to believe Scripture; then the unconverted--the unregenerated\nreader of these lines is fallen, driven out, and set aside. As is the\nhead, so is the member--each member in particular--all the members\ntogether. They are inseparable, if we are to be taught by divine\nrevelation.\n\nBut, further, was every possible way of return finally closed against\nthe fallen head? yes, Scripture declares that the flaming sword turned\n\"_every way_, to keep the way of the tree of life.\" Then it is utterly\nimpossible that the unconverted--the unregenerate can improve himself\nor make himself fit for God. If the fallen head could not get back to\nthe tree of life, neither can the fallen member. \"They that are in the\nflesh cannot please God.\" That is, they that are on the old footing,\nin the old creation, members of the first Adam, part and parcel of the\nold edifice, cannot please God. \"Ye must be born again.\" Man must be\nrenewed in the very deepest springs and sources of his being. He must\nbe \"God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which\nGod hath before prepared that we should walk in them.\" He must be able\nto say, in the language of our text, \"He that has wrought us for the\nselfsame thing is God.\"\n\nBut this leads us to another point. How is anyone to get into this\nmarvellous position? How can any soul take up such language? How can\nanyone whose eyes have been opened to see his utter and hopeless ruin,\nas connected with the first man, as standing in the old creation, as a\nstone in the old edifice--how can such an one ever reach a position in\nwhich he can please God? The Lord be praised, Scripture gives an\nanswer, full, clear, and distinct, to this serious question. A second\nMan has appeared upon the scene--the Seed of the woman, and, at the\nsame time, God over all, blessed for ever. In Him all begins afresh.\nHe came into this world born of a woman, made under the law, pure and\nspotless, free from every taint of sin, personally apart from every\nclaim of sin and death, standing in the midst of a ruined world, a\nguilty race, Himself that pure, untainted grain of wheat. We see Him\nlying as a babe in the manger. We see Him growing up as a youth\nbeneath the parental roof. We see Him as a man working in a\ncarpenter's shop at Nazareth. We see Him baptised in Jordan, where all\nthe people were baptised confessing their sins--Himself sinless, but\nfulfilling all righteousness, and, in perfect grace, identifying\nHimself with the repentant portion of the nation of Israel. We see Him\nanointed with the Holy Ghost for the work that lay before Him. We see\nHim in the wilderness faint and hungry, unlike the first man who was\nplaced in the midst of a paradise of creature delights. We see Him\ntempted of Satan and coming off victorious. We trace Him along the\npathway of public ministry--and such a ministry! What incessant toil!\nWhat weariness and watching! What hunger and thirst! What sorrow and\ntravail! Worse off than the fowls and the foxes, the Son of man had\nnot where to lay His head. The contradiction of sinners by day, the\nmountain-top by night.\n\nSuch was the marvellous life of this blessed One. But this was not\nall. He died! Yes, He died under the weight of the first man's guilt,\nHe died to take away the sin of the world, and alter completely the\nground of God's relationship with the world, so that God might deal\nwith man and with the world on the new ground of redemption, instead\nof the old ground of sin. He died for the nation of Israel. He tasted\ndeath for every man. He died the just for the unjust. He suffered for\nsins. He died and was buried, according to the Scriptures. He went\nthrough all--met all--paid all--finished all. He went down into the\ndust of death, and lay in the dark and silent tomb. He descended into\nthe lower parts of the earth. He went down to the very bottom of\neverything. He endured the sentence passed on man. He paid the\npenalty, bore the judgment, drained the cup of wrath, went through\nevery form of human suffering and trial, was tempted in all points,\nsin excepted. He made an end of everything that stood in the way, and,\nhaving _finished all_, He gave up His spirit into the hand of His\nFather, and His precious body was laid in a tomb on which the smell of\ndeath had never passed.\n\nNor was this all. He rose! Yes, He rose triumphant over all. He rose\nas the Head of the new creation--\"The beginning of the creation of\nGod\"--\"The first-begotten from among the dead\"--\"The first-born among\nmany brethren.\" And now the second Man is before God, crowned with\nglory and honor, not in an earthly paradise, but at the right hand of\nthe Majesty in the heavens. This second Man is the last Adam, because\nthere is none to come after Him, we cannot get beyond the last. There\nis only one Man before God now. The first is set aside. The last is\nset up. And as the first was the fallen head of a fallen race, so the\nlast is the risen Head of a saved, justified, and accepted race. The\nHead and His members are inseparably identified--all the members\ntogether, and each member in particular. We are accepted in Him. \"As\nHe is, so are we in this world\" (1 John iv. 17). There is nothing\nbefore God but Christ. The Head and the body, the Head and each\nindividual member are indissolubly joined together--inseparably and\neternally one. God thinks of the members as He thinks of the\nHead--loves them as He loves Him. Those members are God's workmanship,\nincorporated by His Spirit into the body of Christ, and in God's\npresence, having no other footing, no other rank, position, or station\nwhatsoever but \"in Christ.\" They are no longer \"in the flesh, but in\nthe Spirit.\" They can please God, because they possess His nature, and\nare sealed by His Spirit, and guided by His word. \"_He that hath\nwrought them is God_,\" and God must ever delight in His own\nworkmanship. He will never find fault with or condemn the work of His\nown hand. \"God is a rock, His work is perfect,\" and hence the\nbeliever, as God's workmanship, must be perfect. He is \"IN CHRIST,\"\nand that is enough--enough for God--enough for faith--enough for ever.\n\nAnd, now, if it be asked, \"How is all this to be attained?\" Scripture\nreplies, \"BY FAITH.\" \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth\nMy word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, _hath_ everlasting life,\nand shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life\"\n(John v. 24).\n\nThe reader who has traveled intelligently with us through the opening\nlines of our chapter will be in a position to understand something of\nthe solemn and momentous subject to which we now approach, namely, the\njudgment-seat of Christ. If indeed it be true that the believer is\nGod's workmanship--if he is actually a member of Christ--associated\nwith the second Adam--bound up in the bundle of life with the risen\nand glorified Lord, if all this be true--and God's word declares it\nis--then it must be perfectly evident that the judgment-seat of Christ\ncannot, by any possibility, touch the Christian's position, or prove,\nin any wise, unfriendly to him. No doubt it is a most solemn and\nserious matter, involving the most weighty consequences to every\nservant of Christ, and designed to exert a most salutary influence\nupon the heart and conscience of every man. But it will do all this\njust in proportion as it is viewed from the true standpoint, and no\nfurther. It is not to be supposed that anyone can reap the divinely\nappointed blessing from meditating on the judgment-seat, if he is\nlooking forward to it as the place where the grand question of his\neternal salvation is to be settled. And yet how many are thus\nregarding it! How many of God's true people are there, who, from not\nseeing the simple truth involved in these words, \"He that hath wrought\nus for the selfsame thing is God,\" are anticipating the judgment-seat\nof Christ as something that may, after all, condemn them.\n\nThis is greatly to be deplored, both because it dishonors the Lord,\nand completely destroys the soul's peace and liberty. For how, let us\nask, is it possible for anyone to enjoy peace so long as there is a\nsingle question about salvation to be settled? We conceive it is\nwholly impossible. The peace of the true believer rests on the fact\nthat every possible question has been divinely and eternally settled;\nand as a consequence, no question can ever arise, either before the\njudgment-seat of Christ, or at any other time. Hear what our Lord\nJesus Christ saith in reference to this great question: \"Verily,\nverily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him\nthat sent Me, _hath_ everlasting life, and shall not come into\ncondemnation [or judgment]; but is passed from death unto life\" (John\nv. 24).\n\nIt is important that the reader should understand that the word used\nby our Lord in the above passage is not \"condemnation\" but \"judgment.\"\nHe assures the believer that he shall never come into judgment; and\nthis, too, be it observed, in immediate connection with the statement\nthat \"the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto\nthe Son\" (ver. 22). And, again, \"For as the Father hath life in\nHimself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath\ngiven Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of\nman\" (ver. 26, 27).\n\nThus, then, the One to whom all judgment is committed--who alone has\nauthority to execute judgment, by the Father's just decree--this\nblessed One assures us that if we hearken to His Word, and believe on\nHim that sent Him, we shall never come into judgment at all.\n\nThis is clear and conclusive. It must tranquillize the heart\ncompletely. It must roll away every cloud and mist, and conduct the\nsoul into a region where no question can ever arise to disturb its\ndeep and eternal repose. If the One who has all judgment in His hand,\nand all authority to execute it--if _He_ assures me that I shall never\ncome into judgment, I am perfectly satisfied. I believe His Word, and\nrest in the happy assurance that whatever the judgment-seat of Christ\nmay prove to others, it cannot prove unfriendly to me. I know that the\nword of the Lord endureth for ever, and that the Word tells me I shall\nnever come into judgment.\n\nBut it may be that the reader finds it difficult, if not impossible,\nto reconcile this entire exemption from judgment with the solemn fact\nstated by our Lord, that \"for every idle word that men shall speak,\nthey shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.\" But there is\nreally no difficulty in the matter. If a man has to meet judgment at\nall, he must give account for every idle word. How awfully solemn the\nthought! There is no escaping it. Were it possible for a single idle\nword to be let pass, it would be a dishonor to the judgment-seat. It\nwould be a sign of weakness and incompetency which is utterly\nimpossible. It were blasphemy against the Son of God to suppose that\na single stain could escape His scrutinizing gaze. If the reader comes\ninto judgment, that judgment must be perfect, and, hence, his\ncondemnation must be inevitable.\n\nWe would press this serious matter upon the attention of the\nunconverted reader. It imperatively demands his immediate and earnest\nconsideration. There is a day rapidly approaching when every idle\nword, and every foolish thought, and every sinful act, will be brought\nto light, and he will have to answer for it. Christ, as a Judge, has\neyes like unto a flame of fire, and feet like unto fine brass--eyes to\ndetect, and feet to crush the evil. There will be no escape. There\nwill be no mercy then: all will be stern and unmitigated judgment. \"I\nsaw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the\nearth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.\nAnd I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the _books_\nwere opened; and another _book_ was opened, which is the book of life;\nand the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the\n_books_, according to their _works_. And the sea gave up the dead\nwhich were in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead which were\nin them; and they were judged _every man according to their works_.\nAnd death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire. This is the\nsecond death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life\nwas cast into the lake of fire\" (Rev. xx. 11-15).\n\nMark here the difference between \"the books\" and \"the book of life.\"\nThe entire scene sets forth the judgment of the wicked dead--of those\nwho have died in their sins, from first to last. \"The book of life\" is\nopened; but there is no judgment for those whose names are written\ntherein by the hand of electing and redeeming love. \"The books\" are\nopened--those awful records written in characters deep, broad, and\nblack--those terrible catalogues of the sins of every man, woman, and\nchild, from the beginning to the end of time. There will be no\nescaping in the crowd. Each one will stand in his own most intense\nindividuality in that appalling moment. The eye of each will be turned\nin upon himself, and back upon his past history. All will be seen in\nthe light of the great white throne, from which there is no escape.\n\nThe sceptic may reason against all this. He may say, \"_How_ can these\nthings be? _How_ could all the dead stand before God? _How_ could the\ncountless millions, who have passed away since the foundation of the\nworld find sufficient space before the judgment-seat?\" The answer is\nvery simple to the true believer, whatever it may be to the sceptic;\nGod who made them, will make a place for them to stand for judgment,\nand a place to lie in everlasting torment. Tremendous thought? \"God\nhath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in\nrighteousness, by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath\ngiven assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the\ndead\" (Acts xvii. 31).\n\nAnd be it remembered that \"_every man_ will be judged according to\n_his_ works.\" The solemn session of the judgment referred to in\nRevelation xx. will not be an indiscriminate act. Let none suppose\nthis. There are \"_books_\"--rolls--records. \"_Every man_\" will be\njudged. How? \"According to _his_ works.\" Nothing can be more precise\nand specific. Each one has committed his own sins, and for them he\nwill be judged and punished everlastingly. We are aware that many\ncherish the notion that people will only be judged for rejecting the\ngospel. It is a fatal mistake. Scripture teaches the direct contrary.\nIt declares that people will be judged according to their works. What\nare we to learn from the \"many stripes\" and the \"few stripes\" of Luke\nxii.? What is the force of the words \"more tolerable\" in Matthew xi.?\nAre we not plainly taught by these words that there will be a\ndifference in the degrees of judgment and punishment? And does not the\napostle most distinctly teach us in Ephesians iv., and Colossians\niii., that the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience\n(or unbelief) \"because of\" certain sins against which he solemnly\nwarns the saints?\n\nNo doubt the rejection of the gospel leaves people on the ground of\njudgment, just as the true belief of the gospel takes people off that\nground. But the judgment will be, in every case, according to a man's\nworks. Are we to suppose that the poor ignorant savage, who has lived\nand died amid the gloomy shades of heathen darkness, will be found in\nthe same \"book,\" or punished with the same severity as a man who has\nlived and died in the total rejection of the full blaze of gospel\nlight and privilege? Not for a moment, so long as the words \"more\ntolerable\" stand on the page of inspiration. The savage will be judged\naccording to his works, and the baptized sinner will be judged\naccording to his works, but assuredly it will be more tolerable for\nthe former than the latter. God knows how to deal with people. He can\ndiscriminate, and He declares that He will give to each according to\nhis works.\n\nReader, think of this, we beseech you. Think deeply, think seriously.\nIf thou art unconverted, think of it for thyself, for, assuredly, it\nconcerns thee. And if thou art converted, think of it for others, as\nthe apostle says, \"Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.\"\nIt is impossible for anyone to reflect upon the great and awful fact\nof judgment to come, and not be stirred up to warn his fellows. We\nbelieve it is of the very last possible importance that the\nconsciences of men should be acted upon by the solemn truth of the\njudgment-seat of Christ--that they should be made to feel the\nseriousness of having to do with God as a Judge.\n\nShould the reader, whoever he be, have been led to feel this--if he\nhas been roused by this weighty matter--if he is, even now, asking the\nquestion, \"What must I do?\" the answer is blessedly simple. The\ngospel declares that the One who will, ere long, act as a Judge, is\nnow revealed as a Justifier--even a Justifier of the ungodly sinner\nthat believeth in Jesus. This changes the aspect of things entirely.\nIt is not that the thought of the judgment-seat loses a single jot or\ntittle of its gravity and solemnity. Quite the contrary. It stands in\nall its weight and magnitude. But the believer looks at it from a\ntotally different point of view. In place of looking at the\njudgment-seat of Christ as a guilty member of the first Adam, he looks\nat it as a justified and accepted member of the Second. In place of\nlooking forward to it as the place where the question of his eternal\nsalvation or perdition is to be decided, he looks to it as one who\nknows that he is God's workmanship, and that he can never come into\njudgment, inasmuch as he has been taken clean off the ground of guilt,\ndeath, and judgment, and placed, through the death and resurrection of\nChrist, on a new ground altogether, even the ground of life,\nrighteousness, and cloudless favor.\n\nIt is most needful to be clear as to this grand fundamental truth.\nVery many even of the people of God are clouded in reference to it,\nand hence it is that they are afraid when they think of the\njudgment-seat. They do not know God as a Justifier. Their faith has\nnot grasped Him as the One who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.\nThey are looking to Christ to keep God out as a Judge, very much in\nthe same way as the Israelites looked to the blood to keep out the\ndestroyer. See Ex. xii. It is true and real enough, so far as it goes;\nbut it falls very far short of the truth revealed in the New\nTestament. There is a vast difference between keeping God out as a\nDestroyer and a Judge, and bringing Him in as a Saviour and a\nJustifier. An Israelite would have dreaded, above all things, God's\ncoming in to him. Why? Because God was passing through the land as a\nDestroyer. The Christian, on the contrary, delights to be in the\npresence of God. Why? Because He has revealed Himself as a Justifier.\nHow? By raising up Jesus our Lord from the dead.\n\nThere are three forms of expression used by the inspired apostle in\nRom. iii. and iv. which should be carefully pondered. In chap. iii.\n26, he speaks of \"believing in Jesus.\" In chap. iv. 5, he speaks of\n\"believing in Him that justifieth the ungodly.\" And, ver. 24, he\nspeaks of \"believing in Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the\ndead.\"\n\nNow, there is no distinction in Scripture without a difference; and\nwhen we see a distinction it is our business to inquire as to the\ndifference. What then, is the difference between believing in Jesus,\nand believing in Him that raised up Jesus? We believe it to be this.\nWe may often find souls who are really looking to Jesus and believing\nin Him, and yet they have, deep down in their hearts a sort of dread\nof meeting God. It is not that they doubt their salvation, or that\nthey are not really saved. By no means. They are saved, inasmuch as\nthey are looking to Christ, by faith, and all who so look are saved in\nHim with an everlasting salvation. All this is most blessedly true:\nbut still there is this latent fear or dread of God, and a shrinking\nfrom death. They know that Jesus is friendly to them, inasmuch as He\ndied for them; but they do not see so clearly the friendship of God.\n\nHence it is that we find so many of God's people in uncertainty and\nspiritual distress. Their faith has not yet laid hold of God as the\nOne who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. They are not quite\nsure of how it may go with them. At times they are happy, because by\nvirtue of the new nature, of which they are assuredly the partakers,\nthey get occupied with Christ: but at times they are miserable,\nbecause they begin to look at themselves, and they do not see God as\ntheir Justifier, and as the One who has condemned sin in the flesh.\nThey are thinking of God as a Judge with whom some question still\nremains to be settled. They feel as if God's eye were resting on their\nindwelling sin, and as if they had, in some way or other, to dispose\nof that question with God.\n\nThus it is, we feel persuaded, with hundreds of the true saints of\nGod. They do not see God as the Condemner of sin in Christ on the\ncross, and the Justifier of the believing sinner in Christ rising from\nthe dead. They are looking to Christ on the cross to screen them from\nGod as a Judge, instead of looking to God as a Justifier, in raising\nup Christ from the dead. Jesus was delivered for our offences, and\nraised again for our justification. Our sins are forgiven; our\nindwelling sin, or evil nature, is condemned and set aside. It has no\nexistence _before God_. It is in us, but He sees us only in a risen\nChrist; and we are called to _reckon_ ourselves dead, and by the power\nof God's Spirit, to mortify our members, to deny and subdue the evil\nnature which still dwells in us, and will dwell until we are passed\nout of our present condition, and find our place forever with the\nLord.\n\nThis makes all so blessedly clear. We have already dwelt upon the\nfact, that \"they that are in the flesh cannot please God;\" but the\nbeliever is not in the flesh, though the flesh be in him. He is in the\n_body_, and on the _earth_, as to the fact of his existence; but he is\nneither in the _flesh_, nor of the _world_, as to the ground or\nprinciple of his standing. \"Ye,\" says the Holy Ghost, \"are not in the\nflesh, but in the Spirit\" (Rom. viii.). \"They,\" says our blessed Lord,\n\"are not of the world, even as I am not of the world\" (John xvii.).\n\nWhat a sweet relief to a heart bowed down under a sense of indwelling\nsin, and not knowing what to do with it! What solid peace and comfort\nflow into the soul when I see God condemning my sin in the cross, and\njustifying me in a risen Christ! Where are my _sins_? Blotted out.\nWhere is my _sin_? Condemned and set aside. Where am I? Justified and\naccepted in a risen Christ. I am brought to God without a single cloud\nor misgiving. I am not afraid of my Justifier. I confide in Him, love\nHim, and adore Him. I joy in God, and rejoice in hope of His glory.\n\nThus, then, we have, in some measure, cleared the way for the believer\nto approach the subject of the judgment-seat of Christ, as set forth\nin ver. 10 of our chapter, which we shall here quote at length, in\norder that the reader may have the subject fully before him in the\nveritable language of inspiration. \"For we must all appear (or rather,\nbe manifested) before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may\nreceive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,\nwhether it be good or bad.\"\n\nNow there is, in reality, no difficulty or ground of perplexity here.\nAll we need is to look at the matter from a divine standpoint, and\nwith a simple mind, in order to see it clearly. This is true in\nreference to every subject treated of in the word of God, and\nspecially so as to the point now before us. We have no doubt whatever\nthat the real secret of the difficulty felt by so many in respect to\nthe question of the judgment-seat of Christ is self-occupation. Hence\nit is we so often hear such questions as the following, \"Can it be\npossible that all our sins, all our failures, all our infirmities, all\nour naughty and foolish ways, shall be published, in the presence of\nassembled myriads, before the judgment-seat of Christ?\"\n\nWell, then, in the first place, we have to remark that Scripture says\nnothing of the kind. The passage before us, which contains the great,\nbroad statement of the truth on this weighty subject, simply declares\nthat \"we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ.\"\nBut how shall we be manifested? Assuredly, _as we are_. But how is\nthat? As God's workmanship--as perfectly righteous, and perfectly\nholy, and perfectly accepted in the Person of that very One who shall\nsit on the judgment-seat, and who Himself bore in His own body on the\ntree all the judgment due to us, and made a full end of the entire\nsystem in which we stood. All that which, as sinners, we had to meet,\nChrist met in our stead. Our _sins_ He bore; our _sin_ He was\ncondemned for. He stood in our stead and answered all responsibilities\nwhich rested upon us as men alive in the flesh, as members of the\nfirst man, as standing on the old creation-ground. The Judge Himself\nis our righteousness. We are in Him. All that we are and all that we\nhave, we owe it to Him and to His perfect work. If we, as sinners, had\nto meet Christ as a Judge, escape were utterly impossible; but,\ninasmuch as He is our righteousness, condemnation is utterly\nimpossible. In short, the matter is reversed. The atoning death and\ntriumphant resurrection of our Divine Substitute have completely\nchanged everything, so that the effect of the judgment-seat of Christ\nwill be to make manifest that there is not, and cannot be, a single\nstain or spot on that workmanship of God which the saint is declared\nto be.\n\nBut, then, let us ask, Whence this dread of having all our naughtiness\nexposed at the judgment-seat of Christ? Does not He know all about us?\nAre we more afraid of being manifested to the gaze of men and angels\nthan to the gaze of our blessed and adorable Lord? If we are\nmanifested to Him, what matters it to whom beside we are known? How\nfar are Peter and David and many others affected by the fact that\nuntold millions have read the record of their sins, and that the\nrecord thereof has been stereotyped on the page of inspiration? Will\nit prevent their sweeping the strings of the golden harp, or casting\ntheir crowns before the feet of Him whose precious blood has\nobliterated for ever all their sins, and brought them, without spot,\ninto the full blaze of the throne of God? Assuredly not. Why then need\nany be troubled by the thought of their being thoroughly manifested\nbefore the judgment-seat of Christ? Will not the Judge of all the\nearth do right? May we not safely leave all in the hands of Him who\nhas loved us and washed us in His own blood? Cannot we trust ourselves\nimplicitly to the One who loved us with such a love? Will He expose\nus? Will He--can He, do aught inconsistent with the love that led Him\nto give His precious life for us? Will the Head expose the body, or\nany member thereof? Will the Bridegroom expose the bride? Yes, He\nwill, in one sense. But how? He will publicly set forth, in view of\nall created intelligences, that there is not a speck or a flaw, a spot\nor wrinkle, or any such thing, to be seen upon that Church which He\nloved with a love that many waters could not quench.\n\nAh! Christian reader, dost thou not see how that nearness to the heart\nof Christ, as well as the knowledge of His perfect work, would\ncompletely roll away the mists which enwrap the subject of the\njudgment-seat? If thou art washed from thy sins in the blood of Jesus,\nand loved by God as Jesus is loved, what reason hast thou to fear that\njudgment-seat, or to shrink from the thought of being manifested\nbefore it? None whatever. Nothing can possibly come up there to alter\nthy standing, to touch thy relationship, to blot thy title, or cloud\nthy prospect. Indeed we are fully persuaded that the light of _the\njudgment-seat_ will chase away many of the clouds that have obscured\n_the mercy-seat_. Many, when they come to stand before that\njudgment-seat, will wonder why they ever feared it for themselves.\nThey will see their mistake and adore the grace that has been so much\nbetter than all their legal fears. Many who have hardly ever been able\nto read their title here, will read it there, and rejoice and\nwonder--they will love and worship. They will then see, in broad\ndaylight, what poor, feeble, shallow, unworthy thoughts they had once\nentertained of the love of Christ, and of the true character of His\nwork. They will perceive how sadly prone they ever were to measure\nHim by themselves, and to think and feel as if His thoughts and ways\nwere like their own. All this will be seen in the light of that day,\nand then the burst of praise--the rapturous hallelujah--will come\nforth from many a heart that, when down here, had been robbed of its\npeace and joy by legal and unworthy thoughts of God and His Christ.\n\nBut, while it is divinely true that nothing can come out before the\njudgment-seat of Christ to disturb, in any way, the standing or\nrelationship of the very feeblest member of the body of Christ, or of\nany member of the family of God, yet is the thought of that judgment\nmost solemn and weighty. Yes, truly, and none will more feel its\nweight and solemnity than those who can look forward to it with\nperfect calmness. And be it well remembered, that there are two things\nindispensably needful in order to enjoy this calmness of spirit.\nFirst, we must have a title without a blot; and, secondly, our moral\nand practical state must be sound. No amount of mere evangelical\nclearness as to our title will avail unless we are walking in moral\nintegrity before God. It will not do for a man to _say_ that he is not\nafraid of the judgment-seat of Christ because Christ died for him,\nwhile, at the same time, he is walking in a loose, careless,\nself-indulgent way. This is a most dreadful delusion. It is alarming\nin the extreme to find persons drawing a plea from evangelical\nclearness to shrink the holy responsibility resting upon them as the\nservants of Christ. Are we to speak idle words because we know we\nshall never come into judgment? The bare thought is horrible; and yet\nwe may shrink from such a thing when clothed in plain language before\nus, while, at the same time, we allow ourselves to be drawn, through a\nfalse application of the doctrines of grace, into most culpable laxity\nand carelessness as to the claims of holiness.\n\nAll this must be sedulously avoided. The grace that has delivered us\nfrom judgment should exert a more powerful influence upon our ways\nthan the fear of that judgment. And not only so, but we must remember\nthat while we, _as sinners_, are delivered from judgment and wrath,\nyet, _as servants_, we must give account of ourselves and our ways. It\nis not a question of our being exposed here or there to men, angels,\nor devils. No; \"we must give account to God\" (Rom. xiv. 11, 12). This\nis far more serious, far more weighty, far more influential, than our\nbeing exposed in the view of any creature. \"Whatsoever ye do, do it\nheartily, as _to the Lord_, and not unto men; knowing that of _the\nLord_ ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve\n_the Lord_ Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong\nwhich he hath done: and there is no respect of persons\" (Col. iii.\n23-25).\n\nThis is most serious and salutary. It may be asked, \"When shall we\nhave to give account to God? When shall we receive for the wrong?\" We\nare not told, because that is not the question. The grand object of\nthe Holy Ghost in the passages just quoted is to lead the conscience\ninto holy exercise in the presence of God and of the Lord Christ. This\nis good and most needful in a day of easy profession, like the\npresent, when there is much said about grace, free salvation,\njustification without works, our standing in Christ. Is it that we\nwant to weaken the sense of these things? Far be the thought. Yea, we\nwould, in every possible way, seek to lead souls into the divine\nknowledge and enjoyment of those most precious privileges. But then we\nmust remember the adjusting power of _truth_. There are always two\nsides to a question, and we find in the pages of the New Testament the\nclearest and fullest statements of grace, lying side by side with the\nmost solemn and searching statements as to our responsibility. Do the\nlatter obscure the former? Assuredly not. Neither should the former\nweaken the latter. Both should have their due place, and be allowed to\nexert their moulding influence upon our character and ways.\n\nSome professors seem to have a great dislike to the words \"duty\" and\n\"responsibility;\" but we invariably find that those who have the\ndeepest sense of grace have also, and as a necessary consequence, the\ntruest sense of duty and responsibility. We know of no exception. A\nheart that is duly influenced by divine grace is sure to welcome every\nreference to the claims of holiness. It is only empty talkers about\ngrace and standing that raise an outcry about duty and responsibility.\nGod deals in moral realities. He is real with us, and He wants us to\nbe real with Him. He is real in His love, and real in His\nfaithfulness; and He would have us real in our dealings with Him, and\nin our response to His holy claims. It is of little use to say \"Lord,\nLord\" if we live in the neglect of His commandments. It is the merest\nsham to say \"I go sir\" if we do not go. God looks for obedience in His\nchildren. \"He is a rewarder of them that _diligently_ seek Him.\"\n\nMay we bear these things in mind, and remember that all must come out\nbefore the judgment-seat of Christ. \"We must all be manifested\" there.\nThis is unmingled joy to a really upright mind. If we do not\nunfeignedly rejoice at the thought of the judgment-seat of Christ,\nthere must be something wrong somewhere. Either we are not established\nin grace, or we are walking in some false way. If we know that we are\njustified and accepted before God in Christ, and if we are walking in\nmoral integrity, as in His presence, the thought of the judgment-seat\nof Christ will not disturb our hearts. The apostle could say, \"We are\nmade manifest to God; and I trust also are made manifest in your\nconsciences.\" Was Paul afraid of the judgment-seat? Not he. But why?\nBecause he knew that he was accepted, as to his person, in a risen\nChrist; and, _as to his ways_, he \"labored that whether present or\nabsent he might be acceptable to Him.\" Thus it was with this holy man\nof God and devoted servant of Christ. \"And herein do I exercise\nmyself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and\ntoward men\" (Acts xxiv. 16). Paul knew that he was accepted _in_\nChrist, and therefore he labored to be acceptable to Him in all his\nways.\n\nThese two things should never be separated, and they never will be in\nany divinely taught mind or divinely regulated conscience. They will\nbe perfectly joined together, and, in holy harmony, exert their\nformative power over the soul. It should be our aim to walk, even now,\nin the light of the judgment-seat. This would prove a wholesome\nregulator in many ways. It will not, in any wise, lead to legality of\nspirit. Impossible. Shall we have any legality when we stand before\nthe judgment-seat of Christ? Assuredly not. Well, then, why should the\nthought of that judgment-seat exert a legal influence now? In point of\nfact, we feel assured there is, and can be, no greater joy to an\nhonest heart than to know that everything shall come clearly and fully\nout, in the perfect light of that solemn day that is approaching. We\nshall see all then as Christ sees it--judge of it as He judges. We\nshall look back from amid the blaze of divine light shining from the\njudgment-seat, and see our whole course in this world. We shall see\nwhat blunders we have made--how badly we did this, that, and the other\nwork--mixed motives here--an under current there--a false object in\nsomething else. All will be seen then in divine truth and light. Is it\na question of our being exposed to the whole universe? By no means.\nShould we be concerned, whether or no? Certainly not. Will it, can it,\ntouch our acceptance? Nay, we shall shine there in all the perfectness\nof our risen and glorified Head. The Judge Himself is our\nrighteousness. We stand in Him. He is our all. What can touch us? We\nshall appear there as the fruit of His perfect work. We shall even be\nassociated with Him in the judgment which He executes over the world.\n\nIs not this enough to settle every question? No doubt. But still we\nhave to think of our individual walk and service. We have to look to\nit that we bring no wood, hay, and stubble into the light of the\ncoming day, for as surely as we do we shall suffer loss, though we\nourselves shall be saved through the fire. We should seek to carry\nourselves now as those who are already in the light, and whose one\ndesire is to do what is well pleasing to our adorable Lord, not\nbecause of the fear of judgment, but under \"the vast constraining\ninfluence\" of His love. \"The love of Christ constraineth us, because\nwe thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that\nHe died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto\nthemselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again.\" This is\nthe true motive-spring in all Christian service. It is not the fear of\njudgment impelling, but the love of Christ constraining us; and we may\nsay, with fullest assurance, that never shall we have so deep a sense\nof that love as when we stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.\n\n    \"When this passing world is done,\n    When has sunk yon radiant sun,\n    When I stand with Christ on high,\n    Looking o'er life's history,\n    Then, Lord, shall I fully know,\n    Not till then, how much I owe.\"\n\nThere are many other points of interest and value in this marvellous\nchapter; but we feel we must bring our paper to a conclusion; and,\nmost assuredly, we could not do this more suitably than by unfolding,\nas God's Spirit may enable us, that theme which has been before us all\nalong, \"The Ministry of Reconciliation,\" to which we shall now direct\nthe reader's attention as briefly as we can.\n\nWe may view it under three distinct heads; namely, first, the\n_foundation_ on which this ministry rests; secondly, the _objects_\ntoward whom it is exercised; thirdly, the _features_ by which it is\ncharacterized.\n\n1. And first, then, as to the foundation on which the ministry of\nreconciliation rests. This is set before us, in the closing verse of\nour chapter.\n\n\"For He (God) hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no\nsin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.\"\n\nWe have here three parties, namely, God, Christ, and sin. This latter\nis simply the expression of what we are by nature. There is in \"_us_\"\nnought but \"_sin_,\" from the crown of the head to the sole of the\nfoot, the whole man is sin. The principle of sin pervades the entire\nsystem of fallen humanity. The root, trunk, branches, leaves, blossom,\nfruit--all is sin. It is not only that we have committed sins; we are\nactually _born_ in sin. True, we have, all of us, our characteristic\nsins. We have not only, all of us, \"gone astray,\" but \"we have turned\nevery one to his own way.\" Each has pursued his own specific path of\nevil and folly; and all this is the fruit of that thing called \"sin.\"\nThe outward life of each is but a stream from the fountain--a branch\nfrom the stem; that fountain is sin.\n\nAnd what, let us ask, is sin? It is the acting of the will in\nopposition to God. It is doing our own pleasure--doing what we like\nourselves. This is the root--this the source of sin. Let it take what\nshape, or clothe itself in what forms it may; be it gross or be it\nmost refined in its actings, the great root-principle, the parent\nstem, is self-will, and this is sin. There is no necessity for\nentering into any detail; all we desire is that the reader should have\na clear and thorough sense of what sin is, and not only so, but that\nhe, by nature, is sinful. Where this great and solemn fact takes full\npossession of the soul, by the power of the Holy Ghost, there can be\nno settled rest until the soul is brought to lay hold on the truth set\nforth in 2 Corinthians v. 21. The question of sin had to be disposed\nof ere there could be so much as a single thought of reconciliation.\nGod could never be reconciled to sin. But fallen man was a sinner by\npractice and sinful in nature. The very sources of his being were\ncorrupt and defiled, and God was holy, just, and true. He is of purer\neyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity. Hence, then,\nbetween God and sinful humanity there could be no such thing as\nreconciliation. True it is--most blessedly true--that God is good, and\nmerciful, and gracious. But He is also holy; and holiness and sin\ncould never coalesce.\n\nWhat was to be done? Hear the answer: \"God hath made Christ to be\nsin.\" But where? Reader, look well at this. Where was Christ made sin?\nWas it in His birth? or in Jordan's flood? or in the garden of\nGethsemane? Nay; though, most assuredly, in that garden the shadows\nwere lengthening, the darkness was thickening, the gloom was\ndeepening. But where and when was the holy, spotless, precious Lamb of\nGod made sin? _On the cross, and only there!_ This is a grand cardinal\ntruth--a truth of vital importance--a truth which the enemy of God and\nHis Word is seeking to darken and set aside in every possible way. The\ndevil is seeking, in the most specious manner, to displace the cross.\nHe cares not how he compasses this end. He will make use of anything\nand everything in order to detract from the glory of the Cross, that\ngreat central truth of Christianity round which every other truth\ncirculates, and on which the whole fabric of divine revelation rests\nas upon an eternal foundation.\n\n\"He hath made Him to be sin.\" Here lies the root of the whole matter.\nChrist, on the cross, was made sin for us. He died, and was buried.\nSin was condemned. It met the just judgment of a holy God who could\nnot pass over a single jot or tittle of sin; nay, He poured out His\nunmingled wrath upon it in the person of His Son, when that Son was\n\"made sin.\" It is a serious error to believe that Christ was bearing\nthe judgment of God during His lifetime, or that aught save the death\nof Christ could meet the question of sin. He might have become\nincarnate--He might have lived and labored on this earth--He might\nhave wrought His countless miracles--He might have healed, and\ncleansed, and quickened--He might have prayed, and wept, and groaned;\nbut not any of these things, nor yet all of them put together, could\nblot out a single stain of that dreadful thing \"_sin_.\" God the Holy\nGhost declares that \"without shedding of blood there is no remission\"\n(Heb. ix. 22).\n\nNow, then, reader, if the holy life and labors of the Son of God--if\nHis prayers, tears, and groans could not put away sin; how do you\nthink that your life and labors, your prayers, tears, and groans, your\ngood works, rites, ordinances, and ceremonies could ever put away sin?\nThe fact is, that the life of our blessed Lord only proved man more\nand more guilty. It laid the topstone upon the superstructure of his\nguilt, and therefore left the question of sin wholly unsettled.\n\nNor was this all. Our blessed Lord Himself declares, over and over\nagain, the absolute and indispensable necessity of His death. \"Except\na corn of wheat fall into the ground and _die_, it abideth _alone_;\nbut if it _die_, it bringeth forth much fruit\" (John xii.). \"Thus it\nis written, and thus _it behoved_ (or was necessary for) Christ to\nsuffer\" (Luke xxiv. 46). \"How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled\nthat thus it _must_ be\" (Matt. xxvi.)? In a word, death was the only\npathway of life, the only basis of union, the only ground of\nreconciliation. All who speak of incarnation as being the basis of our\nunion with Christ deny, in the plainest way, the whole range of truth\nconnected with a dead and risen Christ. Many may not see this; but\nSatan sees it, and he sees too how it will work. He knows what he is\nabout, and surely the servants of Christ ought to know what is\ninvolved in the error against which we are warning our readers.\n\nThe fact is, the enemy does not want souls to see that, in the death\nof Christ, sentence was passed on fallen human nature and upon the\nwhole world. This was not the case in incarnation at all. An incarnate\nChrist put man to the test--a dead Christ put man to death--a risen\nChrist takes the believer into union with Himself. When Christ came in\nthe flesh, fallen man was still under probation. When Christ died on\nthe cross, fallen man was wholly condemned. When Christ rose from the\ndead, He became the head of a new race, each member of which, being\nquickened by the Holy Ghost, is viewed by God as united to Christ, in\nlife, righteousness, and favor--he is viewed as having been dead, as\nhaving passed through judgment, and as being now as free from all\ncondemnation as Christ himself. \"He hath made Him to be sin for us,\n[He] who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God\nin Him.\"\n\nNow, it must be plain to the reader who bows to Scripture, that\nincarnation did not, and could not accomplish all this. Incarnation\ndid not put away sin. Need we stop here to dwell upon the glories of\nthe mystery of incarnation? Will anyone imagine that we take away from\nthe value, or mar the integrity of that priceless fundamental truth,\nbecause we deny that it puts away sin, or forms the basis of our union\nwith Christ? We trust not. That incarnation was essentially necessary\nfor the accomplishment of redemption is plain to all. Christ had to\nbecome a man in order to die. \"Without shedding of blood is no\nremission.\" He had to give His flesh for the life of the world. But\nthis only goes to prove the absolute necessity of death. It was the\n_giving_ of His flesh, not the _taking_ of it, that laid the\nfoundation of the whole fabric--life, pardon, peace, righteousness,\nunion, glory, all. Apart from death, there is, and could be,\nabsolutely nothing. Through death we have all.\n\nBut we cannot pursue this profound subject any further now. Enough has\nbeen said to set forth its connection with our special thesis--the\nministry of reconciliation. When we read that \"God hath made Christ to\nbe sin for us,\" we must see that this involved nothing less than the\ndeath of the cross. \"THOU,\" says that blessed One, \"hast brought ME\ninto the dust of death\" (Psa. xxii.). What an utterance! Who can\nfathom the mighty depths of those words--\"Thou\"--\"Me\"--and \"death\"?\nWho can enter into the question, \"My God, My God, why hast _Thou_\nforsaken _Me_?\" Why did a holy, righteous God forsake His only\nbegotten, well-beloved, eternal Son? The answer contains the solid\nbasis of that marvelous ministry whereof we speak. Christ was made\nsin. He not only bore our _sins_ in His own body on the tree; but He\nwas made sin. He stood charged with the entire question of sin. He was\n\"the Lamb of God bearing away the sin of the world.\" As such He\ngloriously vindicated God, in the very scene where He had been\ndishonored. He glorified Him in respect to that very thing by which\nHis majesty had been insulted. He took upon Himself the whole\nmatter--placed Himself beneath the weight of the whole burden, and\ncompletely cleared the ground on which God could lay the foundations\nof the new creation. He opened those eternal flood-gates which sin had\nclosed, so that the full tide of divine love might roll down along\nthat channel which His atoning death alone could furnish; so long as\nsin was _in_ question, reconciliation must be _out_ of the question.\nBut Christ, being made sin died and put it away forever, and thus\nchanged entirely the ground and character of God's dealing with man\nand with the world.\n\nThe death of Christ, then, as we have seen, is the alone basis of\nreconciliation. That divine work has opened the way for placing men\nand things in their right relationship to God, and on their proper\nfooting before Him. And this, be it remembered, is the true sense and\nmeaning of reconciliation. Sin had alienated \"men\" from God, and set\n\"_things_\" entirely astray, and hence both men and things needed to be\nreconciled, or set straight; and the death of Christ has cleared the\nway for this.\n\nIt is well to see clearly the distinction between \"atonement\" and\n\"reconciliation.\" They are often confounded, through inattention to\nScripture; and the honored translators of our excellent Authorised\nVersion have not, with sufficient accuracy, marked this distinction.\nFor example, in Rom. v. 11, they have the word \"atonement\" where it\nought to be rendered \"reconciliation\" and in Heb. ii. 17, we have the\nword \"reconciliation\" where it ought to be \"atonement.\"\n\nNor is the distinction by any means unimportant. The word \"atonement,\"\nor \"propitiation,\" occurs, in some one or other of its forms, six\ntimes in the Greek New Testament. (See carefully Luke xviii. 13; Rom.\niii. 25; Heb. ii. 17; ix. 5; 1 John ii. 2; iv. 10.) The word\n\"reconciliation\" occurs, in one or other of its forms, thirteen times\nin the New Testament. (See Rom. v. 10, 11; xi. 15; 1 Cor. vii. 11; 2\nCor. v. 18, 19, 20; Eph. ii. 16; Col. i. 20, 21.) If the reader will\ntake the trouble of examining and comparing these passages, he will\nsee that atonement and reconciliation are not the same thing, but that\nthe former is the foundation of the latter. Sin had made man an enemy\nand thrown things into confusion; and in Col. i. 20, 21, we read,\n\"And, having made peace through the blood of his cross (here is the\nfoundation), by Him to reconcile all _things_ unto Himself; by Him, I\nsay, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And _you_,\nthat were sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked\nworks, yet now _hath he reconciled_, in the body of His flesh,\n_through death_, to present you holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable\nin his sight.\" Here we have the death of Christ set forth as the\nground of the reconciliation of both men and things.[16]\n\n  [16] If the reader will turn, for a moment, to 1 Cor. vii. 11, he will\n  see the use of the word reconciliation. \"But and if she depart, let\n  her remain unmarried, or be _reconciled_ to her husband.\" In classical\n  Greek the word is applied to the _changing_ money: the _exchanging_\n  one thing for another; _exchanging_ prisoners; the changing a person\n  from _enmity to friendship_. In short, everywhere the distinction is\n  maintained between \"atonement,\" or \"propitiation\" and   \"reconciliation.\"\n  The former is \u03b9\u03bb\u03b1\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2, the latter, \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03b1\u03b3\u03b7.\n\nNow this leads to another point of immense importance. We often hear\nit said that \"the death of Christ was necessary in order _to reconcile\nGod to man_.\" This is a pious mistake, arising from inattention to the\nlanguage of the Holy Ghost, and indeed to the plain meaning of the\nword \"reconcile.\" God never changed--never stepped out of His normal\nand true position. He abideth faithful. There was, and could be, no\nderangement, no confusion, no alienation, so far as He was concerned;\nand hence there could be no need of reconciling Him to us. In fact, it\nwas exactly the contrary. Man had gone astray; he was the enemy, and\nneeded to be reconciled. But this was wholly impossible if _sin_ were\nnot righteously disposed of; and sin could only be disposed of by\n_death_--even the death of One, who, as being a man, could die, and\nbeing God, could impart all the dignity, value, and glory of His\ndivine Person to the atoning sacrifice which He offered.\n\nWherefore, then, as might be expected, Scripture never speaks of\nreconciling God to man. There is no such expression to be found within\nthe covers of the New Testament. \"God was in Christ reconciling the\nworld (in its broad aspect--men and things) unto himself, not imputing\ntheir trespasses unto them.\" And again, \"All things are of God, who\nhath reconciled _us_ to Himself by Jesus Christ.\" In a word, it is\nGod, in His infinite mercy and grace, through the atoning death of\nChrist, bringing us back to Himself, and placing us not merely in the\noriginal place, or on the original footing, or in the original\nrelationship; but, as was due to the work of Christ, giving us back\nfar more than we had lost, and introducing us into the marvelous\nrelationship of sons, and setting us in His presence, in divine and\neternal righteousness, and in the infinite favor and acceptableness of\nHis own Son Jesus Christ our Lord.\n\nAmazing grace! Stupendous and glorious plan! What a ministry! And yet\nneed we wonder when we think of the death of Christ as the foundation\nof it all? When we remember that \"Christ was made sin for us,\" it\nseems but the necessary counterpart that \"we should be made the\nrighteousness of God in Him.\" It would have been no adequate result of\nsuch a work as Christ accomplished, to have brought men and things\nback to the Adamic or old creation ground. This would never have\nsatisfied the heart of God in any way, whether as respects Christ's\nglory or our blessing. It would not have furnished an answer to that\nomnipotent appeal of John xvii.: \"I have glorified Thee on the earth:\nI have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And _now_, O\nFather, glorify Thou Me, with Thine own self, with the glory which I\nhad with Thee before the world was\" (vers. 4, 5). Who can gauge the\ndepth and power of those accents as they fell upon the ear of the God\nand Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?\n\nBut we must not enlarge, much as we should like to do so. Little\nremains to be said as to the _objects_ of the ministry of\nreconciliation, inasmuch as we have, in a measure, anticipated them by\nspeaking of \"men and things,\" for these are, in very deed, the\nobjects, and they are included in that comprehensive word \"world.\"\n\"God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.\" We would\nmerely add here, that it is utterly impossible for any creature under\nheaven to exclude himself from the range of this most precious\nministry. Before the reader can shut himself out from the application\nof all this grace to himself, he must prove that he does not belong to\nthe world. This he cannot do, and hence he must see that God is\nbeseeching him to be reconciled.\n\nBut this leads us to look, for a moment, at the _features_ which\ncharacterize this glorious ministry.\n\n1. And first, let us mark God's attitude. He is beseeching sinners.\nWhat a thought! It seems too much for the heart to conceive. Only\nthink, reader, of the Most High and Mighty God, the Creator of the\nends of the earth--the One who has power to destroy both soul and body\nin hell--think of Him as beseeching and praying you to be friends with\nHim! It is not a question of your praying to Him and His hearing you.\nNo: but the very reverse--He is praying you. And for what does He ask\nyou? Is it to do anything or to give anything? Nay; He simply asks you\nto be friends with Him because He has befriended you at the cost of\nHis own Son. Think of this. He spared not His only begotten and\nwell-beloved Son, but bruised Him in your stead. He made Him to be sin\nfor you. He judged your sin in the person of His Son, on the cross, in\norder that He might be able to reconcile you. And now He stretches\nforth His arms and opens His heart to you, and prays you to be\nreconciled--to be friends with Him. Surpassing grace! It really seems\nto us as though human language can only tend to weaken and impoverish\nthis grand reality.\n\nWe would only further suggest that the force of ver. 20 is greatly\nweakened by the word \"you,\" which, as the reader will observe, ought\nnot to be inserted. It makes it appear as though the apostle were\nbeseeching the Corinthian saints to be reconciled, whereas he is only\nsetting forth the terms and the style adopted by all \"ambassadors\" for\nChrist wherever they went through the wide world--the language in\nwhich they were to address \"every creature\" under heaven. It is not,\n\"Do this or that\"--\"Give this or that.\" It was not command or\nprohibition; but simply, \"Be reconciled.\"\n\n2. And then, what encouragement to the poor trembling heart that feels\nthe burden of sin and guilt to be assured that God will not impute,\nwill not reckon, one of his sins! This is another precious feature of\nthe ministry of reconciliation. \"_Not_ imputing their trespasses unto\nthem.\" This must set the heart at rest. If God tells me that He will\nnot count one of my trespasses to me, because He has already counted\nthem to Jesus on the cross, this may well tranquilize my spirit and\nemancipate my heart. If I believe that God means what He says, perfect\npeace must be my portion. True, it is only by the Holy Ghost that I\ncan enter into the power of this glorious truth; but what the Holy\nGhost leads me to believe and rest in is, that God does not, and will\nnot, blessed be His name, impute a single sin to me, because He has\nalready imputed _all_ to Christ.\n\nBut this leads us to the third feature of the ministry of\nreconciliation.\n\n3. If God will not impute my trespasses to me then what will He\nimpute? Righteousness--even the righteousness of God. We cannot\nattempt to unfold the nature and character of this righteousness. We\nmay do so on another occasion, if the Lord permit; but here we confine\nourselves to the statement contained in the passage before us, which\ndeclares that God hath made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us\nwho were all sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in\nHim. Most glorious truth! Sin is made an end of, as regards the\nbeliever. Christ lives as our subsisting righteousness, before God,\nand we live in Him. There is not so much as one single entry to our\ndebit in the book of divine justice; but there is a risen and\nglorified Christ to our credit. Nor is this all. Not only are our sins\ngone, our guilt cancelled--our old self completely ignored--not only\nare we made the righteousness of God in Jesus; but we are loved by God\nas Jesus is loved--accepted in Him--one with Him in all that He is and\nhas, as a risen, victorious, ascended, and glorified Man at God's\nright hand. Higher than this it is impossible to go.\n\nAnd now we must close, and we do it reluctantly. We do it with a\ncertain painful consciousness of the feebleness and poverty of our\nhandling of this lofty and comprehensive theme. But all this we must\nleave in the Master's hand. He knows all about the subject and the\ntreatment thereof--all about the reader and the writer of these\nlines. To Him we commit all, while we make one solemn, closing appeal\nto the unconverted, unawakened reader.\n\nDear friend, let us remind you that this glorious ministry will very\nsoon close. The acceptable year, the day of salvation, shall ere long\ncome to an end. The ambassadors shall soon be all called home and\ntheir embassy be closed forever. The door shall soon be shut, and the\nday of vengeance set in in terror and wrath upon a Christ-rejecting\nworld. Let us entreat of you to flee from the wrath to come. Remember\nthat the One who is now praying and beseeching you to be reconciled,\nhas uttered the following awful words, \"Because I have called, and ye\nrefused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded. But ye\nhave set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof; I\nalso will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh\"\n(Prov. i. 24-26). May the reader escape the unutterable horrors of the\nday of wrath and judgment!\n\n                                                           C. H. M.\n\n\n\n\nTHE QUESTION OF QUESTIONS\n\n    Some call Him a Saviour, in word,\n      But mix their own works with His plan;\n    And hope He His help will afford,\n      When they have done all that they can:\n    If doings prove rather too light\n      (A little they own they may fail),\n    They purpose to make up full weight,\n      By casting His name in the scale.\n\n    Some style Him \"the Pearl of great price,\"\n      And say, He's the fountain of joys;\n    Yet feed upon folly and vice,\n      And cleave to the world and its toys:\n    Like Judas, the Saviour they kiss,\n      And while they salute Him, betray:\n    Oh! what will profession like this\n      Avail in His terrible day?\n\n    If asked what of Jesus _I_ think,\n      Though still my best thoughts are but poor,\n    I say, He's my meat and my drink,\n      My life and my strength and my store;\n    My Shepherd, my trust and my Friend,\n      My Saviour from sin and from thrall;\n    My Hope from beginning to end,\n      My Portion, my Lord and my All.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GREAT COMMISSION\n\n     \"And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake\n     unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be\n     fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the\n     Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He\n     their understanding, that they might understand the\n     Scriptures, and said unto them, _Thus it is written_, and\n     thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead\n     the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins\n     should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning\n     at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And,\n     behold, I send the promise of My Father unto you: but tarry\n     ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power\n     from on high\" (Luke xxiv. 44-49).\n\n\nThis splendid passage of Holy Scripture sets before us the great\ncommission which the risen Lord entrusted to His apostles just as He\nwas about to ascend into the heavens, having gloriously accomplished\nall His blessed work upon earth. It is truly a most wonderful\ncommission, and opens up a very wide field of truth, through which we\nmay range with much spiritual delight and profit. Whether we ponder\n_the commission itself_, its _basis_, its _authority_, its _power_, or\nits _sphere_, we shall find it all full of most precious instruction.\nMay the blessed Spirit guide our thoughts, while we meditate, first of\nall, upon\n\nTHE COMMISSION ITSELF.\n\nThe apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were specially\ncharged to preach \"repentance and remission of sins.\" Let us all\nremember this. We are prone to forget it, to the serious damaging of\nour preaching, and of the souls of our hearers. Some of us are apt to\noverlook the first part of the commission, in our eagerness, it may\nbe, to get to the second. This is a most serious mistake. We may rest\nassured that it is our truest wisdom to keep close to the veritable\nterms in which our blessed Lord delivered His charge to His earliest\nheralds. We cannot omit a single point, not to say a leading branch of\nthe commission, without serious loss in every way. Our Lord is\ninfinitely wiser and more gracious than we are, and we need not fear\nto preach with all possible plainness what He told His apostles to\npreach, namely, \"repentance and remission of sins.\"\n\nNow the question is, are we all careful to maintain this very\nimportant connection? Do we give sufficient prominence to the first\npart of the great commission? Do we preach \"repentance?\"\n\nWe are not now inquiring what repentance is; that we shall do, if God\npermit. But, whatever it is, do we preach it? That our Lord commanded\nHis apostles to preach it is plain; and not only so, but He preached\nit Himself, as we read it in Mark i. 14, 15: \"Now after that John was\nput in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the\nkingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of\nGod is at hand; repent ye and believe the gospel.\"\n\nLet us carefully note this record. Let all preachers note it. Our\ndivine Master called upon sinners to repent and believe the gospel.\nSome would have us to believe that it is a mistake to call upon\npersons dead in trespasses and sins to do anything. \"How,\" it is\nargued, \"can those who are dead repent? They are incapable of any\nspiritual movement. They must first get the power ere they can either\nrepent or believe.\"\n\nWhat is our reply to all this? A very simple one indeed--Our Lord\nknows better than all the theologians in the world what ought to be\npreached. He knows all about man's condition--his guilt, his misery,\nhis spiritual death, his utter helplessness, his total inability to\nthink a single right thought, to utter a single right word, to do a\nsingle right act; and yet He called upon men to repent. This is quite\nenough for us. It is no part of our business to seek to reconcile\nseeming differences. It may seem to us difficult to reconcile man's\nutter powerlessness with his responsibility; but \"God is His own\ninterpreter, and He will make it plain.\" It is our happy privilege,\nand our bounden duty, to believe what He says, and do what He tells\nus. This is true wisdom, and it yields solid peace.\n\nOur Lord preached repentance, and He commanded His apostles to preach\nit; and they did so constantly. Harken to Peter on the day of\nPentecost. \"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every\none of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins,\nand ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.\" And again, \"Repent\nye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out\nwhen the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the\nLord.\" Harken to Paul also, as he stood on Mars' Hill, at Athens: \"But\nnow _God commandeth all men everywhere_ to repent; because He hath\nappointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness, by\nthat Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto\nall men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.\" So also, in his\ntouching address to the elders of Ephesus, he says, \"I kept back\nnothing that was profitable, (blessed servant!) but have showed you,\nand have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both\nto the Jews, and also the Greeks, _repentance toward God_, and faith\ntoward our Lord Jesus Christ.\" And again, in his address to king\nAgrippa, he says, \"Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient\nunto the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them of Damascus, and\nat Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the\nGentiles, that _they should repent_, and turn to God, and _do works\nmeet for repentance_.\"\n\nNow, in the face of this body of evidence--with the example of our\nLord and His apostles so fully and clearly before us--may we not very\nlawfully inquire whether there is not a serious defect in much of our\nmodern preaching? Do we preach repentance as we ought? Do we assign\nto it the place which it gets in the preaching of our Lord, and of His\nearly heralds? It is vanity and folly, or worse, to talk about its\nbeing legal to preach repentance, to say that it tarnishes the lustre\nof the gospel of the grace of God to call upon men dead in trespasses\nand sins to repent, and do works meet for repentance. Was Paul legal\nin his preaching? Did he not preach a clear, full, rich, and divine\ngospel? Have we got in advance of Paul? Do we preach a clearer gospel\nthan he? How utterly preposterous the notion! Well, but he preached\nrepentance. He told his hearers that \"God now commandeth all men\neverywhere to repent.\" Does this mar the gospel of the grace of God?\nDoes it detract from its heavenly fulness and freeness? As well might\nyou tell a farmer that it lowered the quality of his grain to plough\nthe fallow ground before sowing.\n\nNo doubt it is of the very last possible importance to preach the\ngospel of the grace of God, or, if you please, the gospel of the\nglory, in all its fulness, clearness, and power. We are to preach the\nunsearchable riches of Christ--to declare the whole counsel of God, to\npresent the righteousness of God and His salvation, without limit,\ncondition, or hindrance of any kind--to publish the good news to every\ncreature under heaven.\n\nWe should, in the very strongest possible manner, insist upon this.\nBut at the same time we must jealously keep to the terms of \"the great\ncommission.\" We cannot depart the breadth of a hair from these\nwithout serious damage to our testimony, and to the souls of our\nhearers. If we fail to preach repentance, we are \"keeping back\"\nsomething \"profitable.\" What should we say to a husbandman, if we saw\nhim scattering his precious grain along the beaten highway? We should\njustly pronounce him out of his mind. The ploughshare must do its\nwork. The fallow ground must be broken up ere the seed is sown; and we\nmay rest assured that, as in the kingdom of nature, so in the kingdom\nof grace, the ploughing must precede the sowing. The ground must be\nduly prepared for the seed, else the operation will prove altogether\ndefective. Let the gospel be preached as God has given it to us in His\nWord. Let it not be shorn of one of its moral glories; let it flow\nforth as it comes from the deep fountain of the heart of God, through\nthe channel of Christ's finished work, on the authority of the Holy\nGhost. All this is not only most fully admitted but peremptorily\ninsisted upon; but at the same time we must never forget that our Lord\nand Master called upon men to \"repent and believe the gospel;\" that He\nstrictly enjoined it upon His holy apostles to preach repentance; and\nthat the blessed apostle Paul, the chief of apostles, the profoundest\nteacher the Church has ever known, did preach repentance, calling upon\nmen everywhere to repent and do works meet for repentance.\n\nAnd here it may be well for us to inquire what this repentance is\nwhich occupies such a prominent place in \"the great commission,\" and\nin the preaching of our Lord and of His apostles. If it be--as it\nmost surely is--an abiding and universal necessity for man--if God\ncommands all men everywhere to repent--if repentance is inseparably\nlinked with remission of sins--how needful it is that we should seek\nto understand its true nature!\n\nWhat, then, is repentance? May the Spirit Himself instruct us by the\nword of God! He alone can. We are all liable to err--some of us have\nerred--in our thoughts on this most weighty subject. We are in danger,\nwhile seeking to avoid error on one side, of falling into error on the\nother. We are poor, feeble, ignorant, erring creatures, whose only\nsecurity is in our being kept continually at the feet of our blessed\nLord Jesus Christ. He alone can teach us what repentance is, as well\nas what it is not. We feel most fully assured that the enemy of souls\nand of the truth has succeeded in giving repentance a false place in\nthe creeds, and confessions, and public teachings of Christendom; and\nthe conviction of this makes it all the more needful for us to keep\nclose to the living teachings of Holy Scripture.\n\nWe are not aware of any formal definition of the subject furnished by\nthe Holy Ghost. He does not tell us in so many words what repentance\nis; but the more we study the Word in reference to the great question,\nthe more deeply we feel convinced that true repentance involves the\nsolemn judgment of ourselves, our condition, and our ways, in the\npresence of God; and, further, that this judgment is not a transient\nfeeling, but an abiding condition--not a certain exercise to be gone\nthrough as a sort of title to the remission of sins, but the deep and\nsettled habit of the soul, giving seriousness, gravity, tenderness,\nbrokenness, and profound humility, which shall overlap, underlie, and\ncharacterize our entire course.\n\nWe seriously question if this aspect of the subject is sufficiently\nunderstood. Let not the reader mistake us. We do not mean for a moment\nto teach that the soul should be always bowed down under the sense of\nunforgiven sin. Far be the thought! But we greatly fear that some of\nus, in running away from _legality_ on the question of repentance,\nhave fallen into _levity_. This is a serious error. We may depend upon\nit that levity is no remedy for legality: were it proposed as such, we\nshould have no hesitation in pronouncing the remedy much worse than\nthe disease. Thank God we have His own sovereign remedy for levity, on\nthe one hand, and legality on the other. \"_Truth_,\"--insisting upon\n\"repentance,\" is the remedy for the former. \"_Grace_\"--publishing\n\"remission of sins,\" is the remedy for the latter. And we cannot but\nbelieve that the more profound our repentance, the fuller will be our\nenjoyment of remission.\n\nWe are inclined to judge that there is a sad lack of depth and\nseriousness in much of our modern preaching. In our anxiety to make\nthe gospel simple, and salvation easy, we fail to press on the\nconsciences of our hearers the holy claims of truth. If a preacher\nnow-a-days were to call upon his hearers to \"repent and turn to God,\nand to do works meet for repentance,\" he would, in certain circles, be\npronounced legal, ignorant, below the mark, and such like. And yet\nthis was precisely what the blessed apostle Paul did, as he himself\ntells us. Will any of our modern evangelists have the temerity to say\nthat Paul was a legal or an ignorant preacher? We trust not. Paul\ncarried with him the full, clear, precious gospel of God--the gospel\nof the grace, and the gospel of the glory. He preached the kingdom of\nGod--He unfolded the glorious mystery of the Church--yea, that mystery\nwas specially committed to him.\n\nBut let all preachers remember that Paul preached repentance. He\ncalled upon sinners to judge themselves--to repent in dust and ashes,\nas was meet and right they should. He himself had learnt the true\nmeaning of repentance. He had not only judged himself once in a way,\nbut he _lived_ in the spirit of self-judgment. It was the habit of his\nsoul, the attitude of his heart, and it gave a depth, solidity,\nseriousness and solemnity to his preaching of which we modern\npreachers know but little. We do not believe that Paul's repentance\nended with the three days and three nights of blindness after his\nconversion. He was a self-judged man all his life long. Did this\nhinder his enjoyment of the grace of God or of the preciousness of\nChrist? Nay, it gave depth and intensity to his enjoyment.\n\nAll this, we feel persuaded, demands our most serious consideration.\nWe greatly dread the light, airy, superficial style of much of our\nmodern preaching. It sometimes seems to us as if the gospel were\nbrought into utter contempt and the sinner led to suppose that he is\nreally conferring a very great favor upon God in accepting salvation\nat His hands. Now we most solemnly protest against this. It is\ndishonoring to God, and lowering His gospel; and, as might be\nexpected, its moral effect on those who profess to be converted is\nmost deplorable. It superinduces levity, self-indulgence, worldliness,\nvanity, and folly. Sin is not felt to be the dreadful thing it is in\nthe sight of God. Self is not judged. The world is not given up. The\ngospel that is preached is what may be called \"salvation made easy\" to\nthe flesh--the most terrible thing we can possibly conceive--terrible\nin its effect upon the soul--terrible in its results in the life.\nGod's sentence upon the flesh and the world gets no place in the\npreaching to which we refer. People are offered a salvation which\nleaves self and the world practically unjudged, and the consequence\nis, those who profess to be converted by this gospel exhibit a\nlightness and unsubduedness perfectly shocking to people of serious\npiety.\n\nMan must take his true place before God, and that is the place of\nself-judgment, contrition of heart, real sorrow for sin, and true\nconfession. It is here the gospel meets him. The fulness of God ever\nwaits on an empty vessel, and a truly repentant soul is the empty\nvessel into which all the fulness and grace of God can flow in saving\npower. The Holy Ghost will make the sinner _feel_ and _own_ his real\ncondition. It is He alone who can do so: but He uses preaching to this\nend. He brings the word of God to bear on man's conscience. The Word\nis His hammer, wherewith He breaks the rock in pieces--His plowshare,\nwherewith He breaks up the fallow ground. He makes the furrow, and\nthen casts in the incorruptible seed, to germinate and fructify to the\nglory of God. True, the furrow, how deep soever it may be, can produce\nno fruit. It is the seed, and not the furrow; but there must be the\nfurrow for all that.\n\nIt is not, need we say, that there is anything meritorious in the\nsinner's repentance. To say so could only be regarded as audacious\nfalsehood. Repentance is not a good work whereby the sinner merits the\nfavor of God. All this view of the subject is utterly and fatally\nfalse. True repentance is the discovery and hearty confession of our\nutter ruin and guilt. It is the finding out that my whole life has\nbeen a lie, and that I myself am a liar. This is serious work. There\nis no flippancy or levity when a soul is brought to this. A penitent\nsoul in the presence of God is a solemn reality; and we cannot but\nfeel that were we more governed by the terms of \"the great\ncommission,\" we should more solemnly, earnestly and constantly call\nupon men \"to repent and turn to God and do works meet for\nrepentance\"--we should preach \"repentance\" as well as \"remission of\nsins.\"\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\n\nSince writing our last paper, we have been much interested in the way\nin which repentance is presented in those inimitable parables in Luke\nXV. There we learn, in a manner the most touching and convincing, not\nonly the abiding and universal necessity,--the moral fitness in every\ncase of true repentance,--but also that it is grateful to the heart of\nGod. Our Lord, in His marvelous reply to the scribes and Pharisees,\ndeclares that \"there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.\"\nAnd again, \"Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of\nthe angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.\"\n\nNow this gives us a very elevated view of the subject. It is one thing\nto see that repentance is binding upon man, and another and very much\nhigher thing to see that it is grateful to God. \"Thus saith the high\nand lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in\nthe high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and\nhumble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the\nheart of the contrite ones.\" A broken heart, a contrite spirit, a\nrepentant mind, gives joy to God.\n\nLet us ponder this fact. The scribes and Pharisees murmured because\nJesus received sinners. How little they understood Him! How little\nthey knew of the object that brought Him down into this dark and\nsinful world! How little they knew of themselves! It was the \"lost\"\nthat Jesus came to seek. But scribes and Pharisees did not think\nthemselves lost. They thought they were all right. They did not want a\nSaviour. They were thoroughly unbroken, unrepentant, self-confident:\nand hence they had never afforded one atom of joy in heaven. All the\nlearning of the scribes, and all the righteousness of the Pharisees,\ncould not waken up a single note of joy in the presence of the angels\nof God. They were like the elder son in the parable who said, \"Lo,\nthese many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time\nthy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make\nmerry with my friends.\"\n\nHere we have a true specimen of an unbroken heart and an unrepentant\nspirit--a man thoroughly satisfied with himself. Miserable object! He\nhad never touched a chord in the Father's heart--never drawn out the\nFather's love--never felt the Father's embrace--never received the\nFather's welcome. How could he? He had never felt himself lost. He was\nfull of himself, and therefore had no room for the Father's love. He\ndid not feel that he owed anything, and hence he had nothing to be\nforgiven. It rather seemed to him that his father was his debtor. \"Lo,\nthese many years do I serve thee; and yet thou never gavest me a kid.\"\nHe had not received his wages.\n\nWhat egregious folly! And yet it is just the same with every\nunrepentant soul--every one who is building upon his own\nrighteousness. He really makes God his debtor. \"I have served Thee;\nbut I have never gotten what I earned.\" Miserable notion! The man who\ntalks of his duties, his doings, his sayings, his givings, is really\ninsulting God. But on the other hand, the man who comes with a broken\nheart, a contrite spirit, repentant, self-judged--that is the man who\ngives joy to the heart of God.\n\nAnd why? Simply because such a one feels his need of God. Here lies\nthe grand moral secret of the whole matter. To apprehend this is to\ngrasp the full truth on the great question of repentance. A God of\nlove desires to make His way to the sinner's heart, but there is no\nroom for Him so long as that heart is hard and impenitent. But when\nthe sinner is brought to the end of himself, when he sees himself a\nhelpless, hopeless wreck, when he sees the utter emptiness, hollowness\nand vanity of all earthly things; when like the prodigal he comes to\nhimself and feels the depth and reality of his need, then there is\nroom in his heart for God, and--marvelous truth!--God delights to come\nand fill it. \"To this man will I look.\" To whom? To the man who does\nhis duty, keeps the law, does his best, lives up to his light? Nay;\nbut \"to him who is of a contrite spirit.\"\n\nIt will perhaps be said that the words just quoted apply to Israel.\nPrimarily, they do; but morally they apply to every contrite heart on\nthe face of the earth. And, further, it cannot be said that Luke xv.\napplies specially to Israel. It applies to all. \"There is joy in the\npresence of the angels of God over one sinner that\"--What? Does his\nduty? Nay, it does not even say, \"that believeth.\" No doubt believing\nis essential in every case; but the interesting point here is that a\ntruly repentant sinner causes joy in heaven. A person may say, \"I fear\nI do not believe.\" Well, but do you repent? Have your eyes been opened\nto see your true condition before God? Have you taken your true place\nbefore God as utterly lost? If so, you are one of those over whom\nthere is joy in heaven. What gave joy to the shepherd's heart? Was it\nthe ninety and nine sheep that went not astray? Nay, it was finding\nthe lost sheep.[17] What gave joy to the woman's heart? Was it the\nnine pieces in her possession? Nay, it was finding the one lost piece.\nWhat gave joy to the father's heart? Was it the service and the\nobedience of the elder son? Nay, it was getting back his lost son. A\nrepentant, broken-hearted, returning sinner wakens up heaven's joy.\n\"Let _us_ eat and be merry.\" Why? Because the elder son has been\nworking in the fields and doing his duty? No; but \"This my son was\n_dead_, and is alive again; he was _lost_, and is found.\"\n\n  [17] Let the reader note that the \"ninety and nine just persons that\n  need no repentance\" and the elder son that \"never transgressed his\n  father's commandment\" is the expression of their own thoughts as to\n  themselves. When _God's_ judgment of man is expressed, the Scriptures\n  declare, \"There is none righteous, no, not one.... They are all gone\n  out of the way; ... there is none that doeth good, no, not one\" (Rom.\n  iii. 10, 12).--_Ed._\n\nAll this is perfectly wonderful. Indeed, it is so wonderful that if we\nhad it not from the lips of Him who is the Truth, and on the eternal\npage of divine inspiration, we could not believe it. But, blessed be\nGod, there it stands, and none can gainsay it. There shines the\nglorious truth that a poor, self-convicted, broken-hearted, penitent,\nthough hell-deserving sinner, gives joy to the heart of God. Let\npeople talk as they will about keeping the law and doing their duty:\nit may go for what it is worth; but be it remembered there is no such\nclause within the covers of the volume of God--no such sentence ever\ndropped from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ as \"There is joy in\nheaven over one sinner that does his duty.\"\n\n_A sinner's duty!_ What is it? \"God commandeth _all_ men _everywhere_\nto repent.\" What is it that can really define our duty? Surely the\ndivine command. Well, here it is, and there is no getting over it.\nGod's command to all men, in every place, is to repent. His\ncommandment binds them to do it; His goodness leads them to it; His\njudgment warns them to it; and, above all, and most marvelous of all,\nHe assures us that our repentance gives joy to His heart. A penitent\nheart is an object of profoundest interest to the mind of God, because\nthat heart is morally prepared to receive what God delights to bestow,\nnamely, \"remission of sins\"--yea, all the fulness of divine love. A\nman might spend millions in the cause of religion and philanthropy,\nand not afford one atom of joy in heaven. What are millions of money\nto God? A single penitential tear is more precious to Him than all the\nwealth of the universe. All the offerings of an unbroken heart are a\npositive insult to God; but a single sigh from the depths of a\ncontrite spirit goes up as fragrant incense to His throne and to His\nheart.\n\nNo man can meet God on the ground of duty; but God can meet any\nman--the very chief of sinners--on the ground of repentance, for that\nis man's true place; and we may say with all possible confidence that\nwhen the sinner, as he is, meets God as He is, the whole question is\nsettled once and forever. \"I said, _I will confess_ my transgressions\nunto the Lord, and _Thou forgavest_ the iniquity of my sin.\" The\nmoment man takes his true place--the place of repentance--God meets\nhim with a full forgiveness, a divine and everlasting righteousness.\nIt is His joy to do so. It gratifies His heart and it glorifies His\nname to pardon, justify and accept a penitent soul that simply\nbelieves in Jesus. The very moment the prophet cried, \"Woe is me; for\nI am undone,\"--\"Then _flew_ one of the seraphims with a live coal from\noff the altar,\" to touch his lips, and to purge his sins (Isa. vi.\n5-7).\n\nThus it is always. The fulness of God ever waits on an empty vessel.\nIf I am full of myself, full of my own fancied goodness, my own\nmorality, my own righteousness, I have no room for God, no room for\nChrist. \"He filleth the _hungry_ with good things; but the _rich_ He\nhath sent _empty_ away.\" A self-emptied soul can be filled with the\nfulness of God; but if God sends a man empty away, whither can he go\nto be filled? All Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, goes to prove\nthe deep blessedness as well as the moral necessity of repentance. It\nis the grand turning-point in the soul's history--a great moral epoch\nwhich sheds its influence over the whole of one's after life. It is\nnot, we repeat, a transient exercise, but an abiding moral condition.\nWe are not now speaking of how repentance is produced; we are speaking\nof what it is according to Scripture, and of the absolute need of it\nfor every creature under heaven. It is the sinner's true place; and\nwhen through grace he takes it, he is met by the fulness of God's\nsalvation.\n\nAnd here we see the lovely connection between the first and second\nclauses of \"the great commission,\" namely, \"repentance and remission\nof sins.\" They are inseparably linked together. It is not that the\nmost profound and genuine repentance forms the meritorious ground of\nremission of sins. To say or to think so would be to set aside the\natonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, for in that, and _in that alone_,\nhave we the divine ground on which God can righteously forgive us our\nsins. This we shall see more fully when we come to consider the\n\"_basis_\" of \"the great commission.\" We are now occupied with the\ncommission itself; and in it we see those two divinely settled facts,\nrepentance and remission of sins. The holy apostles of our Lord and\nSaviour were charged to preach among all nations--to declare in the\nears of every creature under heaven \"repentance and remission of\nsins.\" Every man, be he Jew or Gentile, is absolutely commanded by God\nto repent; and every repentant soul is privileged to receive, on the\nspot, the full and everlasting remission of sins. And we may add, the\ndeeper and more abiding the work of repentance, the deeper and more\nabiding will be the enjoyment of remission of sins. The contrite soul\nlives in the very atmosphere of divine forgiveness; and as it inhales\nthat atmosphere, it shrinks with ever-increasing horror from sin in\nevery shape and form.\n\nLet us turn for a moment to the Acts of the Apostles, and see how\nChrist's ambassadors carried out the second part of His blessed\ncommission. Hear the apostle of the circumcision addressing the Jews\non the day of Pentecost. We cannot attempt to quote the whole of his\naddress; we merely give the few words of application at the close.\n\"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath\nmade that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ.\"\n\nHere the preacher bears down upon the consciences of his hearers with\nthe solemn fact that they had proved themselves to be at issue with\nGod Himself about His Christ. What a tremendous fact! It was not\nmerely that they had broken the law, rejected the prophets, refused\nthe testimony of John the Baptist; but they had actually crucified the\nLord of glory, the eternal Son of God. \"Now when they heard this,\nthey were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest\nof the apostles, Men, brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto\nthem, _Repent_, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus\nChrist, for _the remission of sins_, and ye shall receive the gift of\nthe Holy Ghost\" (Acts ii. 36-38).\n\nHere are the two parts of the great commission brought out in all\ntheir distinctness and power. The people are charged with the most\nawful sin that could be committed, namely, the murder of the Son of\nGod; they are called upon to repent, and assured of full remission of\nsins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. What wondrous grace shines forth\nin all this! The very people that had mocked and insulted the Son of\nGod, and crucified Him, even these, if truly repentant, were assured\nof the complete pardon of all their sins, and of this crowning sin\namongst the rest. Such is the wondrous grace of God--such the mighty\nefficacy of the blood of Christ--such the clear and authoritative\ntestimony of the Holy Ghost--such the glorious terms of \"the great\ncommission.\"\n\nBut let us turn for a moment to Acts iii. Here the preacher, after\ncharging his hearers with this awful act of wickedness against God,\neven the rejection and murder of His Son, adds these remarkable words:\n\"And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did\nalso your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the\nmouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, _He hath so\nfulfilled._ _Repent ye_ therefore, and be converted, that _your sins\nmay be blotted out_.\"\n\nIt is not possible to conceive anything higher or fuller than the\ngrace that shines out here. It is a part of the divine response to the\nprayer of Christ on the cross, \"Father, forgive them, for they know\nnot what they do.\" This surely is royal grace. It is victorious\ngrace--grace reigning through righteousness. It was impossible that\nsuch a prayer should fall to the ground. It was answered in part on\nthe day of Pentecost, It will be answered in full at a future day, for\n\"All Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of\nZion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.\"\n\nBut mark particularly the words \"Those things which God before had\nshewed ... He hath so fulfilled.\" Here the preacher brings in God's\nside of the matter: and this is salvation. To see only man's part in\nthe cross would be eternal judgment. To see God's part, and to rest in\nit is eternal life, full remission of sins, divine righteousness,\neverlasting glory.\n\nThe reader will doubtless be reminded here of the touching scene\nbetween Joseph and his brethren. There is a striking analogy between\nActs iii. and Genesis xiv. \"Now therefore,\" says Joseph, \"be not\ngrieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God\ndid send me before you to preserve life.... And God sent me before you\nto preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a\ngreat deliverance. _So now it was not you that sent me hither, but\nGod._\"\n\nBut when were these words uttered? Not until the guilty brethren had\nfelt and owned their guilt. Repentance preceded the remission. \"They\nsaid one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in\nthat we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would\nnot hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.\" Joseph \"spake\nroughly\" to his brethren at the first. He brought them through deep\nwaters, and made them feel and confess their guilt. But the very\nmoment they took the ground of repentance, he took the ground of\nforgiveness. The penitent brethren were met by a pardoning Joseph, and\nthe whole house of Pharaoh was made to ring with the joy which filled\nthe heart of Joseph on getting back to his bosom the very men that had\nflung him into the pit.\n\nWhat an illustration of \"repentance and remission of sins!\" It is ever\nthus. It is the joy of the heart of God to forgive us our sins. He\ndelights in causing the full tide of His pardoning love to flow into\nthe broken and contrite heart.\n\nYes, beloved reader, if you have been brought to feel the burden of\nyour guilt, then be assured it is your privilege this very moment to\nreceive a divine and everlasting remission of all your sins. The blood\nof Jesus Christ has perfectly settled the question of your guilt, and\nyou are now invited to rejoice in the God of your salvation.\n\n\n\n\nPART III.\n\n\nWe shall now turn for a few moments to the ministry of the apostle of\nthe Gentiles, and see how he fulfilled the great commission. We have\nalready heard him on the subject of \"repentance.\" Let us hear him also\non the great question of \"remission of sins.\"\n\nPaul was not of the twelve. He did not receive his commission from\nChrist on earth, but, as he himself distinctly and repeatedly tells\nus, from Christ in heavenly glory. Some have spent not a little time\nand pains in laboring to prove that he was of the twelve, and that the\nelection of Matthias in Acts i. was a mistake. But it is labor sadly\nwasted, and only proves an entire misunderstanding of Paul's position\nand ministry. He was raised up for a special object, and made the\ndepositary of a special truth which had never been made known to any\none before, namely, the truth of the Church--the one body composed of\nJew and Gentile, incorporated by the Holy Ghost, and linked, by His\npersonal indwelling, to the risen and glorified Head in heaven.\n\nPaul received his own special commission, of which he gives a very\nbeautiful statement in his address to Agrippa, in Acts xxvi.,\n\"Whereupon, as I went to Damascus, with authority and commission from\nthe chief priests,\"--what a different \"commission\" he received ere he\nentered Damascus!--\"at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from\nheaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and\nthem which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the\nearth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew\ntongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? it is hard for thee to\nkick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And He said,\nI am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.\" Here the glorious truth of the\nintimate union of believers with the glorified Man in heaven, though\nnot stated, is beautifully and forcibly implied. \"But rise, and stand\nupon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make\nthee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast\nseen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;\ndelivering thee from the people and the Gentiles, unto whom now I send\nthee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and\nfrom the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of\nsins\" (the same word as in the commission to the twelve in Luke xxiv.)\n\"and inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith that is in\nMe.\"[18]\n\n  [18] \"By faith\" is connected with remission of sins and inheritance\n  among the sanctified.\n\nWhat depth and fulness in these words! What a comprehensive statement\nof man's condition! What a blessed presentation of the resources of\ndivine grace! There is a very remarkable harmony between this\ncommission to Paul and that to the twelve in Luke xxiv. It will\nperhaps be said there is nothing about repentance. True, the word does\nnot occur; but we have the moral reality, and that with singular force\nand fulness. What mean the words, \"_To open their eyes?_\" Do they not\nmost certainly involve the discovery of our condition? Assuredly. A\nman who has his eyes opened is brought to the knowledge of himself,\nthe knowledge of his condition, the knowledge of his ways; and this is\ntrue repentance. It is a wonderful moment in a man's history when his\neyes are opened. It is the grand crisis, the momentous epoch, the one\nturning-point. Till then he is blind--morally and spiritually blind.\nHe cannot see a single divine object. He has no perception of anything\npertaining to God, to Christ, to heaven.\n\nThis is truly humbling to proud human nature. Think of a clear-headed,\nhighly educated, deeply learned, intellectual man, a profound thinker,\na powerful reasoner, a thorough philosopher, who has won the honors,\nthe medals, the degrees, that this world's universities can bestow;\nand yet he is blind to everything spiritual, heavenly, divine. He\ngropes in moral darkness. He thinks he sees, assumes the right to\njudge and pronounce upon things, even upon Scripture and upon God\nHimself. He undertakes to decide what is fitting for God to say and to\ndo. He sets up his own mind as the measure in the things of God. He\nreasons upon immortality, upon eternal life, and eternal punishment.\nHe deems himself perfectly competent to give judgment in reference to\nall these solemn and weighty matters; and all the while his eyes have\nnever been opened. How much is his judgment worth? Nothing! Who would\ntake the opinion of a man who, if his eyes were only opened, would\nreverse that opinion in reference to everything heavenly and divine?\nWho would think for a moment of being guided by a blind man?\n\nBut how do we know that every man in his natural, unconverted state is\nblind? Because, according to Paul's commission, the very first thing\nwhich the gospel is to do for him is \"to open his eyes.\" This proves,\nbeyond all question, that he must be blind. Paul was sent to the\npeople and to the Gentiles--that is, to the whole human family--to\nopen their eyes. This proves, to a divine demonstration, that all are\nby nature blind.\n\nBut there is more than this. Man is not only blind, but he is in\n\"darkness.\" Supposing for a moment that a person has his eyesight, of\nwhat use is it to him if he is in the dark? It is the double statement\nas to man's state and position. As to his state, he is blind. As to\nhis position, he is in darkness; and when his eyes are opened, and\ndivine light streams in upon his soul, he then judges himself and his\nways according to God. He sees his folly, his guilt, his rebellion,\nhis wild, infidel reasonings, his foolish notions, the vanity of his\nmind, his pride and ambition, his selfishness and worldliness--all\nthese things are judged and abhorred. He repents, and turns right\nround to the One who has opened his eyes and poured in a flood of\nliving light upon his heart and conscience.\n\nBut, further, not only is man--every man--Jew and Gentile, blind and\nin darkness, but, as if to give the climax of all, he is under the\npower of Satan. This gives a terrible idea of man's condition. He is\nthe slave of the devil. He does not believe this. He imagines himself\nfree--thinks he is his own master--fancies he can go where he pleases,\ndo what he likes, think for himself, speak and act as an independent\nbeing. But he is the bondslave of another, he is sold under sin, Satan\nis his lord and master. Thus Scripture speaks, and it cannot be\nbroken. Man may refuse to believe, but that cannot in the least change\nthe fact. A condemned criminal at the bar may refuse to believe the\ntestimony from the witness table, the verdict from the jury-box, the\nsentence from the bench; but that in nowise alters his terrible\ncondition. He is a condemned criminal all the same. So with man as a\nsinner; he may refuse the plain testimony of Scripture, but that\ntestimony remains notwithstanding. Even if the thousand millions that\npeople this globe were to deny the truth of God's word, that Word\nwould still stand unmoved. Scripture does not depend for its truth\nupon man's belief. It is true whether he believes it or not. Blessed\nforever is the man who believes; doomed forever is the man who refuses\nto believe; but the word of God is settled forever in heaven, and it\nis to be received on its own authority, apart from all human thoughts\nfor or against it.\n\nThis is a grand fact, and one demanding the profound attention of\nevery soul. Everything depends upon it. The word of God claims our\nbelief because it is His word. If we want any authority to confirm the\ntruth of God's word, we are in reality rejecting God's word\naltogether, and resting on man's word. A man may say, \"How do I know\nthat the Bible is the word of God?\" We reply, It carries its own\ndivine credentials with it; and if these credentials do not convince,\nall the human authority under the sun is perfectly worthless. If the\nwhole population of the earth were to stand before me, and assure me\nof the truth of God's word, and that I were to believe on their\nauthority, it would not be saving faith at all. It would be faith in\nmen, and not faith in God; but the faith that saves is the faith that\nbelieves what God says because God says it.\n\nIt is not that we undervalue human testimony, or reject what are\ncalled the external evidences of the truth of the Holy Scripture. All\nthese things must go for what they are worth; they are by no means\nessential in laying the foundation of saving faith. We are perfectly\nsure that all genuine history, all true science, all sound human\nevidence, must go to establish the divine authenticity of the Bible;\nbut we do not rest our faith upon them, but upon the Scriptures to\nwhich they bear witness; for if all human evidence, all science, and\nevery page of history, were to speak against Scripture, we should\nutterly and absolutely reject them; reverently and implicitly believe\nit. Is this narrow? Be it so. It is the blessed narrowness in which we\ngladly find our peace and our portion forever. It is the narrowness\nthat refuses to admit the weight of a feather as an addition to the\nword of God. If this be narrowness,--we repeat it with emphasis, and\nfrom the very centre of our ransomed being,--let it be ours forever.\nIf to be broad we must look to man to confirm the truth of God's word,\nthen away with such broadness; it is the broad way that leadeth\nstraight down to hell. No, reader, your life, your salvation, your\neverlasting peace, blessedness and glory, depend upon your taking God\nat His word, and believing what He says because He says it. This is\nfaith--living, saving, precious faith. May you possess it!\n\nGod's word, then, most distinctly declares that man in his natural,\nunrenewed, unconverted state is Satan's bondslave. It speaks of Satan\nas \"the god of this world,\" as \"the prince of the power of the air,\nthe spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.\" It\nspeaks of man as \"led captive by the devil at his will.\" Hence, in\nPaul's commission, the third thing which the gospel is to do is to\nturn man from \"the power of Satan to God.\" Thus his eyes are opened;\ndivine light comes streaming in; the power of Satan is broken, and the\ndelivered one finds himself, peacefully and happily, in the presence\nof God. Like the demoniac in Mark v., he is delivered from his\nruthless tyrant, his cruel master; his chains are broken and gone; he\nis clothed and in his right mind, and sitting at the feet of Jesus.\n\nWhat a glorious deliverance! It is worthy of God in every aspect of\nit, and in all its results. The poor blind slave, led captive by the\ndevil, is set free; and not only so, but he is brought to God,\npardoned, accepted, and endowed with an eternal inheritance among the\nsanctified. And all this is by faith, through grace. It is proclaimed\nin the gospel of God to every creature under heaven--not one is\nexcluded. The great commission, whether we read it in Luke xxiv. or in\nActs xxvi., assures us that this most precious, most glorious\nsalvation is unto all.\n\nLet us, ere we close this paper, listen for a moment to our apostle as\nhe discharges his blessed commission in the synagogue at Antioch of\nPisidia. Most gladly would we transcribe the whole of his precious\ndiscourse, but our limited space compels us to confine ourselves to\nthe powerful appeal at the end. \"Be it known unto you therefore, men\nand brethren, that through THIS MAN\" (Jesus Christ, crucified, risen,\nand glorified) \"is preached\"--not promised in the future, but preached\n_now_, announced as a present reality--is preached \"_unto you_ the\nremission of sins. And by Him all who believe ARE justified from _all\nthings_, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.\"\n\nFrom these words we learn, in the clearest possible manner, that every\nsoul in that synagogue was called upon, there and then, to receive\ninto his heart the blessed message which fell from the preacher's\nlips. Not one was excluded. \"_Unto you_ is the word of this salvation\nsent.\" If any one had asked the apostle if the message was intended\nfor him, what would have been the reply? \"Unto _you_ is the word of\nthis salvation sent.\" Was there no preliminary question to be settled?\nNot one. All the preliminaries had been settled at the cross. Was\nthere no question as to election or predestination? Not a syllable\nabout either in the whole range of this magnificent and comprehensive\ndiscourse.\n\nBut is there no such question? Not in that \"great commission\" whereof\nwe speak. No doubt the grand truth of election shines in its proper\nplace on the page of inspiration. But what is its proper and divinely\nappointed place? Most assuredly not in the preaching of the\nevangelist, but in the ministry of the teacher or pastor. When the\napostle sits down to instruct believers, we hear such words as these:\n\"Whom He did foreknow, He also did _predestinate_.\" And again:\n\"Knowing, brethren beloved, your _election_ of God.\"\n\nBut let it never be lost sight of, when he stands up as an ambassador\nof Christ, the herald of salvation, he proclaims in the most absolute\nand unqualified manner a present, a personal, a perfect salvation to\nevery creature under heaven; and every one who heard him was\nresponsible there and then to believe. And every one who reads him now\nis equally so. If any one had presumed to tell the preacher that his\nhearers were not responsible, that they were powerless, and could not\nbelieve--that it was only deceiving them to call upon them to\nbelieve--what would have been his reply? We think we are warranted in\nsaying that a full and overwhelming reply to this, and every such\npreposterous objection, is wrapped up in the solemn appeal with which\nthe apostle closes his address, \"_Beware_, therefore, lest that come\nupon you which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and\nwonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye\nshall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.\"\n\n\n\n\nPART IV.\n\n\nHaving in the former papers dwelt a little upon the _terms_ of \"the\ngreat commission,\" we shall now, in dependence upon divine teaching,\nseek to unfold the truth as to the _basis_. It is of the greatest\nimportance to have a clear understanding of the solid ground on which\n\"repentance and remission of sins\" are announced to every creature\nunder heaven. This we have distinctly laid down in our Lord's own\nwords, \"_It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the\nthird day_.\"\n\nHere lies, in its impregnable strength, the foundation of the glorious\ncommission whereof we speak. God--blessed forever be His holy\nname--has been pleased to set before us with all possible clearness\nthe moral ground on which He commands all men everywhere to repent,\nand the righteous ground on which He can proclaim to every repentant\nsoul the perfect remission of sins.\n\nWe have already had occasion to guard the reader against the false\nnotion that any amount of repentance on the part of the sinner could\npossibly form the meritorious ground of forgiveness. But inasmuch as\nwe write for those who may be ignorant of the foundations of the\ngospel, we feel bound to put things in the very simplest possible\nform, so that all may understand. We know how prone the human heart\nis to build upon something of our own--if not upon good works, at\nleast upon our penitential exercises. Hence, it becomes our bounden\nduty to set forth the precious truth of the atoning work of our Lord\nJesus Christ as the only righteous ground of the forgiveness of sins.\n\nTrue, all men are commanded to repent. It is meet and right that they\nshould. How could it be otherwise? How can we look at that accursed\ntree on which the Son of God bore the judgment of sin and not see the\nabsolute necessity of repentance? How can we hearken to that solemn\ncry breaking forth from amid the shadows of Calvary, \"My God, My God,\nwhy hast Thou forsaken Me?\" and not own, from the deepest depths of\nour moral being, the moral fitness of repentance? If indeed sin is so\nterrible, so absolutely hateful to God, so perfectly intolerable to\nHis holy nature, that He had to bruise His well beloved and only\nbegotten Son on the cross in order to put it away, does it not well\nbecome the sinner to judge himself, and repent in dust and ashes? Had\nthe blessed Lord to endure the hiding of God's countenance because of\nour sins, and we not be broken, self-judged and subdued on account of\nthese sins? Shall we with impenitent heart hear the glad tidings of\nfull and free forgiveness of sins--a forgiveness which cost nothing\nless than the unutterable horrors and agonies of the cross? Shall we,\nwith flippant tongue, profess to have peace--a peace purchased by the\nineffable sufferings of the Son of God? If it was absolutely\nnecessary that Christ should suffer for our sins, is it not morally\nfitting that we should repent of them?\n\nNor is this all. It is not merely that it becomes us, once in a way,\nto repent. There is far more than this. The spirit of self-judgment,\ngenuine contrition and true humility must characterize every one who\nenters at all into the profound mystery of the sufferings of Christ.\nIndeed, it is only as we contemplate and deeply ponder those\nsufferings that we can form anything approaching to a just estimate of\nthe hatefulness of sin on the one hand, and the divine fulness and\nperfectness of remission on the other. Such was the hatefulness of\nsin, that it was absolutely necessary that Christ should suffer;\nbut--all praise to redeeming love!--such were the sufferings of\nChrist, that God can forgive us our sins according to the infinite\nvalue which He attaches to those sufferings. Both go together; and\nboth, we may add, exert a formative influence, under the powerful\nministry of the Holy Ghost, on the Christian character from first to\nlast. Our sins are all forgiven; but \"it behooved Christ to suffer;\"\nand hence, while our peace flows like a river, we must never forget\nthe soul-subduing fact that the basis of our peace was laid in the\nineffable sufferings of the Son of God.\n\nThis is most needful, owing to the excessive levity of our hearts. We\nare ready enough to receive the truth of the remission of sins, and\nthen go on in an easy, self-indulgent, world-loving spirit, thus\nproving how feebly we enter into the sufferings of our blessed Lord,\nor into the real nature of sin. All this is truly deplorable, and\ncalls for the deepest exercise of soul. There is a sad lack amongst us\nof that real brokenness of spirit which ought to characterize those\nwho owe their present peace and everlasting felicity and glory to the\nsufferings of Christ. We are light, frivolous, and self-willed. We\navail ourselves of the death of Christ to save us from the\nconsequences of our sins, but our ways do not exhibit the practical\neffect of that death in its application to ourselves. We do not walk\nas those who are dead with Christ--who have crucified the flesh with\nits affections and lusts--who are delivered from this present evil\nworld. In a word, our Christianity is sadly deficient in depth of\ntone; it is shallow, feeble, and stunted. We profess to know a great\ndeal of truth; but it is to be feared it is too much in\ntheory--therefore not turned to practical account as it should be.\n\nIt may, perhaps, be asked, What has all this to do with \"the great\ncommission?\" It has to do with it in a very intimate way. We are\ndeeply impressed with a sense of the superficial way in which the work\nof evangelization is carried on at the present day. Not only are the\n_terms_ of the great commission overlooked, but the _basis_ seems to\nbe little understood. The sufferings of Christ are not duly dwelt upon\nand unfolded. The atoning work of Christ is presented in its\nsufficiency for the sinner's need--and no doubt this is a signal\nmercy. We have to be profoundly thankful when preachers and writers\nhold up the precious blood of Christ as the sinner's only plea,\ninstead of preaching up rites, ceremonies, sacraments, good works\n(falsely so called), creeds, churches, religious ordinances, and\nsuch-like delusions.\n\nAll this is most fully admitted. But at the same time we must give\nexpression to our deep and solemn conviction that much of our modern\nevangelical preaching is extremely shallow and bald; and the result of\nthat preaching is seen in the light, airy, flippant style of many of\nour so-called converts. Some of us seem so intensely anxious to make\neverything so easy and simple for the sinner that the preaching\nbecomes extremely one-sided.\n\nThanks be to God, He has indeed made all easy and simple for the\nneedy, broken-hearted, penitent sinner. He has left him nothing to do,\nnothing to give. It is \"to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him\nthat justifieth the ungodly.\" It is not possible for any evangelist to\ngo too far in stating this side of the question. No one can go beyond\nRom. iv. 5 in setting forth salvation by free grace, through faith,\nwithout works of any sort or description.\n\nBut then, we must remember that the blessed apostle Paul--the greatest\nevangelist that ever lived, except his divine Master--did not confine\nhimself to this one side; and neither should we. He pressed the claims\nof divine holiness. He called upon sinners to judge themselves, and he\ncalled upon believers to subdue and deny themselves. He did not\npreach a gospel that left people at ease in the world, satisfied with\nthemselves, and occupied with earthly things. He did not tell people\nthat they were saved from the flames of hell and were therefore free\nto enjoy the follies of earth.\n\nThis was not Paul's gospel. He preached a gospel which, while it fully\nmet the sinner's deepest need, did also most fully maintain God's\nglory--a gospel which, while it came down to the very lowest point of\nthe sinner's condition, did not leave him there. Paul's gospel not\nonly set forth a full, clear, unqualified, unconditional, present\n_forgiveness of sins_, but also, just as fully and clearly, the\n_condemnation of sin_, and the believer's entire deliverance from this\npresent evil world. The death of Christ, in Paul's gospel, not only\nassured the soul of complete deliverance from the just consequences of\nsins, as seen in the judgment of God in the lake of fire, but it also\nset forth, with magnificent fulness and clearness, the complete\nsnapping of every link with the world, and entire deliverance from the\npresent power and rule of sin.\n\nNow, here is precisely where the lamentable deficiency and culpable\none-sidedness of our modern preaching are so painfully manifest. The\ngospel which one often hears nowadays is, if we may be allowed the use\nof such a term, a carnal, earthly, worldly gospel. It offers a kind of\nease, but it is fleshly, worldly ease. It gives confidence, but it is\nrather a carnal confidence than the confidence of faith. It is not a\ndelivering gospel. It leaves people in the world, instead of bringing\nthem to God.\n\nAnd what must be the result of all this? We can hardly bear to\ncontemplate it. We greatly fear that, should our Lord tarry, the fruit\nof much of what is going on around us will be a terrible combination\nof the very highest profession with the very lowest practice. It\ncannot be otherwise. High truth taken up in a light, carnal spirit\ntends to lull the conscience and quash all godly exercise of soul as\nto our habits and ways in daily life. In this way people escape from\nlegality only to plunge into levity, and truly the last state is worse\nthan the first.\n\nWe earnestly hope that the Christian reader may not feel unduly\ndepressed by the perusal of these lines. God knows we would not pen a\nline to discourage the feeblest lamb in all the precious flock of\nChrist. We desire to write in the divine presence. We have entreated\nthe Lord that every line of this paper, and of all our papers, should\ncome directly from Himself to the reader.\n\nHence, therefore, we must ask the reader--and we do so most faithfully\nand affectionately--to ponder what is here put before him. We cannot\nhide from him the fact that we are most seriously impressed with the\ncondition of things around us. We feel that the tone and aspect of\nmuch of the so-called Christianity of this our day are such as to\nawaken the gravest apprehension in the mind of every thoughtful\nobserver. We perceive a terribly rapid development of the features of\nthe last days, as detailed by the pen of inspiration. \"This know also\nthat, in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be\n_lovers of their own selves_, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,\n_disobedient to parents_, unthankful, unholy, without natural\naffection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,\n_despisers of those that are good_, traitors, _heady, high-minded,\nlovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of\ngodliness, but denying the power thereof_: from such turn away\" (2\nTim. iii. 1-5).\n\nWhat an appalling picture! How solemn to find the same evils that\ncharacterize the heathen, as recorded in Rom. i., reproduced in\nconnection with the profession of Christianity! Should not the thought\nof this awaken the most serious apprehensions in the mind of every\nChristian? Should it not lead all who are engaged in the holy service\nof preaching and teaching amongst us to examine themselves closely as\nto the tone and character of their ministry, and as to their own\nprivate walk and ways? We want a more searching style of ministry on\nthe part of evangelists and teachers. There is a lack of hortatory and\nprophetic ministry. By prophetic ministry we mean that which brings\nthe conscience into the immediate presence of God. (See 1 Cor. xiv.\n1-3, 23-26.)\n\nIn this we are lamentably deficient. There is a vast amount of\nobjective truth in circulation amongst us--more, perhaps, than ever\nsince the days of the apostles. Books and periodicals by hundreds and\nthousands, tracts by thousands and millions, are sent forth annually.\n\nDo we object to this? Nay; we bless God for it. But we cannot shut our\neyes to the fact that by far the largest proportion of this vast mass\nof literature is addressed to the intelligence, and not enough to the\nheart and conscience. Now, while it is quite right to enlighten the\nunderstanding, it is quite wrong to neglect the heart and conscience.\nWe feel it to be a most serious thing to allow the intelligence to\noutstrip the conscience--to have more truth in the head than in the\nheart--to profess principles which do not govern the practice. Nothing\ncan be more dangerous. It tends to place us directly in the hands of\nSatan. If the conscience be not kept tender, if the heart be not\ngoverned by the fear of God, if a broken and contrite spirit be not\ncultivated, there is no telling what depths we may plunge into. When\nthe conscience is kept in a sound condition, and the heart is humble\nand true, then every fresh ray of light that shines in upon the\nunderstanding ministers strength to the soul and tends to elevate and\nsanctify our whole moral being.\n\nThis is what every earnest spirit must crave. All true-hearted\nChristians must long for increased personal holiness, more likeness to\nChrist, more genuine devotedness of heart, a deepening, strengthening\nand expanding of the kingdom of God in the soul--that kingdom which is\nrighteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.\n\nMay we all have grace to seek after these divine realities! May we\ndiligently cultivate them in our own private life, and seek in every\npossible way to promote them in all those with whom we come in\ncontact! Thus shall we in some measure stem the tide of hollow\nprofession around us, and be a living testimony against the powerless\n_form_ of godliness so sadly dominant in this our day.\n\nChristian reader! art thou one with us in this current of thought and\nfeeling? If so, then let us most earnestly entreat thee to join us in\nearnest prayer to God that He will graciously raise our spiritual tone\nby drawing us closer to Himself, and filling our hearts with love to\nHim and earnest desire for the promotion of His glory, the progress of\nHis cause, and the prosperity of His people.\n\n\n\n\nPART V.\n\n\nIn pursuing our subject, we have yet to consider the _authority_ and\nthe _sphere_ of \"the great commission;\" but ere proceeding to treat of\nthese we must dwell a little longer on the _basis_. The commission is\ntruly a great one, and would need a solid foundation on which to rest\nit; and such it has, blessed be God, in the atoning death of His Son.\nNothing less than this could sustain such a magnificent fabric; but\nthe grace that planned the commission has also laid the foundation; so\nthat a full remission of sins can be preached among all nations,\ninasmuch as God has been glorified, in the death of Christ, as to the\nentire question of sin.\n\nThis is a grand point for the reader to seize. It lies at the very\nfoundation of the Christian system. It is the keystone of the arch of\ndivine revelation. God has been glorified as to sin. His judgment has\nbeen executed upon it. The claims of His throne have been vindicated\nas to it. The insult offered to His divine majesty has been flung back\nin the enemy's face. If the sweet story of remission of sins had never\nfallen upon a human ear or entered a human heart, the divine glory\nwould none the less have been most perfectly maintained. The Lord\nJesus Christ did, by His most precious death, wipe off the stain which\nthe enemy sought to cast upon the eternal glory of God. A testimony\nhas been given in the Cross, to all created intelligence, as to God's\nthoughts about sin. It can there be seen, with all possible clearness,\nthat a single trace of sin can never enter the precincts of the divine\npresence. God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on\niniquity. Sin, wherever found, must be met by divine judgment.\n\nWhere, we may ask, does all this come most fully and forcibly out?\nAssuredly in the Cross. Harken to that solemn and most mysterious cry,\n\"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\" What means this wondrous\ninquiry? Who is the speaker? Is he one of Adam's fallen posterity? Is\nhe a sinner? Surely not; for were he such, there would be no moral\nforce whatever in the question. There never was a sinner on the face\nof this earth who, so far as he was personally concerned, did not\nrichly deserve to be forsaken of a holy, sin-hating God. This must\nnever be forgotten. Some people entertain most foolish notions as to\nthis point. They have, in their own vain imagination, invented a god\nto suit themselves--one who will not punish sin--one who is so tender,\nso kind, so benevolent, that he will connive at evil and pass it over\nas though it were nothing.\n\nNow, nothing is more certain than that this god of the human\nimagination is a false one, just as false as any of the idols of the\nheathen. The God of the Bible, the God of Christianity, the God whom\nwe see at the cross, is not like this. Men may reason as they will;\nbut sin must be condemned--it must be met by the just and inflexible\njudgment of a sin-hating God.\n\nBut we repeat the question, Who uttered those words at the opening of\nPsa. xxii.? If he was not a sinner, who was he? Wonderful to declare,\nHe was the only spotless, perfectly holy, pure and sinless Man that\never trod this earth. He was more. He was the eternal Son of the\nFather, the object of God's ineffable delight, who had dwelt in His\nbosom from all eternity, \"the brightness of His glory and the exact\nexpression of His substance.\"\n\nAnd yet He was forsaken of God! yes, that holy and perfect One, who\nknew no sin, whose human nature was absolutely free from every taint,\nwho never had a single thought, never uttered a single word, never did\na single act that was not in the most perfect harmony with the mind of\nGod; whose whole life, from Bethlehem to Calvary, was a perfect\nsacrifice of sweetest odor presented to the heart of God. Again and\nagain we see heaven opening upon Him, and the voice of the Father is\nheard giving expression to His infinite complacency in the Son of His\nbosom. And yet, He it is whose voice is heard in that bitter cry, \"My\nGod, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?\"\n\nMarvelous question! It stands alone in the annals of eternity. No such\nquestion had ever been asked before; no such question has ever been\nasked since; and no such question can ever be asked again. Whether we\nconsider the One who asked the question, or the One of whom it was\nasked, or the answer, we must admit that it is perfectly unique. That\nGod should forsake such an One is the most profound and marvelous\nmystery that could possibly engage the attention of men or angels.\nHuman reason cannot fathom its depths. No created intelligence can\ncomprehend its mighty compass.\n\nYet there it stands, a stupendous fact before the eye of faith. Our\nblessed Lord Himself assures us that it was absolutely necessary.\n\"Thus it is written, and thus it _behooved_ Christ to suffer.\" But why\nwas it necessary? Why should the only perfect, sinless, spotless Man\nhave to suffer? Why should He be forsaken of God? The glory of God,\nthe eternal counsels of redeeming love, man's guilty, ruined, helpless\ncondition--all these things rendered it indispensable that Christ\nshould suffer. There was no other way in which the divine glory could\nbe maintained; no other way in which the claims of the throne of God\ncould be answered; no other way in which heaven's majesty could be\nvindicated; no other way in which the eternal purposes of love could\nbe made good; no other way in which sin could be fully atoned for, and\nfinally taken away out of God's creation; no other way in which sins\ncould be forgiven; no other way in which Satan and all the powers of\ndarkness could be thoroughly vanquished; no other way in which God\ncould be just, and yet the Justifier of any poor ungodly sinner; no\nother way in which death could be deprived of its sting, or the grave\nof its victory; no other way in which any or all of these grand\nresults could be reached save by the sufferings and death of our\nadorable Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nBut, blessed forever be His holy name, He went through it all. He went\ndown under the heavy billows and waves of God's righteous wrath\nagainst sin. He took the sinner's place, stood in his stead, sustained\nthe judgment, paid the penalty, died the death, answered every\nquestion, met every demand, vanquished every foe; and having done all,\nHe ascended into the heavens and took His seat on the throne of God,\nwhere He is now crowned with glory and honor as the divine and\nall-glorious Accomplisher of the entire work of man's redemption.\n\nSuch, then, reader, is the _basis_ of \"the great commission\" whereof\nwe speak. Need we wonder at the _terms_, when we contemplate the\nbasis? Can there be anything too good, anything too great, anything\ntoo glorious, for the God of all grace to bestow upon us poor sinners\nof the Gentiles, seeing He has been so fully glorified in the death of\nChrist? That most precious death furnishes a divinely righteous ground\non which our God can indulge the deep and everlasting love of His\nheart in the perfect remission of our sins. It has removed out of the\nway every barrier to the full flood-tide of redeeming love which can\nnow flow through a perfectly righteous channel, to the very vilest\nsinner that repents and believes in Jesus. A Saviour-God can now\npublish a full and immediate remission of sins to every creature under\nheaven. There is positively no hindrance. God has been glorified as\nto the question of sin; and the time is coming when every trace of sin\nshall be forever obliterated from His fair creation, and those words\nof John the Baptist shall have their full accomplishment, \"Behold the\nLamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.\" Meanwhile, the\nheralds of salvation are commanded to go forth to the ends of the\nearth and publish, without let or limitation, perfect remission of\nsins to every soul that believes. It is the joy of God's heart to\npardon sins; and it is due to the One who bore the judgment of sin on\nthe cross that in His name forgiveness of sins should be thus freely\npublished, fully received, and abidingly enjoyed.\n\nBut what of those who reject this glorious message--who shut their\nears against it and turn away their hearts from it? This is the solemn\nquestion. Who can answer it? Who can attempt to set forth the eternal\ndestiny of those who die in their sins, as all must who refuse God's\nonly basis of remission? Men may reason and argue as they will; but\nall the reasoning and argument in the world cannot set aside the word\nof God, which assures us in manifold places, and in terms so plain as\nto leave no possible ground for questioning, that all who die in their\nsins--all who die out of Christ--must inevitably perish eternally,\nmust bear the consequences of their sins, in the lake that burneth\nwith fire and brimstone.\n\nTo quote the passages in proof of the solemn truth of eternal\npunishment would require a small volume. We cannot attempt it here;\nnor is it necessary, inasmuch as we have gone into the subject again\nand again in other places.\n\nBut we would here put a question which arises naturally out of our\npresent thesis. It is this: Was Christ judged, bruised and forsaken on\nthe cross--did God visit His only begotten and well beloved Son with\nthe full weight of His righteous wrath against sin--and shall\nimpenitent sinners escape? We solemnly press this question on all whom\nit may concern. Men talk of its being inconsistent with the idea of\ndivine goodness, tenderness and compassion that God should send any of\nHis creatures to hell. We reply, Who is to be the judge? Is man\ncompetent to decide as to what is morally fitting for God to do? And\nfurther, we ask, What is to be the standard of judgment? Anything that\nhuman reason can grasp? Assuredly not. What then? _The cross on which\nthe Son of God died, the Just for the unjust_--this, and this only, is\nthe great standard by which to judge the question as to sin's desert.\nWho can harken to that bitter cry emanating from the broken heart of\nthe Son of God, \"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?\" and\nquestion the eternal punishment of all who die in their sins? Talk of\ntenderness, goodness, and compassion! Where do these shine out most\nbrightly and blessedly? Surely in \"the great commission\" which\npublishes full and free forgiveness of sins to every creature under\nheaven. But would it be just, or good, or compassionate, to suffer\nthe rejecter of Christ to escape? If we would see the goodness,\nkindness, mercy and deep compassion of God, we must look at the cross.\n\"He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.\" \"It\npleased Jehovah to bruise Him. He hath put Him to grief.\" \"He hath\nmade Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the\nrighteousness of God in Him.\"\n\nBut if men reject all this, and go on in their sins, in their\nrebellion, in their infidel reasonings and impious speculations--what\nthen? If men maintain that suffering for sin is not necessary, and\nthat there is another and a better way of disposing of the\nmatter--what then? Our Lord declared in the ears of His apostles that\n\"it was necessary that Christ should suffer\"--that there was no other\nway possible by which the great question could be settled. Whom are we\nto believe? Was the death of Christ gratuitous? Was His heart broken\nfor nothing? Was the Cross a work of supererogation? Did Jehovah\nbruise His Son and put Him to grief for an end which might be gained\nsome other way?\n\nHow monstrous are the reasonings, or rather the ravings, of\ninfidelity! Infidel doctors begin by throwing overboard the word of\nGod--that peerless and perfect revelation; and then, when they have\ndeprived us of our divine guide, with singular audacity, they present\nthemselves before us, and undertake to point out for us a more\nexcellent way; and when we inquire what that way is, we are met by a\nthousand and one fine-spun theories, no two of which agree in anything\nsave in shutting out God and His Word.\n\nTrue, they talk plausibly about a God; but it is a God of their own\nimagination--one who will connive at sin--who will allow them to\nindulge in their lusts, and passions, and pleasures, and then take\nthem to a heaven of which they really know nothing. They talk of\nmercy, and kindness, and goodness; but they reject the only channel\nthrough which these can flow, namely, the Cross of our Lord Jesus\nChrist. They speak not of righteousness, holiness, truth, and judgment\nto come. They would fain have us to believe that God put Himself to\nneedless cost in delivering up His Son. They would ignore that\nmarvelous transaction which stands alone in the entire history of the\nways of God--the atoning death of His Son. In one word, the grand\nobject of the devil, in all the skeptical, rationalistic and infidel\ntheories that have ever been propounded in this world, is to shut out\ncompletely the word of God, the Christ of God, and God Himself.\n\nWe solemnly call upon all our readers, specially our young friends, to\nponder this. It is our deep and thorough conviction that the harboring\nof a single infidel suggestion is the first step on that inclined\nplane which leads straight down to the dark and terrible abyss of\natheism--down to the blackness of darkness forever.\n\nWe shall have occasion to recur to the foregoing line of thought when\nwe come to consider the _authority_ on which \"the great commission\"\ncomes to us. We have been drawn into it by the sad fact that in every\ndirection, and on every subject, we are assailed by the contemptible\nreasonings of infidelity; and we feel imperatively called upon to warn\nall with whom we come in contact against infidel books, infidel\nlectures, infidel theories in every shape and form. _May the inspired\nword of God be more and more precious to our hearts! May we walk in\nits light, feel its sacred power, bow to its divine authority, hide it\nin our hearts, feed upon its treasures, own its absolute supremacy,\nconfess its all-sufficiency, and utterly reject all teaching which\ndares to touch the integrity of_ THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.\n\n\n\n\nPART VI.\n\n\nWe have seen that the _basis_ of \"the great commission\" is the death\nand resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This must never\nbe lost sight of. \"It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the\ndead the third day.\" It is a risen Christ that sends forth His heralds\nto preach \"repentance and remission of sins.\" The incarnation and the\ncrucifixion are great cardinal truths of Christianity; but it is only\nin resurrection they are made available for us in any way.\nIncarnation--precious and priceless mystery though it be--could not\nform the groundwork of remission of sins, for \"without shedding of\nblood is no remission\" (Heb. ix. 22). We are justified by the _blood_,\nand reconciled by the _death_ of Christ. But it is in resurrection\nthat all this is made good unto us. Christ was delivered for our\noffenses, and raised again for our justification (Rom. iv. 25; v. 9,\n10). \"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also\nreceived, how that Christ died for our sins according to the\nScriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third\nday according to the Scriptures\" (1 Cor. xv. 3, 4).\n\nHence, therefore, it is of the very last possible importance, for all\nwho would carry out our Lord's commission, to know in their own souls,\nand to set forth in their preaching, the grand truth of resurrection.\nThe most cursory glance at the preaching of the earliest heralds of\nthe gospel will suffice to show the prominent place which they gave to\nthis glorious fact.\n\nHarken to Peter on the day of Pentecost, or rather to the Holy Ghost,\njust come down from the risen, ascended and glorified Saviour. \"Ye men\nof Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God\namong you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in\nthe midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him being delivered by\nthe determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and\nby wicked hands have crucified and slain: _whom God hath raised up_,\nhaving loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He\nshould be holden of it.... _This Jesus hath God raised up_, whereof we\nall are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,\nand having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He\nhath shed forth this which ye now see and hear\" (Acts ii.). So also in\nchapter iii.: \"The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God\nof our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up,\nand denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to\nlet Him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a\nmurderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, _whom\nGod hath raised from the dead_; whereof we are witnesses.... Unto you\nfirst _God, having raised up His Son Jesus_, sent Him to bless you, in\nturning away every one of you from his iniquities.... And as they\nspake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and\nthe Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the\npeople, and _preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead_.\"\n\nTheir preaching was characterized by the prominent place which it\nassigned to the glorious, powerful and telling fact of resurrection.\nTrue, there was the full and clear statement of incarnation and\ncrucifixion, with the great moral bearings of these facts. How could\nit be otherwise? The Son of God had to become a man to die, in order\nthat by death He might glorify God as to the entire question of sin;\ndestroy the power of Satan; rob death of its sting, and the grave of\nits victory; put away forever the sins of His people, and associate\nthem with Himself in the power of eternal life in the new creation,\nwhere all things are of God, and where a single trace of sin or sorrow\ncan never enter. Eternal and universal homage and adoration to His\npeerless name!\n\nBut let all preachers remember the place which resurrection holds in\napostolic preaching and teaching. \"With great power gave the apostles\nwitness.\" Of what? Incarnation or crucifixion merely? Nay; but \"of the\nresurrection of the Lord Jesus.\" This was the stupendous fact that\nglorified God and His Son Jesus Christ. It was this that attested, in\nthe view of all created intelligences, the divine complacency in the\nwork of redemption. It was this that demonstrated, in the most\nmarvelous way, the complete and eternal overthrow of the kingdom of\nSatan and all the powers of darkness. It was this that declared the\nfull and everlasting deliverance of all who believe in Jesus--their\ndeliverance, not only from all the consequences of their sins, but\nfrom this present evil world, and from every link that bound them to\nthat old creation which lies under the power of evil.\n\nNo marvel, therefore, if the apostles, filled as they were with the\nHoly Ghost, persistently and powerfully presented the magnificent\ntruth of resurrection. Hear them again before the council--a council\ncomposed of the great religious leaders and guides of the people. \"The\nGod of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a\ntree.\" They were at issue with God on the all-important question as to\nHis Son. They had slain Him, but God raised Him from the dead. \"Him\nhath God exalted with His right hand, a Prince and a Saviour, for to\ngive repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.\"\n\nSo also in Peter's address to the Gentiles, in the house of Cornelius,\nspeaking of Jesus of Nazareth, he says, \"whom they slew, and hanged on\na tree, _Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly_: not\nto all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, to us who\ndid eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead.\"\n\nThe Holy Ghost is careful to set forth the weighty and, to us,\nprofoundly interesting fact that \"God raised up His Son Jesus.\" This\nfact has a double bearing. It proves that God is at issue with the\nworld, seeing He has raised, exalted and glorified the very One whom\nthey slew and hanged on a tree. But, blessed throughout all ages be\nHis holy name, it proves that He has found eternal rest and\nsatisfaction as to us, and all that was or could be against us, seeing\nHe has raised up the very One who took our place and stood charged\nwith all our sin and guilt.\n\nBut all this will come more fully out as we proceed with our proofs.\n\nLet us now listen for a moment to Paul's address in the synagogue at\nAntioch. \"Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and\nwhosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation\nsent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they\nknew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every\nSabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though\nthey found no cause of death in Him, yet desired they Pilate that He\nshould be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of\nHim, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a sepulchre.\n_But God raised Him from the dead._ And He was seen many days of them\nwhich came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His\nwitnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how\nthat the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled\nthe same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus; as\nit is also written in the second psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have\nI begotten Thee. And as concerning that _He raised Him up from the\ndead_, no more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, I will\ngive you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore He saith also in another\npsalm, Thou shalt not suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption. For\nDavid, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell\non sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: but _He\nwhom God raised again_ saw no corruption.\"\n\nThen follows the powerful appeal which, though not bearing upon our\npresent line of argument, we cannot omit in this place. \"Be it known\nunto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is\npreached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and _by Him_ all that\nbelieve _are justified from all things_, from which ye could not be\njustified by the law of Moses. _Beware_ therefore, lest that come upon\nyou which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and\nwonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye\nshall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you\" (Acts\nxiii. 26-41).\n\nWe shall close our series of proofs from the Acts of the Apostles by a\nbrief quotation from Paul's address at Athens. \"Forasmuch then as we\nare the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is\nlike unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.\nAnd the times of this ignorance God overlooked; but now commandeth\nall men everywhere to repent; because He hath appointed a day in the\nwhich He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He\nhath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all, _in that He\nhath raised Him from the dead_\" (Acts xvii.).\n\nThis is a very remarkable and deeply solemn passage. The proof that\nGod is going to judge the world in righteousness--a proof offered to\nall--is that He has raised His ordained Man from the dead. He does not\nhere name the Man; but at verse 18 we are told that some of the\nAthenians deemed the apostle a setter forth of strange gods, \"because\nhe preached unto them _Jesus and the resurrection_.\"\n\nFrom all this it is perfectly plain that the blessed apostle Paul gave\na most prominent place in all his preachings to the glorious truth of\nresurrection. Whether he addresses a congregation of Jews in the\nsynagogue at Antioch, or an assembly of Gentiles on Mars' Hill at\nAthens, he presents a risen Christ. In a word, he was characterized by\nthe fact that he preached not merely the incarnation and the\ncrucifixion, but the resurrection; and this, too, in all its mighty\nmoral bearings--its bearing upon man in his individual state and\ndestiny; its bearing upon the world as a whole, in its history in the\npast, its moral condition in the present, and its certain doom in the\nfuture; in its bearing upon the believer, proving his absolute,\ncomplete and eternal justification before God, and his thorough\ndeliverance from this present evil world.\n\nAnd we have to bear in mind that in apostolic preaching the\nresurrection was not presented as a mere doctrine, but as a living,\ntelling, mighty moral fact--a fact, the magnitude of which is beyond\nall power of human utterance or thought. The apostles, in carrying out\n\"the great commission\" of their Lord, pressed the stupendous fact that\nGod had raised Jesus from the dead--had raised the Man who was nailed\nto the cross and buried in the grave. In short, they preached a\nresurrection gospel. Their preaching was governed by these words, \"It\nwas necessary that Christ should suffer, and rise from the dead the\nthird day.\"\n\nWe shall now turn for a moment to the Epistles, and see the wondrous\nway in which the Holy Ghost unfolds and applies the fact of\nresurrection. But ere doing so we would call the reader's attention to\na passage which is sadly misunderstood and misapplied. The apostle, in\nwriting to the Corinthians, says, \"We preach Christ crucified.\" These\nwords are continually quoted for the purpose of casting a damper on\nthose who earnestly desire to advance in the knowledge of divine\nthings. But a moment's serious attention to the context would be\nsufficient to show the true meaning of the apostle. Did he confine\nhimself to the fact of the crucifixion? The bare idea, in the face of\nthe body of Scripture which we have quoted, is simply absurd. The fact\nis, the glorious truth of resurrection shines out in all his\ndiscourses.\n\nWhat, then, does the apostle mean when he declares, \"We preach Christ\ncrucified?\" Simply this, that the Christ whom he preached was the One\nwhom the world crucified. He was a rejected, outcast Christ--one\nassigned by the world to a malefactor's gibbet. What a fact for the\npoor Corinthians, so full of vanity and love for this world's wisdom!\nA crucified Christ was the one whom Paul preached, \"to the Jews a\nstumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but to those that\nare called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the\nwisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and\nthe weakness of God is stronger than men.\"\n\nRemarkable words! words divinely suited to people prone to boast\nthemselves in the so-called wisdom and greatness of this world--the\nvain reasonings and imaginations of the poor human mind, which all\nperish in a moment. All the wisdom of God, all His power, all His\ngreatness, all His glory, all that He is, in short, comes out in a\ncrucified Christ. The Cross confounds the world, vanquishes Satan and\nall the powers of darkness, saves all who believe, and forms the solid\nfoundation of the everlasting and universal glory of God.\n\nWe shall now turn for a moment to a very beautiful passage in Rom.\niv., in which the inspired writer sets forth the subject of\nresurrection in a most edifying way for us. Speaking of Abraham, he\nsays, \"Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the\nfather of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall\nthy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own\nbody now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the\ndeadness of Sarah's womb: _he staggered not_ at the promise of God\nthrough unbelief,\"--which is always sure to stagger,--\"but was _strong\nin faith, giving glory to God_\"--as faith always does; \"and being\n_fully persuaded_ that what He had promised He was able also to\nperform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.\" And\nthen, lest any should say that all this applied only to Abraham, who\nwas such a devoted, holy, remarkable man, the inspiring Spirit adds,\nwith singular grace and sweetness, \"Now it was not written for his\nsake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it\nshall be imputed, if we believe on Him that\"--what? Gave His Son?\nBruised His Son on the cross? Not merely this, but \"_that raised up\nJesus our Lord from the dead_.\"\n\nHere lies the grand point of the apostle's blessed and powerful\nargument. We must, if we would have settled peace, believe in God as\nthe One who raised up Jesus from the dead, and who in so doing proved\nHimself friendly to us, and proved too His infinite satisfaction in\nthe work of the Cross. Jesus, having been \"delivered for our\noffenses,\" could not be where He now is if a single one of these\noffenses remained unatoned for. But, blessed forever be the God of all\ngrace, He raised from among the dead the One who had been delivered\nfor our offenses; and to all who believe in Him righteousness shall\nbe reckoned. \"It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead\nthe third day.\" See how this glorious theme, the _basis_ of the great\ncommission, expands under our gaze as we pursue our study of it!\n\nOne more brief quotation shall close this paper. In Heb. xiii. we\nread, \"_Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead_ our\nLord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the\neverlasting covenant.\"\n\nThis is uncommonly fine. The God of judgment met the Sin-bearer at the\ncross, and there, with Him, entered thoroughly into and definitively\nsettled the question of sin. And then, in glorious proof that all was\ndone--sin atoned for--guilt put away--Satan silenced--God\nglorified--all divinely accomplished--\"the God of peace\" entered the\nscene, and raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, that \"great Shepherd\nof the sheep.\"\n\nBeloved reader, how glorious is all this! How enfranchising to all who\nsimply believe! Jesus is risen. His sufferings are over forever. God\nhas exalted Him. Eternal Justice has wreathed His blessed brow with a\ndiadem of glory; and, wondrous fact, that very diadem is the eternal\ndemonstration that all who believe are justified from all things, and\naccepted in a risen and glorified Christ. Eternal and universal\nhallelujahs to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!\n\n\n\n\nPART VII.\n\n\nWe are now called to consider the deeply important subject of the\n_authority_ on which the great commission proceeds. This we have\npresented to us in that one commanding and most comprehensive sentence\n\"_It is written_\"--a sentence which ought to be engraved in characters\ndeep and broad on the tablet of every Christian's heart.\n\nNothing can possibly be more interesting or edifying than to note the\nway in which our blessed Lord on all occasions and under all\ncircumstances exalts the Holy Scriptures. He, though God over all,\nblessed forever, and as such the Author of all Scripture, yet, having\ntaken His place as man on the earth, He plainly sets forth what is the\nbounden duty of every man, and that is to be absolutely, completely\nand abidingly governed by the authority of Scripture. See Him in\nconflict with Satan! How does He meet him? Simply as each one of us\nshould meet him--by the written Word. It could be no example to us had\nour Lord vanquished him by the putting forth of divine power. Of\ncourse He could, there and then, have consigned him to the bottomless\npit or the lake of fire, but that would have been no example for us,\ninasmuch as we could not so overcome. But on the other hand, when we\nfind the blessed One referring to Holy Scripture, when we find Him\nappealing again and again to that divine authority, when we find Him\nputting the adversary to flight simply by the written Word, we learn\nin the most impressive manner the place, the value and the authority\nof the Holy Scriptures.\n\nAnd is it not of the very last possible importance to have this great\nlesson impressed upon us at the present moment? Unquestionably it is.\nIf ever there was a moment in the history of the Church of God when it\nbehooved Christians to bow down their whole moral being to this very\nlesson, it is the moment through which we are just now passing. On all\nhands the divine authority, integrity, plenary inspiration and\nall-sufficiency of Holy Scripture are called in question. The word of\nGod is openly insulted and flung aside. Its integrity is called in\nquestion, and that too in quarters where we should least expect it. At\nour colleges and universities our young men are continually assailed\nby infidel attacks upon the blessed word of God. Men who are in total\nspiritual blindness, and who therefore cannot possibly know anything\nwhatever about divine things, and are utterly incompetent to give an\nopinion on the subject of Holy Scripture, have the cool audacity to\ninsult the sacred volume, to pronounce the five books of Moses an\nimposture, to assert that Moses never wrote them at all!\n\nWhat is the opinion of such men worth? Not worth the weight of a\nfeather. Who would think of going to a man who was born in a coal\nmine, and had never seen the sun, to get his judgment as to the\nproperties of light, or the effect of the sun's beams upon the human\nconstitution? Who would think of going to one who was born blind to\nget his opinion upon colors, or the effect of light and shade? Surely\nno one in his senses. Well, then, with how much more moral force, may\nwe not ask, who would think of going to an unconverted man--a man dead\nin trespasses and sins--a man spiritually blind, wholly ignorant of\nthings divine, spiritual, and heavenly--who would think for a moment\nof going to such a one for a judgment on the weighty question of Holy\nScripture? And if such a one were audacious enough, in ignorant\nself-confidence, to offer an opinion on such a subject, what man in\nhis sober senses would think of giving the slightest heed?\n\nIt will perhaps be said, \"The illustration does not apply.\" Why not?\nWe admit it fails in force, but most certainly not in its moral\napplication. Is it not a commonly received axiom amongst us that no\nman has any right to give an opinion on a subject of which he is\ntotally ignorant? No doubt. Well, what does the blessed apostle say as\nto the unconverted man? We quote the whole context for the reader. It\nis morally grand, and its interest and value just now are unspeakable.\n\n\"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of\nspeech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I\ndetermined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him\ncrucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much\ntrembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words\nof man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:\n_that your faith_\"--mark these words, beloved reader--\"_should not\nstand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God_. Howbeit we speak\nwisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world,\nnor of the princes of this world, that come to naught. But we speak\nthe wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God\nordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of\nthis world knew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified\nthe Lord of glory. But, as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear\nheard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which\nGod hath prepared for them that love Him. _But God hath revealed them\nto us by His Spirit_;\"--otherwise they could not possibly be\nknown;--\"for the Spirit, searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of\nGod. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man\nwhich is in him? Even so _the things of God knoweth no man_, but the\nSpirit of God. Now we\"--all true believers, all God's children--\"have\nreceived, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God;\nthat we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.\nWhich things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom\nteacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual\nthings with spiritual\"--or, communicating spiritual things through a\nspiritual medium. \"But the natural man receiveth not the things of\nthe Spirit of God; neither can he know them,\"--be he ever so wise and\nlearned,--\"because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is\nspiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For\nwho hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we\nhave the mind of Christ\" (1 Cor. ii. 1-16).\n\nWe dare not offer an apology for giving so lengthened an extract from\nthe word of God. We deem it invaluable, not only because it proves\nthat it is only by divine teaching that divine things can be\nunderstood, but also because it completely withers up all man's\npretensions to give judgment as to Scripture. If the natural man\ncannot know the things of the Spirit of God, then it is perfectly\nplain that all infidel attacks upon the word of God are absolutely\nunworthy of the very smallest attention. In fact, all infidel writers,\nbe they ever so clever, ever so wise, ever so learned, are put out of\ncourt; they are not to be listened to for a moment. The judgment of an\nunconverted man in reference to the Holy Scriptures is more worthless\nthan the judgment of an uneducated plowman as to the use of the\ndifferential calculus, or the truth of the Copernican system. As to\neach, we have only to say, he knows nothing whatever about the matter.\nHis thoughts are absolutely good for nothing.\n\nBut how truly delightful and refreshing to turn from man's worthless\nnotions, and see the way in which our blessed Lord Jesus Christ prized\nand used the Holy Scriptures! In His conflict with Satan, He appeals\nthree times over to the book of Deuteronomy. \"_It is written_\" is His\none simple and unanswerable reply to the suggestions of the enemy. He\ndoes not reason. He does not argue or explain. He does not refer to\nHis own personal feelings, evidences, or experiences. He does not\nargue from the great facts of the opened heavens, the descending\nSpirit, the voice of the Father--precious and real as all these things\nwere. He simply takes His stand upon the divine and eternal authority\nof the Holy Scriptures, and of that portion of the Scriptures in\nparticular which modern infidels have audaciously attacked. He uses as\nHis authority that which they are not afraid to pronounce an\nimposture! How dreadful for them! What will be their end, unless they\nrepent?\n\nBut not only did the Son of God--Himself, as God, the Author of every\nline of Holy Scripture--use the word of God as His only weapon against\nthe enemy, but He made it also the basis and the material of His\npublic ministry. When His conflict in the wilderness was over, \"He\nreturned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a\nfame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their\nsynagogues, being glorified of all. And He came to Nazareth, where He\nhad been brought up; and, _as His custom was_, He went into the\nsynagogue on the Sabbath day, and _stood up for to read_\"--_His custom\nwas to read the Scriptures publicly_. \"And there was delivered unto\nHim the book of the prophet Esaias.\" Here He puts His seal upon the\nprophet Isaiah, as before upon the law of Moses. \"And when He had\nopened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit\nof the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the\ngospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to\npreach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the\nblind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the\nacceptable year of the Lord\" (Luke iv.).\n\nLet us turn now to that most solemn parable of the rich man and\nLazarus, at the close of Luke xvi., in which we have a solemn\ntestimony from the Master's own lips to the integrity, value and\nsurpassing importance of \"Moses and the Prophets\"--the very portions\nof the divine Word which infidels impiously assail. The rich man in\ntorment--alas, no longer rich, but miserably and eternally\npoor!--entreats Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brethren,\nlest they also should come into that place of torment. Mark the reply!\nMark it, all ye infidels, rationalists, and skeptics! Mark it, all ye\nwho are in danger of being deluded and turned aside by the impudent\nand blasphemous suggestions of infidelity! \"Abraham saith unto him,\nThey have Moses and the Prophets; _let them hear them_.\" Yes; \"hear\nthem\"--hear those very writings which infidels tell us are not\ndivinely inspired at all, but documents palmed upon us by impostors\npretending to inspiration. Assuredly the rich man knew better;\nindeed, the devil himself knows better. There is no thought of\ncalling in question the genuineness of \"Moses and the Prophets;\" but\nperhaps \"if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.\" Hear\nthe weighty rejoinder! \"And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses\nand the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from\nthe dead.\"\n\nNow we must confess we rejoice exceedingly in the grandeur of this\ntestimony. Nothing can be clearer, nothing higher, nothing more\nthoroughly confirmatory as to the supreme authority and divine\nintegrity of \"Moses and the Prophets.\" We have the blessed Lord\nHimself setting His seal to the two grand divisions of Old Testament\nScripture; and hence we may with all possible confidence commit our\nsouls to the authority of these holy writings; and not only to Moses\nand the Prophets, but to the whole canon of inspiration, inasmuch as\nMoses and the Prophets are so largely and so constantly quoted\neverywhere, are so intimately, yea, indissolubly, bound up with every\npart of the New Testament, that all must stand or fall together.\n\nBut we must pass on, and turn for a moment to the last chapter of\nLuke--that precious section which contains \"the great commission\"\nwhereof we speak. We might refer with profit and blessing to those\noccasions in which our blessed Lord, in His interviews with Pharisees,\nSadducees, and lawyers, ever and only appeals to the Holy Scriptures.\nIn short, whether in conflict with men or devils, whether speaking in\nprivate or in public, whether for His public ministry or for His\nprivate walk, we find the perfect Man, the Lord from heaven, always\nputting the very highest honor upon the writings of Moses and the\nProphets, thus commending them to us in all their divine integrity,\nand giving us the very fullest and most blessed encouragement to\ncommit our souls, for time and eternity, with absolute confidence, to\nthose peerless writings.\n\nBut we turn to Luke xxiv., and listen to the glowing words uttered in\nthe ears of the two bewildered travelers to Emmaus--words which are\nthe sure and blessed remedy for all bewilderment--the perfect solution\nof every honest difficulty--the divine and all-satisfying answer to\nevery upright inquiry. We do not quote the words of the perplexed\ndisciples; but here is the Master's reply. \"Then said He unto them, O\nfools and slow of heart to believe _all that the prophets have\nspoken_!\" Alas! nowadays a man is counted a fool if he does believe\nall that the prophets have spoken. In many learned circles, yea, and\nin not a few religious circles likewise, the man who avows--as every\ntrue man ought--his hearty belief in every line of Holy Scripture, is\nalmost sure to be met with a sneer of contempt. It is deemed clever to\ndoubt the genuineness of Scripture,--fatal, detestable cleverness,\nfrom which may the good Lord deliver us!--cleverness which is sure to\nlead the soul that is ensnared by it down into the dark and dreary\nabyss of atheism, and the darker and more dreary abyss of hell. From\nall such cleverness, we again say, from the profoundest depths of our\nmoral being, may God, in His mercy, deliver us and all our young\npeople!\n\nBeloved reader, have we not much cause to bless the Lord for these\nwords of His addressed to His poor perplexed ones on their way to\nEmmaus? They may seem severe; but it is the necessary severity of a\npure, a perfect, and a divinely wise love. \"O fools, and slow of heart\nto believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have\nsuffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And\"--mark these\nwords!--\"beginning at _Moses and all the Prophets_, He expounded unto\nthem _in all the Scriptures_ the things concerning Himself.\" He\nHimself--all homage to His glorious person!--is the divine centre of\nall the things contained in the Scriptures from cover to cover. He is\nthe golden chain that binds into one marvelous and magnificent whole\nevery part of the inspired volume, from Genesis to Revelation. Hence\nthe man that touches a single section of the sacred canon is guilty of\nthe heinous sin of seeking to overthrow the word of God; and of such a\nman even charity itself must say he knows neither the Christ of God\nnor God Himself. The man who dares to tamper in any way with the word\nof God has taken the first step on that inclined plane that leads\ninevitably down to eternal perdition. Let men beware, then, how they\nspeak against the Scriptures; and if some _will_ speak, let others\nbeware how they listen. If there were no infidel listeners, there\nwould be few infidel lecturers. How awful to think that there should\nbe either the one or the other in this our highly favored land! May\nGod have mercy upon them, and open their eyes ere it be too late! Five\nminutes in hell will quash forever all the infidel theories that ever\nwere propounded in this world. Oh, the egregious folly of infidelity!\n\nWe return to our chapter, which furnishes one more proof of the place\nassigned by our risen Lord to the Holy Scriptures. After having\nmanifested Himself in infinite grace and tranquilizing power to His\ntroubled disciples, having shown them His hands and His feet, and\nassured them of His personal identity by eating in their presence, \"He\nsaid unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was\nyet with you, that _all things must be fulfilled which were written in\nthe law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms_, concerning\nMe. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the\nScriptures, and said unto them, Thus _it is written_.\"\n\nHere again we have the divine seal put upon all the grand divisions of\nthe Old Testament. This is most comforting and strengthening for all\npious lovers of Scripture. To find our Lord Himself on all occasions,\nand under all circumstances, referring to Scripture, using it at all\ntimes and for all purposes, feeding upon it Himself and commending it\nto others, wielding it as the sword of the Spirit, bowing to its holy\nauthority in all things, appealing to it as the only perfect standard,\ntest and touchstone, the only infallible guide for man in this world,\nthe only unfailing light amid all the surrounding moral gloom--all\nthis is comforting and encouraging in the very highest degree, and it\nfills our hearts with deepest praise to the Father of mercies who has\nso provided for us in all our weakness and need.\n\nHere we might close this branch of our subject, but we feel bound to\nfurnish our readers with two more uncommonly fine illustrations of our\nthesis; one from the Acts, and one from the Epistles. In Acts xxiv.\nthe apostle Paul, in his address to Felix, thus expresses himself as\nto the ground of his faith: \"But this I confess unto thee, that after\nthe way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers,\n_believing all things which are written in the Law and in the\nProphets_.\" So, then, he reverently believed in Moses and the\nProphets. He fully accepted the Old Testament Scriptures as the solid\nfoundation of his faith, and as the divine authority for his entire\ncourse. Now how did Paul know that the Scriptures were given of God?\nHe knew it in the only way in which any one can know it, namely, by\ndivine teaching. God alone can give the knowledge that the Holy\nScriptures are His own very revelation to man. If He does not give it,\nno one can; if He does, no one need. If I want human evidence to\naccredit the word of God, it is not the word of God to me. The\nauthority on which I receive it is higher than the Word itself.\nSupposing I could by reason or human learning work my way to the\nrational conclusion that the Bible is the word of God, then my faith\nwould merely stand in the wisdom of man, and not in the power of God.\nSuch a faith is worthless; it does not link me with God, and therefore\nleaves me unsaved, unblessed, uncertain. It leaves me without God,\nwithout Christ, without hope. Saving faith is believing what God says\nbecause _He_ says it, and this faith is wrought in the soul by the\nHoly Spirit. Intellectual faith is a cold, lifeless, worthless faith,\nwhich only deceives and puffs up; it never can save, sanctify, or\nsatisfy.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe turn now to 2 Tim. iii. 14-17. The aged apostle, at the close of\nhis marvelous career, from his prison at Rome, looking back at the\nwhole of his ministry, looking around at the failure and ruin so sadly\napparent on every side, looking forward to the terrible consummation\nof the \"last days,\" and looking beyond all to \"the crown of\nrighteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give _in that\nday_,\" thus addresses his beloved son: \"But _continue thou_ in the\nthings which thou hast learned and _hast been assured of_, knowing of\nwhom thou hast learned; and that _from a child thou hast known the\nHoly Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation_\nthrough faith which is in Christ Jesus. _All Scripture is given by\ninspiration of God_, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for\ncorrection, for instruction in righteousness; that _the man of God may\nbe perfect_ (complete), _thoroughly furnished unto all good works_.\"\n\nAll this is unspeakably precious to every true lover of the word of\nGod. The place here assigned, and the virtues here attributed, to the\nHoly Scriptures are beyond all price. In short, it is utterly\nimpossible to overstate the value and importance of the foregoing\nquotation. It is deeply touching to find the revered and beloved old\nveteran, in the full power of the Holy Ghost, recalling Timothy to the\ndays of his childhood, when, at the knees of his pious mother, he\ndrank at the pure fountain of inspiration. How did the dear child know\nthat these holy writings were the word of God? He knew it just in the\nsame way that the blessed apostle himself knew it, by their divine\npower and effect upon his heart and conscience through the Holy Ghost.\nDid the Holy Scriptures need man's credentials? What an insult to the\ndignity of Scripture to imagine that any human seal or guarantee is\nnecessary to accredit it to the soul! Do we want the authority of the\nChurch, the judgment of the Fathers, the decrees of councils, the\nconsent of the doctors, the decision of the universities, to accredit\nthe word of God? Far away be the thought! Who would think of bringing\nout a rushlight at noon to prove that the sun shines, or to bring home\nits beams in their genial virtue to the human frame? What son would\nthink of taking his father's letter to an ignorant crossing-sweeper to\nhave it accredited and interpreted to his heart?\n\nThese figures are feebleness itself when used to illustrate the\negregious folly of submitting the Holy Scriptures to the judgment of\nany human mind. No, reader, the word of God speaks for itself. It\ncarries its own powerful credentials with it. Its own internal\nevidences are amply sufficient for every pious, right-minded, humble\nchild of God. It needs no letter of commendation from men. No doubt\nexternal evidences have their value and their interest. Human\ntestimony must go for what it is worth. We may rest assured that the\nmore thoroughly all human evidence is sifted, and the nearer all human\ntestimony approaches to the truth, the more fully and distinctly will\nall concur in demonstrating the genuineness and integrity of our\nprecious Bible. And further, we must declare our deep and settled\nconviction that no infidel theory can hold water for a moment; no\ninfidel argument can pass muster with an honest mind. We invariably\nfind that all infidel assaults upon the Bible recoil upon the heads of\nthose who make them. Infidel writers make fools of themselves, and\nleave the divine volume just where it always was, and where it always\nwill be, like an impregnable rock, against which the waves of infidel\nthought dash themselves in contemptible impotency.\n\nThere stands the word of God in its divine majesty, in its heavenly\npower, in its beautiful simplicity, in its matchless glory, in its\nunfathomed because unfathomable depths, in its never-failing freshness\nand power of adaptation, in its marvelous comprehensiveness, in its\nvastness of scope, its perfect unity, its thorough uniqueness. The\nBible stands alone. There is nothing like it in the wide world of\nliterature; and if anything further were needed to prove that that\nbook which we call \"The Bible\" is in very deed the living and eternal\nword of God, it may be found in the ceaseless efforts of the devil to\nprove that it is not.\n\n\"_Forever_, O Lord, Thy word is _settled in heaven_.\" What remains,\nbeloved reader, for thee? Just this: \"Thy word have I _hid in my\nheart_, that I might not sin against Thee.\" Thus it stands, blessed be\nHis holy name; and when we have His Word hid in the depths of our\nhearts, the theories and the arguments, the reasonings or the ravings,\nthe questionings and the conclusions of skeptics, rationalists and\ninfidels, will be to us of less moment than the pattering of rain upon\nthe window.\n\nThus much as to the weighty question of the \"_authority_\" upon which\nthe great commission proceeds. The immense importance of the subject,\nand the special character of the moment through which we are passing,\nmust account for the unusual length of this article. We feel\nprofoundly thankful for an opportunity of bearing our feeble testimony\nto the power, authority, all-sufficiency and divine glory of \"the Holy\nScriptures.\" \"Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!\"\n\n\n\n\nPART VIII.\n\n\nIn full keeping with all that has passed in review before us is the\n_sphere_ of \"the great commission,\" as set forth in that comprehensive\nclause, \"_Among all nations_.\" Such was to be the wide range of those\nheralds whom the risen Lord was sending forth to preach \"repentance\nand remission of sins.\" Theirs was emphatically a world-wide mission.\nIn Matt. x. we find something quite different. There the Lord, in\nsending forth the twelve apostles, \"commanded them, saying, Go not\ninto the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans\nenter ye not.\"\n\nThis was to be a mission exclusively to the house of Israel. There was\nno message for the Gentiles, no word for the poor Samaritans. If these\nmessengers approached a city of the uncircumcised, they were on no\naccount to enter it. The ways of God--His dispensational\ndealings--demanded a circumscribed sphere for the twelve apostles sent\nforth by the Messiah in the days of His flesh. \"The lost sheep of the\nhouse of Israel\" were to be the special objects of their ministry.\n\nBut in Luke xxiv. all is changed. The dispensational barriers are no\nlonger to interfere with the messengers of grace. Israel is not to be\nforgotten, but the Gentiles are to hear the glad tidings. The sun of\nGod's salvation must now pour its living beams over the whole world.\nNot a soul is to be excluded from the blessed light. Every city, every\ntown, every village, every hamlet, every street, lane and alley, hedge\nand highway, must be diligently and lovingly searched out and visited,\nso that \"every creature under heaven\" might hear the good news of a\nfull and free salvation.\n\nHow like our God is all this! How worthy of His large, loving heart!\nHe would have the tide of His salvation flowing from pole to pole, and\nfrom the river to the ends of the earth. His righteousness is unto\nall, and the sweet tale of His pardoning love must be wafted far and\nwide over a lost and guilty world. Such is His most gracious purpose,\nhowever tardy His servants may be in carrying it out.\n\nIt is of the greatest importance to have a clear view as to this\nbranch of our subject. It brings out the character of God in a very\nmagnificent light, and it leaves man wholly without excuse. Salvation\nis sent to the Gentiles. There is absolutely no limit, and no\nobstacle. Like the sun in the heavens, it shines on all. If a man will\npersist in hiding himself in a mine or in a tunnel, so that he cannot\nsee the sun, he has none but himself to blame. It is no defect in the\nsun if all do not enjoy his beams. He shines for all. And in like\nmanner, \"the grace of God that bringeth salvation unto all men hath\nappeared.\" No one need perish because he is a poor lost sinner, for\n\"God will have all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the\ntruth.\" \"He willeth not that any should perish, but that all should\ncome to repentance.\"\n\nAnd then, that not a single feature might be lacking to set forth with\nall possible force and fulness the royal grace which breathes in \"the\ngreat commission,\" our blessed Lord does not fail to point out to His\nservants the remarkable spot which was to be the centre of their\n_sphere_. He tells them to \"begin at Jerusalem.\" Yes, Jerusalem, where\nour Lord was crucified; where every indignity that human enmity could\ninvent was heaped upon His divine person; where a murderer and a\nrobber was preferred to \"God manifest in the flesh;\" where human\niniquity had reached its culminating point in nailing the Son of God\nto a malefactor's cross--there the messengers were to begin their\nblessed work; that was to be the centre of the sphere of their\ngracious operations; and from thence they were to travel to the utmost\nbounds of the habitable globe. They were to begin with \"Jerusalem\nsinners\"--with the very murderers of the Son of God, and then go forth\nto publish everywhere the glorious tidings, so that all might know\nthat precious grace of God which was sufficient to meet the crimson\nguilt of Jerusalem itself.\n\nHow glorious is all this! The guilty murderers of the Son of God were\nthe very first to hear the sweet tale of pardoning love, so that all\nmen might see in them a pattern of what the grace of God and the blood\nof Christ can do. Truly the grace that could pardon Jerusalem sinners\ncan pardon any one; the blood that could cleanse the betrayers and\nmurderers of the Christ of God can cleanse any sinner outside the\nprecincts of hell. These heralds of salvation, as they made their way\nfrom nation to nation, could tell their hearers where they had come\nfrom; they could tell of that superabounding grace of God which had\ncommenced its operations in the guiltiest spot on the face of the\nearth, and which was amply sufficient to meet the very vilest of the\nsons of Adam.\n\n    \"Sovereign grace o'er sin abounding:\n      Ransomed souls the tidings swell;\n    'Tia a deep that knows no sounding;\n      Who its length or breadth can tell?\"\n\nPrecious grace of God! May it be published with increased energy and\nclearness throughout the divinely appointed sphere. Alas, alas, that\nthose who know it should be so slow to make it known to others! That\nslowness is, most surely, not of God. He absolutely delights in the\npublication of His saving, pardoning grace. He tells us that the feet\nof the evangelist are beautiful upon the mountains. He assures us that\nthe preaching of the Cross is a sweet savor to His heart. Ought not\nall this to quicken our energies in the blessed work? Ought we not in\nevery possible way to seek to carry out the gracious desire of the\nheart of God? Why are we so slow? Why so cold and indolent? Why so\neasily discouraged and repulsed? Why so ready to make excuses for not\nspeaking to people about their souls?\n\nThere stands the great commission shining on the eternal page of\ninspiration in all its moral grandeur--its _terms_, its _basis_, its\n_authority_, its _sphere_! The work is not yet done. Nearly nineteen\nhundred years have rolled past since the risen Saviour sent forth His\nmessengers; and still He waits, in sweet, long-suffering mercy, not\nwilling that any should perish. Why are we not more willing-hearted in\ncarrying out the gracious desire of His heart? It is not by any means\nnecessary that we should be great preachers, or powerful public\nspeakers, in order to carry on the precious work of evangelization.\nWhat we want is a heart in communion with the heart of God, the heart\nof Christ, and that will surely be a heart for souls. We do not, and\ncannot, believe that one who is not led out in loving desire after the\nsalvation of souls can really be in communion with the mind of Christ.\nWe cannot be in His presence and not think of the souls of those\naround us. For whoever cared for souls as He did? Mark His marvelous\npath!--His ceaseless toil as a teacher and preacher!--His thirst for\nthe salvation and blessing of souls!\n\nAnd has He not left us an example that we should follow His steps? Are\nwe doing so in this one matter of making known the blessed gospel? Are\nwe seeking to imitate Him in His earnest diligence in seeking the\nlost? See Him at the well of Sychar! Mark His whole deportment! Listen\nto His earnest, loving words! Note the joy and refreshment of His\nspirit as He sees one poor sinner receiving His message! \"I have meat\nto eat that ye know not of;\" \"Lift up your eyes, and look on the\nfields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth\nreceiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he\nthat soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.\"\n\nWe would earnestly entreat the Christian reader to consider this great\nsubject in the divine presence. We deeply feel its importance. We\ncannot but judge that, amid all the writing and reading, all the\nspeaking and hearing, all the coming and going, there is a sad lack of\ndeep-toned, earnest, solemn dealing with individual souls. How often\ndo we rest satisfied with inviting people to come to the preaching,\ninstead of seeking to bring them directly to Christ? How often do we\nrest content with the periodical preaching, instead of earnestly\nseeking, all the week through, to persuade souls to flee from the\nwrath to come? No doubt it is good to preach, and good to invite\npeople to the preaching; but we may rest assured there is something\nmore than all this to be done, and that something must be sought in\ndeeper communion with the heart and mind of Christ.\n\nSome there are who speak disparagingly of the blessed and holy work of\nevangelization. We tremble for them. We feel persuaded they are not in\nthe current of the Master's mind, and hence we utterly reject their\nthoughts. It is to be feared that their hearts are cold in reference\nto an object that engages the heart of God. If so, they would need to\nhumble themselves in His presence, and seek to get their souls\nrestored to a true sense of the magnitude, importance and interest of\nthe grand question before us. At least let them beware of how they\nseek to discourage and hinder others whose hearts the Lord has moved\nto care for precious, immortal souls. The present is most assuredly\nnot the time for raising difficulties, and starting questions which\ncan only prove stumbling-blocks in the pathway of earnest workers. It\nbecomes us to seek in every right way to strengthen the hands of all\nwho are endeavoring, according to their measure, to publish the glad\ntidings, and make known the unsearchable riches of Christ. Let us see\nthat we do so, so far as in us lies; and above all things, let us\nnever utter a sentence calculated to hinder any one in the blessed\nwork of winning souls to Christ.\n\nBut we must draw this paper, and this series of papers, to a close. We\nmight do so here, were it not that there is one more point in our\nsubject which we feel must not be omitted, and that is the _power_ by\nwhich \"the great commission\" was to be carried out. To leave this out\nwould be a great defect, a serious blank indeed; and we are the more\nanxious to notice it, inasmuch as the special form in which the power\nwas communicated links itself, in a very remarkable way, with that\nwhich has been before us in this paper. If the _sphere_ was to be \"all\nnations,\" the _power_ must be adapted thereto; and, blessed be God, so\nit was.\n\nOur blessed Lord, in closing His commission to His disciples, said,\n\"And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise\nof My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye\nbe endued with power from on high.\" This promise was fulfilled, this\npower was communicated on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Ghost came\ndown from the ascended and glorified Man, to qualify His servants for\nthe glorious work for which He had called them. They had to \"tarry\"\nuntil they got the power. How could they go without it? Who but the\nHoly Ghost could speak adequately of the love of God, of the person,\nwork and glory of Christ? Who but He could enable any one to preach\nrepentance and remission of sins? Who but He could properly handle all\nthe weighty subjects comprehended in \"the great commission?\" In a\nword, the power of the Holy Ghost is absolutely essential in every\nbranch of Christian service, and all who go to work without it will\nfind it to be barrenness, misery, and desolation.\n\nBut we must call the reader's special attention to the form in which\nthe Holy Ghost came down on the day of Pentecost. It is full of\ndeepest interest, and lets us into the precious secret of the heart of\nGod in a most touching manner.\n\nLet us turn to chapter ii. of the Acts of the Apostles.\n\n\"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were _all with one\naccord in one place_\"--instructive and suggestive fact!--\"And suddenly\nthere came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it\nfilled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto\nthem _cloven tongues_, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.\nAnd they were all filled with the Holy Ghost\"--He had full possession\nof their hearts and minds, full sway over their whole moral\nbeing--blessed condition!--\"And they began to speak with _other\ntongues_\" (not in the absurd and unintelligible jargon of cunning\nimpostors or deluded fanatics, but), \"as the Spirit gave them\nutterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, _out\nof every nation under heaven_.\" Note this fact. \"Now when this was\nnoised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded,\nbecause that _every man heard them speak in his own language_.\"--How\nreal--how telling!--\"And they were all amazed, and marveled, saying\none to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And\nhow _hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born_?\"--not\nmerely wherein we were educated--\"Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,\nand the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in\nPontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of\nLibya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes\nand Arabians, _we do hear them speak in our tongues_ the wonderful\nworks of God.\"\n\nWhat a marvelous occurrence! How marked the coincidence! God so\nordered it, in His infinite wisdom and perfect grace, that there\nshould be assembled in the city of Jerusalem, at the exact moment,\npeople from every nation on the face of the whole earth, in order\nthat--even should the twelve apostles fail to carry out their\ncommission--all might hear, in the very dialect in which their mothers\nfirst whispered into their infant ears the accents of a mother's love,\nthe precious tidings of God's salvation.\n\nCan anything exceed this in interest? Who can fail to see in the fact\nhere recorded that it was the loving desire of the heart of God to\nreach every creature under heaven with the sweet story of His grace?\nThe world had rejected the Son of God, had crucified and slain Him;\nbut no sooner had He taken His seat at the right hand of God than down\ncame the august Witness, God the Spirit, to speak to man--to every\nman--to speak to him, not in accents of withering denunciation, not in\nthe thundering anathemas of judgment, but in accents of deep and\ntender love, to tell him of full remission of sins through the blood\nof the Cross.\n\nTrue, He called on man to judge himself, to repent, to take his only\ntrue and proper place. Why not? How could it be otherwise? Repentance\nis--as we have already fully shown and earnestly insisted upon in\nthese papers--a universal and abiding necessity for man. But the\nSpirit of God came down to speak face to face with man, to tell him in\nhis own mother tongue of the wonderful works of God. He did not speak\nto a Hebrew in Latin, or to a Roman in Greek; but He spoke to each in\nthe very dialect in which he was born, thus proving to a\ndemonstration--proving in the most affecting manner possible--that it\nwas God's gracious desire to make His way to man's heart in deepest,\nrichest, fullest grace. All homage to His name!\n\nHow different it was when the law was to be published from mount\nSinai! If all the nations of the earth had been assembled round that\nfiery mount, they could not have understood one word--unless, indeed,\nany one happened to know the Hebrew tongue. The law was addressed to\none people, it was wrapped up in one language, it was enclosed in the\nark. God took no pains to publish the record of man's duty in every\nlanguage under heaven. But when grace was to be published, when the\nglad tidings of salvation were to be sounded abroad, when testimony\nwas to be borne to a crucified, risen, ascended and coming Saviour and\nLord, then, verily, God the Holy Ghost came down, for the purpose of\nfitting His messengers to speak to every man in a tongue which he\ncould understand.\n\nFacts are powerful arguments, and assuredly the above two facts, in\nreference to the law and the gospel, must speak to every heart, in a\nmanner the most convincing, of the matchless grace of God. God did not\nsend forth heralds to publish the law to \"all nations.\" No--this was\nreserved for \"the great commission\" on which we have been dwelling,\nand which we now earnestly commend, with all its great subjects, to\nthe serious attention of every reader.\n\n                                                           C. H. M.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nVariations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained\nexcept in obvious cases of typographical error.","title":"The Great Commission. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. IV","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":116446}