{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_52648/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_52648","id":"gutenberg_52648","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52648","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christianity","Evangelistic work","Theology, Doctrinal"],"text":"Transcriber's Notes: Words in italics in the original are surrounded by\n_underscores_. Words in bold in the original are surrounded by +plus\nsigns+. A complete list of corrections as well as other notes follows\nthe text.\n\n\n\n\n _THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES\n OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH_\n\n\n\n\n THE\n FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES\n OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH\n\n BY\n\n R. A. TORREY\n\n Author of\n \"How to Bring Men to Christ,\"\n \"What the Bible Teaches,\" etc., etc.\n\n\n NEW YORK\n GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n _Copyright, 1918,\n By R. A. Torrey_\n\n\n _Printed in the United States of America_\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe author of these sermons has had a feeling for a long time that the\ngreat need in our churches in this day is systematic indoctrination.\nHe put his theory into practice last winter in his own church, and\nthese sermons are the result. We were having a great many accessions\nto our church. In the two years of the church's history we had had\nsomething like six hundred accessions to the church, and every month\nconsiderable numbers of new members were being added. While many\nof these came by letter from other churches, many of them were new\nconverts and had had practically no systematic instruction in the\nfundamental truths of the Christian faith, so we announced a series\nof sermons on The Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Faith. There\nwas immediately a large increase in the attendance at the services\nwhere these addresses were given, and this increase has kept up until\non the last Lord's Day we had much the largest attendance we have ever\nhad, excepting on Easter Sunday. Many have testified to the blessing\nreceived from these sermons, and there has been a great demand that\nthe sermons be printed for general circulation. This request has come\nfrom ministers of various denominations, Episcopalians, Presbyterians,\nMethodists, Baptists, and others. It is hoped that this volume will\nbe useful to other pastors in suggesting lines of teaching in their\nregular pastoral work, and also that it may be used widely by pastors\nand others for circulation among Christians. We live in a day in which\nmany of our church members are all at sea as to what they believe on\nthe fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. These sermons have\nalready helped many through their delivery. It is hoped they will reach\nand help far more in the printed form.\n\n R. A. TORREY.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n CHAPTER PAGE\n I INSPIRATION, OR TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE BIBLE INSPIRED OF\n GOD? 11\n\n II THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF GOD, OR THE GOD OF THE BIBLE\n AS DISTINGUISHED FROM THE GOD OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND THE\n GOD OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY 38\n\n III THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF GOD\u2014THE INFINITE PERFECTION\n AND UNITY OF GOD 56\n\n IV THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST 73\n\n V JESUS CHRIST A REAL MAN 93\n\n VI THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 112\n\n VII THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN\n THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT 144\n\n VIII THE ATONEMENT: GOD'S DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT VS.\n UNITARIAN AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE DOCTRINES OF THE\n ATONEMENT 162\n\n IX THE DISTINCTIVE DOCTRINE OF PROTESTANTISM: JUSTIFICATION\n BY FAITH 186\n\n X THE NEW BIRTH 206\n\n XI SANCTIFICATION 225\n\n XII THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY OF JESUS AND OF OUR\n BODIES 245\n\n XIII THE DEVIL 263\n\n XIV IS THERE A LITERAL HELL? 284\n\n XV IS FUTURE PUNISHMENT EVERLASTING? 303\n\n\n\n\n\n _THE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES\n OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH_\n\n\n\n\n THE\n FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES\n OF THE\n CHRISTIAN FAITH\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nINSPIRATION, OR TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE BIBLE INSPIRED OF GOD?\n\n \"For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spake\n from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.\"\u20142 Pet. 1:21.\n\n \"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is\n profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for\n instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be\n perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.\"\u20142 Tim.\n 3:16, 17.\n\n\nOur subject this morning is \"The Inspiration of the Bible, or to What\nExtent Is the Bible Inspired of God?\" The subject is of vital and\nfundamental importance. If we can make it clear that the writers of\nthe various books of the Bible were inspired of God in a sense that\nno other men were ever inspired of God, that they were so gifted and\ntaught and led and governed by the Holy Spirit in their utterances as\nrecorded in the Bible, that they taught the truth and nothing but\nthe truth, that their teachings were absolutely without error,\u2014then\nwe have in the Bible a court of final appeal and of infallible wisdom\nto which we can go to settle every question of doctrine or duty. But\nif the writers of the Bible were \"inspired\" only in the vague and\nuncertain sense that Shakespeare, Browning and many other men of genius\nwere inspired, only inspired to the extent that their minds were made\nmore keen to see the truth than ordinary men, but still only in such a\nway that they made mistakes, or chose the wrong word to express their\nthought, so that we must recast their thought by discovering, if we\nmay, what the inspired thought back of the uninspired words was, then\nwe are all at sea, in hopeless confusion, so that each generation\nmust settle for itself what the Holy Spirit meant to say through the\nblundering reporters; and it is absolutely certain that no generation\ncan determine with anything approximating accuracy what the Spirit\nmeant, and so no generation can arrive at the truth, but simply\npromulgate blunders for the next and wiser generation to correct, to\nbe corrected in turn by the next generation that follows it. Thank\nGod that this latter subtle but popular doctrine can be proven to be\nutterly untrue!\n\nThere is great need of crystal clear teaching on this subject,\nbecause our colleges and seminaries and pulpits and Sunday schools\nand religious papers are full of teaching that is vague, inaccurate,\nmisleading, un-Scriptural, and oftentimes grossly false. There are\nmany in these days who say \"I believe that the Bible is inspired\" when\nby \"inspired\" they do not mean at all what you understand or what the\nmighty men of faith in the past meant by \"inspired.\" They often say\nthat they \"believe the Bible is the Word of God,\" when at the same time\nthey believe it is full of errors.\n\nNow the Bible is as clear as crystal in its teachings and claims\nregarding itself, and either those claims are true, or else the Bible\nis the biggest fraud in all the literature of the human race. The\nposition held by so many to-day, that the Bible is a good book, perhaps\nthe best book in the world, but at the same time it is full of errors\nthat must be corrected by the higher wisdom of our day, is utterly\nillogical and absolutely ridiculous. If the Bible is not what it claims\nto be, it is a fraud\u2014an outrageous fraud.\n\nWhat does the Bible teach and claim concerning itself? What does it\nteach and claim regarding the fact and extent of its own inspiration?\n\n\nI. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN APOSTLES AND PROPHETS DIFFERENT IN\nCHARACTER FROM HIS WORK IN ALL OTHER PERSONS\n\nThe first thing that the Bible teaches on this point and claims for\nitself is, _that the work of the Holy Spirit in apostles and prophets,\nin the various human authors of the different books of the Bible,\ndiffers from His work in other men, even in other believers in Christ_.\nIt teaches that the Holy Spirit imparts to apostles and prophets an\nespecial gift for an especial purpose. We find this clearly taught in 1\nCor. 12:4, 8-11, 28, 29, where we read, \"+Now there are diversities\nof gifts, but the same Spirit. . . . (8) for to one is given through\nthe Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge,\naccording to the same Spirit; (9) to another faith, in the same Spirit;\nand to another gifts of healing, in the same Spirit; (10) and to\nanother workings of miracles (powers); and to another prophecy; and\nto another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues,\nand to another the interpretation of tongues; (11) but all these\nworketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally\neven as He will. . . . (28) And God hath set some in the church, first\napostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then\ngifts of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues. (29)\nAre all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers\nof miracles?+\" This chapter is the fullest and clearest chapter in\nthe Bible on the subject of the various gifts of the Holy Spirit. It\nis the classical chapter on the whole subject, and the teaching of\nthese verses is as plain as language can make it, and it states in\nterms, the meaning of which is unmistakable, that the gift bestowed\non apostles and prophets _differed in kind_ from the gifts bestowed\non other believers, even though those believers were filled with the\nHoly Spirit. Not only did the work of the Holy Spirit in the apostles\nand prophets differ from His work in men of genius, but even from His\nwork in other believers. These verses make it as plain as day that\nthe doctrine which has become so common and so popular in our day,\nthat the work of the Holy Spirit in preachers and teachers and in\nordinary believers, illuminating them and guiding them into the truth\nand into the understanding of the Word of God, is the same in kind and\ndiffers only in degree from the work of the Holy Spirit in Apostles\nand Prophets is thoroughly unscriptural and untrue. This doctrine\noverlooks what is here so clearly stated and so carefully elucidated,\nthat while there is +\"the same Spirit\" \"there are diversities of\ngifts\" \"diversities of ministrations,\" \"diversities of workings\" (1\nCor. 12:406 R. V.) and that not all are Prophets or Apostles. (1 Cor.\n12:29.)+\n\nThose who desire to minimise the difference between the work of the\nHoly Spirit in Apostles and Prophets, and His work in other men,\noften refer to the fact that the Bible itself says that Bezaleel, the\narchitect of the tabernacle, was to be +\"filled with the Spirit of\nGod, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all\nmanner of workmanship,\" \"to devise the work of the tabernacle\"+\n(Ex. 31:1-11), as a proof that the inspiration of the Prophet does not\ndiffer in kind from the inspiration of the artist or the architect.\nThis argument at first glance seems plausible, but when we bear in mind\nthe facts about the tabernacle, especially the fact that the tabernacle\nwas to be built after the pattern shown to Moses in the mount (Ex.\n25:8, 9, 40) and that therefore it was itself a revelation from God, a\nprophecy, a setting forth of the truth of God, the argument loses all\nits force. The tabernacle was the Word of God done into wood, gold,\nsilver, brass, cloth, skin, etc., just as truly the Word of God and the\nrevealing of God's truth as if the truth were printed on a page. So,\nof course, Bezaleel needed to be inspired, he was a prophet, a prophet\nwho uttered his prophecies in the details of the tabernacle. There is\nmuch reasoning about inspiration to-day that appear at first sight very\nlearned, but that will not bear much scrutiny or candid comparison with\nthe teachings of the Word of God. There is nothing in the Bible more\ninspired than the tabernacle, and if the destructive critics would\nstudy the tabernacle more carefully and thoroughly they would be led\nto give up their ingenious but untenable theories, not only about the\nconstruction of the tabernacle, but about many other things as well. I\nhave never heard or known of a single destructive critic who had ever\ngiven a thorough study to the real meaning of the tabernacle in all\nits parts, or who had any considerable understanding of the types of\nScripture. I have challenged the critics in the University centres of\nEngland, Ireland and Scotland to name one single destructive critic\nwho had ever made any thorough study of the types, and no one has ever\nattempted to even suggest one.\n\n\nII. TRUTH HIDDEN FROM MEN FOR AGES, AND WHICH THEY HAD NOT DISCOVERED\nAND COULD NOT DISCOVER, BY THE UNAIDED PROCESSES OF HUMAN REASONING,\nHAS BEEN REVEALED TO APOSTLES AND PROPHETS IN THE SPIRIT\n\nThe second thing taught in the Bible regarding the inspiration of\nthe Apostles and Prophets, the inspiration of the various authors of\nthe books of the Bible, is that _truth hidden from men for ages, and\nwhich they had not discovered, and could not discover, by the unaided\nprocesses of human reasoning, even human reasoning at its very best\nand highest, has been revealed to Apostles and Prophets in the Holy\nSpirit_. We find this very clearly taught in Eph. 3:2-5: +\"If so be\nthat ye have heard of the dispensation of that grace of God which was\ngiven me to you-ward; (3) how that by revelation was made known unto\nme the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, (4) whereby when ye\nread, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; (5)\nwhich in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men,\nas it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in\nthe Spirit.\"+ The meaning of these words is unmistakable. Paul here\ndeclares in words the meaning of which is perfectly plain, that God\n\"in the Spirit\" had revealed \"unto His holy apostles and prophets\"\n\"the mystery of Christ\" which in former generations had not been made\nknown unto the sons of men, which they had not discovered and could not\ndiscover except by revelation from God; Paul and the other apostles\nand prophets knew it by direct revelation from God himself through the\nHoly Ghost. The teaching is inescapable that the Bible contains truth\nthat men never had discovered and never could have discovered if left\nto themselves, but truth which the Father in great grace has revealed\nto His children through His servants the prophets and apostles. We see\nin this the folly, a folly so common in our day, of seeking to test\nthe statements of Scripture by the conclusions of human reasoning, or\nby the intuitions of the \"Christian consciousness.\" The revelation\nof God transcends human reasoning, and therefore human reasoning\ncannot be its test. Furthermore, a consciousness that is truly and\nfully Christian is _the product_ of the study and absorption of Bible\ntruth. It is not _the test_ of the truth of the Bible,\u2014it is _the\nproduct_ of meditation on the Bible. If our \"consciousness\" differs\nfrom the statements of the Bible, it is not as yet a fully \"_Christian_\nconsciousness,\" and the thing for us to do is not to try to pull God's\nrevelation down to the level of our consciousness but to tone our\nconsciousness up to the level of God's Word.\n\n\nIII. THE REVELATION MADE TO THE PROPHETS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS\nINDEPENDENT OF THEIR OWN THINKING\n\nThe third thing that the Bible makes perfectly clear as to the\ninspiration of the Prophets and Apostles is, that _the revelation made\nby God through His Holy Spirit to the Prophets was independent of the\nProphets' own thinking, that it was made to them by the Spirit of\nChrist which was in them, and that they themselves oftentimes did not\nthoroughly understand the full meaning of what the Spirit was saying\nthrough them, and that what they said was a subject of diligent search\nand inquiry to their own mind as to its meaning_. This comes out very\nplainly in 1 Pet. 1:10-12, +\"Concerning which salvation the prophets\nsought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should\ncome to you; searching what time, or what manner of time the Spirit of\nChrist which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand\nthe sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow them. Unto\nwhom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they\nminister these things which now have been announced unto you through\nthem that preached the Gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth\nfrom Heaven; which things angels desire to look into.\"+ Here again\nthe meaning is as clear as day and inescapable. We are told that the\nprophets had a revelation made to them by the Holy Spirit, the meaning\nof which they did not thoroughly comprehend, and that they themselves\n\"sought and searched diligently\" as to the meaning of this revelation\nwhich was made to them and which they recorded. The Spirit, through\nthem testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ (e.g. in Isa. 53:3,\nPs. 22) and the glories that should follow them. They recorded what the\nSpirit testified, but what it meant they did not thoroughly understand.\nIt was not merely that their minds were made keen to see things\nwhich they would not otherwise see, and which they therefore more or\nless accurately recorded. No, there was a very definite revelation,\narising _not from their own minds at all_, but from the Spirit of God\nWho made the revelation to them and this they recorded, but it was\nnot of themselves to that extent that they themselves wondered as to\nwhat its meaning might be. What they recorded was not at all their\nown thought, it was the thought of the Holy Spirit who spoke through\nthem. How utterly different this conception is from that which is so\npersistently taught in many of our colleges and theological seminaries\nand pulpits,\u2014how utterly different it is from the conception that was\ntaught a week ago to-day in one of the pulpits of our own city.\n\n\nIV. NO PROPHETIC UTTERANCE WAS OF THE PROPHET'S OWN WILL, BUT THE\nPROPHET SPOKE FROM GOD AND THE PROPHET WAS CARRIED ALONG BY THE HOLY\nSPIRIT AND NOT BY HIS OWN IMPULSE OR REASONING IN WHAT HE SAID\n\nThe fourth thing that the Bible makes perfectly clear is, that _not\none single prophetic utterance was of the prophet's own will (i.e.,\nit was not in any sense merely what he wished to say), but in every\ninstance the Prophet spoke from God, and the Prophet was carried along\nin the prophetic utterance by the Holy Spirit, regardless of his own\nwill or thought_. We find this stated practically in so many words in\n2 Pet. 1:21 where we read: +\"For no prophecy+ (literally, _not a\nprophecy_) +ever came+ (literally, was brought) +by the will\nof man; but men spake from God being moved+ (literally, carried\nalong, or borne) +by the Holy Spirit.\"+ There can be no honest\nmistaking of the meaning of this language. The Prophet never thought\nthat there was something that needed to be said and therefore said it,\nbut God took possession of the prophet, _carried him along_ in his\nutterance, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and he spake, not from his\nown consciousness, and not from his own reasoning, nor from his own\nintuition, but \"_from God_.\" As God's messenger he spoke what God told\nhim to say.\n\n\nV. THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS THE REAL SPEAKER WHO SPOKE IN THE PROPHETIC\nUTTERANCES\n\nThe fifth thing that the Bible teaches regarding the Inspiration of\nthe Prophets and the Apostles and their utterances, is that _the Holy\nSpirit was the real speaker in the prophetic utterances, that what was\nsaid or written was the Holy Spirit's Word that was upon the Apostle's\ntongue, and not the word of the Prophet or Apostle_. This is said in\nthe Bible in so many words, over and over again. For example, in Heb.\n3:7 we read: +\"Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, To-day if ye\nshall hear His voice, harden not your hearts, etc.\"+ The author of\nthe epistle to the Hebrews is quoting Ps. 95:7, 8 and says that what\nthe Psalmist is recorded as saying \"_the Holy Spirit saith_.\" Again in\nHeb. 10:15, 16, we read: +\"And the Holy Spirit also beareth witness\nto us; for after He had said, This is the covenant that I will make\nwith them after those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws on their\nheart, and upon their mind also will I write them.\"+ Now the author\nof the Epistle to the Hebrews is quoting Jer. 31:33, and he does not\nhesitate to say that the testimony that Jeremiah there bore is _the\ntestimony of the Holy Ghost_, that the Holy Ghost was the real speaker.\n\nAgain we read in Acts 28:25, 26 that Paul said, +\"Well spake the Holy\nSpirit through Isaiah the prophet, unto your fathers, (26) saying, Go\nthou unto this people and say, By hearing ye shall hear and shall\nin no wise understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise\nperceive, etc.\"+ Here Paul is quoting Isaiah's words as recorded in\nthe 6th chapter of Isaiah, the 9th and 10th verses, and he distinctly\nsays that the real speaker was not Isaiah, but \"the Holy Spirit\" who\nspoke \"through Isaiah the prophet.\"\n\nTurning now to the old Testament we read in 2 Sam. 23:2 this assertion\nby David regarding the things that he said and wrote: +\"The Spirit of\nJehovah spake by me, and his word was upon my tongue.\"+ There can\nbe no mistaking the meaning of these words on the part of any one who\ngoes to the Bible to find out what it really claims and teaches. The\nHoly Spirit was the real speaker in the prophetic utterance. It was the\nHoly Spirit's utterance that was upon the prophet's tongue. The prophet\nwas simply the mouth by which the Holy Spirit spoke. Merely as a man,\nexcept as the Holy Spirit taught him and used him, the prophet was\nfallible as other men are fallible, but when the Spirit was upon him,\nwhen he was taken up and borne along by the Holy Spirit, then he became\ninfallible in his teachings; for his teachings were not his, but the\nteachings of the Holy Spirit. It was God who was then speaking, not the\nProphet. For example, Paul merely as a man, even as a Christian man,\ndoubtless had many mistaken notions on many things, and was more or\nless subject to the ideas and opinions of his time, but when he taught\nas an Apostle, under the power of the Holy Spirit he was infallible,\nor rather the Spirit who taught through him was infallible, and the\nteachings that resulted from the Spirit's teaching through him, were\ninfallible, as infallible as God. Common sense demands of us that we\ncarefully distinguish between what Paul _may have_ thought as a man,\nand what he _actually taught_ as an apostle. In the Bible we have the\nrecord of what he taught as an Apostle. Some one may cite as a possible\nexception to this statement 1 Cor. 7:6, 25, where he says: +\"But\nthis I say by way of concession, not of commandment. . . . Now concerning\nvirgins, I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my judgment, as\none that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be trustworthy.\"+ There\nare those who think that Paul does not seem to have been sure here that\nhe had the word of the Lord in this particular matter, but that is not\nthe meaning of the passage. The meaning of v. 6 is that his teaching\nwhich he had just given was _by way of concession_ to their weakness,\nand not a commandment as to what they must do. And the teaching of v.\n25 is that the Lord, during His earthly life, had given no commandment\non this subject, but that Paul was giving his judgment; but he says\ndistinctly that he was giving it _as one who had obtained mercy of the\nLord to be trustworthy_ and _furthermore, in the 40th verse of the\nchapter he distinctly says that in his judgment he had the Spirit of\nGod_. But even allowing that the other interpretation of this passage\nis the correct one, and that Paul was not absolutely sure in this case\nthat he had the Word of the Lord and the mind of the Lord, that would\nonly show that where Paul was not absolutely sure that he was teaching\nin the Holy Ghost he was careful to note the fact, and this would only\ngive additional certainty to all other passages that he wrote.\n\nIt is sometimes said that Paul taught in his earlier epistles that\nthe Lord would return during his lifetime, and that in this matter he\ncertainly was mistaken. But Paul never taught in his earlier epistles,\nor any other epistles, he never taught anywhere, that the Lord would\nreturn during his lifetime. This assertion is contrary to fact. He does\nsay in 1 Thess. which was his first epistle, the 4th chapter and 17th\nverse: +\"Then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with\nthem+ (i.e., the believers who had already fallen asleep) +be\ncaught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we\never be with the Lord.\"+ He does here put himself in the same class\nwith those who were still alive when he wrote the words. He naturally\nand necessarily did not include himself with those who had already\nfallen asleep. In speaking of the Lord's return he does not say nor\nhint that he will be still alive when the Lord returns. It is quite\nprobable that Paul did believe at this time that he might be alive\nwhen the Lord returned _but he never taught that he would be alive_.\nThe attitude of expectancy is the true attitude in all ages for every\nbeliever. This was the attitude that Paul took until it was distinctly\nrevealed to him that he would depart before the Lord came. I think\nit very probable that Paul in the earlier part of his ministry was\ninclined to believe that he would live until the coming of the Lord,\nbut the Holy Ghost kept him from so teaching, and also kept him from\nall other errors in his teachings.\n\n\nVI. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE APOSTLES GAVE NOT ONLY THE THOUGHT, BUT THE\nWORDS IN WHICH THE THOUGHT WAS TO BE EXPRESSED\n\nThe 6th thing that the Bible makes clear as to the inspiration of the\napostle and prophets is that, _the Holy Spirit in the Prophets and\nApostles gave not only the thought but also gave the words in which\nthe thought was to be expressed_. We find this very clearly stated\nin 1 Cor. 2:13: +\"Which things also we speak, not in words which\nman's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; combining\nspiritual things with spiritual words.\"+ One of the most popular\nof the false theories of Inspiration in our day is that the Holy\nSpirit was the author of the thought, but that the Apostles were\nleft to their own choice of words in the expression of the thought,\nand that therefore in studying the Bible we cannot emphasise the\nexact meaning of the words, but must try to find the thought of God\nthat was back of the words, and which the writer has more or less\ninaccurately expressed. There are many teachers in our theological\nseminaries to-day, and in our pulpits, who speak very sneeringly and\nsuperciliously of those who believe in Verbal Inspiration,\u2014i.e., those\nwho believe that the Holy Spirit chose the very words in which the\nthought he was teaching was to be expressed, but however sneeringly\nthey may speak of those who believe in Verbal Inspiration, certainly\nthe Bible claims that it was verbally inspired. The passage which I\nhave just read makes it as plain as language can possibly make it\nthat the \"_words_\" in which the Apostle spoke were not \"_words_ which\nman's wisdom teacheth, but _which the Spirit teacheth_.\" Now if this\nis not the fact, if only the _thought_ that was given to Paul was the\nthought of God, and he clothed the thought in his own words, then Paul\nwas a thoroughly deceived man on a fundamental point, in which case\nno dependence at all can be placed in his teachings on any point, or\nelse he was a deliberate fraud, in which case the quicker we burn up\nhis books the better for us and all concerned. There is no possibility\nof finding any middle ground, and the attempts to find a middle ground\nhave landed those who have tried it in all kinds of absurdities. If\nyou have an exact and logical mind, you must take your choice between\nVerbal Inspiration and bald infidelity. _Paul distinctly states that\nthe words in which he conveyed to others the truth that was revealed\nto him were the words which the Holy Spirit taught him._ The Holy\nSpirit himself has anticipated all these modern ingenious, but wholly\nunbiblical and utterly illogical and entirely false theories regarding\nhis own work in the Apostles. The theory that \"the concept\" was\ninspired but the words in which the concept was expressed were not, was\nanticipated by the Holy Spirit Himself and exploded 1800 years before\nour supposedly wise 19th century theological teachers conceived it,\nand attempted to foist it upon an unsuspecting public. It was exploded\neighteen centuries before it was exploited. Furthermore, the theory\nis absurd in itself. As the only way in which thought can be conveyed\nfrom one mind to another, from one man's mind to another man's mind,\nor from the mind of God to the mind of man is by words, therefore\nif the words are imperfect the thought expressed in those words is\nnecessarily imperfect. The theory is an absurdity on its very face, and\nit is difficult to see how intelligent men could have ever deceived\nthemselves into believing such a thoroughly illogical theory. If the\nwords are not inspired the Bible is not inspired. Let us not deceive\nourselves; let us face facts.\n\nFurthermore, the more carefully and minutely one studies the _wording_\nof the statements of this wonderful book\u2014the Bible\u2014the more he will\nbecome convinced of the marvellous accuracy of _the very words_ used to\nexpress the thought. To a superficial thinker the doctrine of Verbal\nInspiration may appear questionable or even absurd, but any regenerate\nand Spirit-taught man who _ponders the words_ of the Scripture day\nby day, and year after year, will become thoroughly and immovably\nconvinced that the wisdom of God is in _the very words_ used as well\nas in the thought which is expressed in the words. It is a significant\nand deeply impressive fact that our difficulties with the Bible rapidly\ndisappear as we note _the precise language_ used. The changing of a\nword or letter, or of a tense, case or number, would oftentimes land us\nin contradiction or untruth, but taking the _words exactly as written_,\ndifficulties disappear and truth shines forth. Countless times people\nhave come to me with apparent difficulties and supposed contradictions\nin the Bible and asked a solution, and I have pointed them to the exact\nwords used and the solution was found in taking the words exactly\nas written. It was because they changed in a slight degree the very\nwords that God spoke that a difficulty had seemed to arise. The Divine\norigin of nature shines forth more and more clearly the more closely we\nexamine it under the microscope. As by the use of a powerful microscope\nwe see the perfection of form and the adaptation of means to end in\nthe minutest particles of matter, we are overwhelmingly convinced that\nGod, a God of infinite wisdom and power, a wisdom extending down to\nthe minutest parts of matter, is the author of the material universe:\nso likewise the divine origin of the Bible shines forth more and more\nclearly under the microscope. The more minutely we study the Bible the\nmore we note the perfection with which the turn of a word reveals the\nabsolute thought of God.\n\nAn important question, and a question that has puzzled many writers at\nthis point, is: If the Holy Spirit is the author of the very words of\nScripture how do we account for the variations in style and diction?\nHow is it, for example, that Paul always used Pauline language,\nand John used Johannean language, and Peter used language that was\ncharacteristic of himself? The answer to this question is very simple\nand is two-fold: First, even though we could not account at all for\nthis fact, it would have little weight against the explicit statement\nof God's Word with any one who is humble enough and wise enough to\nrecognise that there are a great many things which he cannot account\nfor at all which could be easily accounted for if he knew a little\nmore. It is only the man who has such amazing and stupendous conceit\nthat he thinks he knows as much as God, in other words, that he is\ninfinite in wisdom, who will give up an explicit statement of God's\nWord simply because he sees a difficulty in the way of the acceptance\nof that statement, which he in his limited knowledge cannot solve. But\nthere is a second answer, and an all-sufficient one, and that is this:\nthese variations in style and diction are easily accounted for. The\nHoly Spirit is infinitely wise. He Himself is the Creator of Man, and\nof man's power of speech, and therefore he is quite wise enough and has\nquite enough facility in the use of language in revealing truth to and\nthrough any individual to use words, phrases and forms of expression\nthat are in that person's ordinary vocabulary and forms of thought,\nand He is also quite wise enough to make use of that person's peculiar\nindividuality in revealing the truth through him. It is one of the\nmarks of the Divine wisdom of this book that the same Divine truth\nis expressed with absolute accuracy in such widely variant forms of\nexpression.\n\n\nVII. ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED OF GOD\n\nThe seventh thing that the Bible makes plain regarding the work of\nthe Holy Spirit in the various writers of Scripture, is that _all\nScripture, that is everything contained in all the books of the Old\nand New Testament, is inspired of God_. We are distinctly taught this\nin 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. Here we read, \"+All Scripture+ (more exactly,\nevery Scripture) +is given by inspiration of God+ (more literally,\n_God-breathed_), +and is profitable for doctrine+, (or teaching),\n+for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness+\n(rather, instruction which is in righteousness), +that the man of\nGod may be perfect+ (rather, complete) +thoroughly furnished+\n(better, furnished completely) +unto all good works+ (rather,\nevery good work).\" An attempt has been made to obscure the full force\nof these words by a revised translation given in both the English\nRevision and American Standard Version. In this revised translation,\nthe words are rendered as follows: \"Every Scripture inspired of\nGod is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,\nfor instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God may\nbe complete, furnished completely unto every good work.\" There is\nabsolutely no warrant in the Greek text for changing \"Every Scripture\nis given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, etc.,\"\ninto \"Every Scripture inspired of God _is also_ profitable for\nteaching, etc.\" \"Every\" is in the Greek. There is no \"_is_\" in the\nGreek. It must be supplied, as is often the case in translating from\nGreek into English. \"Is\" must be supplied somewhere, either before\n\"given by inspiration\" (or God-breathed), or else supplied after it,\nin the latter case necessitating the change of \"and\" into \"also\" (a\nchange which is possible, but very uncommon); and there is not a single\ninstance in the New Testament outside of this in which two adjectives\ncoupled by the simplest copulative \"and (kai)\" are ripped apart and the\n\"is\" placed between them and an \"and\" changed into \"also.\" The other\nconstruction, that of the Authorised Version, is not at all uncommon.\nThe translation of the Revisers does violence to all customary usage\nof the Greek language. But we do not need to dwell upon that, for,\neven accepting the changes given in the Revision, the thought is\nnot essentially changed; for if Paul had said what the revisers make\nhim say that \"Every Scripture inspired of God is also profitable for\nteaching, etc.,\" there can be no question but by \"every scripture\ninspired of God\" he referred to every Scripture contained in the Old\nTestament. Here, then, taking whichever translation you will, we\nhave the plain teaching that every Scripture of the Old Testament is\n\"God-breathed\" or \"inspired of God.\" Certainly if we can believe this\nabout the Old Testament there is no difficulty in believing it about\nthe New, and there can be no question that Paul claimed for his own\nteaching an equal authority with the O. T. teaching. This we shall see\nclearly under the next head. And not only did Paul so claim, but the\nApostle Peter also classes the teaching of Paul with the O. T. teaching\nas being \"Scripture.\" Peter says in 2 Pet. 3:15, 16, +\"Even as our\nbeloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him,\nwrote unto you; (16) as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of\nthese things, wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the\nignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures,\nunto their own destruction.\"+ Here Peter clearly speaks of Paul's\nepistles as being \"Scripture.\"\n\n\nVIII. THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD\n\nThe eighth thing that the Bible teaches concerning the extent of the\ninspiration of its writings is that _because of this inspiration of\nProphets and Apostles, the writers of the Bible, the whole Bible as\noriginally given becomes the absolutely inerrant Word of God_. In the\nO. T. David says of his own writings, in 2 Sam. 23:2, a passage already\nreferred to, +\"The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and His Word was\nupon my tongue.\"+ In Mark 7:13 Our Lord Jesus Himself calls the law\nof Moses \"the Word of God.\" He says +\"making void the Word of God by\nyour tradition, which ye have delivered.\"+ In the verses immediately\npreceding, He has been drawing a contrast between the teachings of\nthe Mosaic law (not merely the teachings of the Ten Commandments,\nbut other parts of the Mosaic law as well) and the traditions of the\nScribes and Pharisees, and has shown how the traditions of the Scribes\nand Pharisees flatly contradicted the requirements of the law as given\nthrough Moses, and in summing up the matter he says in the verse\njust quoted, that the Scribes and Pharisees made void \"_the Word of\nGod_\" by their traditions, thus calling the law of Moses \"_the Word\nof God._\" When I was in England a high dignitary and scholar in the\nChurch of England in a private correspondence tried to call me down\nby saying that the Bible nowhere claimed to be \"the Word of God,\" but\nI replied to him by showing him that not only did the Bible claim\nit, but that the Lord Jesus Himself said in so many words that the\nlaw given through Moses was \"_the Word of God_.\" In 1 Thess. 2:13 the\nApostle Paul claims that his own epistles and teachings are \"_the Word\nof God_.\" He says: +\"And for this cause we also thank God without\nceasing, that when ye received from us the word of the message, even\nthe word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but as it is in\ntruth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe.\"+\nHere the Apostle Paul claims for his own teaching in the most absolute\nway that the message that he gave was \"_the Word of God_.\" When we\nread the words that Jeremiah wrote and Isaiah wrote and Paul wrote and\nJohn wrote and James wrote and Jude wrote and the other Bible writers\nwrote, we are reading what God says. We are not listening to the voice\nof man, but we are listening to the voice of God. \"The Word of God\"\nwhich we have in the Old and New Testaments, as originally given, is\nabsolutely inerrant down to the smallest word and smallest letter\nor part of a letter. Our Lord Jesus Himself says of the Pentateuch\nin Matt. 5:18: +\"For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth\npass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the\nlaw till all things be accomplished.\"+ Now a \"jot\" is the Hebrew\ncharacter \"yodh,\" the smallest character in the Hebrew alphabet, less\nthan half the size of any other letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and a\n\"tittle\" is a part of a letter, the little horn put on some of the\nHebrew consonants, less than the cross we put on a \"t,\" and here our\nLord says that the law given through Moses was absolutely inerrant,\ndown to its smallest letter or part of a letter. That certainly is\nverbal inspiration with a vengeance. Again he said, as recorded in John\n10:35, after having quoted from the 82nd Psalm and the 6th verse, as\nconclusive proof of a point, \"The Scripture CANNOT BE BROKEN,\" thus\nasserting the absolute irrefragability or inerrancy and finality of\nthe Scriptures. If the Scriptures as originally given were not the\ninerrant Word of God, then not only is the Bible a fraud, but Jesus\nChrist Himself was utterly misled and is therefore utterly unreliable\nas a teacher. I have said that the Scriptures of the Old and New\nTestaments _as originally given_ were absolutely inerrant, and the\nquestion of course arises to what extent is the Authorized Version, or\nthe Revised Version, the inerrant Word of God. The answer is simple;\nthey are the inerrant Word of God just to that extent that they are an\naccurate rendering of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as\noriginally given, and to all practical intents and purposes they are\na thoroughly accurate rendering of the Scriptures of the Old and New\nTestaments as originally given. There are, it is true, many variations\nin the many manuscripts we possess, thousands of variations, but by\na careful study of these very variations, we are able to find with\nmarvellous accuracy what the original manuscripts said. A very large\nshare of the variations are of no value whatever, as it is evident\nfrom a comparison of different manuscripts that they are mistakes of\na transcriber. Many other variations simply concern the order of the\nwords used, and in translating into English, in which the order of\nwords is often different from what it is in the Greek, the variation is\nnot translatable. Many other variations are of small Greek particles,\nmany of which are not translatable into English any way. When all the\nvariations of any significance have been reduced to the minimum to\nwhich it is possible to reduce them by a careful study of manuscripts,\nthere is not one single variation left that affects any doctrine held\nby the evangelical churches, and the Scriptures as we have them to-day\ntranslated into our English language, either in the A. V. or R. V., are\nto all practical intents and purposes the inerrant Word of God.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF GOD, OR THE GOD OF THE BIBLE AS\nDISTINGUISHED FROM THE GOD OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND THE GOD OF MODERN\nPHILOSOPHY\n\n \"God is Spirit.\"\u2014John 4:24.\n\n \"God is Light.\"\u20141 John 1:5.\n\n \"God is Love.\"\u20141 John 4:8, 16.\n\n\nOur subject this morning is \"The Christian Conception of God, or The\nGod of the Bible as Distinguished from the God of Christian Science\nand the God of Modern Philosophy.\" I have three texts: John 4:24:\n+\"God is Spirit.\"+ 1 John 1:5: +\"God is Light.\"+ 1 John 4:8,\n16: +\"God is Love.\"+ These three texts give three of the most\nremarkable statements that were ever uttered and set before us in the\nclearest possible way the Christian conception of God as distinguished\nfrom every other conception of God. The Christian Scientists constantly\nquote one of our texts: +\"God is Love.\"+ In fact they quote it\nmore than almost any other passage in the Bible, but they do not\nmean at all by +\"God is Love\"+ what 1 John 4:8 or 1 John 4:16\nevidently mean when taken in their connection. By \"love\" the Christian\nScientists do not mean a personal attribute of God, but an impersonal\nabstraction which is itself God. Mrs. Eddy frankly and flatly denies\nthe personality of God. The Christian Scientists not only say, \"God\nis love,\" but they also say, \"Love is God.\" They not only say, \"God\nis good,\" but they also say, \"Good is God.\" To say \"Love is God\" is\nan utterly different statement from saying, \"God is love.\" You might\njust as well say \"Spirit is God,\" because God says, \"God is spirit,\"\nbut all spirit is not God. Or you might as well say, \"Light is God,\"\nbecause \"God is light,\" but light is not God and love is not God,\nthough God is love and God is light and God is spirit. What is meant by\n\"love\" in the inspired statement, +\"God is Love\"+? What is meant\nby the statement, +\"God is Love,\"+ is shown by the definition\nor description of love given in the context and in the immediately\npreceding chapter\u20141 John 3:13-18. These verses clearly show that by\nthe statement in 1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:16, +\"God is Love\"+\nis not meant that God is an abstract quality, \"love,\" and that the\nabstract quality of love is God, but what is meant is that God is a\nperson whose whole being and conduct are dominated by the quality of\nlove, that is, by a desire for and delight in the highest welfare of\nothers. This will be evident to you if I read from the immediately\npreceding chapter (1 John 3:13-17): +\"Marvel not, brethren, if the\nworld hateth you. (14) We know that we have passed out of death into\nlife, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in\ndeath. (15) Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know\nthat no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. (16) Hereby know we\nlove, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down\nour lives for the brethren. (17) But whoso hath the world's goods, and\nbeholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him,\nhow doth the love of God abide in him? (18) My little children, let us\nnot love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth.\"+\nAnd from this chapter (1 John 4:7-17): +\"Beloved, let us love one\nanother: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of\nGod, and knoweth God. (8) He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God\nis love. (9) Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath\nsent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through\nhim. (10) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us,\nand sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. (11) Beloved, if\nGod so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (12) No man hath\nbeheld God at any time: If we love one another, God abideth in us,\nand his love is perfected in us: (13) Hereby we know that we abide in\nhim and he in us, because he hath given us of his spirit. (14) And we\nhave beheld and bear witness that the father hath sent the Son to be\nthe Saviour of the world. (15) Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is\nthe son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. (16) And we know\nand have believed the love which God hath in us. God is Love; and he\nthat hath abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him. (17)\nHerein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the\nday of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world.\"+\n\nThe God of what is called \"Modern Philosophy\" is \"The Absolute,\" and\nby \"The Absolute\" is generally meant a cold abstraction and not a\nclear, definite and warm personality Who loves, grieves, suffers, and\nWho works intelligently for others. And oftentimes the God of modern\nphilosophy is not only \"_in_ all things\" but _is_ all things and all\nthings are God. Such a God is no God at all. Whereas the God of the\nBible, as we shall see as we proceed, is a Divine Person who exists\napart from the world which He has created and Who existed before the\nworld He created, Who bears definite relations to the world He has\nmade and Who works along definite and clearly revealed lines. So we\ncome face to face with the question, What sort of a Being is the God\nof the Bible, the real God, the one true God, the God of Christianity,\nthe only God Whom we should worship and love and obey? The Kaiser also\ntalks much about God and his followers are fond of saying, \"Gott mit\nuns,\" but if any one will carefully study the Kaiser's utterances it\nbecomes plain that he does not mean by God the God of the Bible, the\nChristian God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n\nI. GOD IS SPIRIT\n\nFirst of all +\"God is Spirit.\"+ This we read in our first\ntext: John 4:24, +\"God is Spirit.\"+ You will note that in your\nBible, both the Authorised and Revised Versions, you read, +\"God\nis a Spirit.\"+ But there is no indefinite article in the Greek\nlanguage, and wherever it is necessary in the English translation to\nfit the English idiom, it has to be supplied, and it is supplied, in\nthis case. But there is really no reason for supplying it here any\nmore than there is for supplying it in 1 John 4:8 and translating,\n+\"God is a Love,\"+ or in 1 John 1:5 and translating +\"God\nis a Light.\"+ The preferable translation is as I have given it:\n+\"God is Spirit.\"+ This is a definition of the essential nature\nof God. What does it mean? Our Lord Jesus Himself has defined what\nis meant by \"spirit\" in Luke 24:39, where He is recorded as saying\nafter His resurrection: +\"See My hands and My feet, that it is I\nMyself; handle Me, and see, for a spirit not flesh and blood, as ye\nbehold Me having.\"+ It is evident from these words of our Lord that\n_spirit_ is that which is contrasted to body. That is to say, spirit\nis incorporeal, invisible reality. To say, \"God is Spirit\" is to say\nthat God is essentially incorporeal and invisible (cf. 1 Tim. 6:16),\nthat God in His essential nature is not material but immaterial and\ninvisible, but none the less real. This thought is also found in the\nvery heart of that revelation of Himself which God made to Moses in\nthe first division of the Old Testament. For example, we read in Deut.\n4:15-18: +\"Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no\nmanner of form on the day that Jehovah spake unto you in Horeb out of\nthe midst of the fire; (16) lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a\ngraven image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,\n(17) the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness\nof any winged bird that flieth in the Heavens. (18) The likeness of\nanything that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is\nin the water under the earth.\"+ This is a plain declaration way back\nfifteen centuries before Christ, of the _spirituality_ of God in His\nessential nature. God is essentially invisible spirit.\n\nBut it is also clearly revealed in the Word of God that \"spirit\" may be\nmanifested in visible, bodily form. We read in John 1:32 these words\nof John the Baptist speaking about what his own eyes had seen: +\"And\nJohn bore witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a\ndove out of heaven; and it abode upon him.\"+ Here, then, we see Him\nwho was essentially spirit manifesting Himself in a bodily, visible\nform.\n\nFurthermore in the Bible we are told that God has manifested Himself\nin visible form. We read in Ex. 24:9, 10: +\"Then went up Moses, and\nAaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: (10) and\nthey saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were\na paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for\nclearness.\"+\n\nWhat they saw was not God in His essential nature as Spiritual Being.\nIndeed, what we see when we see one another is not our essential self,\nbut the house we live in, and so John could say, as he does say in\nJohn 1:18: +\"No man hath seen God at any time.\"+ And so I could\nsay to you now that you do not see me. Nevertheless, it was a real\nmanifestation of God Himself that they saw, and so it could also be\nsaid, and said truthfully, that they had seen God, as it could be\ntruthfully said, \"you see me.\"\n\nFurthermore still, though God is essentially spirit, God has a visible\nform. This is taught in the most unmistakable terms in Phil. 2:6, where\nwe are told of our Lord Jesus that He existed originally \"in the _form_\nof God.\" The Greek word which is translated \"form\" in this passage\nmeans \"visible form,\" \"the form by which a person or thing strikes the\nvision,\" \"the external appearance.\" It cannot mean anything else. This\nis the definition given in the best Greek-English lexicon of the New\nTestament, of the word here translated \"form.\" Now as Jesus existed\noriginally \"in the form of God,\" it is evident that God Himself must\nhave a form, this form in which our Lord Jesus is said to have existed\noriginally.\n\nThat God in His external form, though not in His invisible essence, is\n_seeable_, is also clear from Acts 7:55, 56, where we read: +\"But\nhe+ (i.e., Stephen), +being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up\nsteadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing\non the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and\nthe Son of man standing on the right hand of God.\"+ Now if God has\nnot a form that can be seen, then, of course, the Lord Jesus could not\nbe seen standing upon the right hand of God. God is, as we shall see\nlater, everywhere; but God is not everywhere in the same sense. There\nis a locality where God is visibly and manifestly present in a way in\nwhich He is not present anywhere else. There is a place where He is\npresent visibly and manifests Himself as He does not elsewhere. The\nplace of God's visible presence and full manifestation of Himself is\nHeaven, though in His spiritual presence He pervades the universe. This\nis evident from many passages in the Scriptures. For example, it is\nclear from the prayer that our Lord taught us\u2014a portion of Scripture\nthat many accept who reject most of the Bible. Our Lord began the\nprayer that He taught His disciples with these words \"Our Father _Which\nArt in Heaven_.\" If these words mean anything, they certainly mean that\nGod, our Father, is in heaven in a way in which He is not elsewhere.\nThat was where God was when Jesus was addressing Him. We read again\nin Matt. 3:17: +\"Lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, this is\nmy beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.\"+ If these words mean\nanything, they mean that God was in heaven and that His voice came out\nof the heavens to the Lord Jesus who was here on earth. Again in John\n14:28 Jesus is recorded as saying:\n\n+\"Ye heard how I said to you, I go away and I come again unto you.\nIf ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father:\nfor the Father is greater than I.\"+ If these words mean anything,\ntaken in the light of the events that were to follow on the next day\nand the days following, they mean that Jesus was going away from the\nplace where He then was\u2014earth\u2014to another place where He was not\nwhen He spoke, i.e., heaven\u2014and that in going to heaven he was going\nto where God was, from earth where God was not in the sense in which\nHe was in heaven. Again we read in Acts 11:9: +\"A voice answered\nthe second time out of heaven, What God hath cleansed make not thou\ncommon.\"+ Here again God is represented as speaking from heaven\nwhere He was. Again our Lord Jesus Christ is recorded in John 20:17\nas saying to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection: +\"Touch me not;\nfor I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren\nand say to them, I ascend unto my father and to your father and my\nGod and your God,\"+ from which it is unmistakably evident that in\nthe conception of our Lord Jesus after His resurrection there was a\nplace where God was and to which He was going, and that place was up\nin heaven. There is no possibility of explaining this away by saying\nit is a figure of speech, the whole passage loses its meaning by any\nsuch interpretation, and to attempt to so explain it is a trick and\na subterfuge that will not bear close examination. Again the Apostle\nPaul tells us regarding our Lord Jesus Christ that God the Father\n+\"raised Him from the dead, and made Him to sit at His right hand\nin the heavenly places\"+ (Eph. 1:20) which makes it as clear as\nlanguage can make anything that there is a place, heaven, where God\nis in a sense that He is nowhere else, and where one can be placed at\nHis right hand. The same thing is evident from the verses that we have\nalready quoted in another connection, Acts 7:55, 56, where we are told\nthat Stephen +\"being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly\ninto heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right\nhand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of\nman standing on the right hand of God.\"+ The meaning of these words\nto anybody who wishes to know what words are intended to convey and not\nmerely to distort them to fit his own conception, is that God is in\nheaven locally present. There is no escaping this by any fair, honest\ninterpretation. Men who are skilful in the art of discrediting truth by\ngiving it bad names, and names that sound very scholarly, may call this\n\"anthropomorphism,\" and that sounds very learned. Nevertheless, be it\n\"anthropomorphism\" or what not, this is the clear teaching of the Word\nof God in spite of this or any other frightful terms used to scare\nimmature college boys and immature college girls. There is no mistaking\nthat this is the teaching of the Bible, and we have already proven\nthat the Bible is God's Word, and is to be taken at its face value in\nspite of all the attempts that men, who \"counting themselves wise, have\nbecome fools,\" make to explain it away.\n\n\nII. GOD IS A PERSON\n\nThe next thing that the Bible teaches about God is that _God is a\nperson_. That is to say He is a being who knows, feels, loves, hears\nprayer, speaks, acts, a being who acts intelligently upon us and upon\nwhom we can act.\n\nWhile God is in all things, He is a personality distinct from the\npersons and things in which He is, which He has created. The Bible,\nboth in the Old and New Testaments is full of this vital conception\nof \"a _living_ God\" as distinguished from the mere cold abstraction\nof \"The Absolute,\" or \"The Infinite,\" or \"The Supreme Being,\" or \"The\nGreat First Cause\" of which \"Modern Philosophy\" loves to prate. For\nexample, we read in Jer. 10:10-16: +\"But Jehovah is the true God;\nhe is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth\ntrembleth, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation. (11)\nThus shall ye say unto them, the gods that have not made the heaven\nand the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the\nheavens. (12) He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established\nthe world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched\nout the heavens. (13) When he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult\nof waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from\nthe ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth\nforth the wind out of his treasuries. (14) Every man is become brutish\nand is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven\nimage; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in\nthem. (15) They are vanity, a work of delusion; in the time of their\nvisitation they shall perish. (16) The portion of Jacob is not like\nthese; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of\nhis inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.\"+ In this passage God\nis distinguished from idols which are things and not persons, things\nwhich \"speak not\" \"cannot act,\" \"cannot do good neither is it in them\nto do evil\"; and we are told that Jehovah is _wiser_ than \"all the wise\nmen.\" Is \"the living God,\" \"an everlasting King,\" a being who hath\n\"wrath and indignation,\" separate from His creatures\u2014\"at His wrath the\nearth trembleth and the nations are not able to abide His indignation.\"\n\nIn Acts 14:15 we read: +\"Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are\nmen of like passions with you, and bring you good tidings, that ye\nshould turn from these things unto the living God, who made heaven and\nearth and sea, and all that in them is.\"+ Here also we have the\nrepresentation of _God as a personal being distinct from His created\nwork_, and also to be clearly distinguished from the idols which are\nnot living gods. In 1 Thess. 1:9, the converts at Thessalonica are\nrepresented as turning from dead gods, \"idols, to serve the _living_\nand true God.\"\n\nIn 2 Chron. 16:9 we are told that +\"The eyes of Jehovah run to and\nfro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf\nof them whose heart is perfect toward him,\"+ and in Ps. 94:9, 10 we\nread: +\"He that planteth the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed\nthe eye, shall he not see? He that punisheth nations, shall not he\ncorrect? Even he that teacheth men knowledge?\"+ This is clearly\nthe representation of a personal God and not a mere abstraction like\n\"The Absolute,\" or \"The Infinite,\" or \"The Supreme Being.\" The clear\ndistinction between God, who is immanent in all things, and dwells in\nbelievers, and the beings and persons in whom He dwells, is brought\nout very clearly by our Lord Himself in John 14:10: +\"Believest thou\nnot that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say\nunto you I speak not from myself: But the Father abiding in me doeth\nhis work.\"+ And again in the 24th verse of the same chapter where\nour Lord Jesus distinguishes between His own personality and that of\nthe Father, who dwelt in Him, in these words: +\"He that loveth me not\nkeepeth not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the\nFather's who sent me.\"+ This conception of God pervades the entire\nBible. The view of God presented in the Bible is utterly different\nfrom the conception of Pantheism and Buddhism and Theosophy and\nChristian Science. This conception is found in the opening words of the\nBible, Gen. 1:1: +\"In the beginning God created the heaven and the\nearth.\"+ Here the God of the Bible is clearly differentiated from\nthe so-called God of Pantheism, and the God of Christian Science. And\nthis same conception of God is found in the last chapter of the Bible,\nand it is found in every chapter of the Bible between the first and the\nlast. The God of the Bible is a Personal Being Who, while He created\nall things and is in all things, is a distinct personality separate\nfrom the persons and things He has created.\n\n\nIII. GOD'S PRESENT RELATION TO THE WORLD AND TO MEN\n\nWe turn now to a consideration of the present relation of this Personal\nGod presented to us in the Bible, to the world He has created and to\nthe men whom He has created.\n\n1. In the first place we find that _God sustains, governs and cares\nfor the world He has created. He shapes the whole present history of\nthe world._ This comes out again and again. A few illustrations must\nsuffice. We read in Ps. 104:27-30: +\"These wait all for thee, that\nthou mayest give them their food in due season. (28) Thou givest unto\nthem, they gather; thou openest thy hand, they are satisfied with\ngood. (29) Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away\ntheir breath, they die, and return to their dust. (30) Thou sendest\nforth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the\nground.\"+ And again in Ps. 75:6, 7: +\"For neither from the east,\nnor from the west, nor yet from the south, cometh lifting up. (7) But\nGod is the judge: he putteth down one, and lifteth up another.\"+\nAll these passages and others that could be cited, set forth the same\nconception of God's present relation to the world which He has created.\nThey show, as we have said, that God sustains, governs and cares for\nthe work He has created; that He shapes the whole present history of\nthe world.\n\n2. Now let us look at His relation to the affairs of men. We will find\nthat _God has a present, personal interest and an active hand in the\naffairs of men; that He makes a path for His people and leads them;\nthat He delivers, saves and punishes_. Here four illustrations from\nthe Bible must suffice. First of all Joshua 3:10: +\"And Joshua said,\nHereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will\nwithout fail drive out from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite,\nand the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite,\nand the Jebusite.\"+ Now turn to Dan. 6:20-22, 26, 27. +\"And when\nhe came near unto the den to Daniel, he cried with a lamentable voice:\nthe king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God,\nis thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from\nthe lions? (21) Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.\n(22) My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and\nthey have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in\nme; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.\" . . . \"(26) I\nmake a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and\nfear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and stedfast\nfor ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his\ndominion shall be even unto the end. (27) He delivereth and rescueth,\nand he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath\ndelivered Daniel from the power of the lions.\"+ Now turn to 1 Tim.\n4:10: +\"For to this end we labour and strive, because we have our\nhope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially\nof them that believe,\"+ and now turn to Heb. 10:28-31: +\"A man\nthat hath set at nought Moses' law dieth without compassion on the word\nof two or three witnesses: (29) Of how much sorer punishment, think\nye, shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son\nof God? and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was\nsanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of\ngrace? (30) For we know him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I\nwill recompense. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. (31) It is\na fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.\"+ In all\nof these passages we have this same conception of God in His relation\nto man, viz., that God has a personal interest and an active hand in\nthe affairs of men; that He makes a path for His people and leads them;\nthat He delivers, saves and punishes them.\n\nThe God of the Bible is to be clearly distinguished not merely from the\nGod of the Pantheists who has no existence separate from His creation,\nbut also from the God of the Deists who has created the world and put\ninto it all the necessary powers of self-government and development and\nset it going and left it to go of itself. The God of the Bible is a God\nwho is personally and actively present in the affairs of the universe\nto-day. He sustains, governs, cares for the world He has created,\nHe shapes the whole present history of the world. He has a present\npersonal interest and an active hand in the affairs of men and He it\nis that is back of all the events that are occurring to-day. He reigns\nand makes even the wrath of men to praise Him, and the remainder of\nwrath doth He restrain. The Kaiser may rage, armies may clash, force\nand violence and outrage may seem triumphant for the passing hour, but\nGod stands back of all; and through all the confusion and the discord\nand the turmoil and the agony and the ruin, through all the outrageous\natrocities that are making men's hearts stand still with horror, He\nis carrying out His own purposes of love and making all things work\ntogether for good to those who love Him.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF GOD\u2014THE INFINITE PERFECTION AND UNITY\nOF GOD\n\n \"God is Light.\"\u20141 John 1:5.\n\n \"God is Love.\"\u20141 John 4:8, 16.\n\n \"With God All Things are Possible.\"\u2014Matt. 19:26.\n\n \"His Understanding is Infinite.\"\u2014Ps. 147:5.\n\n\nWe are to consider again to-day the Christian conception of God. We\nsaw a week ago to-day that God is Spirit, that God is a person and\nthat God has a personal interest and an active hand in the affairs of\nmen to-day, that He sustains, governs and cares for the world He has\ncreated and that He shapes the whole present history of the world.\n\n\nI. THE INFINITE PERFECTION OF GOD\n\nThe next thing to be noted about the Christian conception of God is,\nthat _God is perfect and infinite in all His intellectual and moral\nattributes and in power_.\n\n1. First of all, fix your attention upon our first text: +\"God\nis Light\"+ (1 John 1:5). These three words form a marvellously\nbeautiful and overwhelmingly impressive statement of the truth. They\nset forth the Absolute Holiness and Perfect Wisdom of God. The words\nneed rather to be meditated upon than to be expounded. +\"In Him is\nno darkness at all.\"+ That is to say, in Him is no darkness of\nerror, no darkness of ignorance, no darkness of sin, no darkness of\nmoral imperfection or intellectual imperfection of any kind. The three\nwords, \"God is Light,\" form one of the most beautiful, one of the most\nstriking and one of the most stupendous statements of truth that was\never penned.\n\n2. To come to things more specific, _the God of the Bible is\nomnipotent_. This great truth comes out again and again in the Word\nof God. One direct statement of this great truth especially striking\nbecause of the connection in which it is found, occurs in Jer. 32:17,\n27: +\"Ah Lord Jehovah! Behold, thou hast made the heavens and the\nearth by thy great power and by thine outstretched arm: there is\nnothing too hard for thee.\"+ Here it is Jeremiah who makes the\nstatement, but in the 27th verse it is Jehovah Himself who says:\n+\"Behold, I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh: is there anything too\nhard for me?\"+\n\nIn Job 42:2 we read these words of Job, when at last he has been\nbrought to see and to recognise the true nature of Jehovah: +\"I\nknow that thou canst do all things and that no purpose of thine can\nbe restrained.\"+ In Matt. 19:26 our Lord Jesus says: +\"With God\nall things are possible.\"+ Taking these passages together, we are\nplainly taught by our Lord Himself and by others that _God can do all\nthings, that nothing is too hard for Him, that all things are possible\nwith Him. In a word, that God is omnipotent._ A very impressive passage\nin the book of Psalms setting forth this same great truth is Ps.\n33:6-9: +\"By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the\nhost of them by the breath of his mouth. (7) He gathereth the waters of\nthe sea together as a heap: he layeth up the deeps in storehouses. (8)\nLet all the earth fear Jehovah: let all the inhabitants of the world\nstand in awe of him. (9) For he spake, and it was done; he commanded,\nand it stood fast.\"+ Here we see God by the mere utterance of His\nvoice bringing to pass anything that He desires to be brought to pass.\nWe find this same lofty conception of God in the very first chapter\nof the Bible, that chapter that so many people who imagine themselves\nscholarly are telling us is outgrown and not up to date, and yet which\ncontains some of the sublimest utterances that were ever written,\nunmatched by anything that any philosopher or scientist or platform\norator is saying to-day. The very first words of that chapter read:\n+\"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth\"+ (Gen.\n1:1), a description of the origin of things that has never been matched\nfor simplicity, sublimity and profundity; and two verses further down,\nin the third verse, we read: +\"And God said, Let there be light: and\nlight was.\"+ These words need no comment. There is here a sublimity\nof thought in the setting forth of the omnipotence of God's mere word\nbefore which any truly intelligent and alert soul will stand in wonder\nand awe. There is nothing in poetry or in philosophical dissertation,\nancient or modern, that can for one moment be put in comparison with\nthese sublime words. Over and over again the thought is brought out\nin the Word of God that all nature is absolutely subject to God's\nwill and word. We see this, for example, in Ps. 107:25-29: +\"For he\ncommandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves\nthereof. (26) They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the\ndepths: their soul melteth away because of trouble. (27) They reel to\nand fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.\n(28) Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble, and he bringeth them\nout of their distresses. (29) He maketh the storm a calm, so that\nthe waves thereof are still.\"+ Another description of a similar\ncharacter is found in Nahum 1:3-6: +\"Jehovah is slow to anger, and\ngreat in power, and will by no means clear the guilty: Jehovah hath his\nway in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of\nhis feet. (4) He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all\nthe rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel and the flower of Lebanon\nlanguisheth. (5) The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and\nthe earth is upheaved at his presence, yea, the world, and all that\ndwell therein. (6) Who can stand before his indignation? and who can\nabide in the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like\nfire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him.\"+ What a picture we\nhave here of the omnipotence and awful majesty of God!\n\nNot only is nature represented as being absolutely subject to God's\nwill and word, but men also are represented as being absolutely subject\nto His will and word. For example, we read in Jas. 4:12-15: +\"One\nonly is the lawgiver and judge, even he who is able to save and to\ndestroy: But who art thou that judgest thy neighbour? (13) Come now,\nye that say, to-day or to-morrow we will go into this city, and spend\na year there, and trade, and get gain: (14) Whereas ye know not what\nshall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapour that\nappeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (15) For that\nye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or\nthat.\"+\n\nHappy is the man who voluntarily subjects himself to God's will and\nword, but whether we voluntarily subject ourselves to God's will and\nword or not, we are subject to His will and word whether or no. The\nangels also are subject to His will and word (Heb. 1:13, 14) and even\nSatan himself is, although entirely against his own will, absolutely\nsubject to the will and word of God, as is evident from Job 1:12 and\nJob 2:6.\n\n_The exercise of God's omnipotence is limited by His own wise and holy\nand loving will._ God _can do_ anything, but _will do_ only that which\ninfinite wisdom and holiness and love dictate. This comes out, for\nexample, in Isa. 59:1, 2: +\"Behold, Jehovah's hand is not shortened,\nthat it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: (2)\nBut your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your\nsins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.\"+\n\n3. _The God of the Bible is also omniscient._ In 1 John 3:20 we read:\n+\"God knoweth all things.\"+ Turning to the Old Testament, in\nPs. 147:5, we read: +\"Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his\nunderstanding is infinite.\"+ The literal translation of the last\nclause of this passage is \"Of his understanding there is no number.\" In\nthese passages it is plainly declared that \"God knoweth all things\" and\nthat \"His understanding is infinite.\" In Job 37:16 Elihu the messenger\nof God is represented as saying that Jehovah is \"perfect in knowledge.\"\nAlong the same line, in Acts 15:18 we read: +\"Known unto God are all\nhis works from the beginning of the world.\"+ The Revised Version\nmakes a change in the translation of this verse but this change does\nnot alter the sense of the truth here set forth that God knows all His\nworks and all things from the beginning of the world. _Known to Him is\neverything from the most vast to the most minute detail._ In Ps. 147:4\nwe are told that, +\"He telleth the number of the stars; he knoweth\nthem all by name.\"+ While in Matt. 10:29 we are told that _not a\nsparrow_ falleth to the ground without Him. The stars in all their\nstupendous magnitude and the sparrows in all their insignificance are\nall equally in His mind.\n\nWe are further told that everything has a part in His purpose and\nplan. In Acts 3:17, 18, the Apostle Peter says of the crucifixion\nof our Lord, the wickedest act in all the history of the human\nrace: +\"And now, brethren, I wot that in ignorance ye did it, as\ndid also your rulers. But the things which God foreshowed by the\nmouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus\nfulfilled.\"+ In Acts 2:23 Peter declared on the day of Pentecost\n(although the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was the wickedest act in\nall history) that nevertheless the Lord Jesus was +\"Delivered up by\nthe determinate council and foreknowledge of God.\"+ According to\nthe Psalmist (Ps. 76:10) God takes the acts of the wickedest men into\nHis plans and makes the wrath of men to praise Him, and the remainder\nof wrath doth He restrain. Even the present war with all its horrors,\nwith all its atrocities, with all its abominations and all its nameless\nwickednesses, was foreknown of God and taken into His own gracious plan\nof the ages; and He will make every event in this present war, even the\nmost shocking things, designed by the vilest conspiracy of unprincipled\nmen, utterly unhuman and beastly men and Devil inspired men, work\ntogether for good to those who love God, for those who are the called\naccording to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).\n\n_The whole plan of the ages, not merely of the centuries, but of\nthe immeasurable ages of God, and every man's part in it, has been\nknown to God from all eternity._ This is made very clear in Eph.\n1:9-12, where we read: +\"Having made known unto us the mystery\nof his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in\nhim unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times, to sum up all\nthings in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the\nearth; in him, I say, in whom also we were made a heritage, having\nbeen foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all\nthings after the counsel of his will; to the end that we should be to\nthe praise of his glory, we who before hoped in Christ.\"+ And in\nEph. 3:4-9, we read: +\"Wherefore when ye read, ye can perceive my\nunderstanding in the mystery of Christ; which in other generations was\nnot made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his\nholy prophets and apostles in the Spirit; to wit, that the Gentiles are\nfellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of\nthe promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, whereof I was made a\nminister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me\naccording to the working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the\nleast of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles\nthe unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the\ndispensation of the mystery which from all ages has been hid in God\nwho created all things.\"+ There are no after-thoughts with God.\nEverything is seen, known, purposed and planned for from the outset.\nWell may we exclaim: +\"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom\nand knowledge of God: how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways\npast finding out.\"+ (Rom. 11:33.) God knows from all eternity what\nHe will do to all eternity.\n\n4. _God is also absolutely and infinitely holy._ This is a point of\ncentral and fundamental importance in the Bible conception of God.\nIt comes out in our first text: +\"God is light, and in him is no\ndarkness at all.\"+ John when he wrote these words gave them as the\nsummary of +\"The message which we have heard from God.\"+ (1 John\n1:5.) In Isa. 6:3 in the vision of Jehovah which was given to Isaiah\nin the year that King Uzziah died, the \"seraphim,\" or \"burning ones,\"\nburning in their own intense holiness, are represented as standing\nbefore Jehovah with covered faces and covered feet and constantly\ncrying, \"_Holy, holy, holy_, is Jehovah of Hosts.\" And in 1 Pet. 1:16\nGod cries to us, +\"Be ye holy, for I am holy.\"+\n\nThis thought of the infinite and awe-inspiring holiness of God pervades\nthe entire Bible. It underlies everything in it. The entire Mosaic\nsystem is built upon and about this fundamental and central truth. Its\nsystem of washings; the divisions of the tabernacle; the divisions\nof the people into ordinary Israelites, Levites, Priests and High\nPriests, who were permitted different degrees of approach to God under\nstrictly defined conditions, insistence upon sacrifices of blood as\nthe necessary medium of approach to God; God's directions to Moses in\nEx. 3:5, to Joshua in Josh. 5:15, the punishment of Uzziah in 2 Chron.\n26:16-26, the strict orders to Israel in regard to approaching Sinai\nwhen Jehovah came down upon it; the doom of Korah, Dathan and Abiram in\nNum. 16:1-33; and the destruction of Nadab and Abihu in Lev. 10:1-3:\nall these were intended to teach, emphasise and burn into the minds\nand hearts of the Israelites the fundamental truth that God is holy,\nunapproachably holy. _The truth that God is holy is the fundamental\ntruth of the Bible_, of the Old Testament and the New Testament, of the\nJewish religion and the Christian religion. It is the pre\u00ebminent factor\nin the Christian conception of God. There is no fact in the Christian\nConception of God that needs more to be emphasised in our day than the\nfact of the absolute, unqualified and uncompromising holiness of God.\nThat is the chief note that is lacking in Christian Science, Theosophy,\nOccultism, Buddhism, New Thought, the New Theology and all the base but\nboasted cults of the day. That great truth underlies those fundamental\ndoctrines of the Bible,\u2014the Atonement by Shed Blood and Justification\nby Faith. _The doctrine of the holiness of God is the keystone in the\narch of Christian truth._\n\n5. _God is also love._ This truth is declared in one of our texts.\nThe words +\"God is love\"+ are found twice in the same chapter (1\nJohn 4:8, 16). This truth is essentially the same truth as that +\"God\nis light\"+ and +\"God is holy,\"+ for the very essence of true\nholiness is love, and \"light\" is \"love\" and \"love\" is \"light.\"\n\n6. Furthermore, God is not only perfect in His intellectual and moral\nattributes and in power, _He is also omnipresent_. This thought of God\ncomes out in both the Old Testament and the New. In Ps. 139:7-10 we\nread: +\"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee\nfrom thy presence? (8) If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If\nI make my bed in Sheol, behold thou art there. (9) If I take the wings\nof the morning, and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea; (10) Even\nthere shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.\"+\nThere is no place where one can flee from God's presence, for God is\neverywhere. This great truth is set forth in a remarkable way in Jer.\n23:23, 24: +\"Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God afar\noff? (24) Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see\nhim? saith Jehovah. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith Jehovah.\"+\n\nLast week we saw that God has a local habitation, that there is a place\nwhere He exists and manifests Himself in a way in which He does not\nmanifest Himself everywhere; but while we insist upon that clearly\nrevealed truth, we must also never lose sight of the fact that _God is\neverywhere_. We find this same truth set forth by Paul in his sermon\nto the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers on Mars Hill, Acts 17:24-28:\n+\"The God that made the world, and all things therein, he, being\nLord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands:\n(25) Neither is served by men's hands as though he needed anything,\nseeing he himself giveth to all life and breath and all things. (26)\nAnd he made of one every nation of men who dwell on all the face of\nthe earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds\nof their habitations. (27) For in him we live, and move, and have our\nbeing; as certain even of your own poets have said, for we are also his\noffspring.\"+\n\nFrom these passages we see that God is everywhere. He is in all parts\nof the universe and near each individual. In Him each individual lives\nand moves and has his being. He is in every rose and lily and blade of\ngrass.\n\n7. There is one other thought in the Christian conception of God that\nneeds to be placed alongside of His omnipresence and that is His\neternity. _God is eternal. His existence had no beginning and will have\nno ending, He always was, always is and always shall be._ God is not\nonly everywhere present in space, He is everywhere present in time.\nThis conception of God appears constantly in the Bible. We are told\nway back in Gen. 21:33 that Abraham called +\"On the name of Jehovah,\nthe everlasting God.\"+ In Isa. 40:28 we read this description of\nJehovah: +\"Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? The everlasting\nGod, Jehovah, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not,\nneither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding.\"+\nHere again He is called \"The Everlasting God.\" Habakkuk in Hab. 1:12\nsets forth the same conception of God. He says, +\"Art not thou from\neverlasting, O Jehovah my God, mine holy one?\"+ The Psalmist gives\nus the same representation of God in Ps. 90:2, 4: +\"Before the\nmountains were brought forth, or ever thou hast formed the earth and\nthe world, even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God. (4) For a\nthousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is passed, and\nas a watch in the night.\"+ We have the same representation of God in\nthe 102nd Ps., verses 24-27: +\"I said, O my God, take me not away in\nthe midst of my days: Thy years are throughout all generations. (25)\nOf old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are\nthe work of thy hands. (26) They shall perish, but thou shalt endure;\nyea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou\nchange them, and they shall be changed; (27) But thou art the same, and\nthy years shall have no end.\"+\n\nThe very name of God, His covenant name, Jehovah, sets forth His\neternity. He is the eternal \"I am,\" the One who is, was and ever shall\nbe. (Cf. Ex. 3:14, 15.)\n\n\nII. THERE IS ONE GOD\n\nOne more fact about the Christian conception of God remains to be\nmentioned and that is: _There is but one God_. The Unity of God comes\nout again and again in both the Old Testament and the New. For example,\nwe read in Deut. 4:35: +\"Jehovah he is God. There is none else\nbeside him.\"+ And in Deut. 6:4 we read: +\"Hear O Israel: Jehovah\nour God is one Jehovah.\"+ Turning to the New Testament in 1 Tim.\n2:5 we read: +\"There is one God, one mediator also between God and\nman, himself man, Christ Jesus.\"+ And in Mark 12:29 our Lord Jesus\nHimself says: +\"Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.\"+\n\nBut we must bear in mind the character of the Divine Unity. It is\nclearly revealed in the Bible that in this Divine Unity, in this one\nGodhead, there is a multiplicity of persons. This comes out in a\nvariety of ways.\n\n1. First of all, _the Hebrew word translated \"One\" in these various\npassages given denotes a compound unity_, not a simple unity. (Cf. 1\nCor. 3:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:13; John 17:22, 23; Gal. 3:28.)\n\n2. In the second place, _the Old Testament word most frequently used\nfor God is a plural noun_. The Hebrew grammarians and lexicographers\ntried to explain this by saying that it was the \"pluralis majestatis,\"\nbut the very simple explanation is that the Hebrews, in spite of their\nintense monotheism, used a plural name for God because there is a\nplurality of persons in the one Godhead.\n\n3. More striking yet, as a proof of the plurality of persons in the one\nGodhead, is the fact that God Himself uses plural pronouns in speaking\nof Himself. For example, in the first chapter of the Bible, Gen. 1:26,\nwe read that God said: +\"Let us make man in our image, after our\nlikeness.\"+ And in Gen. 11:7, He is further recorded as saying:\n+\"Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they\ncannot understand one another's speech.\"+ In Gen. 3:22 we read:\n+\"And Jehovah God said, Behold, man is become as one of us to know\ngood and evil.\"+ And in that wonderful vision to which reference has\nalready been made, in which Isaiah saw Jehovah, we read this statement\nof Isaiah's in Isa. 6:8: +\"And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying,\nWhom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send\nme.\"+\n\n4. Another illustration of the plurality of persons in the one Godhead\nin the Old Testament conception of God is found in Zech. 2:10, 11;\nwhere Jehovah speaks of Himself _as sent by Jehovah_ in these words:\n+\"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, lo, I come, and I will\ndwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah. (11) And many nations shall\njoin themselves to Jehovah in that day, and shall be my people and I\nwill dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that Jehovah of\nhosts hath sent me unto thee.\"+ Here Jehovah clearly speaks of\nhimself as _sent by Jehovah_, thus clearly indicating two persons in\nthe Deity.\n\n5. Another indication of the plurality of persons in the Godhead in the\nOld Testament conception of God is found in the fact that \"The Angel of\nJehovah\" in the Old Testament is at the same time distinguished from\nand identified with Jehovah.\n\n6. This same thought of the plurality of persons in the one Godhead\nis brought out in John 1:1, where we reach the very climax of this\nthought. Here we are told in so many words: +\"In the beginning was\nthe word and the word was with God and the word was God.\"+ We\nshall see later, when we come to study the Deity of Christ and the\nPersonality and Deity of the Holy Spirit, that the Lord Jesus and the\nHoly Spirit are clearly designated as divine beings and at the same\ntime distinguished from one another, and from God the Father. So it is\nclear that in the Christian conception of God while there is but one\nGod there is a multiplicity of persons in the one Godhead.\n\nIn these two sermons on \"The Christian Conception of God\" we have\nvery inadequately stated that conception. This conception of God\nruns through the whole Bible from the first chapter of the book of\nGenesis to the last chapter of Revelation, and this is one of the\nmany marvellous illustrations of the divine unity of the Book. How\nwonderful is that Book, in that there is this unity of thought on\nthis very profound doctrine pervading the whole book! It is a clear\nindication that the Bible is the Word of God. There is in the Bible a\nprofounder philosophy than is found in any human philosophy, ancient or\nmodern, and the only way to account for it is that God Himself is the\nauthor of this incomparable philosophy. What a wondrous God we have!\nHow we ought to meditate upon His person! With what awe and at the same\ntime with what delight we should come into His presence and bow before\nHim in adoring contemplation of the wonder and beauty and majesty and\nglory of His being!\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nTHE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST\n\n \"Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked\n them a question, saying, What think ye of the Christ? whose son\n is He?\"\u2014Matt. 22:41, 42.\n\n\nThe question that our Lord Jesus here puts to the Pharisees is the\nmost fundamental question concerning Christian thought and faith that\ncan be put to anybody in any age. Jesus Christ Himself is the centre\nof Christianity, so the most fundamental questions of faith are those\nthat concern the person of Christ. If a man really holds right views\nconcerning the person of Jesus Christ he will sooner or later get right\nviews on every other question. If he holds a wrong view concerning\nthe person of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is pretty sure to go wrong on\neverything else sooner or later. +What think ye of Christ?+ That\nis the great central question, that is the vital question.\n\nAnd the most fundamental question concerning the person of Christ\nis, is Jesus Christ really God? Not merely is He Divine, but is He\nactually God? When I was a boy, to say you believed in the Divinity\nof Christ, meant that you believed in the real Deity of Christ, that\nyou believed that Jesus was actually a Divine person, that He was God.\nIt no longer means that. The Devil is wise, shrewd, subtle, and he\nknows that the most effectual way to instil error into the minds of\nthe inexpert and unwary is to use old and precious words and put a new\nmeaning into them. So when his messengers masquerading as \"ministers of\nrighteousness\" seek to lead, if possible, the elect astray, they use\nthe old precious words but with an entirely new and entirely different\nand entirely false meaning. They talk about \"the Divinity of Christ,\"\nbut they do not mean at all by it what intelligent Christians in\nformer days meant by it. Just so they talk of \"_the atonement_,\" but\nthey do not mean at all by the atonement the substitutionary death of\nJesus Christ in our place, by which eternal life is secured for us.\nAnd oftentimes when they talk about Christ they do not mean at all\nour Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the actual historic Jesus of the\nfour gospels, they mean an ideal Christ, or a Christ principle. So our\nsubject this morning is not the Divinity of Christ, but the Deity of\nChrist, and our question is not is Jesus Christ Divine, but is Jesus\nChrist God? Was that person who was born at Bethlehem nineteen hundred\nand twenty-one years ago, and who lived thirty-three or thirty-four\nyears here upon earth as recorded in the four gospels of Matthew, Mark,\nLuke and John, who was crucified on Calvary's cross, who rose from\nthe dead the third day, and was exalted from earth to heaven, to the\nright hand of the Father, was He God manifested in the flesh, was He\nGod embodied in a human being? Was He and is He a being worthy of our\nabsolute faith, and supreme love, and our unhesitating obedience, and\nour whole-hearted worship, just as God the Father is worthy of our\nabsolute faith and supreme love and unhesitating obedience and our\nwhole-hearted worship? Should all men honour Jesus Christ even as they\nhonour God the Father (John 5:23)? Not merely is He an example that we\ncan wisely follow, or a Master whom we can wisely serve, but is He a\nGod Whom we can rightly worship?\n\nI presume that most of us do believe that He was God manifested in\nthe flesh, and that He is God to-day at the right hand of the Father,\nbut why do you believe so? Are you so intelligent in your faith,\nand therefore so well grounded in your faith, that no glib talker\nor reasoner, no Unitarian or Russellite or Christian Scientist or\nTheosophist, or other errorist can confuse you and upset you and lead\nyou astray? It is important that we be thoroughly sound in our faith\nat this point, and thoroughly well-informed, wherever else we may be\nin ignorance or error, for we are distinctly told in John 20:31 that\n+\"These are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ,\nthe Son of God; and that believing, ye may have life in His name.\"+\nIt is evident from these words of the inspired Apostle John that this\nquestion is not merely a matter of theoretical opinion, that it is a\nmatter that concerns our salvation. It is to confirm and instruct you\nin your blessed faith, your saving faith in Jesus Christ as a Divine\nperson, that I speak this morning. When I studied the subject of the\nDivinity of Christ in the theological seminary I got the impression\nthat there were a few proof-texts in the Bible that conclusively proved\nthat He was Divine. Years later I found that there were not merely a\nfew proof-texts that proved this, but that the Bible in many ways and\nin countless passages clearly taught that Jesus Christ was God manifest\nin the flesh. Indeed I found that the Doctrine of the Deity of Jesus\nChrist formed the very warp and woof of the Bible.\n\n\nI. DIVINE NAMES\n\nThe first line of proof of the absolute Deity of our Lord Jesus is\nthat _many names and titles clearly implying Deity are used of Jesus\nChrist in the Bible, some of them over and over again, the total number\nof passages reaching far into the hundreds_. Of course, I can give\nyou only a few illustrations. Turn with me first of all to Rev. 1:17,\n+\"And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his\nright hand upon me saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last.\"+\nThe context shows clearly that our Lord Jesus was the speaker, and here\nour Lord Jesus distinctly calls Himself \"_the First and the Last_.\"\nNow this beyond a question is a Divine name, for in Isa. 44:6 we read,\n+\"Thus sayeth Jehovah, the king of Israel, and his redeemer, Jehovah\nof hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no\nGod.\"+ In Rev. 22:12, 13, our Lord Jesus says that He is the Alpha\nand Omega. His words are, +\"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is\nwith me, to render to each man according as his work is. I am Alpha\nand Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.\"+\nNow in this same book in the first chapter and the eighth verse _the\nLord God_ declares that He is the Alpha and the Omega. His words are,\n+\"I am the Alpha, and the Omega, saith the Lord God, which is and\nwhich was and which is to come, the Almighty.\"+ In 1 Cor. 2:8,\nthe Apostle Paul speaks of our crucified Lord Jesus as \"_the Lord of\nglory_.\" His exact words are, +\"Which none of the princes of this\nworld knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the\nLord of glory.\"+ There can be no question that \"the Lord of glory\"\nis Jehovah God, for we read in Ps. 24:8-10, +\"Who is this king of\nglory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up\nyour heads, O ye gates; yea lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the\nking of glory will come in. Who is the king of glory? Jehovah of hosts.\nHe is the king of glory.\"+ And we are told in the passage already\nreferred to that our crucified Lord Jesus was the King of Glory,\ntherefore He must be Jehovah. In John 20:28 Thomas addressed the\nLord Jesus as his Lord and his God, +\"And Thomas answered and said\nunto him, My Lord and my God.\"+ Unitarians have endeavoured to get\naround the force of this utterance of Thomas by saying that Thomas was\nexcited and that he was not addressing the Lord Jesus, but was saying\n\"my Lord and my God\" as an ejaculation of astonishment, just in the way\nthat profane people sometimes use these exclamations to-day, but this\ninterpretation is impossible, and shows to what desperate straits the\nUnitarians are driven; for Jesus Himself commended Thomas for seeing\nit and saying it. Our Lord Jesus' words immediately following those\nof Thomas are, +\"Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed:\nblessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed\"+ (John\n20:29). In the correct translation of Titus 2:13, the translation\ngiven in the English revision, not in the American Standard Revision,\nour Lord Jesus is spoken of as, \"_our great God_ and Saviour Jesus\nChrist.\" In Rom. 9:5, Paul tells us that +\"Christ is over all, God\nblessed forever.\"+ The Unitarians have made desperate efforts to\novercome the force of these words, but the only fair translation\nand interpretation of the words that Paul wrote in Greek are the\ntranslation and interpretation found in both our Authorised and Revised\nVersions. There can be no honest doubt to one who goes to the Bible to\nfind out what it actually teaches, and not to read his own thought into\nit, that _Jesus is spoken of by various names and titles that beyond\na question imply Deity_, and that He in so many words is called God.\nIn Heb. 1:8 it is said in so many words, of the Son, +\"But unto the\nSon he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of\nrighteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.\"+ If we should go no\nfurther it is evidently the clear and often repeated teaching of the\nBible that Jesus Christ was really God.\n\n\nII. DIVINE ATTRIBUTES\n\nBut there is a second line of proof that Jesus Christ was God, a proof\nequally convincing, and that is, _all the five distinctively Divine\nattributes are ascribed to Jesus Christ, and \"all the fulness of the\nGodhead\" is said to dwell in Him_. There are five distinctively Divine\nattributes, that is five attributes that God alone possesses. These are\nOmnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, Eternity, and Immutability.\nEach one of these distinctively Divine attributes are ascribed to\nJesus Christ. First of all, omnipotence is ascribed to Jesus Christ.\nNot only are we taught that Jesus had power over disease and death\nand winds and sea and demons, that they were all subject to His word,\nand that He is far above all principality, and power, and might,\nand dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world\nbut also in the world to come (Eph. 1:20-23), but in Heb. 1:3 it is\nsaid in so many words that He +\"Upholds all things by the word of\nhis power.\"+ Omniscience is also ascribed to Him. We are taught\nin the Bible that Jesus knew men's lives, even their secret history\n(John 4:16, 19), that He knew the secret thoughts of men, knew all\nmen, knew what was in man (Mark 2:8; Luke 5:22; John 2:24, 25) which\nknowledge we are distinctly told in 2 Chron. 6:30 and Jer. 17:9, 10,\nGod only possesses, but we are told in so many words in John 16:30\nthat Jesus knew \"all things,\" and in Col. 2:3 we are told that in Him\n\"are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.\" Omnipresence is\nalso ascribed to Him. We are told in Matt. 18:20 that where two or\nthree are gathered together in His name, that He is in the midst of\nthem, and in Matt. 28:20 that wherever His obedient disciples should\ngo He would be with them, even unto the end of the age, and in John\n14:20 and 2 Cor. 13:5 we are told that He dwells in each believer,\nin all the millions of believers scattered over the earth. In Eph.\n1:23 we are told in so many words that He \"_filleth all in all_.\"\nEternity is also ascribed to Him. We are told in John 1:1 that \"_in\nthe beginning_ was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word\nwas God.\" In John 8:57 Jesus Himself said, +\"Verily, verily, I say\nunto you, before Abraham was, I am.\"+ Note that the Lord Jesus did\nnot merely say that \"before Abraham was _I was_,\" but that \"before\nAbraham was, I AM,\" thus declaring Himself to be the eternal\n\"I AM.\" Even in the Old Testament we have a declaration of\nthe eternity of the Christ who was to be born in Bethlehem. In Micah\n5:2 we read, +\"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little\namong the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth\nunto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been\nfrom of old, from everlasting.\"+ And in Isa. 9:6 we are told of\nthe child that is to be born, +\"For unto us a child is born, unto\nus a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and\nhis name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the\nEverlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.\"+ And in Heb. 13:8 we are\ntold that +\"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for\never.\"+ His immutability is also taught in the passage just quoted\nfrom Hebrews, and in the first chapter of the same book, the twelfth\nverse we are told that while even the heavens change, the Lord Jesus\ndoes not change. The exact words are, +\"They shall perish, but thou\nremainest: They all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a mantle\nshalt thou roll them up, as a garment, and they shall be changed: but\nthou art the same. And thy years shall not fail.\"+ So we see that\neach one of the five distinctly Divine attributes were ascribed to our\nLord Jesus Christ. And in Col. 2:9 we are told in so many words, +\"In\nhim dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily\"+ (i.e., in a\nbodily form). Here again we might rest our case, for what has been said\nunder this head, even if taken alone, clearly proves the absolute Deity\nof our Lord Jesus Christ. It shows that He possessed every perfection\nof nature and character that God the Father possesses.\n\n\nIII. DIVINE OFFICES\n\nBut we do not need to rest the case here. There is a third unanswerable\nline of proof that Jesus Christ is God, namely, _all the distinctively\nDivine offices are predicated of Jesus Christ_. There are seven\ndistinctively Divine offices. That is to say, there are seven things\nthat God alone can do, and each one of these seven distinctively Divine\noffices are ascribed to Jesus Christ. The seven distinctively Divine\noffices are: Creation, Preservation, Forgiveness of Sin, the Raising of\nthe Dead, the Transformation of Bodies, Judgment, and the Bestowal of\nEternal Life, and each of these is ascribed to Jesus Christ. Creation\nis ascribed to Him. In Heb. 1:10 these words are spoken to our Lord:\n+\"And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the\nearth; and the heavens are the works of thy hands.\"+ The context\nclearly shows that the Lord addressed is the Lord Jesus. In John 1:3\nwe are told that +\"All things were made through him; and without him\nwas not anything made that was made.\"+ Preservation of the universe\nand of everything is also ascribed to Him in Heb. 1:3 where it is said\nof the Lord Jesus, +\"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the\nexpress image of his+ (i.e., God's) +substance and upholding\nall things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged\nour sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.\"+\nThe forgiveness of sin is ascribed to Him. He Himself says in Mark\n2:5-10 when His power to forgive sins was questioned, because that was\nrecognised as a Divine power, +\"That ye may know that the Son of\nman hath power on earth to forgive sins.\"+ The future raising of\nthe dead is distinctly ascribed to Him in John 6:39, 44, +\"And this\nis the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which He hath\ngiven me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last\nday. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw\nhim: and I will raise him up at the last day.\"+ The transformation\nof our bodies is ascribed to Him in Phil. 3:21, R. V. In 2 Tim. 4:1\njudgment is ascribed to Him: we are told that He shall \"judge the quick\nand the dead.\" Jesus Himself declared that He would be the judge of\nall mankind, and emphasised the fact of the Divine character of that\noffice. In John 5:22, 23 He said, +\"For neither doth the Father judge\nany man, but He hath given all judgment unto the Son, that all men may\nhonour the Son, even as they honour the Father.\"+ The bestowal of\neternal life is ascribed to Him time and time again. In John 10:28 He\nHimself says, +\"And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall\nnever perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.\"+ And\nin John 17:1, 2, He says, +\"Father, the hour is come; glorify thy\nSon, that the Son may glorify thee: even as thou gavest Him authority\nover all flesh, that to all whom thou hast given him, He should give\neternal life.\"+ Here then we have the seven distinctively Divine\noffices all predicated of Jesus Christ. This alone would prove that\nHe is God, and we might rest the case here, but there are still other\nproofs of His absolute Deity.\n\n\nIV. STATEMENTS WHICH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ARE MADE DISTINCTLY OF\nJEHOVAH, GOD, TAKEN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TO REFER TO JESUS CHRIST\n\nThe fourth line of proof of the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ is found\nin the fact that _over and over again statements which in the Old\nTestament are made distinctly of Jehovah, God, are taken in the New\nTestament to refer to Jesus Christ_. We have not time to illustrate\nthis at length, but will give but one illustration where many might be\ngiven. In Jer. 11:20 the prophet says, +\"But, O Lord of hosts, that\njudgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see\nthy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.\"+\nHere the prophet distinctly says that it is Jehovah of Hosts who\n_judgest_ and _triest the reins and the heart_. And in the 17th chapter\nand the tenth verse Jeremiah represents Jehovah Himself as saying the\nsame thing in these words, +\"I, Jehovah, search the heart, I try\nthe reins, even to give every man according to his ways, according to\nthe fruit of his doings.\"+ But in the New Testament in Rev. 2:23\n_the Lord Jesus_ says, +\"I am he which searcheth the reins and\nthe hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your\nworks.\"+ We are distinctly told in the context that it is \"The Son\nof God\" who is speaking here. So Jesus claims for Himself in the N. T.\nwhat Jehovah in the O. T. says is true of Himself and of Himself alone,\nand in very many other instances statements which in the Old Testament\nare made distinctly of Jehovah, God, are taken in the N. T. to refer\nto Jesus Christ. This is to say, in New Testament thought and doctrine\nJesus Christ occupies the place that Jehovah occupies in Old Testament\nthought and doctrine.\n\n\nV. THE WAY IN WHICH THE NAME OF GOD THE FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST THE SON\nARE COUPLED TOGETHER\n\nThe fifth line of proof of the absolute Deity of our Lord is found\n_in the way in which the name of Jesus Christ is coupled with that\nof God the Father. In numerous passages His name is coupled with the\nname of God the Father in a way in which it would be impossible to\ncouple the name of any finite being with that of the Deity._ We have\ntime for but a few of the many illustrations that might be given. A\nstriking instance is in the words of our Lord Himself in John 14:23\nwhere we read, +\"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me,\nhe will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and he will come\nunto him, and make our abode with him.\"+ Here our Lord Jesus does\nnot hesitate to couple Himself with the Father in such a way as to say\n\"_we_,\" i.e., _God the Father and I_ will come and make our abode with\nhim. In John 14:1 He says, +\"Let not your heart be troubled: Believe\nin God, believe also in me.\"+ If Jesus Christ was not God this\nis shocking blasphemy. There is absolutely no middle ground between\nadmitting the Deity of Jesus Christ and charging Christ with the most\ndaring and appalling blasphemy of which any man in all history was ever\nguilty.\n\n\nVI. DIVINE WORSHIP TO BE GIVEN TO JESUS CHRIST\n\nThere is a sixth line of proof of the absolute Deity of our Lord\nJesus. Those already given have been decisive, each one of the five\nhas been decisive, but this, if possible, is the most decisive of\nthem all, and that is, that _we are taught in so many words that\nJesus Christ should be worshipped as God, both by angels and men_. In\nnumerous places in the gospels we see Jesus Christ accepting without\nhesitation a worship which good men and angels declined with fear,\nand which He Himself taught should be rendered only to God (Matt.\n28:9; Luke 24:52; Mark 14:33; cf. Acts 10:25, 26; Rev. 22:8, 9, R. V.;\nMatt. 4:9, 10). A curious and very misleading comment is made in the\nmargin of the American Standard Revision upon the meaning of the word\ntranslated \"worship\" in these passages, and that is that \"the Greek\nword translated worship denotes an act of reverence, _whether paid to\na creature_ or to the Creator.\" Now this is true, but it is utterly\nmisleading; for while this word is used to denote \"an act of reverence\npaid to a creature\" _by idolators_, our Lord Jesus Himself distinctly\nsays, using exactly the same Greek word, +\"Thou shalt worship the\nLord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve,\"+ and on the other hand\nHe says in John 5:23 that +\"All men should honour the Son even as\nthey honour the Father.\"+ And in Rev. 5:8, 9, 12, 13 the four living\ncreatures and the four and twenty elders are represented as falling\ndown before the Lamb and offering worship to Him just as worship is\noffered to Him that sitteth upon the throne, i.e., God the Father. In\nHeb. 1:6 we are told in so many words, +\"And again, when he bringeth\nin the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels\nof God worship him.\"+ One night in the inquiry room in Chicago I\nstepped up to an intelligent looking man at the back of the room and\nsaid to him, \"Are you a Christian?\" He replied, \"I do not suppose you\nwould consider me a Christian.\" I said, \"Why not?\" He said, \"I am a\nUnitarian.\" I said, \"What you mean then is that you do not think that\nJesus Christ is a person who should be worshipped.\" He replied, \"That\nis exactly what I think,\" and added, \"the Bible nowhere says we ought\nto worship Him.\" I said, \"Who told you that?\" He replied, \"My pastor,\"\nmentioning a prominent Unitarian minister in the City of Boston. I\nsaid, \"Let me show you something,\" and I opened my Bible to Heb. 1:6\nand read, +\"And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into\nthe world, he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him,\"+\nand he said, \"Does it say that?\" I handed him the Bible and said, \"Read\nit for yourself,\" and he read it and said, \"I did not know that was in\nthe Bible.\" I said, \"Well it is there, isn't it?\" \"Yes it is there.\"\nLanguage could not make it plainer. _The Bible clearly teaches that\nJesus, the Son of God, is to be worshipped as God by angels and men,\neven as God the Father is worshipped._\n\n\nVII. INCIDENTAL PROOFS OF THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST\n\nThe six lines of proof of the Deity of Jesus Christ which I have given\nyou leave no possibility of doubting that Jesus Christ is God, that\nJesus of Nazareth is God manifest in a human person, that He is a being\nto be worshipped, even as God the Father is worshipped; but there are\nalso incidental proofs of His absolute Deity which, if possible, are in\nsome ways even more convincing than the direct assertions of His Deity.\n\n1. Our Lord Jesus says in Matt. 11:28, +\"Come unto me, all ye that\nlabour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\"+ Now any one\nthat makes a promise like that must either be God, or a lunatic, or an\nimpostor. No one can give rest to all who labour and are heavy laden\nwho come to him unless he is God, and yet Jesus Christ offers to do it.\nIf He offers to do it and fails to do it when men come to Him, then He\nis either a lunatic or an impostor. If He actually does it, then beyond\na question He is God. And thousands can testify that He really does it.\nThousands and tens of thousands who have laboured and were heavy laden\nand crushed, and for whom there was no help in man, have come to Jesus\nChrist and _He actually has given them rest_. Surely then He is not\nmerely a great man, He is God.\n\n2. Again in John 14:1 _Jesus Christ demands that we put the same faith\nin Him that we put in God the Father_, and promises that in such faith\nwe will find a cure for all trouble and anxiety of heart. His words\nare, +\"Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also\nin me.\"+ It is clear that He demands that the same absolute faith\nbe put in Himself that is to be put in God Almighty. Now in Jer. 17:5,\nscripture with which our Lord Jesus was perfectly familiar, we read\n+\"Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man,\"+\nand yet with this clear curse pronounced upon all who trust in man,\nJesus Christ demands that we put trust in Him just as we put trust in\nGod. It is the strongest possible assertion of Deity on His part. No\none but God has a right to make such a demand, and Jesus Christ, when\nHe makes this demand, must either be God or an impostor, but thousands\nand tens of thousands have found that when they did believe in Him just\nas they believe in God, their hearts were delivered from trouble no\nmatter what their bereavement or circumstances might be.\n\n3. Again, _the Lord Jesus demanded supreme and absolute love for\nHimself_. It is clear as day that no one but God has a right to demand\nsuch a love, but there can be no question that Jesus did demand it.\nIn Matt. 10:37 He said to His disciples, +\"He that loveth father or\nmother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or\ndaughter more than me is not worthy of me.\"+ And in Luke 14:26, 33,\nHe says, +\"If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father,\nand mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,\nand his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. . . . So therefore\nwhosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot\nbe my disciple.\"+ There can be no question that this is a demand on\nJesus' part of supreme and absolute love to Himself, a love that puts\neven the dearest relations of life in an entirely secondary place. No\none but God has a right to make any such demand, but our Lord Jesus\nmade it, and, therefore, He must be God.\n\n4. In John 10:30 the Lord Jesus claimed absolute equality with the\nFather. He said, +\"I and the Father are one.\"+\n\n5. In John 14:9 our Lord Jesus went so far as to say, +\"He that hath\nseen me, hath seen the Father.\"+ He claims here to be so absolutely\nGod that to see Him is to see the Father Who dwelleth in Him.\n\n6. In John 17:3 He says, +\"And this is eternal life, to know\nthee, the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus\nChrist.\"+ In other words, _he claims that the knowledge of Himself\nis as essential a part of eternal life as knowledge of God the Father_.\n\nConclusion: There is no room left to doubt the absolute Deity of Jesus\nChrist. It is a glorious truth. The Saviour in whom we believe is God,\na Saviour for whom nothing is too hard, a Saviour who can save from the\nuttermost and save to the uttermost. Oh, how we should rejoice that we\nhave no merely human Saviour, but a Saviour that is absolutely God. On\nthe other hand, how black is the guilt of rejecting such a Saviour as\nthis! Whoever refuses to accept Jesus as his Divine Saviour and Lord is\nguilty of the enormous sin of rejecting a Saviour Who is God. Many a\nman thinks he is good because he never stole, or committed murder, or\ncheated. \"Of what great sin am I guilty?\" he complacently asks. Have\nyou ever accepted Jesus Christ? \"No.\" Well, then _you are guilty of\nthe awful and damning sin of rejecting a Saviour Who is God_. \"But,\"\nyou answer, \"I do not believe that He is God.\" That does not change\nthe fact nor lessen your guilt. Questioning a fact or denying a fact\nnever changes it, regardless of what Mary Baker Eddy may say to the\ncontrary. Suppose a man had a wife who was one of the noblest, purest,\ntruest women that ever lived, would her husband's questioning her\npurity and nobility change the fact? It would not. It would simply make\nthat husband guilty of awful slander, it would simply prove that man to\nbe an outrageous scoundrel. So denying the Deity of Jesus Christ, does\nnot make his Deity any less a fact, but it does make the denier of His\nDeity guilty of awful, incredible, blasphemous slander. It does prove\nyou who deny His Deity to be\u2014\u2014. I leave your own conscience to finish\nthe sentence.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nJESUS CHRIST A REAL MAN\n\n \"And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld\n his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full\n of grace and truth.\"\u2014John 1:14.\n\n \"Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an\n equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself,\n taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of\n man; and being found in fashion as man, he emptied himself,\n becoming obedient even unto death, yea the death of the\n cross.\"\u2014Phil. 2:6-8.\n\n \"There is one God, one mediator also between God and men,\n himself man, Christ Jesus.\"\u20141 Tim. 2:5.\n\n\nOur subject in this chapter is \"Jesus Christ a Real Man.\" I have three\ntexts, and the substance of all that I shall say is these three texts.\nThe first text is John 1:14: +\"And the word became flesh, and dwelt\namong us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from\nthe Father), full of grace and truth.\"+ The second text is Phil.\n2:6-8: +\"Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on\nan equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking\nthe form of a servant, being made in the likeness of man; and being\nfound in fashion as a man, he emptied himself, becoming obedient even\nunto death, yea the death of the cross.\"+ And the third text is 1\nTim. 2:5: +\"There is one God, one mediator also between God and man,\nhimself man, Christ Jesus.\"+\n\nWe saw in the preceding chapter that Jesus Christ was God, that in\nHim dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, that He possessed\nall the distinctively divine attributes, that He exercised all the\ndistinctively divine functions, that He occupied the position in New\nTestament thought that Jehovah occupied in Old Testament thought,\nthat He was a being worthy of our absolute faith, our supreme love,\nour unhesitating obedience, and our whole-hearted worship, that He\nwas God and is God. But in the passages which we have taken for our\ntexts to-day, we are told that this Divine One, who had existed from\nall eternity with God, the Father, and who was God, _became a man_. In\nbecoming a man, He did not cease to be God; but the Word, the Eternal\nWord, which was with God and was God, took human nature upon Himself.\nWhile He was very God of very God, He was real man, as truly and\ncompletely a man as any man who ever walked on this earth. The doctrine\nof the real humanity of Christ is as essential a part of the Christian\nfaith as the doctrine of His real Deity. There is one very large class\nof people who do not see the real Deity of Jesus Christ. They are in\nfundamental error. There is another large class of people who see only\nHis Deity, and who do not see the reality of His manhood. They also are\nin error. A doctrine of a Saviour who is only man is false doctrine;\nand a doctrine of a Saviour who is only God is equally false doctrine.\nThe doctrine of the Bible is that, One Who from all eternity was God in\nthe person of Jesus of Nazareth _became man_. There are many passages\nin the Bible which set forth the Deity of our Lord Jesus in a way that\nis unmistakable and inescapable. There are many other passages in\nthe Bible which set forth the complete humanity of our Lord Jesus in\na way which is equally unmistakable and inescapable. It is with the\ndoctrine of His real humanity, i.e., that He was a real man, that we\nare concerned this morning.\n\n\nI. THE HUMAN PARENTAGE OF JESUS CHRIST\n\nFirst of all, _the Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ had a human\nparentage_. We read in Luke 2:7, +\"And she+ (i.e., Mary)\n+brought forth her first born Son; and she wrapped him in swaddling\nclothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them\nin the inn.\"+ Here we are told that our Lord Jesus Christ, though\nsupernaturally conceived, _was Mary's Son_. Mary was as truly His\nmother as God was His Father. He had a human parentage as truly as He\nhad a divine parentage. In the first chapter of this same Gospel of\nLuke, in the 35th verse, we read, +\"And the angel answered and said\nunto her+ (i.e., Mary), +the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and\nthe power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the\nholy thing, which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.\"+ He\nwas called the Son of God because He was begotten directly by the power\nof the Holy Spirit; but the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she became\nthe mother of this One who was to be called the \"Son of God.\" Not only\nwas He descended from Mary and in that way of human parentage, we are\nclearly told also in Rom. 1:3 that God's Son +\"Was born of the seed\nof David according to the flesh.\"+ And in Acts 2:30 we are told that\nHe was +\"The fruit of his+ (i.e., David's) +loins, according\nto the flesh.\"+ And in Hebrews 7:14, we are told that +\"Our Lord\nsprang out of Judah.\"+ While we are told in Gal. 4:4 that +\"When\nthe fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son,\"+ we are also\ntold with equal plainness in the same verse that this Son of God was\n\"_Born of a woman_.\" The human parentage of our Lord and Saviour Jesus\nChrist was just as real and just as essential a part of His personality\nas His divine parentage.\n\n\nII. THE HUMAN PHYSICAL NATURE OF JESUS CHRIST\n\nBut not only did Jesus Christ have a human parentage, He had a human\nphysical nature, a human body. This comes out in the first of our\ntexts, +\"The Word Became Flesh,\"+ and in Hebrews 2:14 we are\ntaught +\"Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he\nalso+ (i.e., our Lord Jesus also) +himself in like manner partook\nof the same; that through death he might bring to naught him that\nhad the power of death, that is, the devil.\"+ Words could not make\nit plainer that our Lord Jesus _had a real human body_, a real human\nphysical nature. Indeed, the Apostle John teaches us in 1 John 4:2, 3,\nthat not to believe in the actuality of His human body, is a mark of\nthe Anti-Christ. He says, +\"Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every\nspirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of\nGod: and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this\nis the spirit of the anti-Christ, whereof ye have heard that it cometh;\nand now it is in the world already.\"+ There were those in John's\nday who denied the reality of Jesus' human nature, who asserted that\nHis body was only a seeming or apparent body, that it was an illusion,\nor as the Christian Scientists now put it, \"mortal thought,\" and John,\nspeaking in the wisdom and power of the Holy Ghost, asserts that this\ndoctrine is a mark of the Anti-Christ. It is the one supreme mark\nto-day, that \"Christian Science\" is of the Anti-Christ.\n\nJesus Christ not only had a human body during His life here upon earth,\nbut after His resurrection He still had a human body. The Millennial\nDawnists (Pastor-Russellites) teach us that this is not so; that,\nwhereas before His incarnation He was wholly a spiritual being, that\nat His incarnation He became wholly a human being, and that since His\ndeath and resurrection He is wholly a divine being: all of which is\nnot Scriptural, and therefore is not true. He himself said after His\nresurrection, +\"See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle\nme, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me\nhave. And when he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet\"+\n(Luke 24:39, 40). And to Thomas in John 20:27, after Thomas had\ndoubted the reality of His resurrection, He said, +\"Reach hither thy\nfinger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into\nmy side: and be not faithless but believing.\"+ Not only after His\nresurrection while still here on earth did He have a real human body,\nbut He still has a human body in the glory. In that wonderful view into\nheaven that was given to Stephen at the time he was stoned and killed\nwe read in Acts 7:55, 56, +\"But he, being full of the Holy Spirit,\nlooked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus\nstanding on the right hand of God, and said, Behold I see the heavens\nopened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.\"+ And\nwhen He comes again to take His rightful authority on this earth, He\nshall come with a human body, coming as \"the Son of Man.\" He Himself\nsaid to the High Priest when He stood before him on trial, in Matt.\n26:64, +\"Nevertheless I say unto you, henceforth ye shall see the son\nof man standing at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of\nheaven.\"+ In this utterance of our Lord we have a declaration of His\nDeity, but an equally clear declaration that He was a real man, and\nthat He will come again _as a man_ with a human, though glorified body.\nIndeed, we are told in Phil. 1:20, 21 that when He does thus come, He\nis going to transform these our present human bodies, the bodies of our\npresent humiliation, into the likeness of His own glorious body, His\nglorified human body.\n\n\nIII. SUBJECT TO HUMAN LIMITATIONS\n\nBut the reality and completeness of our Lord's human nature comes out\nnot only in the fact that He had a human parentage and a human body:\nwe are also clearly taught that, while as God he possessed all the\nattributes and exercised all the offices of Deity, as a man He was\nsubject to human limitations.\n\n1. _He was subject to the physical limitations which are essential to\nhumanity._ In John 4:6 we read that Jesus Christ _was weary_. The words\nare +\"Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on\nthe well: and it was about the sixth hour.\"+ But God is never weary.\nWe read explicitly in Isa. 40:28 +\"Hast thou not known? Hast thou not\nheard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the creator of the ends of the\nearth, fainteth not, neither is weary.\"+\n\nWe are told in Matt. 8:24 that _Jesus Christ slept_. But God never\nsleeps. We read in Ps. 121:4, 5, +\"Behold he that keepeth Israel\nshall neither slumber nor sleep. Jehovah is thy keeper: Jehovah is thy\nshade upon thy right hand.\"+ By comparison of these two verses, we\nsee distinctly that Jehovah never sleeps. Yet Jesus did sleep, so while\nHe was Jehovah, He was not Jehovah only. He was man as truly as He was\nGod.\n\nIn Matt. 21:18 we read that _Jesus Christ hungered_; in John 19:28 we\nread that _Jesus Christ thirsted_; in Luke 22:44 we read that Jesus\nChrist _suffered physical agony_, His agony was so great that He was\non the point of dying with agony; and in 1 Cor. 15:3 we read that\n\"_Christ died_,\" that His death is an essential part of the Gospel.\nPaul says in this passage, +\"For I delivered unto you first of all\nthat which I received, how that Christ died for our sins according to\nthe scriptures.\"+ It was no merely apparent death, it was a real\ndeath. It was no \"illusion.\" Our salvation depends on the reality of\nHis death. \"Christian Science\" cuts the very heart out of the Gospel.\nWe are oftentimes asked was it the human nature of Jesus Christ that\ndied or was it the divine nature that died. It was neither the one nor\nthe other, natures do not die, a person dies. It was _Jesus_ who died,\nthe Person who was at once God and man. We are told in so many words in\n1 Cor. 2:8, that they +\"Crucified the Lord of glory,\"+ and we saw\nin the last chapter that the \"Lord of Glory\" is unquestionably a divine\ntitle. It was the one Person Jesus who was at once human and divine,\nwho died upon the cross of Calvary.\n\n2. _He was also, as a man subject to intellectual and moral\nlimitations._\n\nWe read in Luke 2:52, +\"Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature and\nin favour with God and man.\"+ As we are told here that He grew in\nwisdom, He must have been more perfect in wisdom after He grew than\nHe was before He grew, and as He grew in favour with God and man, He\nmust have attained to a higher type of moral perfection when He grew\nthan He had attained to before He grew. While in the Babe of Bethlehem\nGod was incarnate, nevertheless He was a real babe and grew not only\nin stature, but in wisdom and in favour with God and man. _As a man_\nHe was limited in knowledge, He Himself says in Mark 13:32, +\"But\nof that day and that hour+ (i.e., the day and the hour of His own\nreturn) +knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in heaven,\nneither the Son but the Father.\"+ Of course, His knowledge was\n_self-limited_: to set an example for you and me to follow in His\nsteps, He voluntarily _as man_ put away His knowledge of the time of\nHis own return.\n\nFurthermore still, we are definitely and explicitly taught in Heb. 4:15\nthat Jesus Christ was +\"In all points tempted like as we are.\"+\nBut in bearing this in mind as being clear and complete proof of the\nreality of His humanity, not only physical but mental and moral, we\nshould also bear in mind what is stated in the same verse, that He was\ntempted \"Apart from Sin,\" i.e., that there was not the slightest taint\nor tinge of sin in His temptation, not one moment's yielding to it in\nthought or desire or act. Nevertheless, He was tempted and overcame\ntemptation in the same way that we may overcome it, by the Word of God\nand prayer. He Himself voluntarily placed Himself under the essential\nmoral limitations that man is under in order to redeem man.\n\n3. _He was also, as a man, subject to limitations in the way in which\nHe obtained power and in which He exercised power._ Jesus Christ\nobtained the power for the Divine work that He did while here upon\nearth, not by His incarnate Deity, but by prayer. We read in Mark\n1:35, +\"And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose up and\nwent out, and departed unto a desert place, and there prayed.\"+ And\nwe read also that before He raised Lazarus from the dead, called him\nforth from the tomb by His Word, that He lifted up His eyes to God and\nsaid, +\"Father, I thank thee that thou heardest me,\"+ showing\nconclusively that the power by which He raised Lazarus from the dead\nwas not His inherent, inborn, Divine power, but was power obtained\nby prayer. It is mentioned not less than twenty-five times that He\nprayed. He obtained power for work and for moral victory as other\nmen do, by prayer. He was subject to human conditions for obtaining\nwhat He desired. He obtained power for the divine works and miracles\nwhich he wrought by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We read in Acts\n10:38, that +\"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost\nand with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were\noppressed of the devil; for God was with him.\"+ And we are taught,\nfurthermore, that He was subject during the days of His humiliation to\nlimitations in the exercise of power. He himself said just before His\ncrucifixion and subsequent glorification, in John 14:12, +\"Verily,\nverily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do\nshall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; for I go\nunto my Father,\"+ the evident meaning of which is, that during the\ndays of His flesh there was a limitation to His exercise of power, but\nafter His glorification, when He was glorified with the Father with\nthe glory which He had with Him since the world was, there would be no\nlimitations to the exercise of His power, and therefore, that we, being\nunited, not to our Lord Jesus in His humiliation, but in His exaltation\nand restoration to His divine glory, will do greater works than he did\nduring the days of His humiliation.\n\n\nIV. THE HUMAN RELATION OF JESUS CHRIST TO GOD\n\nThe completeness of the humanity of Jesus Christ comes out in still\nanother matter, and that is, the relation that He bore to God as a man\nwas the relation of a man, so that God was His God. He himself says to\nMary in John 20:17, +\"Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto\nthe father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto\nmy Father and your Father, and my God and your God.\"+ The evident\nmeaning of this is that Jesus Christ's relation to God, the Father,\nwas the relation of man. He speaks of God the Father as \"My God.\"\nThough possessed of all the attributes and exercising all the functions\nof Deity, Jesus Christ the Son was subordinate to the Father. This\nexplains utterances of our Lord which have puzzled many who believe in\nHis Deity, such utterances, for example, as that in John 14:28, where\nJesus says, +\"Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come\nagain unto you. If ye loved me ye would rejoice, because I said, I go\nunto the Father: For my Father is greater than I.\"+ The question is\noften asked, \"If Jesus Christ is God, how could the Father be greater\nthan He?\" The very simple answer to which is; that He, _as the Son_,\nwas subordinate to the Father, equal to the Father in the possession of\nall the distinctively Divine attributes and exercising all the Divine\noffices, and as an object of our wholehearted worship, but subordinate\nto the Father in His office. Jesus Christ's relation to the Father is\nlike the relation of the wife to the husband in this respect, that\nthe wife may be fully the equal of the husband, but nevertheless, the\n\"Head of the Woman is the Man,\" she is subordinate to the man, just as\nwe are told in the same verse (1 Cor. 11:12) +\"The head of Christ is\nGod,\"+ i.e., Jesus Christ the Son is subordinate to the Father.\n\nIt is evident from what we have read from God's Word, that Jesus Christ\nin every respect was a true man, a real man, a complete man. He was\nmade +\"In all things\"+ +\"like unto his brethren\"+ (cf. Heb.\n2:17). He was subject to all the physical, mental and moral conditions\nof existence essential to human nature. He was in every respect a real\nman. He became so voluntarily in order to redeem men. From all eternity\nHe had existed \"in the form of God\" and could have remained \"in the\nform of God,\" but if He had so remained, we would have been lost.\nTherefore, out of love to us, the fallen race, as we are taught in one\nof our texts (Phil. 2:5-8), He +\"Counted not the being on an equality\nwith God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form\nof a servant, being made in the likeness of man; and being found in\nfashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto\ndeath, yea, the death of the cross.\"+ Oh, wondrous love! that out of\nlove to us He should take our nature upon Him, turning His back upon\nthe glory that had been His from all eternity and taking upon Himself\nall the shame and suffering that was involved in our redemption, and\nbecoming one of us that He might die for us and redeem us! Oh, how\nwondrous the +\"Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was\nrich yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through his poverty\nmight become rich.\"+ (2 Cor. 8:9.) He partook of human nature\nthat we might become partakers of the Divine nature. The philosophy\nof the divine and human natures of Christ, the philosophy of the\nNew Testament, is a most wonderful philosophy, the most wonderful\nphilosophy the world ever heard, and thank God it is a true philosophy.\n\nBut some one may ask, \"How shall we reconcile the Bible doctrine of\nthe true Deity of Jesus Christ with the Bible doctrine of the real\nhuman nature of Jesus Christ, the doctrine that He was real God with\nthe doctrine that He was equally truly man?\" The answer to this is\nvery simple. Reconciling doctrines is not our main business. Our first\nbusiness is to find out what the various passages in the Bible mean,\ntaken in their natural, grammatical interpretation. Then, if we can\nreconcile them, well and good; if not, we should still believe them\nboth and leave the reconciliation of the two apparently conflicting\ndoctrines to our increasing knowledge as we go on communing with God\nand studying His Word. It is an utterly foolish and vicious principle\nof Biblical interpretation that we must interpret every passage of the\nBible so that we can readily reconcile it with every other passage. It\nis this principle of interpretation that gives rise to a one-sided, and\ntherefore untrue, theology. One man, for example, takes the Calvinistic\npassages in the Bible and believes them and twists and distorts the\nother passages; that teach the freedom of man, to make them fit with\nthose that teach the sovereignty of God, and he becomes a one-sided\nCalvinist. Another man sees only those passages that clearly teach\nman's power of self-determination and seeks to twist all that teach the\nsovereignty of God and the foreordaining wisdom and will of God to fit\ninto his ideas, and he becomes a one-sided Arminian, and so on through\nthe whole gamut of doctrine. It is utter foolishness, to say nothing of\npresumption, to thus handle the Word of God deceitfully. Our business\nis to find out the plainly intended sense of a passage that we are\nstudying, as determined by the usage of words, grammatical construction\nand context; and when we have found out the plainly intended meaning,\nbelieve it whether we can reconcile it with something else that we have\nfound out and believe, or not. We should always remember that in many\ncases two truths, both clearly true, that at one time seemed utterly\nirreconcilable or flatly contradictory to one another, are now, with\nour increased knowledge seen to beautifully harmonise. So we should\nhave no difficulty in recognising the fact that truths that still seem\nto us to be contradictory, do now perfectly harmonise in the infinite\nwisdom of God, and will some day perfectly harmonise to our minds\nwhen we approach more nearly to God's omniscience. The Bible, in the\nmost fearless way, puts the absolute Deity of Jesus Christ in closest\njuxtaposition with the real manhood of Jesus Christ. For example, we\nread in Matt. 8:24, +\"And behold, there arose a great tempest in the\nsea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves; but He+\n(Jesus) +was asleep.\"+ Here we have a plain statement of the real\nmanhood of our Lord, but two verses later, in the 26th verse, we read,\n+\"And He saith unto them, why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?\nThen He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great\ncalm.\"+ Here we have a clear shining forth of His Deity, even the\nwinds and the waves subject to His word. No wonder the disciples asked\none another, +\"What manner of man is this that even the winds and the\nsea obey him?\"+ (Matt. 8:27). The answer is plain: a Divine Man.\n\nAgain we read in Luke 3:21, +\"Now it came to pass, when all the\npeople were baptised, that Jesus also having been baptised, and\npraying, . . .\"+ Here we see Jesus in His humanity, _baptised_ and\n_praying_. Surely this is a man. But in the remainder of the verse\nand in the next verse we read, +\"And the heaven was opened, and the\nHoly Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a\nvoice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well\npleased.\"+ Here God with an audible voice declares Him to be Divine,\nto be His Son. Again in John 11:38 we read, +\"Jesus, therefore, again\ngroaning in himself cometh to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone\nlaid against it.\"+ Here we see Jesus in His humanity, but four\nverses further down, the 43rd and 44th verses, we read, +\"And when He\nhad thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And\nhe that was dead came forth.\"+ Here again his Deity shines forth.\n\nIn Luke 9:28 we read, +\"And it came to pass about eight days after\nthese sayings, that he took with him Peter and John and James, and\nwent up into the mountain to pray.\"+ Here we very clearly see His\nhumanity, His limitation, His dependence upon God; but in the very\nnext verse, the 29th verse, we read, +\"And as He was praying the\nfashion of his countenance was altered and His raiment became white\nand glistering.\"+ Here we see His Divinity shining forth, and then\nagain in the 35th verse, we read of the voice coming out of the cloud,\nsaying, +\"This is my son, my chosen; hear ye him.\"+ Here His Deity\nunmistakably is seen again.\n\nIn Matt. 16:16, 17, we read, +\"And Simon Peter answered and said,\nthou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and\nsaid unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood\nhath not revealed it unto thee, but my father who is in heaven.\"+\nHere is a clear declaration by Jesus Himself of His Deity. But four\nverses further down in the chapter, the 24th verse, we read, +\"From\nthat time began Jesus to show unto his disciples that he must go up\nunto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests\nand scribes, and be killed, and the third day rise from the dead.\"+\nHere we have the clearest declaration of the reality and completeness\nof His humanity.\n\nIn Heb. 1:6, we read of our Lord Jesus, +\"And when He+ (i.e., God\nthe Father) +again bringeth in the first-begotten into the world he\nsaith, and let all the angels of God worship him.\"+ Here is a most\nunmistakable and inescapable declaration that Jesus Christ is a Divine\nPerson, to be worshipped as God by angels as well as men, and two\nverses further down we read this further declaration of His absolute\nDeity, +\"But of the son he saith, Thy throne O God, is for ever and\never.\"+ Here again the Son is declared in so many words to be God,\nHe is called God. But in the very next chapter, Heb. 2:18, we read,\n+\"For in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to\nsuccor them that are tempted.\"+ Here we have the clearest possible\ndeclaration of the reality of His human nature.\n\nIn Heb. 4:14 we read, +\"Having then a great high priest, who hath\npassed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our\nprofession.\"+ Here we have a plain declaration of His Deity; but in\nthe very next verse, we read, +\"For we have not an high priest that\ncannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that\nhath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.\"+\nOne of the plainest declarations of the fullness and completeness of\nHis humanity to be found in the Bible.\n\nThe doctrine of the Deity of Jesus Christ and the doctrine that Jesus\nChrist was a real man, go hand in hand in the Bible. What kind of a\nSaviour, what kind of a Lord Jesus, do you believe in? Do you believe\nin a Saviour that is a man and man only? Then you do not believe in\nthe Saviour that is presented in the Bible. On the other hand, do you\nbelieve in a Saviour that is God and God only? Then you do not believe\nin the Saviour of the Bible. The Lord Jesus, our Lord and Saviour,\npresented to us in the Bible, is very God of very God and at the same\ntime He is our brother, our fellowman, and is not ashamed to call us\nbrethren. Oh, I thank God that I have a Saviour that is God, possessed\nof all the attributes and powers of Deity, all the perfections of\nDeity, a Saviour for whom nothing is too hard. I thank God that my\nSaviour is One who made the heavens and the earth, and who holds all\nthe powers of nature and of history in His control; but I equally\nthank God that my Saviour is my brother man, One who was tempted in\nall points like as I am, One who is in a position to bear my sins, on\nthe one hand because He is God, on the other hand because He is man.\nA merely divine Saviour could not be a Saviour for me. A merely human\nSaviour could not be a Saviour for me. But a Saviour in whom Deity\nand humanity meet; a Saviour who is at once God and man, is just the\nSaviour I need, and the Saviour that you need, a Saviour that is able\nto save to the uttermost all that come unto God through Him.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nTHE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT\n\n \"The Communion of the Holy Ghost.\"\u20142 Cor. 13:14.\n\n\nOur subject this morning is \"The Personality of the Holy Spirit.\" No\nseries of sermons upon the Fundamentals of our Christian faith would\nbe complete without a sermon on the Personality and Deity of the Holy\nSpirit. The doctrine of the Personality of the Holy Spirit is both\nfundamental and vital. Any one who does not know the Holy Spirit as\na person has not attained to a complete and well-rounded Christian\nexperience. Any one who knows God the Father and God the Son, but who\ndoes not know God the Holy Spirit has not attained unto the Christian\nconception of God, nor to a fully Christian experience. It may seem\nto you at first thought as if the doctrine of the Personality of\nthe Holy Spirit were a purely technical and apparently impractical\ndoctrine, but it is not so. As we shall see shortly, the doctrine of\nthe Personality of the Holy Spirit is a doctrine of the very first\npractical importance.\n\n\nI. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT\n\n1. _The Doctrine of the Personality of the Holy Spirit is of the\nhighest importance from the standpoint of worship._ If the Holy Spirit\nis a person and a Divine Person, and He is, and if we do not know Him\nas such, if we think of the Holy Spirit only as an impersonal influence\nor power, then we are robbing a Divine Person of the worship which\nis His due, and the love which is His due, and the confidence and\nsurrender and obedience which are His due. And may I stop at this point\nto ask each one of you, \"Do you worship the Holy Spirit?\" Theoretically\nwe all do, every time we sing the long metre Doxology,\n\n \"Praise God from whom all blessings flow,\n Praise Him all creatures here below.\n Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts,\n Praise Father, Son _and Holy Ghost_.\"\n\nTheoretically we all do every time we sing the Gloria Patri: \"Glory be\nto the Father and to the Son and _to the Holy Ghost_. As it was in the\nbeginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.\" But\nit is one thing to do a thing theoretically and quite another thing\nto actually do it. It is one thing to sing words, quite another thing\nto realise the meaning and the force of the words that you sing. I\nhad a striking illustration of this some years ago. I was going to a\nBible Conference in New York State. I had to pass through a city four\nmiles from the grounds where the Conference was held. I had a relative\nliving in that city and on the way to the Conference stopped to call\nupon my relative, who went with me to the Conference. This relative\nwas a Christian, she was much older than I, had been a Christian much\nlonger than I, a member of the Presbyterian Church, brought up on the\nShorter Catechism, and thoroughly orthodox. I spoke that morning at the\nConference on the Personality of the Holy Spirit. When the address was\nover, we were waiting on the veranda of the hotel for the trolley to\ntake us back to the city. My relative turned to me and said, \"Archie, I\nnever thought of _it_ before as a person.\" Well, I had never thought of\n_it_ as a person, but thank God I had come to know _Him_ as a person.\n\n2. In the second place, _it is of the highest importance from a\npractical standpoint that we know the Holy Spirit as a person_. If\nyou think of the Holy Spirit, as so many even among Christian people\ndo, as a mere influence or power, then your thought will be, \"How\ncan I get hold of the Holy Spirit and use it.\" But if you think of\nHim in the Biblical way as a Divine person, your thought will be,\n\"How can the Holy Spirit get hold of me and use me?\" Is there no\ndifference between the thought of man, the worm, using God to thresh\nthe mountain, or God using man, the worm, to thresh the mountain? The\nformer conception is heathenish, it does not differ essentially from\nthe conception of the African fetich worshipper who uses his god. The\nlatter conception, of God the Holy Ghost getting hold of and using\nus, is lofty and Christian. If you think of the Holy Spirit merely\nas an influence or power, your thought will be, \"How can I get more\nof the Holy Spirit?\" But if you think of Him in the Biblical way as\na person, your thought will be, \"How can the Holy Spirit get more\nof me?\" The former conception, the conception of the Holy Spirit as\na mere influence or power, inevitably leads to self-confidence, to\nself-exaltation, to the parade of self. If you think of the Holy Spirit\nas an influence or power and then fancy that you have received the Holy\nSpirit, the inevitable result will be that you will strut around as\nif you belonged to a superior order of Christians. I remember a woman\nwho came to me one afternoon at the Northfield Bible Conference at the\nclose of an address and said to me, \"Brother Torrey, I want to ask you\na question; but before I do, I want you to understand that I am a Holy\nGhost woman.\" It made me shudder. It did not sound like it. But on the\nother hand, if you think of the Holy Spirit in the Biblical way as a\nDivine Person of infinite majesty, who comes to dwell in our hearts\nand take possession of us and use us, it leads to self-renunciation,\nself-abnegation, self-humiliation. I know of no thought that is more\ncalculated to put one in the dust and keep one in the dust than this\ngreat Biblical truth of the Holy Ghost as a Divine Person coming to\ntake up His dwelling in our hearts, and to take possession of our lives\nand to use us.\n\n3. _The doctrine of the personality of the Holy Spirit is of the\nhighest importance from the standpoint of experience._ Thousands and\ntens of thousands of Christian men and women can testify to an entire\ntransformation of their experience through coming to know the Holy\nSpirit as a person. In fact, this address upon the Personality of the\nHoly Spirit which, for substance, I have given in almost every city\nin which I have ever held a series of meetings, is in some respects\napparently the most abstruse and technical subject that I ever\nattempted to handle before a popular audience, and yet, notwithstanding\nthat fact, more men and women have come to me at the close of the\naddress and more have written to me, testifying of personal blessing\nreceived, than of any other address which God has permitted me to give.\n\n\nII. FOUR LINES OF PROOF OF THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT\n\nThere are four separate and distinct lines of proof of the Personality\nof the Holy Spirit.\n\n1. The first line of proof of the Personality of the Holy Spirit is\nthat all the distinctive marks or characteristics of personality are\nascribed to the Holy Spirit in the Bible. What are the distinctive\ncharacteristics of personality? Knowledge, feeling and will. Any being\nwho knows and feels and wills is a person. Oftentimes when you say\nthat the Holy Spirit is a person, people understand you to mean that\nthe Holy Spirit has hands and feet and fingers and toes and eyes and\nears and nose and mouth, and so on. But these are not the marks of\npersonality, these are the marks of corporeity. Any being who knows,\nthinks and wills is a person whether he have a body or not. Now all\nthese characteristics of personality are ascribed to the Holy Spirit in\nthe Bible.\n\n(1) Turn in your Bibles to 1 Cor. 2:11. +\"For what man knoweth the\nthings of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so\nthe things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.\"+ _Here\nknowledge is ascribed to the Holy Spirit._ The Holy Spirit in other\nwords, is not a mere illumination that comes to your mind and mine\nwhereby our minds are cleared and strengthened to see truth that they\nwould not otherwise discover. The Holy Spirit is a Person who Himself\nknows the things of God and reveals to us what He Himself knows.\n\n(2) Now turn to 1 Cor. 12:11: +\"But all these worketh that one and\nthe selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.\"+\nHere _will_ is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. The thought clearly is\nthat the Holy Spirit is not a divine power that we get hold of and\nuse according to our will, but that the Holy Spirit is a person who\ngets hold of us and uses us according to His will. This is one of the\nmost fundamental facts in regard to the Holy Spirit that we must bear\nin mind if we are to get into right relations to Him. More people are\ngoing astray at this point than almost any other. They are trying to\nget hold of some divine power which they can use according to their\nwill. I do thank God that there is no divine power that I can get hold\nof and use according to my will. What could I, in my foolishness and\nignorance, do with a divine power, what evil I might work! But on the\nother hand, I am still more glad that while there is no divine power\nthat I can get hold of and use according to my foolish will, there is\na Divine Person who can get hold of me and use me according to His\ninfinitely wise and loving will.\n\n(3) Turn now to Rom. 8:27. +\"And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth\nwhat is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the\nsaints according to the will of God.\"+ What I wish you to notice\nhere is expression, \"_the mind_ of the Spirit.\" The Greek word here\ntranslated \"mind\" is a comprehensive word that has in it the ideas of\nboth thought and purpose. It is the same word which is used in the 7th\nverse of the chapter where we read, +\"The mind of the flesh is enmity\nagainst God,\"+ where the thought is that not merely the thought of\nthe flesh is against God, but the whole moral and intellectual life of\nthe flesh is enmity against God.\n\n(4) We now turn to a most remarkable passage\u2014Rom. 15:30. +\"Now I\nbeseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the\nlove of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to\nGod for me.\"+ What I wish you to notice in this verse are the words\n\"_The love of the Spirit_.\" It is a wonderful thought. It teaches us\nthat the Holy Spirit is not a mere blind influence or power, no matter\nhow beneficent, that comes into our hearts and lives, but that He is\na Divine Person, loving us with the tenderest love. I wonder how many\nof us have ever thought much regarding \"the love of the Spirit.\" I\nwonder how many of us ministers who are here to-day have ever preached\na sermon on the love of the Spirit. I wonder how many of you have ever\nheard a sermon on the love of the Spirit. Every day of your life you\nkneel down before God the Father, at least I hope you do, and say,\n\"Heavenly Father, I thank thee for thy great love that led thee to give\nthy Son to come down to this world and die upon the cross of Calvary in\nmy place.\" Every day of your life you kneel down and look up into the\nface of Jesus Christ the Son and say, \"Thou blessed Son of God, I thank\nthee for that great love of thine that led thee to come down to this\nworld in obedience to the Father and die in my place upon the cross of\nCalvary.\" But did you ever kneel down and look up to the Holy Spirit\nand say to him, \"Holy Spirit, I thank thee for that great love of\nthine\"? And yet we owe our salvation as truly to the love of the Holy\nSpirit as we do to the love of the Father and the love of the Son. If\nit had not been for the love of God the Father to me, looking down upon\nme in my lost estate, yes, anticipating my fall and ruin and sending\nHis Son down to this world to die upon the cross, to die in my place,\nI would have been in hell to-day. If it had not been for the love of\nJesus Christ, the Son, coming down to this world in obedience to the\nFather to lay down His life, a perfect atoning sacrifice on the cross\nof Cavalry in my stead, I would have been in hell to-day. But if it had\nnot been for the love of the Holy Spirit to me, coming down to this\nworld in obedience to the Father and the Son, seeking me out in my lost\ncondition, following me day after day, and week after week, and month\nafter month, and year after year, when I would not listen to Him, when\nI deliberately turned my back upon Him, when I insulted Him, following\nme into places where it must have been agony for One so holy to go,\nfollowing me day after day, week after week, month after month, year\nafter year, until at last He succeeded in bringing me to my senses and\nbringing me to realise my utterly lost condition and revealed the Lord\nJesus to me as just the Saviour I needed and induced me and enabled me\nto receive the Lord Jesus as my Saviour and my Lord; if it had not been\nfor this patient, long-suffering, never-wearying love of the Spirit of\nGod to me, I would have been in hell to-day.\n\n(5) Turn now to a passage in the Old Testament. Neh. 9:20. +\"Thou\ngavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy\nmanna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.\"+\nHere both intelligence and goodness are ascribed to the Holy Spirit.\nThis passage does not add anything to the thought that we have already\nhad: I brought it in simply because it is from the Old Testament.\nThere are those who say that the doctrine of the Personality of the\nHoly Spirit is in the New Testament, but is not in the Old Testament;\nbut here we find it as clearly in the Old Testament as in the New. Of\ncourse, we do not find it as frequently in the Old Testament as in the\nNew, for this is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit: but the doctrine\nof the Personality of the Holy Spirit is there in the Old Testament.\nThere are many who say that the doctrine of the Trinity is not in the\nOld Testament, that while it is in the New, it is not in the Old. But\nit is in the Old, in the very first chapter of the Bible. In Gen. 1:26\nwe read, +\"And God said, let us make man in our image, after our\nlikeness.\"+ Here the plurality of the persons in the Godhead comes\nout clearly. God did not say, \"_I_ will\" or \"Let _me_ make man in\n_my_ image.\" He said, \"Let _us_ make man in _our_ image, after _our_\nlikeness.\" The three persons of the Trinity are found in the first\nthree verses of the Bible: +\"In the beginning God created the heaven\nand the earth.\"+ There you have God the Father. +\"And the earth\nwas without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.\nAnd the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.\"+ There you\nhave the Holy Spirit. +\"And God said,\"+ there you have the Word,\n+\"Let there be light: and there was light.\"+ Here we have the\nthree persons of the Trinity in the first three verses of the Bible. In\nfact the doctrine of the Trinity is found hundreds of times in the Old\nTestament. In the Hebrew Bible it occurs in every place where you find\nthe word God in your English Bible, for the Hebrew word for God is a\nplural noun. Literally translated, it would be \"Gods\" and not God. In\nthe very passage to which the Unitarians and the Jews, who reject the\nDeity of Christ, refer so often as proving conclusively that the Deity\nof Christ cannot be true, namely Deut. 6:4, the very doctrine that they\nare seeking to disprove is found; for Deut. 6:4 literally translated\nwould read +\"Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our Gods is one Jehovah.\"+\nWhy did the Hebrews with their intense monotheism, use a plural name\nfor God? This was the question that puzzled the Hebrew grammarians and\nlexicographers, and the best explanation they could arrive at was that\nthe plural for God here used was the pluralis majestatis, the plural\nof majesty. The explanation is entirely inadequate, to say nothing of\nthe fact that the pluralis majestatis in the Old Testament is a figure\nof very doubtful validity. There is another explanation far nearer at\nhand, and far more adequate and satisfactory, and that is that the\nHebrew inspired writers use a plural name for God in spite of their\nintense monotheism, because there is a plurality of persons in the one\nGodhead.\n\n(6) Now turn to Eph. 4:30. +\"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,\nwhereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.\"+ Here grief is\nascribed to the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Holy Spirit is not a\nmere blind impersonal influence or power that comes to dwell in your\nheart and mine, but a person, a person who loves us, a person who is\nholy and intensely sensitive against sin, a person who recoils from sin\nin what we call its slightest forms as the holiest woman of earth never\nrecoiled from sin in its grossest and most repulsive forms. And He sees\nwhatever we do, He hears whatever we say, He sees our very thoughts,\nnot a vagrant fancy is allowed a moment's lodgment in our mind but what\nHe sees it. And if there is anything impure, unholy, immodest, untrue,\nfalse, censorious, or unChristlike in any way, He is grieved beyond\nexpression. This is a wonderful thought and it is to me the mightiest\nincentive that I know to a Christian walk. How many a young man is kept\nback from doing things that he would otherwise do, by the thought that,\nif he did do that, his mother might hear of it and it would grieve her\nbeyond expression. How many a young man has come to the great city\nand in some hour of temptation has been about to go into a place that\nno self-respecting man ought ever to enter, but just as his hand is on\nthe doorknob and he is about to open the door, the thought comes to\nhim, \"If I should enter there mother might hear of it, and if she did,\nit would nearly kill her,\" and he has turned away without entering;\nbut there is One holier than the holiest mother that any of us ever\nknew, One who loves us with a tenderer love than our own mother loves\nus, and Who sees everything we do, not only in the daylight but under\nthe cover of night; Who hears every word we utter, every careless word\nthat escapes our lips; Who sees every thought we entertain, yes, Who\nsees every fleeting fancy that we allow a moment's lodgment in our\nmind; and if there is anything unholy, impure, immodest, indecorous,\nunkind, harsh, censorious or unchristlike in any way in act or word or\nthought, He sees it and is grieved beyond expression. Oh, how often\nthere has come into my mind some thought or imagination, I know not\nfrom what source, but that I ought not to entertain, and just as I was\nabout to give it lodgment, the thought has come, \"The Holy Spirit sees\nthat and will be grieved by it,\" and the thought has gone. Bearing\nthis thought of the Holy Spirit in our mind will help us to solve all\nthe questions that perplex the young believer to-day. For example, the\nquestion, \"Ought I as a Christian go to the theatre or the movies?\"\nWell, if you go the Holy Spirit will go; for He dwells in the heart of\nevery believer and goes wherever the believer goes. Were you ever at\na theatre or at a moving picture show in your life where you thought\nthe atmosphere of the place would be congenial to the _Holy_ Spirit?\nIf not, don't go. Ought I as a Christian go to the dance? Well, here\nagain, if you go, the Holy Spirit will surely go. Were you ever at a\ndance in your life where you believed the atmosphere of the place would\nbe congenial to the Holy Spirit? Shall I as a Christian play cards?\nWere you ever at a card party in all your life, even the most select\nlittle neighbourhood gathering, or even a home gathering to play cards,\nwhere you thought the atmosphere of the place would be congenial to the\nHoly Spirit? If not, don't play. So with all the questions that come up\nand that some of us find so hard to settle, this thought of the Holy\nSpirit will help you to settle them all, and to settle them right, if\nyou really desire to settle them right and not merely to do the thing\nthat pleases yourself.\n\n2. The second line of proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit is\nthat, many actions are ascribed to the Holy Spirit that only a person\ncan perform. There are many illustrations of this in the Bible; but I\nwill limit our consideration this morning to three instances.\n\n(1) Turn again to the 2nd chapter of 1 Corinthians. In the 10th verse,\nwe read, +\"But unto us, God revealed them through the Spirit: for\nthe Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.\"+ Here\nthe Holy Spirit is represented as searching the deep things of God. In\nother words, as we said under our previous heading, the Holy Spirit is\nnot a mere illumination whereby our minds are made clear and strong to\napprehend truth that they would not otherwise discover, but the Holy\nSpirit is a person Who Himself searches into the deep things of God and\nreveals to us the things which He discovers. Such words could only be\nspoken of a person.\n\n(2) Now turn to Rom. 8:26 +\"And in like manner the Spirit also\nhelpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought but the\nspirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be\nuttered.\"+ Here the Holy Spirit is represented as doing what only a\nperson can do, praying. The Holy Spirit is not a mere influence that\ncomes to impel us to prayer, and not a mere guidance to us in offering\nour prayers. _He is a person who Himself prays._ Every believer in\nChrist has two Divine Persons praying for Him. First, the Son, our\nAdvocate with the Father, who ever liveth to make intercession for us\nup yonder at the right hand of God in the place of power (John 2:1 and\nHeb. 7:25). Second, the Holy Spirit who prays through us down here. Oh,\nwhat a wonderful thought, that we have these two divine persons praying\nfor us every day. What a sense it gives us of our security.\n\n(3) Now turn to two other closely related passages. John 14:26. +\"But\nthe comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my\nname, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all\nthat I have said unto you.\"+ Here the Holy Spirit is represented as\ndoing what only a person could do, namely, teaching. We have the same\nthought in John 16:12-14. +\"I have yet many things to say unto you,\nbut ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is\ncome, He shall guide you into all the truth: for He shall not speak\nfrom Himself; but what things soever He shall hear, these shall He\nspeak: and He shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He\nshall glorify me; for He shall take of mine, and shall declare it\nunto you.\"+ Here again the Holy Spirit is represented as a living\npersonal teacher. It is our privilege to have the Holy Spirit as a\nliving person to-day as our teacher. Every time we study our Bibles, it\nis possible for us to have this Divine Person the author of the Book,\nto interpret it to us and to teach us its meaning. It is a precious\nthought. How many of us have often thought when we heard some great\nhuman teacher whom God has especially blessed to us, \"Oh, if I could\nonly hear that man every day, then I might make some progress in my\nChristian life,\" but we can have a teacher more competent by far than\nthe greatest human teacher that ever spoke for our teacher every day,\nthe Holy Spirit.\n\n3. The third line of proof of the personality of the Holy Spirit is\nthat _an office is predicated of the Holy Spirit that could only be\npredicated of a person_. Look for example at John 14:16, 17. Here we\nread, +\"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another\nComforter, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of\ntruth: whom the world cannot receive; for it seeth him not. Neither\nknoweth him: ye know him; for He abideth with you, and shall be in\nyou.\"+ Here the Holy Spirit is represented as _another Comforter_\nwho is coming to take the place of our Lord Jesus. Up to this time our\nLord Jesus had been the friend always at hand to help them in every\nemergency that arose. But now He was going and their hearts were filled\nwith consternation, and He tells them that while He is going, another\nis coming to take His place. Can you imagine our Lord Jesus saying this\nif the other that was coming to take His place was a mere impersonal\ninfluence or power? Can you imagine our Lord Jesus saying what He says\nin John 16:7, +\"Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient\nfor you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not\ncome unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you,\"+ if that\nwhich was coming to take His place was not another person but a mere\ninfluence or power. In that case, is it for a moment conceivable that\nour Lord could say that it was expedient for Him, a Divine Person,\nto go and a mere influence or power, no matter how divine, come to\ntake His place? No! No! What our Lord said was that He, one Divine\nPerson, was going, but that another Person, just as Divine, was coming\nto take His place. This promise is to me one of the most precious\npromises in the whole Word of God for this present dispensation, the\nthought that during the absence of my Lord, until that glad day when\nHe shall come back again, another Person, just as divine as He, is by\nmy side, yes, dwells in my heart every moment to commune with me and\nto help me in every emergency that can possibly arise. I suppose you\nknow that the Greek word translated Comforter in these verses means\nmore than Comforter. It means Comforter plus a whole lot beside. The\nGreek word so translated is _parakletos_. This word is a compound word,\ncompounded of the word _para_ which means alongside, and _kletos_,\none called, \"One called to stand alongside another\" to take his part\nand help him in every emergency that arises. It is the same word that\nis translated \"advocate\" in 1 John 2:1, +\"If any man sin, we have\nan advocate+ (_parakleton_) +with the Father, Jesus Christ the\nrighteous.\"+ But the word \"Advocate\" does not give the full force of\nthe word. Etymologically it means about the same. Advocate is a Latin\nword transliterated into the English. The word is compounded of two\nwords, _ad_, meaning to, and _vocatus_, one called, that is to say, one\ncalled to another to take his part, or to help him. But in our English\nusage it has obtained a restricted sense. The Greek word, as already\nsaid, means \"one called alongside another,\" and the thought is of a\nhelper always at hand with his counsel and his strength and any form\nof help needed. Up to this time the Lord Jesus Himself had been their\nParaclete, or friend always at hand to help. Whenever they got into\nany trouble they simply turned to Him. For example, on one occasion\nthey were perplexed on the subject of prayer and they said to the\nLord, \"Lord teach us to pray.\" And He taught them to pray. On another\noccasion when Jesus was coming to them walking on the water, when their\nfirst fear was over and He had said, \"It is I, be not afraid,\" then\nPeter said to Him, \"Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the\nwater.\" And the Lord said, \"Come.\" Then Peter clambered over the side\nof the fishing smack and commenced to go to Jesus walking on the water.\nSeemingly he turned around, took his eyes off the Lord and looked at\nthe fishing smack to see if the other disciples, John and James, and\nthe rest, were noticing how well he was getting on, but no sooner had\nhe got his eyes off the Lord than he began to sink, and he cried out\nsaying, \"Lord, save me,\" and Jesus reached out His hand and held him\nup. Just so, when they got into any other emergency they turned to the\nLord and He delivered them. But now He was going, and consternation\nfilled their hearts, and the Lord said to them, \"Yes, I am going but\nanother just as divine, just as able to help, is coming to take my\nplace,\" and this other Paraclete is with us wherever we go, every hour\nof the day or night. He is always by our side. If this thought gets\ninto your heart and stays there, you will never have another moment of\nfear no matter how long you live. How can we fear in any circumstances,\nif He is by our side? You may be surrounded by a howling mob. But what\nof it if He walks between you and the mob? That thought will banish all\nfear. I had a striking illustration of this in my own experience some\nyears ago. I was speaking at a Bible Conference on Lake Kenka in New\nYork State. I had a cousin who had a cottage four miles up the lake and\nI went up there and spent my rest day with him. The next day he brought\nme down in his steam launch to the pier where the Conference was held.\nAs I stepped off the launch onto the pier he said to me, \"Come back\nagain to-night and spend the night with us,\" and I promised him that\nI would; but I did not realise what I was promising. That night, when\nthe address was over as I went out of the hotel and started on my walk,\nI found that I had undertaken a large contract. The cottage was four\nmiles away, but a four mile walk or an eight mile walk was nothing\nunder ordinary circumstances, but a storm was coming up, the whole\nheaven was overcast. The path led along a bluff bordering the lake, the\npath was near the edge of the bluff. Sometimes the lake was perhaps\nnot more than ten or twelve feet below, at other times some thirty or\nforty feet below. I had never gone over the path before and as there\nwas no starlight, I couldn't see the path at all. Furthermore, there\nhad already been a storm that had gulleyed out deep ditches across\nthe path into which one might fall and break his leg. I couldn't see\nthese ditches except when there would be a sudden flash of lightning,\nand then I would see one and then it would be darker and I blinder\nthan ever. As I walked along this path, so near the edge of the bluff\nwith all the furrows cut through it, I felt it was perilous to take\nthe walk and thought of going back; and then the thought came to me,\n\"You promised that you would come to-night and they may be sitting up\nwaiting for you.\" So I felt that I must go on. But it seemed creepy\nand uncanny to walk along the edge of that bluff on such an uncertain\npath that I couldn't see, and could only hear the sobbing and wailing\nand the moaning of the lake at the foot of the bluff as it rose in the\nfast approaching storm. Then the thought came to me, what was it you\ntold the people there at the conference about the Holy Spirit being\na Person always by our side? And I at once realised that the Holy\nSpirit walked between me and the edge of the bluff; and that four miles\nthrough the dark was four miles without a fear, a gladsome instead of a\nfearsome walk. I once threw this thought out in the Royal Albert Hall\nin London, one dark dismal February afternoon. There was a young lady\nin the audience who was very much afraid of the dark. It simply seemed\nimpossible for her to go into a dark room alone. After the meeting was\nover she hurried home and rushed in to the room where her mother was\nsitting and cried, \"O mother, I have heard the most wonderful address\nthis afternoon about the Holy Spirit always being by our side as our\never-present helper and protector. I shall never be afraid of the dark\nagain.\" Her mother was a practical English woman and said to her,\n\"Well, let us see how real that is. Now go upstairs to the top floor,\ninto the dark room, and shut the door and stay in there alone in the\ndark.\" The daughter went bounding up the stairs, went into the dark\nroom, closed the door and it was pitch dark, and \"Oh,\" she wrote me\nthe next day, \"it was dark, utterly dark, but that room was bright and\nglorious with the presence of the Holy Spirit.\"\n\nIn this thought is also the cure for insomnia. Did any of you ever\nhave insomnia? I did. For two dark, awful years. Night after night,\nI would go to bed, almost dead, as it seemed to me, for sleep, and I\nthought I would certainly sleep as I could scarcely keep awake; but\nscarcely had my head touched the pillow when I knew I wouldn't sleep\nand I would hear the clock strike twelve, one, two, three, four, five,\nsix, and then it was time to get up. It seemed as though I didn't sleep\nat all, though I have no doubt I did: for I believe that people who\nsuffer from insomnia sleep more than they think they do, else we would\ndie: but it seemed as if I didn't sleep at all, and this went on for\ntwo whole years, until I thought that if I couldn't get sleep I would\nlose my mind. And then I got deliverance. For years I would retire\nand fall asleep about as soon as my head touched the pillow. But one\nnight I went to bed in the Bible Institute in Chicago where I was then\nstopping. I expected to fall asleep almost immediately, as had become\nmy custom, but scarcely had my head touched the pillow when I knew I\nwas not going to sleep. Insomnia was back. If you have ever had him\nyou will always recognise him. It seemed as if Insomnia was sitting\non the footboard looking like an imp, grinning at me and saying \"I am\nback for two more years.\" \"Oh,\" I thought, \"two more years of this\nawful insomnia.\" But that very morning I had been teaching the students\nin the lecture room on the floor below on the Personality of the Holy\nSpirit, and the thought came to me almost immediately, \"What was that\nyou were telling the students down stairs this morning about the Holy\nSpirit being always with us?\" And I said, \"Why don't you practice what\nyou preach?\" And I looked up and said, \"O thou blessed Holy Spirit of\nGod, thou art here, if thou hast anything to say to me, I will listen.\"\nAnd He opened to me some of the sweet and precious things about Jesus\nChrist, filling my soul with calm and peace and joy, and the next thing\nI knew I was asleep and the next thing I knew it was to-morrow morning;\nand whenever Insomnia has come around since and sat on my footboard, I\nhave done the same thing and it has never failed.\n\nIn this thought also is a cure for all loneliness. If the thought of\nthe Holy Spirit as an Ever-present Friend always at hand, once enters\nyour heart and stays there, you will never have another lonely moment\nas long as you live. My life for the larger part of the last sixteen\nyears has been a lonely life. I have often been separated from all my\nfamily for months at a time. I have not seen my wife sometimes for two\nor three months at a time and for eighteen months I did not see any\nmember of my family but my wife. One night I was walking the deck of\na steamer in the South Seas between New Zealand and Tasmania. It was\na stormy night. Most of the other passengers were below sick, none of\nthe officers nor sailors could walk with me for they had their hands\nfull looking after the boat. I had to walk the deck alone. Four of the\nfive other members of my family were on the other side of the globe,\nseventeen thousand miles away by the nearest route that I could get to\nthem, and the one member of my family who was nearer was not with me\nthat night. As I walked the deck alone I got to thinking of the four\nchildren seventeen thousand miles away and was about to get lonesome,\nwhen the thought came to me of the Holy Spirit by my side, and that\nas I walked He took every step with me, and all loneliness was gone.\nI gave expression to this thought some years ago in the city of St.\nPaul, and at the close of the address a physician came to me and said,\n\"I wish to thank you for that thought. I am often called at night to go\nout alone through darkness and storm far into the country, and I have\nbeen very lonely, but I will never be lonely again, for I will know\nthat every step of the way the Holy Spirit is beside me in my doctor's\ngig.\"\n\nIn this same precious truth there is a cure for a broken heart. Oh, how\nmany broken-hearted people there are in the world to-day, especially in\nthese days of war and bloodshed and death! Many of us here have lost\nloved ones. Many more of us in all probability will during the months\nthat are just ahead of us. But we need not have a moment's heartache\nif we only know the communion of the Holy Ghost. There is perhaps\nhere to-day some woman who a year ago, or a few months ago, or a few\nweeks ago, or a few days ago, had by her side a man whom she dearly\nloved, a man so strong and wise that she was freed from all sense\nof responsibility and care; for all the burdens were upon him, and\nhow bright and happy life was in his companionship! But the dark day\ncame when that loved one was taken away, and how lonely and empty and\nbarren, and full of burden and care, life is to-day! Listen! There is\nOne who walks right by your side, wiser and stronger and more loving\nthan the wisest and strongest and most loving husband that ever lived,\nready to bear all the burdens and responsibilities of life, yes, ready\nto do far more: to come in and dwell in your heart and fill every nook\nand corner of your empty, aching heart, and thus banish all loneliness\nand heartache forever. I said this one afternoon in Saint Andrews Hall\nin Glasgow. At the close of the address, when I passed out into the\nreception room, a lady who had hurried along to meet me, approached\nme. She wore a widow's bonnet, her face bore the marks of deep sorrow,\nbut now there was a happy look in her face. She hurried to me and\nsaid, \"Doctor Torrey, this is the anniversary of my dear husband's\ndeath\" (her husband was one of the most highly esteemed Christian men\nin Glasgow) \"and I came to Saint Andrews Hall to-day saying to myself,\n'Doctor Torrey will have something to say that will help me.' Oh,\" she\ncontinued, \"you have said just the right word! I will never be lonesome\nagain, never have a heartache again. I will let the Holy Spirit come\nin and fill every aching corner of my heart.\" Eighteen months passed;\nI was in Scotland again, taking a short vacation on the lochs of the\nClyde on the private yacht of a friend. One day we stopped off a point,\na little boat put off from the point and came alongside the steam\nyacht. The first one who clambered up the side of the yacht and onto\nthe deck was this widow. Seeing me standing on the deck, she hurried\nacross and took my hand in both of hers and with a radiant smile on her\nface she said, \"Oh, Doctor Torrey, the thought you gave me in Saint\nAndrews Hall that afternoon stays with me still and I have not had a\nlonely or sad hour from that day to this.\"\n\nBut it is in our Christian work that the thought comes to us with\ngreatest power and helpfulness. Take my own experience. I became a\nminister simply because I had to, or be forever lost. I do not mean\nthat I am saved by preaching the Gospel; I am saved simply on the\nground of Christ's atoning blood and that alone; but my becoming a\nChristian and accepting Him as my Saviour turned upon my preaching the\nGospel. For six years I refused to come out as a Christian because I\nwas unwilling to preach, and I felt that if I became a Christian I must\npreach. The night that I was converted I did not say, \"I will accept\nChrist\" or \"I will give up my sins\"; I said, \"I will preach.\" But if\nthere was ever a man who by natural temperament was unfitted to preach,\nit was I. I was one of these abnormally bashful boys. A stranger could\nscarcely speak to me without my blushing to the roots of my hair. Of\nall the tortures I endured at school there was none so great as that of\nreciting a piece. To stand up on the platform and have all the scholars\nlooking at me, I could scarcely endure it, and when I had to recite and\nmy own mother and father asked me to recite the piece before I went to\nschool, I simply could not recite it before my own father and mother.\nThink of a man like that going into the ministry. Even after I was in\nYale College, when I would go home on a vacation and my mother would\nhave callers and send for me to come in and meet them, I couldn't say\na word. After they were gone my mother would say to me, \"Archie, why\ndidn't you say something to Mrs. S. or Mrs. D.?\" and I would say, \"Why,\nmother, I did!\" and she would reply, \"You didn't utter a sound.\" I\nthought I did, but it would come no further than my throat and there be\nsmothered. I was so bashful that I never even spoke in a church prayer\nmeeting until after I entered the theological seminary. Then I thought,\nif I was to be a preacher I must at least be able to speak in my own\nchurch prayer meeting. I made up my mind I would. I learned a piece by\nheart. I remember some of it now. I think I forgot some of it when I\ngot up to speak that night. As soon as the meeting was thrown open I\ngrasped the back of the settee in front of me and pulled myself up to\nmy feet and held on to it lest I should fall. One Niagara went rushing\nup one side and another down the other, and I tremblingly repeated\nas much of my little piece as I could remember and then dropped back\ninto the seat. At the close of the meeting a dear old maid, a lovely\nChristian woman, came to me and cheeringly said, \"Oh, Mr. Torrey, I\nwant to thank you for what you said to-night. It did me so much good.\nYou spoke with so much feeling.\" Feeling! The only feeling I had was\nthat I was scared nearly to death. Think of a man like that going into\nthe ministry. My first years in the ministry were torture. I preached\nthree times a day. I committed my sermons to memory and then I stood up\nand twisted the top button of my coat until I had twisted the sermon\nout and then when the third sermon was preached and finished, I dropped\nback into the haircloth settee back of the pulpit with a great sense of\nrelief that that was over for another week. And then the thought would\ntake possession of me, Well you have to begin to-morrow morning to get\nready for next Sunday! But a glad day came when the thought I am trying\nto teach you this morning took possession of me, viz., that when I\nstood up to preach, that, though people saw me, that there was Another\nwho stood by my side whom they did not see, but upon whom was all the\nresponsibility for the meeting, and all that I had to do was to get as\nfar back out of sight as possible and let Him do the preaching. From\nthat day preaching has been the joy of my life. I would rather preach\nthan eat. Sometimes when I rise to preach, before I have uttered a\nword, the thought of Him, standing beside me, able and willing to take\ncharge of the whole meeting and do whatever needs to be done, has so\nfilled my heart with exultant joy that I have felt like shouting. Just\nso in your Sunday School teaching. Some of you worry about your Sunday\nSchool classes for fear that you will say something that ought not to\nbe said, or leave unsaid something that ought to be said, and the\nthought of the burden and responsibility almost crushes you. Listen!\nAlways remember this as you sit there teaching your class: there is One\nright beside you Who knows just what ought to be said and just what\nought to be done. Instead of carrying the responsibility of the class,\nlet Him carry it, let Him do the teaching. One Monday morning I met\none of the most faithful laymen I ever knew and a very gifted Bible\nteacher. He was deep in the blues, over his failure with his class the\nday before\u2014at least, what he regarded as failure. He unburdened his\nheart to me. I said to him, \"Mr. Dyer, did you not ask God to give you\nwisdom as you went before that class?\" He said, \"I did.\" I said, \"Did\nyou not expect Him to give it?\" He said, \"I did.\" Then I said, \"What\nright have you to doubt that He did?\" He replied, \"I never thought\nof that before. I will never worry about my class again.\" Just so in\npersonal work. When I or some one else urges you at the close of the\nmeeting to go and speak to some one else, oh, how many of you want to\ngo, but you don't stir. You think to yourself, \"I might say the wrong\nthing.\" You will, if you say it. You will certainly say the wrong\nthing; but trust the Holy Spirit, He will say the right thing. Let Him\nhave your lips to speak through. It may not appear the right thing at\nthe time, but some time you will find out that it was just the right\nthing. One night in Launceston, Tasmania, as Mrs. Torrey and I came\naway from the meeting, my wife said to me, \"Archie, I wasted my whole\nevening. I have been talking to the most frivolous girl. I don't think\nthat she has a serious thought in her head.\" I replied, \"Clara, how do\nyou know? Did you not trust God to guide you?\" \"Yes.\" \"Well, leave it\nwith Him.\" The very next night at the close of the meeting the same\nseemingly utterly frivolous young woman came up to Mrs. Torrey, leading\nher mother by the hand, and said, \"Mrs. Torrey, won't you speak to my\nmother? You led me to Christ last night, now please lead my mother to\nChrist.\"\n\n4. But I must close. There is another line of proof of the personality\nof the Holy Spirit, but we have no time to dwell upon it. This line of\nproof is that a treatment is predicated of the Holy Spirit that could\nonly be predicated of a person. In Isa. 63:10 we are taught that the\nHoly Spirit is rebelled against and grieved. You cannot rebel against\nor grieve a mere influence or power. Only a person can be rebelled\nagainst and grieved. In Heb. 10:29 we are taught that the Holy Spirit\nis \"done despite unto,\" or \"treated with contumely,\" insulted. You\ncannot treat an influence or power with contumely; only a person. In\nActs 5:3 we are taught that the Holy Spirit is lied to. You can only\nlie to a person. In Matt. 12:31 we are taught that the Holy Spirit is\nblasphemed against. We are told that the blasphemy against the Holy\nGhost is more serious than the blasphemy against the Lord Jesus, and\nthis certainly could only be said of a person and a Divine Person.\n\nTo sum it all up, the Holy Spirit is a Person. Theoretically we\nprobably all believed this before, but do we in our real thought of\nHim, in our practical attitude toward Him, treat Him as a person? Do we\nreally regard Him as real a person as Jesus Christ is, as loving, as\nwise, as strong, as worthy of our confidence and love, and surrender\nas He? A Divine Person always by our side? The Holy Spirit came\ninto this world to be to the disciples of our Lord after our Lord's\nown departure, and to be to us, what Jesus Christ had been to them\nduring the days of His personal companionship with them. Is He that\nto you to-day? Do you know the \"communion of the Holy Spirit?\" the\ncompanionship of the Holy Spirit, the partnership of the Holy Spirit,\nthe fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the comradeship of the Holy Spirit?\nTo put it into a single word, the whole object of this address this\nmorning, I say it reverently, is to introduce you to my Friend, the\nHoly Spirit.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nTHE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE\nFATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT\n\n\nI spoke in a previous chapter on the personality of the Holy Spirit.\nWe saw clearly that the Holy Spirit was a person. Incidentally I\nreferred to His Deity in passing, but did not dwell upon it, so the\nquestion remains, Is the Holy Spirit a Divine person? and still another\nquestion, If the Holy Spirit is a Divine person, is He a separate and\ndistinct personality from the Father and the Son? We shall consider\nthis morning what the Bible teaches upon these points.\n\n\nI. THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT\n\nWe take up first the question of the Deity of the Holy Spirit. The fact\nthat the Holy Spirit is a person does not prove that He is divine.\nThere are spirits who are persons but who are not God. There are five\ndistinct lines of proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy\nSpirit is God.\n\n1. The first line of proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit is that\n_each of the four distinctively Divine attributes are ascribed to\nthe Holy Spirit in the Bible_. There are four distinctively divine\nattributes; that is to say, there are four attributes which God alone\npossesses, and any person who has these attributes must therefore\nbe God. The four distinctively divine attributes are omnipotence,\nomniscience, omnipresence and eternity.\n\n(1) First of all, _omnipotence is ascribed to the Holy Spirit_, for\nexample, in Luke 1:35: +\"And the angel answered and said unto her,\nthe Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the most high\nshall overshadow thee: wherefore also that which is to be born shall be\ncalled holy, the Son of God.\"+ This passage plainly declares that\nthe Holy Spirit has the power of the Most High, that He is omnipotent.\n\n(2) In the next place, _omniscience is ascribed to the Holy Spirit_.\nThis is done, for example, in I Corinthians 2:10, 11: +\"But unto us\nGod revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all\nthings, yea, the deep things of God. For who among men knoweth the\nthings of a man, save the Spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so\nthe things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God.\"+ Here we\nare distinctly told that _the Holy Spirit searcheth all things and\nknoweth all things_, even the deep things of God. We find the same\nthought again in John 14:26: +\"But the Comforter, even the Holy\nSpirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all\nthings, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.\"+\nHere we are distinctly told that the Holy Spirit teaches all things,\nand therefore must know all things. This is stated even more explicitly\nin John 16:12-13: +\"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye\ncannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He\nshall guide you into all the truth.\"+ In all these passages it is\neither directly declared or unmistakably implied that the Holy Spirit\nknows all things, that He is omniscient.\n\n(3) In the third place, _omnipresence is ascribed to the Holy Spirit_.\nWe find this in Psalms 139:7-10: +\"Whither shall I go from thy\nSpirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up\ninto heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou\nart there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the\nuttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy\nright hand shall hold me.\"+ Here we are told in the most explicit\nand unmistakable way that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is\neverywhere; that there is no place in heaven, earth or hades whither we\ncan go from His presence.\n\n(4) _Eternity is also ascribed to the Holy Spirit._ This we find in\nHebrews 9:14, where we read: +\"How much more shall the blood of\nChrist, who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish\nunto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living\nGod?\"+ Here we find the words \"the Eternal Spirit\" just as elsewhere\nwe find the words \"the Eternal God\" (e.g., Deut. 33:27): Putting these\ndifferent passages together, we see clearly that each of the four\ndistinctively divine attributes, the four attributes that no one but\nGod possesses, are ascribed to the Holy Spirit.\n\n2. The second line of proof of the true Deity of the Holy Spirit is\nfound in the fact that _three distinctively divine works are ascribed\nto the Holy Spirit\u2014that is to say, the Holy Spirit is said to do three\nthings which God alone can do_.\n\n(1) The first of these distinctively divine works that are ascribed\nto the Holy Spirit is _the work which we always think of first when\nwe think of God and His work\u2014that is to say, the work of creation.\nWe find creation ascribed to the Holy Spirit in Job 33:4_: +\"The\nSpirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty giveth me\nlife.\"+ We find the same thing implied in Psalms 104:30: +\"Thou\nsendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the\nface of the ground.\"+ In these two passages creation, the most\ndistinctively divine of all works, is ascribed to the Holy Spirit.\n\n(2) The _impartation of life is ascribed to the Holy Spirit_. This we\nfind, for example, in John 6:63: +\"It is the Spirit that quickeneth;\nthe flesh profiteth nothing.\"+ We find the same thing again in\nRomans 8:11: +\"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the\ndead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also\nquicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.\"+ In\nthis passage we have not merely impartation of life to the spirit of\nman, but the impartation of life to the body in the resurrection of the\nbody ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Man's creation and the impartation\nof life to man are ascribed to the operation of the Holy Spirit in\nthe first book in the Bible, where we read in Genesis 2:7: +\"And\nJehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his\nnostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.\"+ Here we\nare told that man was created and became a living soul through God's\nbreathing into him the breath of life. This clearly implies that it was\nthrough the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit is\nthe breath of God going out in a personal way.\n\n(3) _The third divine work ascribed to the Holy Spirit is the\nauthorship of divine prophecies._ We find this, for example, in II\nPeter 1:21: +\"For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but\nmen spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.\"+ Here we are\ndistinctly told that it was through the operation of the Holy Spirit\nthat men were made the mouthpiece of God and uttered God's truth. We\nfind this same thought also in the Old Testament in II Samuel 23:2,\n3: +\"The Spirit of Jehovah spake by me, and His word was upon my\ntongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me.\"+\nIn this passage, also, the authorship of God's prophecies is ascribed\nto the Holy Spirit. Taking these passages together, we see that three\ndistinctively divine works are ascribed to the Holy Spirit.\n\n3. The third line of proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit is found in\nthe fact that _passages which refer to Jehovah in the Old Testament\nare taken to refer to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament_. There are\nnumerous instances of this, not as numerous as in the case of Jesus\nChrist, the Son, and yet enough to make it perfectly clear that the\nHoly Spirit occupies the same place in New Testament thought which\nJehovah occupies in Old Testament thought.\n\n(1) A striking illustration of this is found in Isaiah 6:8-10; cf.\nActs 28:25-27. In Isaiah 6:8-10, we read: +\"And I heard the voice of\nthe Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I\nsaid, here am I; send me. And he said, go, and tell this people, hear\nye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.\nMake the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut\ntheir eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,\nand understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.\"+\nHere we are distinctly told it is the \"Lord,\" and the context shows\nthat the Lord is the Lord Jehovah who is speaking, but when we turn\nto Acts 28:25-27, we read these words: +\"And when they agreed not\namong themselves, they departed after that Paul had spoken one word,\nwell spake the Holy Spirit through Isaiah the prophet unto your\nfathers\"+ (notice that in the passage in Isaiah we are told it is\nthe Lord Jehovah who spoke, and here we are told by Paul that it is the\nHoly Spirit who spake through the prophet), +\"saying, go thou unto\nthis people, and say, by hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise\nunderstand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive: for\nthis people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing,\nand their eyes they have closed; lest haply they should perceive with\ntheir eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart,\nand should turn again, and I should heal them.\"+ In the one place,\nthe place in the Old Testament, we are told that the Lord Jehovah is\nthe speaker; in the other place, in the New Testament, we are told\nthat the Holy Spirit is the speaker; that is to say, the Holy Spirit\noccupies the place in New Testament thought that the Lord Jehovah\noccupies in Old Testament thought. It is noticeable that this same\npassage in another place is applied to Jesus Christ (John 12:39-41).\nMay it not be that in the _threefold_ \"Holy\" in the seraphic cry\nrecorded in this chapter in Isaiah (Isaiah 6:3) we have a hint of the\ntri-personality of Jehovah of Hosts, and hence the propriety of the\nthreefold application of the vision?\n\n(2) Another illustration of a statement, which in the Old Testament is\ngiven as referring to Jehovah, being applied to the Holy Spirit in the\nNew Testament, is found by a comparison of Exodus 16:7 with Hebrews\n3:7-9. In Exodus 16:7 we read: +\"And in the morning, then shall ye\nsee the glory of Jehovah; for that he heareth your murmurings against\nJehovah: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?\"+ Here we are\ntold that the murmuring and provocation of the children of Israel in\nthe wilderness were against Jehovah, but in Hebrews 3:7-9, we read:\n+\"Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, to-day if ye shall hear\nhis voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, like as in\nthe day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by\nproving me, and saw my works forty years.\"+ In this New Testament\npassage we are told that it was the Holy Spirit that they provoked in\nthe wilderness, making it clear that the Holy Spirit occupies here in\nNew Testament thought the position Jehovah occupied in Old Testament\nthought in Exodus 16:7.\n\nTo sum up the passages under this head, we see that statements which in\nthe Old Testament distinctly name the Lord, God or Jehovah, as their\nsubject, are applied to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. That is\nto say, the Holy Spirit occupies the position of Deity in New Testament\nthought.\n\n4. The fourth way in which the Deity of the Holy Spirit is clearly\ntaught in the New Testament is that the _name of the Holy Spirit\nis coupled with that of God the Father in a way that it would be\nimpossible for a reverent and thoughtful mind to couple the name of any\nfinite being with that of Deity_. There are numerous illustrations of\nthis. Three will answer for our present purpose.\n\n(1) We read, for example, in I Corinthians 12:4-6: +\"Now there are\ndiversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities\nof ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are diversities of\nworkings, but the same God, who worketh all things in all.\"+ In this\npassage we see the name of the Holy Spirit coupled with that of God and\nof the Lord in a way in which it would be impossible for an intelligent\nworshipper of God to couple the name of any finite being with that of\nthe Deity.\n\n(2) We see the same thing again in Matthew 28:19: +\"Go ye therefore,\nand make disciples of all the nations, baptising them into the name\nof the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.\"+ If the Holy\nSpirit is not God, it would be shocking to couple His name in this way\nwith that of God, the Father, and of the Lord Jesus, His Son.\n\n(3) Another striking illustration of this is found in II Corinthians\n13:14: +\"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,\nand the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.\"+ Here the\nname of the Holy Spirit is coupled on a ground of equality with that\nof the Father and of the Son. In all these passages, the name of the\nHoly Spirit is coupled with that of God in a way in which it would be\nimpossible for a reverent, thoughtful mind to couple the name of any\nfinite being with that of Deity.\n\n5. _The fifth_ and last, and, if possible, more decisive way _in which\nthe Deity of the Holy Spirit is taught in the Bible is that the Holy\nSpirit in so many words is called God_. This we find in Acts 5:3, 4:\n+\"But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to\nthe Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While\nit remained, did it not remain thine own? And after it was sold, was\nit not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in\nthy heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.\"+ In the third\nverse we are distinctly told that it was to the Holy Spirit to Whom\nAnanias lied, and in the fourth verse we are told that it was to God\nthat Ananias lied. Putting the two statements together, it is evident\nthat the Holy Spirit is God.\n\nTo sum up all that we have said under the head of the Deity of the\nHoly Spirit, we see that _by the ascription of all the distinctively\ndivine attributes, and several distinctively divine works, by referring\nstatements which in the Old Testament distinctly named Jehovah, the\nLord or God, as their subject, to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament,\nby coupling the name of the Holy Spirit with that of God in a way in\nwhich it would be impossible to couple the name of any finite being\nwith that of Deity, by calling the Holy Spirit \"God,\" in all these\nunmistakable ways God in His Word distinctly proclaims that the Holy\nSpirit is a Divine Person_. It is absolutely impossible for any one to\ngo to the Bible to find out what it actually teaches, and not merely\nto twist and distort it to fit into his own preconceived notions, and\ncome to any other conclusion but that the Holy Spirit is a Divine\nPerson, that He is God.\n\n\nII. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT\n\nBut now we come to the question, Is the Holy Spirit a distinct\npersonality from the Father and from the Son? He might be a person, as\nwe have clearly seen that He is, and He might be a divine person, as\nwe have just seen that He is, and at the same time He might be only\nthe same person who manifested Himself at times as the Father and at\nother times as the Son, and in that case there would not be three\ndivine Persons in the Godhead, but one divine Person, who variously\nmanifested Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So the question that\nnow confronts us is, Is the Holy Spirit a distinct personality separate\nand distinct from the Father and from the Son? This question is plainly\nanswered in various passages in the New Testament.\n\n1. _We find this question answered in the first place in John 14:26\nand John 15:26._ In John 14:26 we read: +\"But the Comforter, even\nthe Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach\nyou all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto\nyou.\"+ In John 15:26 we read: +\"But when the Comforter is come,\nwhom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth,\nwhich proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me.\"+ In\nboth of these passages we are told that the Holy Spirit is an entirely\ndistinct personality from the Father and the Son, that He is sent from\nthe Father by the Son. We are elsewhere taught that Jesus Christ was\nsent by the Father (John 6:29; 8:29, 42). It is as clear as language\ncan make it in these passages that Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not\none and the same Person manifesting Himself in three different forms,\nbut that they are three distinct personalities.\n\n2. _We find clear proof that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three\ndistinct personalities_ in John 16:13, where we read: +\"Howbeit when\nHe, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the\ntruth: for He shall not speak from Himself; but what things soever He\nshall hear, these shall He speak: and He shall declare unto you the\nthings that are to come.\"+ In this passage the clearest possible\ndistinction is drawn between the Holy Spirit who speaks and the One\nfrom whom He speaks, and we are told in so many words that this One\nfrom whom He speaks is _not Himself, but another_.\n\n3. In the next verse the same thought is brought out in still another\nway. In this verse, John 16:14, we read: +\"He shall glorify me: for\nHe shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you.\"+ Here the\nclearest distinction is drawn between _He_, the Holy Spirit, and _Me_,\nJesus Christ. It is the work of the Holy Spirit not to glorify Himself,\nbut another, and this Other is Jesus Christ, and He takes what belongs\nto another; that is, to Christ, and declares it unto believers. It\nwould be impossible to express in human language a distinction between\ntwo personalities more plainly than the distinction between the Son and\nthe Holy Ghost is expressed in this verse.\n\n4. The distinction between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit\nis very clearly brought out in Luke 3:21, 22: +\"Now it came to\npass, when all the people were baptised, that, Jesus also having been\nbaptised, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit\ndescended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a voice came out\nof heaven, thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.\"+\nHere _a clear distinction is drawn between Jesus Christ who was on the\nearth, and the Father who spake to Him from heaven, and the Holy Spirit\nwho descended in bodily form as a dove from the Father upon the Son_.\n\n5. Still another striking illustration is found in Matthew 28:19:\n+\"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptising\nthem into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy\nSpirit.\"+ _Here a clear distinction is drawn between the name \"of\nthe Father,\" and the name \"of the Son,\" and the name \"of the Holy\nSpirit.\"_\n\n6. A very striking setting forth of a clear distinction between the\nFather, Son and Holy Spirit is found in John 14:16, 17: +\"And I will\npray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter that He may be\nwith you for ever, even the Spirit of truth.\"+ Here _the clearest\npossible distinction is drawn between the Son who prays, and the Father\nto whom He prays_, and _\"another Comforter,\" who is given in answer to\nHis prayer_. Nothing could possibly be plainer than the distinction\nthat Jesus Christ draws in this passage between Himself and the Father\nand the Holy Spirit.\n\n7. We find the same thing again in John 16:7: +\"Nevertheless I tell\nyou the truth: it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go\nnot away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will\nsend Him unto you.\"+ _Here the Lord Jesus Himself draws a clear\ndistinction between Himself, who is about to go away, and the Holy\nSpirit, the other Comforter who is coming to take His place after He\nhas gone away._\n\n8. The same thing is brought out again in Peter's sermon on the day of\nPentecost in Acts 2:33, where Peter is recorded as saying: +\"Being\ntherefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the\nFather the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath poured forth this, which\nye see and hear.\"+ _Here a clear distinction is drawn between the\nSon exalted to the right hand of the Father, and the Father Himself,\nand the Holy Spirit whom the Son receives from the Father, and sheds\nupon the Church. To sum up all under this head: again and again the\nBible draws the clearest possible distinction between the Holy Spirit,\nand the Father, and the Son. They are three separate personalities,\nhaving mutual relations to one another, acting upon one another,\nspeaking of or to one another, applying the pronouns of the second and\nthird persons to one another._\n\nWe have seen that the Bible makes it plain that the Holy Spirit is a\nDivine Person and that He is an entirely separate personality from\nthe Father and from the Son. In other words, that _there are three\ndivine Persons in the Godhead_. It has oftentimes been said that the\ndoctrine of the Trinity is not taught in the Bible. It is true that the\ndoctrine of the Trinity is not directly taught in the Bible in so many\nwords, but the doctrine of the Trinity is simply the putting together\nof truths that are clearly and unmistakably taught in the Bible. It\nis clearly taught in the Bible that there is but one God (Deuteronomy\n6:4). But it is taught with equal clearness, as we have seen to-day,\nthat there are three Divine Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy\nGhost; and the doctrine of the Trinity is the putting together of these\ntruths which are taught with equal plainness.\n\nBut, some one may ask, How can God be three and one at the same time?\nThe answer to this question is very simple and easily understandable.\nHe cannot be three in one in the same sense, nor does the Bible teach\nthat He is. But in what sense can He be one and three? A perfectly\nsatisfactory answer to this question is manifestly impossible from\nthe very nature of the case\u2014first, because God is Spirit and numbers\nbelong primarily to the physical world, and _difficulty must always\narise when we attempt to conceive of spiritual being in the forms\nof physical thought_. In the second place, a perfectly satisfactory\nanswer to the question is impossible because God is infinite and we are\nfinite. \"God dwells in the light that no man can approach unto,\" and\n_our attempts at a philosophical explanation of the Trinity of God is\nan attempt to put the facts of infinite being into the forms of finite\nthought, and of necessity such an attempt can at the very best be only\npartially successful_. This much we know, that God is essentially one,\nand also that there are three Persons in this one Godhead. _There\nis but one God, but this one God makes Himself known to us as three\ndistinct Persons\u2014Father, Son and Holy Spirit._ There is one God,\neternally existing, and manifesting Himself in three Persons\u2014Father,\nSon and Holy Spirit. If we were to go into the realm of philosophy,\nit could be shown that from the very necessities of the case, that if\nGod were to be God, there must be in the eternal Godhead before the\ncreation of finite beings a multiplicity of persons; for otherwise\nGod could not love, for there would be no one to love, and therefore\nGod could not be God. The ease with which one can grasp the Unitarian\nconception of God is not in its favour but against it. Any god who\ncould be thoroughly comprehended by a finite mind would not be an\ninfinite God. It would be impossible for a thoroughly intelligent mind\nto really worship a god whom he could thoroughly understand. If God is\nto be really God, He must be beyond our complete understanding.\n\nThe doctrine of the Trinity is not merely a speculative doctrine. It\nis a doctrine of tremendous daily practical importance. It enters\ninto the very warp and woof of our experience, if our experience is a\ntruly Christian experience. For example, in our prayer we need God,\nthe Father, to Whom we pray, we need God, the Son, through Whom we\npray, and we need God, the Holy Spirit, in Whom we pray. So also in\nour worship we need God, the Father, the very centre of our worship,\nwe need the Son, through Whom we approach Him in our worship, and we\nneed to worship by the Holy Spirit. But all three\u2014Father, Son and Holy\nSpirit\u2014are the objects of our worship. The long metre doxology is\nthoroughly Christian in its worship when it sings:\n\n \"Praise God from whom all blessings flow,\n Praise Him all creatures here below,\n Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts,\n Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.\"\n\nAnd so, also, is the Gloria Patri, the words of which we so often sing,\nbut the thought of which we so seldom grasp:\n\nGlory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it\nwas in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end,\nAmen.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nTHE ATONEMENT: GOD'S DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT VS. UNITARIAN AND\nCHRISTIAN SCIENCE DOCTRINES OF THE ATONEMENT\n\n \"Apart from the shedding of blood there is no remission.\"\u2014Hebrews\n 9:22.\n\n\nOur subject in this chapter is \"God's Doctrine of the Atonement vs. the\nUnitarian and Christian Science Doctrines of the Atonement.\" One of the\nmost fundamental, central and vital doctrines of the Christian faith\nis the Christian doctrine of the Atonement. Without the Bible Doctrine\nof the Atonement you have no Christianity, but the Devil's substitute\nfor Christianity. Without the Bible Doctrine of the Atonement you have\nno real gospel, but an utterly false and soul-destroying philosophy.\nIn speaking on the doctrine of the Deity of Christ I said: \"If a man\nreally holds to right views concerning the person of Jesus Christ he\nwill sooner or later get right views on every other question, but if\nhe holds a wrong view concerning the person of the Lord Jesus Christ\nhe is pretty sure to go wrong on everything else sooner or later.\"\nThe same is true regarding the doctrine of the Atonement: If a man\nreally holds to right views concerning the Atonement made by our Lord\nand Saviour Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary, he will sooner or\nlater get right on every other question; but if he holds a wrong view\nregarding the Atonement made by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, he\nis pretty sure to go wrong on everything else sooner or later. There is\na great need in this day of teaching on this subject that is definite,\nclear, accurate, exact, complete; because not only in Unitarian and\nChristian Science circles, but also in circles that are nominally\northodox, in professedly Christian colleges, seminaries, pulpits,\nSunday School classes, and religious papers, magazines, pamphlets,\nbooks, there is much teaching to-day that is vague, inaccurate,\nmisleading, unscriptural, and oftentimes utterly false and devilish,\nteaching that is essentially Unitarian or Eddyistic. Men and women\nuse the old words with a new meaning; so as to deceive, if it were\npossible, the very elect. Even the Christian Scientist will tell you\nhe believes in the Atonement, and that Mrs. Eddy taught the Atonement.\nBut when you begin to ask direct and pointed questions regarding his\nbelief and teaching you will find that by Atonement he meant, and\nthat Mrs. Eddy meant, something utterly different from what you mean\nand what the Bible teaches. Paul tells us that the Devil camouflages\nas an angel of light (II Cor. 11:14), but never has he done it more\nsuccessfully and dangerously than in the teaching regarding the\nAtonement which he has inspired in Mrs. Eddy and in Unitarian teachers,\nand also in the teachers in many supposedly orthodox pulpits, in many\nCongregational pulpits, in some Methodist pulpits, in many Baptist\npulpits, and even in some Presbyterian pulpits. Some years ago in\nteaching a Bible class in Minneapolis, attended by people from all the\nchurches, I remarked incidentally that Christian Science denied the\ndoctrine of the Atonement through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. A\nvery intelligent lady, a lady perfect in her manners, came to me at the\nclose of the class and said: \"Mr. Torrey, you ought not to have said\nwhat you said to-day about Christian Science; for you do not understand\nits teachings. They do teach the Atonement.\" I replied: \"I said that\nChristian Science denies the Doctrine of the Atonement _through the\nshed blood of Jesus Christ_. Do you believe that Jesus Christ bore your\nsins in His own body on the cross?\" She answered: \"I think Christian\nScience is a beautiful system of teaching.\" I said: \"That is not what\nI asked you. Do you believe that Jesus Christ bore your sins in His\nown body on the cross?\" She replied: \"Christian Science has done me a\ngreat deal of good.\" \"That is not what I asked you. Do you believe that\nJesus Christ bore your sins in His own body on the cross?\" \"I think\nthat Jesus Christ's life was the most beautiful life ever lived here\non earth.\" \"That is not what I asked you. Do you believe Jesus Christ\nbore your sins in His own body on the cross?\" \"The Christian Scientists\nare lovely people.\" \"That is not what I asked you. Do you believe that\nJesus Christ bore your sins in His own body on the cross?\" \"I believe\nin following the Lord Jesus Christ.\" \"Do you believe that Jesus Christ\nbore your sins in His own body on the cross?\" \"Oh,\" she said, \"that is\na doctrinal question.\" \"Now,\" I said, \"you are yourself an illustration\nof the truth of the very thing I said. You do not believe in the\n_Atonement through the shed blood of Jesus Christ_.\" The Christian\nScientist uses the word \"atonement,\" but he means something entirely\ndifferent from what the Bible teaches regarding the atoning death\nof Jesus Christ. So does the Unitarian. So do many of the ministers\nsupposedly of orthodox denominations. The pastor of a Congregational\nchurch in this city said recently: \"I have my own kind of religion; it\nanswers for me, but I hope I have sense enough to see that it would not\nanswer for everybody. I imagine the Salvation Army captain preaching my\nkind of religious doctrine, without a devil, without a hell, without an\n_atonement of blood_ and recompense, without an infallible Bible\u2014and\nI see his audience melting away like snow in the rain. Is his doctrine\ntruer than mine, or is mine truer than his? Why, neither; his is true\nfor him and mine for me\u2014that is all\u2014each after his own kind.\" Now\nthis may sound tolerant and lovely, but it is utter nonsense. Any\ndoctrine which is not true for everybody is not for anybody true, and\nany doctrine which is true is true for everybody. If a doctrine that\nleaves out \"_an atonement of blood_\" is not true for the Salvation\nArmy\u2014and it certainly is not\u2014it is not _true_ for anybody else. Truth\nis not relative; it is absolute. What is true is true, and what is\nfalse is false. So we come face to face with the question, What does\nthe Bible teach on this great fundamental doctrine?\n\n\nI. THE NECESSITY AND IMPORTANCE OF HIS DEATH\n\nThe first thing that the Bible plainly teaches on this question is\n_the absolute necessity and fundamental importance of the death of\nJesus Christ, the absolute necessity and fundamental importance of the\nshedding of His blood_. The tendency of our day in Unitarian circles,\nand in orthodox circles that have been leavened by the corrupting\nleaven of Unitarianism, is to minimise the importance of the death of\nour Lord Jesus Christ. The tendency is to make His life and character,\nHis teaching and leadership, the main thing. Christian Science even\ngoes so far as to deny the fact of His death. To them His supposed\ndeath is \"an illusion,\" it is \"only mortal thought,\" but the Bible puts\nthe emphasis upon His atoning death.\n\n1. _The death of Jesus Christ is mentioned directly more than 175 times\nin the New Testament. Besides this there are very many prophetic and\ntypical references to the death of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament._\nWhen Mr. Alexander and I were holding our meetings in the Royal Albert\nHall in London, some one took away one of our hymn books and went\nthrough it and cut out every reference to the blood, and then sent it\nback to me through the mail, saying, \"I have gone through your hymn\nbook and cut out every reference to the blood. These references to the\nblood are foolish. Now sing your hymns with the blood left out and\nthere will be some sense in them.\" If any of you should take your Bible\nand go through it in that way and cut out of the New Testament and the\nOld Testament every passage that referred to the death of Christ, or\nto His atoning blood, you would have only a sadly torn and tattered\nBible left, a Bible without a heart and a Gospel without saving power.\nIf I were a member of a church where the pastor said that he preached\na system of \"religious doctrine, without a devil, without a hell,\n_without an atonement of blood_ and recompense, without an infallible\nBible,\" to use his own language, he would see his audience \"melting\naway like snow in the rain\" as far as I was concerned. I would either\ntake my hat and get out of that church, or else the pastor would take\nhis hat and get out of the pulpit; for I should know that he was\nnot preaching God's pure, saving gospel, but the Devil's poisonous\nsubstitute for the gospel.\n\n2. Not only are the references to the death of Christ so numerous\nin Old Testament and New Testament, but we are taught distinctly in\nHebrews 2:14 that _Jesus Christ became a man for the specific purpose\nof dying_, that He became a partaker of flesh and blood _in order that\nHe might die_. In this passage we read, +\"For as much as the children\nare partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of\nthe same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power\nof death, that is the Devil\"+ (Heb. 2:14). The meaning of these\nwords is as plain as day. They tell us that the incarnation was for the\npurpose of the death. They tell us that Jesus Christ's death was not\na mere accident or incident of His human life (as many would have us\nbelieve), but that _it was the supreme purpose of it_. He became man\n_in order that He might die_ as man and for man. This is the doctrine\nof the Bible, and it is true for anybody and for everybody.\n\n3. Furthermore, _He died_ for a specific purpose, _as a ransom for us_.\nHe Himself said so. In Matt. 20:28 He says, +\"The Son of man came not\nto be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom\nfor many.\"+\n\n4. One of the most remarkable scenes recorded in the New Testament is\nthat of the transfiguration, when Moses and Elijah came back from the\nother world to commune with Jesus. And what did they talk about in that\ngreat moment of human history? Luke tells us in the 9th chapter of his\nGospel, the 30th and 31st verses, +\"And behold, there talked with\nHim+ (i.e., with Jesus) +two men, which were Moses and Elijah:\nwho appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He was about to\naccomplish at Jerusalem.\"+ His atoning death was the one subject\nthat engrossed the attention of these two who came back from the glory\nworld. We are also told in I Peter 1:10-12 that _the death of Jesus\nChrist_ is a subject of intensest interest and earnest inquiry on the\npart of the angels.\n\n5. _The death of Christ is the central theme of heaven's song._ Rev.\n5:8-12 gives us a picture of heaven with its wonderful choir of ten\nthousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, and this is\nthe description of the song they sing: +\"And when he had taken the\nbook, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell\ndown before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of\nincense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sing a new song,\nsaying, Worthy art thou to take the book and to open the seals thereof:\nfor thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of\nevery tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and madest them to\nbe unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth.\nAnd I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne\nand the living creatures and elders; and the number of them was ten\nthousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a\ngreat voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive the power,\nand riches, and wisdom, and might, and honour, and glory, and blessing.\nAnd every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and\nunder the earth, and on the sea, and all things that are in them, heard\nI saying, Unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be\nthe blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever\nand ever\"+ (Rev. 5:8-12). So it is evident that the great central\ntheme of heaven's song is the atoning death of Jesus Christ, and the\nshed \"_blood_\" by which He redeemed \"men of every tribe, and tongue,\nand nation.\" If the Unitarian or the Christian Scientist or the New\nTheologian should get to heaven they would have no song to sing. The\nglorious song of that wondrous choir would sound to him like a song \"of\nthe shambles.\" He would be very lonesome and feel that he had got into\nthe wrong pew.\n\n\nII. THE PURPOSE OF THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST\n\nSo much for the fundamental and central importance of His death, or of\n_the shedding of His blood_. But what was the purpose of the shedding\nof His blood?\n\n1. First of all, the Bible distinctly and repeatedly tells us by direct\nstatement, and by countless typical reference in the Old Testament,\nthat _He died as a vicarious offering for sin; that is, that He, an\nabsolutely perfect, righteous one, who deserved to live, died in the\nplace of unjust men who deserved to die_. For example, we read in Isa.\n53:5, +\"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for\nour iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with\nHis stripes we are healed.\"+ And in the eighth verse we read, +\"By\noppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation,\nwho among them considered that He was cut off out of the land of the\nliving for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was\ndue?\"+ And in the 11th and 12th verses we read, +\"He shall see\nof the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge\nof Himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and He shall bear\ntheir iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great,\nand He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He poured out\nHis soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet He\nbare the sin of many. And made intercession for the transgressors.\"+\nIn I Peter, 3:18 we read, +\"Christ also suffered for sins once, the\nrighteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God; being\nput to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.\"+ And in\n1 Peter 2:24 we read, +\"Who His own self bare our sins in His own\nbody upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto\nrighteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.\"+ Now the meaning\nof these verses and many other verses, is inescapable. They teach in\nlanguage the meaning of which no one can misunderstand (unless he is\ndetermined not to see) that the death of Jesus Christ was a vicarious\natonement, that is, a just one, who deserved to live, dying in the\nplace of unjust ones who deserved to die. It was, to use the language\nof the Los Angeles minister who denied his belief in it, \"an atonement\nof blood and recompense.\" This is God's doctrine of the Atonement\nversus the Unitarian and Christian Science doctrine of the Atonement.\n\n2. But this is not all. We are further taught that _He died as a\nransom, that is, His death was the price paid to redeem others from\ndeath_. He Himself says so. His own words are, +\"The Son of man came\nnot to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a\nransom for many.\"+ If His life was not a ransom, that is to say, if\nHe did not redeem others from death by dying in their place, then He\nwas the greatest fool in the whole history of this universe. Was He a\nfool or was He a ransom? No one who in any real sense can be said to\nbelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ can hesitate as to his answer.\n\n3. But even this is not all. The Bible distinctly tells us that _He\ndied as a sin offering, i.e., it was on the ground of His death, and\non this ground alone, that forgiveness of sin is made possible for\nand offered to sinners_. This we are told in the 53rd chapter of\nIsaiah, to which reference has already been made. In the 10th verse it\nis written, +\"Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; He+ (i.e.,\nJehovah) +hath put him to grief+ (literally, made him sick):\n+when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his\nseed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall\nprosper in his hand.\"+ Now the meaning of \"_offering for sin_\" is\nunquestionable to any one who has studied the Old Testament offerings.\nAn \"offering for sin\" or a \"guilt offering,\" which is the exact force\nof the Hebrew word translated \"an offering for sin,\" was a death of\na sacrificial victim on the ground of which pardon was offered to\nsinners (Lev. 6:6-10, R. V.). The Holy Spirit says expressly in Heb.\n9:22, in words the meaning of which is unmistakable, and the force\nof which is inescapable, \"_Apart from shedding of blood_ there is no\nremission,\" and the whole context in which the passage is found shows\nthat the blood, to which all the blood of the Old Testament types as\nsacrifices pointed forward, was the blood of Jesus Christ. So then\nthe Word of God declares that apart from the shedding of the blood of\nJesus Christ there is absolutely no pardon for sin. There is absolutely\nno forgiveness outside the atoning blood of Christ. Without Christ's\natoning blood every member of the human race must have perished forever.\n\n4. Fourth and further yet, the Bible teaches that _Jesus Christ died\nas a propitiation for our sins_. God the Father gave Christ the Son\nto be a propitiation by His blood. That is to say that _Jesus Christ,\nthrough the shedding of His blood, is that by which God's holy wrath\nat sin is appeased_. We read in 1 John 4:10, +\"Herein is love, not\nthat we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the\npropitiation for our sins.\"+ And we read in Rom. 3:25, 26, +\"Whom\nGod set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in His blood, to\nshow His righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done\naforetime, in the forbearance of God; (26) for the showing, I say,\nof His righteousness at this present season: that He might Himself\nbe just, and the justifier of Him that hath faith in Jesus.\"+ The\nmeaning of these words also is as plain as day. The two Greek words\nin these two passages are not exactly the same words (_hilasmos_ and\n_hilasterion_) but are from the same root. The word used in 1 John 4:10\nis _hilasmos_ and the word used in Rom. 3:25 is _hilasterion_. The\ndefinition given of the first in Thayer's Dictionary of New Testament\nGreek, the standard work, is \"a means of appeasing.\" The definition\ngiven in the same lexicon of the second word is \"an expiatory\nsacrifice.\" So the thought that is in both passages is that the death\nof Jesus Christ was a \"propitiation,\" \"an expiatory sacrifice,\" the\n\"means of appeasing\" God's holy wrath at sin, or in other words,\nthat _Jesus, through the shedding of His blood, is that by which the\nwrath of God against us as sinners is appeased_. God's holiness and\nconsequent hatred of sin, like every other attribute of His character,\nis real and must manifest itself. His wrath at sin must strike\nsomewhere, either on the sinner himself or upon a lawful substitute.\nIt struck upon Jesus Christ, a lawful substitute. As we read in Isa.\n53:6, \"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to\nhis own way; and Jehovah _hath laid on Him_ the iniquity of us all.\"\nThe word translated \"hath laid,\" according to the margin of the Revised\nVersion, means literally, \"hath made to _light_.\" More literally still\nit means, \"hath made to _strike_.\" Reading it this way, what God says\nis, \"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to\nhis own way; and Jehovah _hath made to strike on him_ (i.e., on the\nLord Jesus) _the iniquity of us all_.\" And in the eighth verse of the\nsame chapter we are taught that \"the stroke due\" to others fell upon\nHim, and He was consequently \"cut off out of the land of the living.\"\nThe death of Jesus Christ has its first cause in the demands of God's\nholiness. This is the Bible doctrine versus the Unitarian and Christian\nScience doctrine of atonement. The doctrine is often misrepresented\nand caricatured as being that \"God, a holy first person, took the sins\nof man, the guilty second person, and put them on Jesus Christ, an\ninnocent third person,\" and it is objected that this would not be just.\nNo; this would not be just, and it is not for a moment the doctrine of\nthe Bible, for the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ was not \"a\nthird person,\" but was Himself God, and that He was Himself man, so He\nis not a third person at all, but both the first person and the second\nperson, and the doctrine is that God Himself, the offended first\nperson, substitutes His atoning action whereby He expresses His hatred\nagainst sin, for His punitive action whereby He would express the same\nthing; that God, instead of visiting the sins of the sinner upon the\nsinner, takes the punishment upon Himself. This certainly is something\nmore than just, it is wondrous love.\n\n5. Further yet, the Bible teaches us that _Jesus Christ died to redeem\nus from the curse of the law by bearing that curse Himself_. We read\nin Gal. 3:10, +\"As many as are of the works of the law are under a\ncurse, for it is written: Cursed is every one who continueth not in\nall things that are written in the Book of the Law, to do them.\"+\nSo then, every one of us is under the curse of the broken law, for not\none of us has continued +\"in all things that are written in the book\nof the law, to do them.\"+ But we read in the 13th verse, +\"Christ\nredeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us+\n(literally, _in our behalf_): +for it is written, Cursed is every one\nthat hangeth on a tree.\"+ _By His death by crucifixion He redeemed\nus from the curse which we deserved by taking that curse upon Himself._\nThis certainly is \"an atonement of blood and recompense.\"\n\n6. The Bible puts essentially the same truth in still another form,\nviz., that _Jesus Christ died as our Passover sacrifice\u2014that is, that\nHis shed blood might serve as a ground upon which God would pass over\nand spare us_. We read in 1 Cor. 5:7, +\"For our passover also hath\nbeen sacrificed, even Christ.\"+ Now what a passover sacrifice was\nand signified we learn from Ex. 12:12, 13, where our Lord told the\nchildren of Israel at the inauguration of the passover, +\"For I will\ngo through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the\nfirstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all\nthe Gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am Jehovah, and the blood\nshall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I\nsee the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall be no plague upon\nyou to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.\"+ And again we\nread in the 23rd verse of the same chapter, +\"For Jehovah will pass\nthrough to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the\nlintel, and on the two side-posts, Jehovah will pass over the door,\nand will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite\nyou.\"+ Paul wrote his words with all this in mind, and in saying\nthat Christ is our Passover sacrifice beyond a question he meant that\n_the shed blood of Jesus Christ serves as a ground, and the only\nground, upon which God passes over and spares us_.\n\n\nIII. THE RESULTS OF THE ATONING DEATH\n\nWe have seen then the gracious and glorious purposes of the Atoning\nDeath of Jesus Christ. What are the results of that death? They are\neven more glorious. I can speak of them this morning only in part.\n\n1. The first result of the atoning death of Jesus Christ is that _a\npropitiation is provided for the whole world_. We read in 1 John 2:2,\n+\"He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but\nalso for the whole world.\"+ This plainly means that _by the death\nof Jesus Christ a basis is provided upon which God can deal in mercy\nand does deal in mercy with the whole world_. All of God's dealings in\nmercy with any man are on the ground of Christ's death. Only on the\nground of Christ's death could God deal in mercy with any man. God's\ndealings in mercy with the rankest blasphemer or the most blatant\natheist is on the ground of the atoning death of Jesus Christ.\n\n2. In the second place through _the atoning death of Jesus Christ all\nmen obtain resurrection from the dead_. We read in Rom. 5:18, +\"So\nthen as through one trespass+ (i.e., the trespass of Adam) +the\njudgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through one act\nof righteousness+ (i.e., through Christ's righteous act in dying\non the cross in obedience to the will of God) +the free gift came\nunto all men to justification of life.\"+ And we are told in 1 Cor.\n15:22, +\"As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made\nalive.\"+ The Apostle Paul in the whole chapter is speaking about\n_the resurrection of the body_, not about eternal life, and he here\ndistinctly teaches that as every child of Adam loses life (physical\nlife\u2014see Gen. 3:19) in the first Adam, so also in Jesus Christ, the\nsecond Adam, he obtains resurrection from the dead, through the atoning\ndeath of Jesus Christ. Every man, the rankest infidel as well as the\nmost devout believer, will some day be raised from the dead because\nChrist died in his place. Whether the resurrection which he obtains\nthrough the death of Jesus Christ shall be a \"resurrection of life\"\nor a \"resurrection of condemnation,\" \"shame and everlasting contempt\"\n(John 5:28, 29; Dan. 12:2) depends entirely upon what attitude the\nindividual takes toward the Christ in whom he gets the resurrection.\n\n3. _By the atoning death of Jesus Christ all believers in Jesus Christ\nhave forgiveness of all their sins._ We read in Eph. 1:7, +\"In\nwhom+ (i.e., in Jesus Christ) +we have our redemption through His\nblood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of\nHis grace.\"+ Because Jesus Christ died as a full satisfaction for\nour sins, forgiveness of sin is not something which believers are to do\nsomething to secure, it is something which the blood of Jesus Christ\nhas already secured and which our faith has already appropriated to\nourselves; \"we _have_ forgiveness,\" we _are_ forgiven. Every believer\nin Jesus Christ is forgiven every sin he ever committed or ever shall\ncommit, because Jesus Christ shed His blood in his place. Through\nChrist's atoning death all believers in Him, although they once \"were\n_enemies_,\" are _now_ \"_reconciled_ to God by the death of His Son.\"\nAs we read in Rom. 5:10, +\"While we were enemies, we were reconciled\nto God through the death of His Son.\"+ That is to say, the enmity\nbetween God and the sinner is done away with, or, as Paul puts it in\nCol. 1:20, Christ has \"made peace through the blood of His cross,\"\nor, as he puts it in the next verse but one, Col. 1:22, Christ \"_hath\nreconciled_\" believers \"in the body of His flesh through death.\" The\nstory is told of a faithful vicar in England who was told that one of\nhis parishioners was dying. She was a good woman, but he hurried to her\nside to talk with her. As he sat down by the side of the dying woman\nhe said to her very gently but solemnly, \"They tell me you have not\nlong to live.\" \"No,\" she replied, \"I know I have not.\" \"They tell me\nyou will probably not live through the night.\" \"No,\" she replied, \"I\ndo not expect to live through the night.\" Then he said very earnestly,\n\"Have you made your peace with God?\" She replied, \"No, I have not.\"\n\"And are you not afraid to meet God without having made your peace\nwith Him?\" \"No, not at all,\" she calmly replied. Again he said to her,\n\"Do you understand what I am saying? Do you realise that you are at\nthe point of death?\" \"Yes.\" \"Do you realise you will probably not live\nthrough the night?\" \"Yes.\" \"And you have not made your peace with God?\"\n\"No.\" \"And you are not afraid to meet God?\" \"No, not at all.\" There\nwas something about the woman's manner that made him feel there was\nsomething back of her words, and he said to her, \"What do you mean?\"\nShe replied, \"I know I am dying. I know I am very near death. I know I\nshall not live through the night. I know I must soon meet God, and I am\nnot at all disturbed, for I know that I did not need to make my peace\nwith God, because Jesus Christ made peace with God for me more than\neighteen hundred years ago by His death on the cross of Calvary, and I\nam resting in the peace that Jesus Christ has already made.\" The woman\nwas right: no man needs to make his peace with God, Jesus Christ has\nalready made peace by His atoning death, and all we have to do is to\nenter into the peace which Jesus Christ has made for us, and we enter\ninto that peace by simply believing in the One who made peace by His\ndeath upon the cross. Jesus Christ's work was a complete and perfect\nwork. There is nothing to be added to it. We cannot add anything to it,\nand we do not need to add anything to it. Jesus Christ has \"made peace\nthrough the blood of His cross.\"\n\n4. The fourth result of the atoning death of Jesus Christ is that\n_because of the atoning death of Jesus Christ all believers in Him\nare justified_. We read in Rom. 5:9, +\"Being now justified by His\nblood.\"+ Justification is more than forgiveness. Forgiveness is\nnegative, the putting away of our sins, manifested in God's treating us\nas if we never had sinned. Justification is positive, the reckoning of\nus positively righteous, the imputing to us the perfect righteousness\nof God in Jesus Christ, not merely the treating us as if we had never\nsinned, but the reckoning us clothed upon with perfect righteousness.\nBy reason of Jesus Christ's atoning death there is an absolute\ninterchange of position between Jesus Christ and His people. In His\ndeath upon the cross Jesus Christ took our place of condemnation before\nGod, and the moment we accept Him we step into His place of perfect\nacceptance before God. As Paul puts it in 2 Cor. 5:21, +\"Him who\nknew no sin He made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the\nrighteousness of God in Him.\"+ Jesus Christ stepped into our place\nin the curse and rejection, and the moment we accept Him we step into\nHis place of perfect acceptance, or as it has been expressed by another:\n\n \"Near, so very near to God,\n Nearer I cannot be;\n For in the person of His Son,\n I'm just as near as He.\n\n Dear, so very dear to God,\n Dearer I cannot be;\n For in the person of His Son,\n I'm just as dear as He.\"\n\n5. Furthermore, _because of the full atonement that Jesus Christ has\nmade by the shedding of His blood, by His atoning death on the cross,\nevery believer in Him can enter boldly into the holy place, into the\nvery presence of God_. As it is put in Heb. 10:19, 20, +\"Having\ntherefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place+ (i.e.,\ninto the very presence of God) +by the blood of Jesus, by the way\nwhich He dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that\nis to say, His flesh; and having a great priest over the house of God;\nlet us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith.\"+ Oh, how\nsome of us hesitate to come into the presence of God when we think of\nthe greatness and the number of our sins, and when we think how holy\nGod is, how the very seraphim (the \"burning ones,\" burning in their\nown intense holiness) veil their faces and feet in His presence and\nunceasingly cry \"Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of Hosts\" (Isa. 6:2, 3).\n\"God is Holy,\" we think. \"Yes.\" \"And I am a sinner.\" \"Yes.\" But by the\nwondrous offering of Christ \"once for all\" I am \"perfected forever,\"\nand on the ground of that blood so precious and so sufficient unto God,\nI can march boldly into the very presence of God, look up with unveiled\nface into His face and call Him \"Father,\" and pour out before Him every\ndesire of my heart. Oh, wondrous blood!\n\n6. But this is not all. _Because of the atoning death of Jesus Christ\nthose who believe in Him shall ever live with Him._ How plainly Paul\nputs it in 1 Thess. 5:10, +\"Who died for us, that, whether we wake\nor sleep,+ (i.e., at His coming), +we should live together with\nHim.\"+\n\n7. Further yet, _because of the atoning death of Jesus Christ,\nall those who believe on Him receive the promise of the eternal\ninheritance_. This is what we are told in Heb. 9:15, +\"And for this\ncause He is the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken\nplace for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the\nfirst covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of\nthe eternal inheritance.\"+ I wish I had time to dwell upon that.\n\n8. There are other results of the atoning death of Jesus Christ as\nregards the Devil and his angels, into which we have no time to go.\nJust one more thing as regards the results of the atoning death of\nJesus Christ as it relates to the material universe. God teaches us\nthat _through the death of Jesus Christ the material universe_\u2014\"all\nthings, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven\"\u2014_is\nreconciled unto God_. These are His words, +\"For it was the good\npleasure of the Father that in Him+ (i.e., in Jesus Christ)\n+should all the fullness dwell and, having made peace through the\nblood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by\nHim, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in Heaven\"+\n(Col. 1:19, 20). These are wonderful words. They tell us that the\ndeath of Jesus Christ has a relation to the material universe, to\nthings on earth and to things in heaven, as well as to us and our\nsins. The material universe has fallen away from God in connection\nwith sin (Rom. 8:20, R. V.; Gen. 3:18). Not only earth but heaven has\nbeen invaded and polluted by sin (Eph. 6:12, R. V.; Heb. 9:23, 24).\nThrough the death of Jesus Christ this pollution is put away. Just\nas the blood of the Old Testament sacrifice was taken into the most\nholy place, the type of heaven, so Christ has taken the blood of the\nbetter sacrifice into heaven itself and cleansed it. +\"All things\n. . . whether they be things in earth or things in heaven\"+ are now\nreconciled to God. +\"The creation itself also shall be delivered from\nthe bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children\nof God\"+ (Rom. 8:21). +\"We look for new heavens and a new earth,\nwherein dwelleth righteousness\"+ (2 Peter 3:13). The atonement of\nJesus Christ has an immense sweep\u2014far beyond the reach of our human\nphilosophies. We have just begun to understand what the blood that\nwas spilled on Calvary means. Sin is a far more awful, ruinous, and\nfar-reaching evil than we have been wont to think, but the blood of\nChrist has a power and efficiency, the fullness of which only eternity\nwill disclose.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nTHE DISTINCTIVE DOCTRINE OF PROTESTANTISM: JUSTIFICATION BY\nFAITH\n\n \"Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this\n man is proclaimed unto you, remission of sins: and by him every\n one that believeth is justified from all things, from which he\n could not be justified by the law of Moses.\"\u2014Acts 13:38, 39.\n\n \"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him\n that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for\n righteousness.\"\u2014Rom. 4:5.\n\n\nThese are two remarkable passages and this chapter will be occupied\nwith an exposition of them. Our subject this morning is, The\nDistinctive Doctrine of Protestantism: Justification by Faith. The\ndoctrine of Justification by Faith was the doctrine that made the\nReformation. It is to-day one of the cardinal doctrines of the\nEvangelical Faith. This doctrine, though first fully expounded and\nconstantly emphasised by Paul, runs throughout the entire Bible from\nGenesis to Revelation. It is in the first book of the Bible, the book\nof Genesis, that we read, +\"Abraham believed in the Lord; and he\ncounted it to him for righteousness.\"+ (Gen. 15:6.) In these words\nin the very first book in the Bible we have the germ of the whole\ngracious and precious doctrine of Justification by Faith.\n\n\nI. WHAT IS JUSTIFICATION?\n\nThe first thing for us to understand clearly is just what justification\nis. It is at this point that many go astray in their study of this\ngreat truth. There are two fundamentally different definitions of the\nmeaning of the words \"justify\" and \"justification.\" The one definition\nof Justify is, _to make righteous_, and of Justification, _the being\nmade righteous_. The other definition of \"justify\" is, _to reckon,\ndeclare, or show to be righteous_, and of \"justification,\" _the being\ndeclared or reckoned righteous_. On these two different definitions\ntwo different schools of thought depart from one another. Which is\nthe true definition? The way to settle the meaning of any word in the\nBible is by an examination of all the passages in which that word and\nits derivatives is found. If any one will go through the Bible, the\nOld Testament and the New, and carefully study all the passages in\nwhich the word \"justify\" and its derivatives is found, he will discover\nthat _beyond a question, in Biblical usage, to \"justify\" means, not\nto make righteous, but to reckon righteousness, declare righteous, or\nshow to be righteous. A man is justified before God when God reckons\nhim righteous._ This appears, for example, in the fourth chapter of\nRomans, 2nd to 8th verses, R. V. +\"For if Abraham was justified by\nworks, he hath whereof to glory; but not toward God. For what saith\nthe scripture? And Abraham believed God and it was reckoned unto\nhim for righteousness. Now to him that worketh, the reward is not\nreckoned as of grace, but as of debt. But to him that worketh not, but\nbelieveth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for\nrighteousness even as David also pronounced blessing upon the man unto\nwhom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works, saying, blessed are\nthey whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered, blessed\nis the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin.\"+ It is plain from\nthis passage, as from many other passages, that a man is justified when\nGod reckons him righteous, no matter what his principles of character\nand of conduct may have been. We shall see later that justification\nmeans more than mere forgiveness.\n\n\nII. HOW ARE MEN JUSTIFIED?\n\nWe come now to the second question, and the all-important question,\nHow are men justified? In general there are two opposing views of\njustification: one that men are justified by their own works, i.e.,\non the ground of something which they do themselves. This view may be\nvariously expressed. The good works that men speak of as a ground of\ntheir justification may be their good moral conduct, or their keeping\nthe Golden Rule, or something of that sort. Or they may be works of\nreligion, such as doing penance, saying prayers, joining the church,\ngoing to church, being baptised, or partaking of the Lord's Supper, or\nthe performance of some other religious duties. But these all amount\nto the same thing: it is something that we ourselves do that brings\njustification, some works of our own, some works that we do, are taken\nas the ground of our justification. The other view of justification is\nthat we are justified, not by our own works in any sense, but entirely\nby the work of another, i.e., by the atoning death of Jesus Christ on\nthe cross of Calvary, that our own works have nothing to do with our\njustification, but that we are justified entirely by Christ's finished\nand complete work of atonement, by His death for us on the Cross,\nand that all that we have to do with our justification is merely to\nappropriate it to ourselves by simply trusting in Him who made the\natonement. Which is the correct view? We shall go directly to the Bible\nfor the answer to this all-important question.\n\n1. The first part of the answer we will find in Rom. 3:20,\n+\"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified\nin his sight: for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin.\"+ It\nis here very plainly stated that we are not justified by keeping the\nlaw of God, either the Mosaic law or any other law, and that the law is\ngiven, not to bring us justification, but to bring us a knowledge of\nsin, i.e., to bring us to the realisation of our need of justification\nby grace. It is plainly stated here that _no man is justified by works\nof the law_. The same great truth is found in Gal. 2:16: +\"Knowing\nthat a man is not justified by the works of the law, save through faith\nin Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be\njustified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by\nthe works of the law shall no flesh be justified.\"+ Justification\nby any works of our own is an impossibility. It is an impossibility\nbecause to be justified by works of the law, or by anything we can\ndo, we must perfectly keep the law of God. The law demands perfect\nobedience as a ground of justification. It says, +\"Cursed is every\none that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of\nthe law to do them.\"+ (Gal. 3:10.). But not one of us has perfectly\nkept the law of God, and the moment we break the law of God at any\npoint, justification by works becomes an absolute impossibility. So\nas far as the law of God is concerned, every one of us is \"under the\ncurse,\" and if we are justified at all we must find some other way of\njustification than by keeping the law of God. God did not give man the\nlaw with the expectation or intention that he would keep it and be\njustified thereby. He gave them the law to produce conviction of sin,\nto stop men's mouths, and to lead them to Christ. Or, as Paul puts\nit in Rom. 3:19, 20, +\"Now ye know that what things soever the law\nsaith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth\nmay be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of\nGod: because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his\nsight: for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin.\"+ As plain\nas these words of God are, strangely enough there are many to-day who\nare preaching the law as a way of salvation. But when they so preach\nthey are preaching another way of salvation than that laid down in\nGod's own word.\n\n2. The second part of the answer to the question as to how we are\njustified we find in Rom. 3:24. +\"Being justified freely by his\ngrace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.\"+ The word\ntranslated \"freely\" in this passage means, _as a free gift_, and the\nverse tells us that men are justified _as a free gift_ by God's grace\n(i.e., God's unmerited favour) through (i.e., on the ground of) the\nredemption that is in Christ Jesus. In other words, justification is\nnot on the ground of any desert there is in us, not on the ground of\nanything that we have done, we are not justified by our own doing nor\nby our own character. _Justification is a free gift that God bestows\nabsolutely without pay._ The channel through which this free gift is\nbestowed is the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We shall see later\nthat this means through the purchase price that Christ paid for our\nredemption, i.e., the shedding of His blood on the cross of Calvary.\n\n3. This leads us to the third part of the answer to the question, how\nmen are justified. We find this third part of the answer in Rom. 5:9,\n+\"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be\nsaved from the wrath of God through Him.\"+ Here we are told in so\nmany words that we are justified, or counted righteous \"by,\" or more\nliterally, \"in,\" _Christ's blood_, i.e., on the ground of Christ's\npropitiatory death. We were all under the curse of the broken law of\nGod, for we had all broken it, but by dying in our stead on the cross\nof Calvary our Lord Jesus +\"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the\nlaw, having become a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is every\none that hangeth on a tree.\"+ (Gal. 3:13.) Or, as Peter puts it in\n1 Pet. 2:24, +\"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body upon\nthe tree.\"+ Or as Paul puts it again in 2 Cor. 5:21, +\"Him who\nknew no sin he (God) made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become\nthe righteousness of God in Him.\"+ We shall have occasion to come\nback to this passage later. All that I wish you to notice in it at this\ntime is that it is on the ground of Jesus Christ becoming a substitute\nfor us, on the ground of His taking the place we deserved; on the\ncross, that we are reckoned righteous. THE ONE AND ONLY GROUND OF\nJUSTIFICATION IS THE SHED BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. Of course, this\ndoctrine is entirely different from the teaching of Christian Science,\nand entirely different from the teaching of much that is called New\nTheology, and entirely different from the teaching of New Thought and\nTheosophy, and entirely different from the teaching of Unitarianism,\nbut it is the teaching of the Word of God. We find this same teaching\nclearly given by the prophet Isaiah seven hundred years before our Lord\nwas born, in Isaiah 53:6, where he says, +\"All we like sheep have\ngone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath\nlaid+ (literally, made to strike) +on him+ (i.e., on the Lord\nJesus) +the iniquity of us all.\"+ Get this point clearly settled\nin your mind, that the _sole but all-sufficient ground upon which men\nare justified before God is the shed blood of Jesus Christ, offered by\nJesus Christ as an atonement for our sins_ and _accepted by God the\nFather as an all-sufficient atonement_.\n\n4. The fourth part of the answer to the question how men are justified\nwe find in Rom. 3:26, +\"For the showing, I say, of his+ (i.e.,\nGod's) +righteousness at this present season: that he+ (i.e.,\nGod) +might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath\nfaith in Jesus.\"+ Here we are taught that _men are justified on the\ncondition of faith in Jesus_. If possible, Rom. 4:5 makes this even\nmore plain, +\"But to him that worketh not but believeth on him that\njustifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness.\"+\nHere the Holy Spirit, speaking through the Apostle Paul, tells us that\nto those who believe in Jesus their faith is counted for righteousness.\nIn other words, _faith makes ours the shed blood which is the ground\nof justification, and we are justified when we believe_. All men\nare _potentially_ justified by the death of Christ on the cross, but\nbelievers are _actually_ justified by appropriating to themselves what\nthere is of justifying value in the shed blood of Christ by simple\nfaith in Him. In other words, the shed blood of Christ is the sole and\nall-sufficient ground of justification: simple faith in Jesus Christ\nwho shed the blood is the sole condition of justification. _God asks\nnothing else of the sinner than that he should believe on His Son,\nJesus Christ, and when he does thus believe he is justified._ When we\nbelieve we are justified, whether we have any works to offer or not;\nor, as Paul puts it in Rom. 3:28, +\"We reckon therefore that a man is\njustified by faith apart from works of the law.\"+ Or, as it is put\nin the verse already quoted, Rom. 4:5, +\"But to him that worketh not,\nbut believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned\nfor righteousness.\"+ A man is justified entirely apart from works\nof the law, i.e., he is justified on condition that he believes on\nJesus Christ, even though he has no works to offer as the ground upon\nwhich to claim justification. When we cease to work for justification\nand simply \"_believe_ on Him who _justifieth the ungodly_,\" that faith\nis reckoned to us for righteousness, and therefore we are counted\nrighteous. The question then is not, have you any works to offer, but\ndo you believe on Him who justifies the ungodly. Works have nothing to\ndo with justification except to hinder it when we trust in them. The\nblood of Jesus Christ secures it, faith in Jesus Christ appropriates\nit. We are justified _not by our_ works, _but by His work_. We are\njustified upon the simple and single ground of His shed blood and upon\nthe simple and single condition of our faith in Him Who shed the blood.\nSo great is the pride of the natural heart that it is exceedingly\ndifficult to hold men to this doctrine of justification by faith alone\napart from works of law. We are constantly seeking to bring in our\nworks somewhere.\n\n5. But we have not as yet completely answered the question of how men\nare justified. There is another side to the truth and if our doctrine\nof justification is to be complete and well-balanced, we must look at\nthat other side. You will find part of this other side in Rom. 10:8,\n10, +\"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt\nbelieve in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be\nsaved; for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with\nthe mouth confession is made unto salvation.\"+ God here tells us\nthat the faith that appropriates justification is a faith with the\nheart, i.e., a faith that is not a mere notion, or opinion, but a faith\nthat leads to action along the line of that faith, and it is therefore\na faith that leads to open confession with the mouth, of Jesus as our\nLord. If some one has some kind of faith, or what he calls faith, that\ndoes not lead him to an open confession of Christ, he has a faith that\ndoes not justify; for it is not a faith with the heart. Our Lord Jesus\nChrist Himself tells us that heart faith leads to open confession; for\nHe says in Matt. 12:34, +\"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth\nspeaketh.\"+ Faith in Jesus Christ in the heart leads inevitably\nto a confession of Jesus as Lord with the mouth, and if you are not\nconfessing Jesus as your Lord with your mouth you have not justifying\nfaith and you are not justified.\n\n6. The rest of the other side of the truth about being justified by\nfaith, you will find in Jas. 2:14, 18-24, R. V. +\"What doth it\nprofit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith but have not works?\nCan that faith save him?\"+ We see here that a faith that a man\nmerely says he has, but that does not lead to works along the line of\nthat which he claims to believe, cannot justify, but to go on, verses\n18-24, +\"Yea, a man will say, thou hast faith, and I have works,\nshow me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will show\nthee my faith. Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the\ndevils also believe and shudder. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that\nfaith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified\nby works, in that he offered up Isaac his son, upon the altar? Thou\nseest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made\nperfect+ (i.e., in the works to which Abraham's faith led, faith\nhad its perfect manifestation); +and the scripture was fulfilled\nwhich saith, and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him\nfor righteousness; and he was called the friend of God. Ye see that\nby works a man is justified, and not only by faith.\"+ Some see in\nthese words a contradiction between the teaching of James and the\nteaching of Paul, but there is no contradiction whatever. But James\nhere teaches us an important truth, namely, that _the faith that one\nsays he has, but which does not manifest itself in action along the\nline of the faith professed, will not justify. The faith that justifies\nis real faith that leads to action accordant with the truth we profess\nto believe._ It is true that we are justified simply upon faith apart\nfrom the works of the law, _but it must be a real faith_, otherwise it\ndoes not justify. As some one has put it, \"We are justified by faith\nwithout works, but we are not justified by a faith that is without\nworks.\" The faith which God sees and upon which He justifies, leads\ninevitably to works which men can see. God saw the faith of Abraham the\nmoment Abraham believed, and before there was any opportunity to work,\nand counted that faith to Abraham for righteousness. But the faith that\nGod saw was a real faith and led Abraham to works that all could see,\nand these works proved the reality of his faith. The proof to us of\nthe faith is the works, and we know that he that does not work has not\njustifying faith.\n\nWe must not lose sight on the one side of the truth which Paul\nemphasises against legalism, namely, that we are justified on the\nsingle and simple condition of a real faith in Christ; but on the\nother side we must not lose sight of the truth which James emphasises\nagainst antinomianism, namely, that it is only a real faith that proves\nits genuineness by works, that justifies. To the legalist who is\nseeking to _do_ something to merit justification we must say, +\"Stop\nworking and believe on Him that justifieth the ungodly\"+ (Rom. 4:5).\nTo the antinomian, i.e., to the one who thinks he can live a lawless,\ncareless, unseparated, sinful life and still be justified, the one who\nboasts that he has faith and is justified by it, but who does not show\nhis faith by his works, we must say, \"What doth it profit, if a man\n_say_ he have faith, but have not works? Can _that_ faith save him?\"\n(Jas. 2:14, R. V.) We are justified by faith alone, but we are not\njustified by a faith that is alone, but a faith that is accompanied by\nworks.\n\n\nIII. THE EXTENT OF JUSTIFICATION\n\nI think we have made it plain just how one is justified, and now we\ncome to another question and that is, the extent of justification.\nTo what extent is a man who believes in the Lord Jesus justified?\nThis question is very plainly answered and wonderfully answered,\nand gloriously answered in Acts 13:38, 39, +\"Be it known unto you\ntherefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you\nremission of sins: and by him every one that believeth is justified\nfrom all things, from which he could not be justified by the law of\nMoses.\"+ These words very plainly declare to us that every believer\nin Jesus Christ is justified \"_from all things_.\" In other words,\nthe old account against the believer is all wiped out. No matter how\nbad and how black the account is, the moment a man believes in Jesus\nChrist, the account is wiped out. God has absolutely nothing which\nHe reckons against the one who believes in Jesus Christ. Even though\nhe is still a very imperfect believer, a very young man and immature\nChristian, he is perfectly justified. As Paul puts it in Rom. 8:1,\n+\"There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ\nJesus.\"+ Or, as he puts it further down in the chapter, verses 33,\n34, +\"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is\nGod that justifieth; who is he that shall condemn? It is Christ Jesus\nthat died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the\nright hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.\"+ If the\nvilest murderer or sinner of any kind on earth should come in here\nthis morning and right here now, hearing the gospel of God's grace,\nshould believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, put confidence in Him as his\nSaviour, and accept Him as such, surrendering to Him and confessing Him\nas His Lord, the moment he did it every sin he ever committed would be\nblotted out and his record would be as white in God's sight as that of\nthe purest angel in heaven. God has absolutely nothing that He reckons\nagainst the believer in Jesus Christ. But even that is not all. Paul\ngoes even beyond this in 2 Cor. 5:21, +\"He who knew no sin he (God)\nmade to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of\nGod in him.\"+ Here we are explicitly told that the believer in Jesus\nChrist is made the righteousness of God in Christ. In Phil. 3:9, R. V.\nwe are told that when one is in Christ he has a righteousness not of\nhis own, but a \"_righteousness which is of God upon faith_.\" In other\nwords, there is an absolute interchange of positions between Christ and\nthe justified believer. Christ took our place, the place of the curse\non the cross (Gal. 3:13). He was \"made to be sin on our behalf\" (2\nCor. 5:21). God reckoned Him a sinner and dealt with Him as a sinner,\nso that in the sinner's place, as He died, He cried, +\"My God, my\nGod, why hast thou forsaken me?\"+ And when we are justified we step\ninto His place, the place of perfect acceptance before God, or to use\nthe exact words of Scripture, we +\"Become the righteousness of God\nin him.\"+ To be justified is more than to be forgiven! Forgiveness\nis negative, the putting away of sin; Justification is positive, the\nreckoning of positive and perfect righteousness to the one justified.\nJesus Christ is so united to the believer in Him that God reckons our\nsins to Him. The believer, on the other hand, is so united to Christ\nthat God reckons His righteousness to us. God sees us, not as we are in\nourselves, but as we are in Him and reckons us as righteous as He is.\nWhen Christ's work _in_ us is completed we shall be in actual fact what\nwe are already in God's reckoning, but _the moment one believes_, as\nfar as God's reckoning is concerned, he is as absolutely perfect as he\never shall be. Our present standing before God is absolutely perfect,\nthough our present state may be very imperfect. To use again the\nfamiliar couplet:\n\n \"Near, so very near to God,\n Nearer I cannot be;\n For in the person of His Son,\n I am just as near as He.\n\n Dear, so very dear to God,\n Dearer I cannot be;\n For in the person of His Son,\n I am just as dear as He.\"\n\n\nIV. THE TIME OF JUSTIFICATION\n\nThere remains one question still to consider, though we have really\nanswered it in what has already been said, and that is, the time of\njustification, or when a believer is justified. When is a believer\njustified? This question is answered plainly in one of our texts, Acts\n13:39, +\"And by him every one that believeth is justified from all\nthings, from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses.\"+\nWhat I wish you to notice particularly now in this verse is the word\n_Is_, \"Everyone that believeth _is_ justified from all things.\" This\nanswers plainly the question as to when a believer is justified. In\nChrist Jesus every believer in Him is justified from all things _the\nmoment he believes_. The moment a man believes in Jesus Christ that\nmoment he becomes united to Christ, and that moment God reckons the\nrighteousness of God to him. I repeat again, if the vilest murderer\nor sinner of any kind in the world should come into this room this\nmorning while I am preaching and should here and now believe in the\nLord Jesus Christ, the moment that he did it, not only would every sin\nhe ever committed be blotted out, but all the perfect righteousness\nof God in Christ would be put to his account, and his standing before\nGod would be as perfect as it will be when he has been in heaven ten\nmillion years. Let me repeat to you again the incident I told you one\nSunday night some weeks ago. I was preaching one Sunday morning in the\nMoody church in Chicago on Rom. 8:1, +\"There is therefore now no\ncondemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,\"+ and in the course\nof my preaching I said, \"If the vilest woman there is in Chicago should\ncome into the Chicago Avenue church this morning, and should here and\nnow accept Jesus Christ as her Saviour, the moment she did it every\nsin she ever committed would be blotted out and her record would be as\nwhite in God's sight as that of the purest woman in the room.\" Unknown\nto me, one of the members of my congregation that very morning had gone\ndown into a low den of iniquity near the river and had invited a woman\nwho was an outcast to come and hear me preach. The woman replied, \"I\nnever go to church. Church is not for the likes of me. I would not be\nwelcome at the church if I did go.\" The woman who was a saint replied,\n\"You would be welcome at our church,\" which, thank God, was true. But,\n\"No,\" the woman urged, \"it would not do for me to go to church, church\nis not for the likes of me.\" But the woman who was a saint urged the\nwoman who was a sinner to go. She offered to accompany her to the\nchurch, but the other said, \"No, that would never do. The policemen\nknow me and the boys on the street know me and sometimes throw stones\nat me, and if they saw you going up the street with me they would think\nyou such as I am.\" But the woman who was a saint had the Spirit of\nthe Master and said, \"I don't care what they think of me. If you will\naccompany me to hear Mr. Torrey preach I will go along with you.\" The\nother woman refused. But the saved woman was so insistent that the\nwoman who was an outcast finally said, \"If you will go up the street a\nfew steps ahead I will follow you up the street.\" So up La Salle Avenue\nthey came, the woman who was a saint a few steps ahead and the woman\nwho was a sinner a few steps behind. Block after block they came until\nthey reached the corner of La Salle and Chicago Avenues. The woman who\nwas a saint entered the tower door at the corner, went up the steps,\nentered the church, and the woman who was a sinner followed her. On\nreaching the door the woman who was a sinner looked in, saw a vacant\nseat under the gallery in the very last row at the back, and slipped\ninto it, and scarcely had she taken the seat when I made the remark\nthat I just quoted, \"If the vilest woman there is in Chicago should\ncome into the Chicago Avenue church this morning and should here and\nnow accept Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour, the moment she did it\nevery sin she ever committed would be blotted out and her record would\nbe as white in God's sight as that of the purest woman in the room.\" My\nwords went floating down over the audience and dropped into the heart\nof the woman who was a sinner. She believed it, she believed that Jesus\ndied for her, she believed that by the shedding of His blood she could\nbe saved, she believed, and found pardon and peace and justification\nthen and there. And when the meeting was over she came up the aisle\nto the front as I stepped down from the pulpit, tears streaming down\nher face, and thanked me for the blessing that she had received. And I\nrepeat it here this morning, not knowing who may be here, not knowing\nwhat may be the secret life of any one of you who is here, not knowing\nwhat may be the sins that may be hidden in your heart, if the vilest\nman or woman on earth should come into the Church of the Open Door this\nmorning and should here and now put their trust in Jesus Christ, the\nmoment you did it every sin you ever committed would be blotted out and\nin an instant your record would be as white in God's sight, not only as\nthat of the purest woman in the room, but as that of the purest angel\nin heaven, and not only that, but all the perfect righteousness of God\nthat clothed our Lord Jesus Christ would be put to your account and you\nwould be just as near and just as dear to God as the Lord Jesus Christ\nHimself is. That is the doctrine of justification by faith. Wondrous\ndoctrine! Glorious doctrine!\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nTHE NEW BIRTH\n\n \"Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto\n thee, except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of\n God. . . . Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,\n except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter\n into the kingdom of God.\"\u2014John 3:3, 5.\n\n\nOur subject in this chapter is Regeneration, or the New Birth. I spoke\non this subject a year or so ago, but I am going to treat it in an\nentirely different way in this chapter and furthermore no course of\nsermons on the Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Faith would be\ncomplete without a sermon on the New Birth. What we have to say in this\nchapter will come under four heads: I. What Is the New Birth? II. The\nResults of the New Birth, III. The Necessity of the New Birth, IV. How\nOne Is Born Again.\n\n\nI. WHAT IS THE NEW BIRTH?\n\nThe first question that confronts us is, _What is the New Birth?_\nMany speak of the New Birth or of Regeneration without any definite\nconception of just what the New Birth is, and so are never sure\nwhether they themselves have been born again or not.\n\nAs plain and clear a definition of the New Birth as we can find in\nthe Word of God is given in 2 Pet. 1:4, +\"Whereby he hath granted\nunto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these\nye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the\ncorruption that is in the world by lust.\"+ From these words of\nPeter it is evident that the New Birth is the impartation to the one\nwho is born again, of a new nature, God's own nature. By being born\nagain we become actual partakers of the Divine nature. We are all born\ninto this world with a corrupted intellectual and moral nature. The\nnatural man, or unregenerate man, is intellectually blind, blind to\nthe truth of God, \"the things of the Spirit\" he cannot see or receive.\n+\"They are foolishness unto him, and he cannot know them\"+ (1 Cor.\n2:14). His affections are corrupt, he loves the things he ought to\nhate and hates the things he ought to love. A definite description of\nthe affections and tastes and desires of the unregenerate man is found\nin Gal. 5:19, 20, 21. He is also perverse in his will, as Paul puts\nit in Rom. 8:7, +\"The mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for\nit is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.\"+ This\nstate of intellectual spiritual blindness and moral corruption is the\ncondition of every unregenerate man. No matter how cultured or refined\nor moral he may be outwardly, his inner life is radically wrong. In\nthe New Birth God imparts to the one who is born again His own wise and\nholy nature, a nature that thinks as God thinks (+\"He is renewed in\nknowledge after the image of him that created him\"+\u2014Col. 3:10); he\nfeels as God feels, loves the things that God loves, hates the things\nthat God hates, wills as God wills (1 John 3:14; 4:7, 8). It is evident\nthen that regeneration is a deep thorough-going change in the deepest\nsprings of thought, feeling and action. A change so thorough-going that\nPaul says in 2 Cor. 5:17, +\"If any man is in Christ, he is a new\ncreature+ (more exactly, Creation): +the old things are passed\naway; behold they are become new.\"+ To use the inspired language of\nthe Apostle John, regeneration is a passing \"out of death into life.\"\nJohn says in 1 John 3:14, +\"We know that we have passed out of death\ninto life.\"+ _Until we are thus born again we are in a condition of\nmoral and spiritual death._ When we are born again we are \"quickened\"\n(or made alive), we who \"were dead through our trespasses and sins.\"\n(Eph. 2:1). There is a profound contrast between regeneration and mere\nconversion. Conversion is an outward thing, a turning around. One is\nfaced the wrong way, faced away from God; he turns around and faces\ntoward God. That is conversion. But regeneration is not a mere outward\nchange, but a thorough-going change in the deepest depths of one's\nbeing, that leads to a genuine conversion or genuine outward change.\nMany an apparently thorough conversion is a temporary thing because\nit did not go deep enough, but regeneration is a permanent thing. When\nGod imparts His nature to a man, that nature abides in the man. When he\nis born again he cannot be unborn, or as John puts it in 1 John 3:9,\n+\"Whosoever is begotten of God doth no sin, because his (God's) seed\nabideth in him.\"+ A man may be converted a thousand times, he can be\nregenerated but once.\n\n\nII. RESULTS OF THE NEW BIRTH\n\nWe now come to the second question, closely related to the first, and\nit will help us to understand even more clearly what the New Birth is.\n_What are the results that follow when one is born again?_ They are\nnumerous.\n\n1. The first of these results is found in 1 Cor. 6:19, where we read:\n+\"Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which\nis in you, which ye have from God?\"+ These words were spoken to\nbelievers, to regenerated men, and they plainly tell us that _when one\nis born again, the Holy Spirit comes to take up His permanent dwelling\nin the man and that the man who is born again thus becomes a temple of\nthe Holy Spirit_. It is true that we may not always be conscious of\nthis indwelling of the Holy Spirit, nevertheless He dwells in us.\n\n2. The second result of the New Birth is found in Rom. 8:2-4, where we\nread: +\"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me\nfree from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do,\nin that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the\nlikeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in\nthe flesh: that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who\nwalk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.\"+ In the 7th chapter\nof Romans, we have a picture of the man who is awakened by the law of\nGod which he approves after the inward man, which he sees \"is holy and\njust and good,\" which he tries to keep in his own strength, but utterly\nfails to keep, until at last he comes to an end of himself and is\nfilled with despair of ever being able to keep the law of God outside\nof him, because of the law of sin and death inside him, which law of\nsin and death says, \"the good which you would do you cannot do, and the\nevil which you hate and would not do, you must keep on doing.\" When a\nman is thus brought to a consciousness of his own utter helplessness\nand turns to God and accepts Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus\nChrist gives to him who dwells in him, sets him free from this law\nof sin and death so that by the power of the indwelling Spirit he is\nenabled to obey the law of God and to get the victory over the evil\nthings that he would not do and to do the things which he would do.\nWhereas in a man merely awakened by the law of God, \"the law of sin and\ndeath\" gets a perpetual victory, in a regenerate man, the \"law of the\nSpirit of life in Christ Jesus\" gets the perpetual victory. Doubtless\nmany of you here to-day are still struggling to keep the law of God and\nutterly failing in your attempt to do so. What you need is to be born\nagain, and thus have the Holy Spirit come to dwell in you, and then to\nwalk by the Spirit, and by the power of this indwelling Spirit to get\nvictory every day and hour over the law of sin and death that wars in\nyour members against the law of God.\n\n3. The third result of the New Birth is found in Rom. 12:2, where we\nread, +\"And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye\ntransformed by the renewing of your mind.\"+ From this it appears\nthat _the third result of the New Birth is in outward transformation\nof our lives by the inward renewing of our minds so that we no longer\nare fashioned according to this world_. Of course the regenerated man\ndoes not at once manifest perfectly that of which he has the germ in\nhimself. He begins the new life just as we begin our natural lives,\nas a babe, and he must grow. As Peter puts it in 1 Pet. 2:2, we must\n+\"As new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that we\nmay grow thereby.\"+ This new life must be fed and developed. It is\nirrational, and unwarranted by the Word of God, to expect one who has\njust been born again, and who is consequently a babe in Christ, to\nbe as perfect in character as one who was born years ago and who has\ngrown to maturity. But the moment we are born again we receive in germ\nall the moral perfection that is to be ours when this germ is fully\ndeveloped within us and comes to its perfect manifestation.\n\n4. The fourth result of the New Birth we find in 1 John 5:1,\n+\"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of\nGod.\"+ _The fourth result of being born again is that the\nregenerated man believes that Jesus is the Christ._ Of course this\nfaith that comes from the New Birth is a _real faith_. The faith that\nJohn here speaks of is not a faith that is a mere opinion, but that\nreal faith that Jesus is the anointed of God that leads us to enthrone\nJesus as King in our lives. If you are not making Jesus King in your\nheart and life you have not been born again. But if you are making\nJesus King in your heart and life and absolute ruler of your thoughts\nand conduct, then you are born again, for +\"Whosoever believeth that\nJesus is Christ is begotten of God.\"+\n\n5. The fifth result of being born again we find three verses further\ndown in this same chapter, 1 John 5:4: +\"For whatsoever is begotten\nof God overcometh the world.\"+ The _fifth result of being born of\nGod is that the one thus born again overcomes the world_. The world is\nat variance with God, +\"The whole world lieth in the Evil One\"+\n(1 John 5:19). It is under the dominion of the Evil One, ruled by\nhis ambitions and ideas. The world is at variance with God in its\ncommercial life, social life, domestic life, and all the phases of\nintellectual life and educational life, and is constantly exercising a\npower over each of us to draw us into disobedience to God (see 1 John\n5:3); but the one born of God by the power of the faith that comes\nthrough being born again, gets the victory over the world. He gets the\nvictory over the world's ideas, purposes, plans, ambitions. He gets the\nvictory over the world in his personal life, domestic life, commercial\nlife, political life, intellectual life every day.\n\n6. The sixth result of being born of God is found in 1 John 3:9, R.\nV., +\"Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin; because his+\n(i.e., God's) +seed abideth in him: and he cannot sin+ (rather,\ncannot be sinning), +because he is begotten of God.\"+ _The sixth\nresult, then, of being born of God is that in the one born of God the\nseed of God remains; and, therefore, the one born of God is not making\na practice of sin._ Some one will ask, just what does this mean? It\nmeans exactly what it says, if we look carefully at the exact force of\nthe words used and give due emphasis to the tense of the verbs used.\nFirst of all, let us look at the exact force of the word translated\n\"Sin.\" What does sin mean? John himself has been careful to define it\nin the verse itself and in the context in which our verse is found.\nThe first thing that is evident from 1 John 3:9 is that sin is _a\nsomething done_, not merely a something left undone, and not merely\nsinful thoughts and desires. What kind of a something done it is\ndefined five verses back in verse 4. +\"Everyone that doeth sin doeth\nalso lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.\"+ Sin here by John's own\ndefinition (and we have no right to bring the definition of any one\nelse into the verse we are studying) is \"_lawlessness_,\" i.e., such\nacts as reveal conscious disregard for the will of God as revealed\nin His word. So we see that _sin, as used here, means, a conscious\nintentional violation of the law of God. The regenerate man will not be\ndoing that which he knows to be contrary to the will of God._ He may do\nthat which is contrary to God's will, but which he does not know to be\ncontrary to God's will. It is not therefore \"lawlessness.\" Perhaps he\nought to have known that it was contrary to God's will and when he is\nled to see that it is, he will confess his guilt to God. Furthermore,\nwe should note the tense of the verb used in this verse. It is the\n_present tense which denotes progressive or continuous action_. A\nliteral translation of the passage would be, \"Everyone begotten out of\nGod, _sin is not doing_, because His (God's) seed in him is remaining;\nand he cannot be sinning, because out of God he is begotten.\" It is\nnot taught here that one born of God never sins in a single act, but\nit is taught that he is not going on sinning, not making a practice of\nsin. Of what he is making a practice appears in 1 John 2:29, +\"If\nye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone also that doeth\nrighteousness is begotten of him.\"+ _The result, then, of being born\nagain is that the one begotten again does not go on consciously day\nafter day doing that which he knows to be contrary to the will of God,\nbut he does make a practice of \"doing righteousness,\" i.e., doing that\nwhich is conformed to the will of God as revealed in His Word._ The new\nnature imparted in regeneration renders the continuous practice of sin\nimpossible and renders the practice of righteousness inevitable.\n\n7. The seventh result of the New Birth is found in 1 John 3:14, R.\nV., +\"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because\nwe love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death.\"+ _The\nseventh result of being born again is that we love the brethren._ We\nshould note carefully what the thought of \"love\" is as brought out in\nthe context. It is not love as a mere sentiment. It is love in that\nhigher and deeper sense of a desire for and delight in the welfare of\nothers, the sort of love that leads us to make sacrifices for those we\nlove, or as we read further down in this same chapter, verses 16-18,\n+\"Hereby know we the love of God, because he laid down his life for\nus and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath\nthis world's goods, and behold his brother in need, and shutteth up his\ncompassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? My little\nchildren, let us not love in word neither with the tongue; but in deed\nand truth.\"+ This makes it very evident that what the Holy Spirit\nhere means by love is not a mere affection or fondness for others,\nnot a mere delight in their society; it means that deep and genuine\ninterest in their welfare that leads us to go down into our pockets\nwhen they are in need and supply their need; it leads us to sacrifice\nour own interest for the sake of their interests even to the point of\nlaying down our lives for them. _The objects of this love are \"the\nbrethren,\"_ i.e., all those who are begotten of God, as we read in 1\nJohn 5:1, +\"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten\nof God: and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is\nbegotten of him.\"+ _Any man who is born again will love every other\nman who is begotten of God._ The other one who is begotten of God\nmay be an American or a German, or an Englishman, or a negro, or a\nChinaman, or an Indian. He may be educated or uneducated; but he is a\nchild of God and a brother, and as such if you are born of God, he will\nbe the object of your love. This is a searching test of whether or not\none is born of God.\n\n8. The final result of being born of God that we will consider this\nmorning is found in 2 Cor. 5:17, R. V., +\"Wherefore if any man is\nin Christ, he is a new creature (creation): the old things are passed\naway, behold, they are become new.\"+ _The ninth result of being born\nagain_, including all the other results that we have been considering,\n_is that in the regenerate man, old things are passed away, they are\nbecome new. In the place of the old ideas, old affection, old purposes,\nold choices, are new ideas, new affections, new purposes, new choices._\n\n\nIII. THE NECESSITY OF THE NEW BIRTH\n\nFor just a few moments let us look at the necessity of the New Birth.\nThis is set forth in one of our texts and in the verses following, 1\nJohn 3:5, 6: +\"Verily, Verily, I say unto you, except a man be born\nof water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That\nwhich is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the\nSpirit is Spirit.\"+ We see here that the New Birth is a universal\nnecessity, and we see why it is a necessity. The words translated,\n\"Except a man be born,\" etc. more literally translated would be, \"_If\nany man_ be not born out of water and Spirit, he cannot enter into the\nkingdom of God.\" And why he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God the\nfollowing verse says, and that is because all that one gets by natural\ngeneration is \"Flesh\" and _the Kingdom of God is spiritual_, and,\ntherefore, to enter it one must be born of the Spirit. No matter how\nrefined and intelligent our ancestry, no matter how godly our fathers\nand mothers may have been, we do not get the Holy Spirit from them. All\nwe get is \"flesh.\" It may be refined flesh, moral flesh, upright and\nvery attractive flesh, but it is flesh; and \"they that are in the flesh\ncannot please God,\" nor \"inherit the kingdom of God.\" The flesh is\nincapable of improvement. No more \"can the Ethiopian change his skin,\nor the leopard his spots\" than can a man who is unregenerate attain to\na life pleasing to God. (See Jer. 13:23.) He must be born again. _The\nnecessity is also absolute and imperative_, so absolute and imperative\nthat Jesus said to Nicodemus, though he was a man of most exemplary\nmorality, a man of high moral and spiritual education, a teacher of\nIsrael, a leader in the religious life of Israel, +\"You must be born\nagain.\"+ (John 3:7.) Nothing else will take the place of the New\nBirth. Men are trying to substitute education, morality, religion,\northodoxy, baptism, outward reform, \"new thought,\" \"theosophy\" or the\nknowledge of God, and other such things, for the New Birth; but none\nof these, or all of them together, are sufficient, you _must_ be born\nagain. There is absolutely no exception to this rule. As Jesus says in\nJohn 3:3, +\"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except any man be born\nfrom above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\"+\n\n\nIV. HOW CAN ONE BE BORN AGAIN?\n\nThe question, therefore, confronts each one of you, Have you been born\nagain? There is no more important question that you could possibly\nface. Face it in these pages and don't dodge it. And that brings us to\nthe immediately practical question, How are men born again, or what\nmust any one here to-day, who is not born again, do in order to be born\nagain right here this morning? This question also is plainly answered\nin the Word of God; and I can give you the answer in a very few\nminutes and give it so that any one here can understand it. There are\nthree parts to the answer.\n\n1. The first part of the answer you will find in Titus 3:4, +\"Not\nby works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according\nto his mercy, he+ (i.e., God) +saved us through the washing of\nregeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.\"+ These words tell\nus very plainly that _it is God who regenerates and that He does it\nthrough the power of His Holy Spirit_. The same thought is found in\nour text, John 3:5, 6: +\"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto\nthee, except a man be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into\nthe kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that\nwhich is born of the Spirit is Spirit.\"+ _Regeneration is God's\nwork; wrought by Him by the power of His Holy Spirit working in the\nmind, feelings and will of the one born again_, in your heart and mine.\n\n2. Some one might infer from the fact that regeneration is God's work,\nwhich He works in our hearts by His Holy Spirit, that all we have to do\nis to wait until God sees fit to work; but we see plainly from other\npassages in the Word that this is not true. We are taught the second\nthing about how regeneration is wrought in James 1:18, +\"Of His own\nwill he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a\nkind of first fruits of His creatures.\"+ _Here we are taught that\nthe Word of Truth, the Word of God, is the instrument that God uses\nin regeneration._ The same thought is found in 1 Pet. 1:23, +\"Having\nbeen begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,\nthrough the word of God, which liveth and abideth.\"+ And Paul gives\nvoice to the same great thought in 1 Cor. 4:15, where he says: +\"For\nthough ye should have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not\nmany fathers: for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel.\"+\nFrom these passages it is evident that _the New Birth is wrought by\nGod through the instrumentality of His Word_. It is God who works it\nthrough the power of His Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit works through\nthe Word, and thus God begets men anew by \"The Word of Truth,\" or the\n\"Word of God,\" i.e., the Word which is preached by \"the Gospel.\" So\nthen, if you or I wish to be born again we should get in contact with\nthe Word of God by studying the Bible and asking God that the Holy\nSpirit may make that Word which we are studying a living thing in our\nown hearts. We should get in contact especially with that part of God's\nWord which is found in the Gospel of John, for John tells us in John\n20:31 that +\"These+ (i.e., these things in the Gospel of John)\n+are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of\nGod; and that believing ye may have life in his name.\"+ If we wish\nto see others born again we should bring the Word of God to bear upon\ntheir minds and hearts either by preaching the Word, or by teaching\nit, or in personal work; and we should look to the Holy Spirit to\nquicken that Word in the hearts of men as we sow it in their hearts,\nand in this way the New Birth will result.\n\n3. The third and last and decisive truth as to how we are born again\nis found in Gal. 3:26 and John 1:12, 13. In Gal. 3:26 we read, +\"For\nye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus.\"+ This\ntells us plainly that _we become born again through putting our faith\nin Christ Jesus_. This is even more explicitly stated in John 1:12,\n13: +\"But as many as received him+ (i.e. the Lord Jesus), +to\nthem gave He the right to become children of God, even to them that\nbelieve on His name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will\nof the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.\"+ Here we are\ntold that _the decisive thing in our becoming children of God is that\nwe believe in, or receive, Jesus Christ_. Any one who receives Jesus\nChrist as his personal Saviour and trusts God to forgive him because\nJesus Christ died in his place and receives him as his Lord and King,\nand surrenders his thoughts to His absolute control as his Lord and his\nlife to His absolute control as his King and confesses Jesus Christ\nas Lord before the world, such a one immediately becomes a child of\nGod, is immediately born again, is immediately made a partaker of the\nDivine nature. The same thought is illustrated by Jesus Himself in John\n3:14, 15, where our Lord Jesus is recorded as saying, +\"And as Moses\nlifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be\nlifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him may have eternal life.\"+\nThe reference is to the story of the Israelites in the Old Testament\nwhen they were bitten by fiery serpents. As the dying Israelite with\nthe poison of the fiery serpent coursing through his veins, was saved\nby simply looking at the brazen serpent on the pole, a serpent made\nin the likeness of the one that had bitten him, and had new life\ncoursing through his veins as soon as he looked, so we dying men, with\nthe poison of sin coursing through our veins, are saved by looking at\nJesus Christ \"Made in the likeness of sinful flesh,\" lifted up on the\ncross, and have new life coursing through our veins the moment we look.\nAll we have to do with our regeneration is to receive Christ as He is\npresented to us in the Word, by which we are born again. Therefore,\n+\"If any man be in Christ he is a new creature (creation). The old\nthings are passed away, behold all things are become new.\"+\n\nIn the New Birth the Word of God is the seed; the human heart is the\nsoil; the preacher of the Word is the sower, and drops the seed of the\nWord of God into the soil of the human heart; God by His Spirit opens\nthe heart to receive the seed (Acts 16:14); the hearer believes; the\nSpirit quickens the seed into life in the receptive heart; the heart\ncloses around the seed by faith; the new nature, the Divine Nature\nsprings up out of the Divine Word; the believer is \"born again,\"\n\"created anew,\" \"made alive,\" \"passed out of death into life.\"\n\nConclusion.\n\nHave you been born again? I put this question to every man and woman\nhere. I do not ask you whether you are a church member. I do not ask\nif you have been baptised. I do not ask, have you gone regularly to\nthe communion. I do not ask, have you turned over a new leaf. I do\nnot ask, are you an amiable, cultured, intelligent, moral, socially\ndelightful gentleman or lady. I _ask you, have you been born again_?\nIf not, you are outside of the Kingdom of God and you are bound for an\neverlasting hell unless you are born again. But if you are not already\nborn again you may be born again to-day, you may be born again before\nyou leave this building, you may be born again right now; for the Word\nof God says, +\"As many as received him, to them gave he the right to\nbecome children of God, even to them that believe on his name: which\nwere born, not of blood, nor of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of\nGod.\"+ And it says again in Rom. 10:9, 10, +\"If thou shalt confess\nwith thy mouth Jesus as Lord and shalt believe in thy heart that God\nraised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved: for with the heart man\nbelieveth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made\nunto salvation.\"+ These verses make it plain as day just what you\nmust do right here and now to become a child of God. It is up to you to\nsay whether or not you will do it.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nSANCTIFICATION\n\n \"And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your\n spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at\n the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.\"\u20141 Thess. 5:23.\n\n\nOur subject now before us is Sanctification. The subject is one of\ngreat importance. Not only is there much ignorance and error and\nmisconception about the subject, but there is, strange to say, most\nbitter controversy over the subject. So bitter is the controversy\nover the subject that some years ago there were two rival \"holiness\nconventions\" held at the same time in Chicago at different hours of\nthe day, in the same church, and the animosity between these two\ncompanies of \"holiness brethren\" was so intense that on one occasion\nthey came near to having blows at the altar of the church. The\nsubject of Sanctification has given rise to such bitterness and such\nextravagances in some quarters that many even dread the use of the word\n\"Sanctification.\" But the word is not only a Bible word, but a deeply\nsignificant word, a word full of precious meaning; and it would not be\nthe part of wisdom on our part to give up this good Bible word simply\nbecause the word is so often abused. On one occasion a man said to me\nin the Bible Institute of Chicago, \"Are you not afraid of holiness?\" Of\ncourse what the man meant was, was I not afraid of certain phases of\n\"holiness doctrine\" so-called. I replied that I was not nearly as much\nafraid of holiness as I was of unholiness. The teaching of the Bible on\nthe subject is very plain and very precious. What we have to say this\nmorning will come under three headings. First, What Sanctification Is:\n2. How to be Sanctified; 3. When Sanctification Takes Place.\n\n\nI. WHAT SANCTIFICATION IS\n\nFirst, then, let us consider what Sanctification is.\n\n1. In the first place let me make it clear that, _Sanctification is not\nthe \"Baptism with the Holy Spirit.\"_ The two are constantly confused.\nThere is an intimate relation between the two, but they are not at\nall one and the same thing; and only confusion and misconception can\narise from confounding two experiences which God keeps separate.\nThat Sanctification is not the baptism with the Holy Spirit and that\nthe baptism with the Holy Spirit is not Sanctification, will become\nclear as we proceed and find out from a study of the Bible just what\nSanctification is.\n\n2. In the second place, let me say that _Sanctification is not the\neradication of the carnal nature_. We will see this when we come to\nexamine God's definition of Sanctification; for God has very clearly\ndefined what Sanctification is and when it takes place. Those who\nteach \"the eradication of the carnal nature\" are grasping after a\ngreat and precious truth, but they have expressed that truth in a very\ninaccurate, unfortunate, and unscriptural way, and this way of stating\nit leads to grave misapprehensions and errors and abuses. The whole\ncontroversy about \"the eradication of the carnal nature\" arises from\na misapprehension and from using terms for which there is no warrant\nin the Bible. The Bible nowhere speaks about \"the carnal nature,\" and\nso certainly not about \"the eradication of the carnal nature.\" There\nis such a thing as a carnal nature, but it is not a material thing,\nnot a substance, not a something that can be eradicated as you pull a\ntooth or remove the vermiform appendix. \"A carnal nature\" is a nature\ncontrolled by the flesh. Certainly it is a believer's privilege not to\nhave his nature governed by the flesh. Our nature should be and may\nbe under the control of the Holy Spirit, and then it is not a carnal\nnature; but one nature has not been eradicated and another nature put\nin its place, but our nature is taken out from under the control of\nthe flesh and put under the control of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore,\nwhile it is our privilege to have our nature under the control of the\nHoly Spirit and delivered from the control of the flesh, _we still\nhave \"the flesh,\"_ and shall have the flesh as long as we are in this\nbody. But if we \"walk by the Spirit\" we do not \"fulfil the lusts of\nthe flesh\" (Gal. 5:16). The 8th chapter of Romans describes the life\nof victory, just as the 7th chapter, 9-24 verse describes the life of\ndefeat, when men are \"_carnal_, sold under sin,\" but it is in the 8th\nchapter where life \"in the Spirit\" is described (Rom. 8:9) that we are\ntold that we _still have_ the flesh, _but that it is our privilege not_\nto \"live _after the flesh_,\" but \"by the Spirit,\" to \"put to death the\ndeeds of the body.\" So we see that the body is there, but in the power\nof the Spirit we do, day by day and (if we live up to our privilege)\nevery day and every hour and every minute, continuously \"put to death\nthe deeds of the body.\"\n\n3. So much as to what Sanctification is not. We will see exactly what\nit is if we look at God's definition of Sanctification. We shall find\nthat the word Sanctification is used in the Bible in a two-fold sense.\n\n(1) The first meaning of Sanctification we will find in Lev. 8:10-12,\n+\"And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and\nall that was therein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled thereof\nupon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its\nvessels, and the laver and its base, to sanctify them. And he poured\nof the anointing oil upon Aaron's head and anointed him to sanctify\nhim.\"+ Now it is perfectly clear in this passage that to _sanctify\nmeans to separate or set apart for God, and that Sanctification is\nthe process of setting apart or state of being set apart for God_.\nThe word Sanctify is used in this sense over and over again. Another\nillustration is Lev. 27:14, 17. +\"And when a man shall sanctify his\nhouse to be holy unto God, then the priest shall estimate it, whether\nit be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand\n. . . and if a man shall sanctify unto Jehovah part of a field of his\npossession, then the estimation shall be according to the sowing\nthereof.\"+ Here again it is plain that to sanctify means to separate\nor set apart for God, and that Sanctification is the process of setting\napart or state of being set apart for God. Still another illustration\nof this same use of the word sanctify is found in Num. 8:17, +\"For\nall the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and\nbeast: on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt\nI sanctified them for myself.\"+ This, of course, does not mean that\nGod, at the time that He smote the firstborn in Egypt, eradicated the\ncarnal nature from the first-born of Israel. It does mean that _He\nset apart all the first-born to be peculiarly His own_. Another very\nsuggestive illustration of the same usage of the word is found in the\ncase of Jeremiah as stated by himself in Jer. 1:4, 5, +\"Now the word\nof Jehovah came unto me saying, before I formed thee in the belly I\nknew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified\nthee: I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.\"+ This\nplainly means that before his birth God _set Jeremiah apart for\nHimself_. There would still be much imperfection and infirmity in\nhim, but he was set apart for God. Another suggestive illustration\nof the same use of the word Sanctify is found in Matt. 23:27, in the\nwords of our Lord Jesus Himself: +\"Ye fools and blind; for which is\ngreater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold?\"+\nBut perhaps the most striking illustration of all is in what our Lord\nsays about His own sanctification in John 17:19, +\"And for their\nsakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in\ntruth.\"+ Here the plain meaning is that our Lord Jesus set Himself\napart for this work for God and He did it in order that believers might\nbe set apart for God \"in truth,\" or \"in the truth.\" This is the most\nfrequent use of the word sanctify. There are numerous illustrations of\nit in the Bible. So _to sanctify means to separate or set apart for\nGod; and Sanctification is the process of setting apart or the state of\nbeing set apart for God_. This is the primary meaning of the words.\n\n(2) But the word as used in the Bible has also a secondary\nsignification closely related to this primary meaning. An illustration\nof this secondary meaning will be found in II Chron. 29:5, +\"Hear me,\nye Levites; now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of Jehovah,\nthe God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the\nholy place.\"+ Bearing in mind the \"parallelism\" which is the chief\ncharacteristic of Hebrew poetry, it is plain that to sanctify here is\nsynonymous with the +\"Carry forth the filthiness out of the holy\nplaces\"+ found in the last part of the verse. So _to sanctify_ here\n_means to separate from ceremonial or moral defilement, to cleanse;\nand Sanctification is the process of separating, or state of being\nseparated from ceremonial or moral defilement_. The same use of the\nword is found in Lev. 11:44, +\"For I am Jehovah thy God: sanctify\nyourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye\ndefile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that moveth upon\nthe earth.\"+ Here again it is clear that \"sanctify yourselves\" is\nsynonymous with \"be ye holy\" and is contrasted with \"defile yourselves\"\nand means to separate from ceremonial or moral defilement, to cleanse;\nand Sanctification is the process of separating or state of being\nseparated from ceremonial or moral defilement. The same meaning of\nsanctification is found in the New Testament in I Thess. 5:23, +\"And\nthe God of Peace, Himself sanctify you wholly and may your Spirit and\nsoul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of\nour Lord Jesus Christ.\"+ Here we see the close relation between\nentire sanctification and _preserving wholly, without blame_, and to\nsanctify here clearly means to separate from moral defilement, and\nsanctification here again is the process of separating or state of\nbeing separated from moral defilement. The same thing is evident from\nthe 4th chapter of this same epistle in the 7th verse (I Thess. 4:7),\n+\"For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.\"+\nOur \"Sanctification\" is here set in direct contrast with \"uncleanness,\"\nand hence it is evident that sanctification here means the state of\nbeing separated from all moral defilement. The same thing is evident\nfrom the 3rd verse of this same chapter, +\"For this is the will of\nGod, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication.\"+\nHere again it is evident that Sanctification means separation from\nimpurity or moral defilement. The two meanings, then, of Sanctification\nare: the process of separating or setting apart, or state of being\nseparated or set apart, for God; and the process of separating or state\nof being separated from ceremonial or moral defilement. These two\nmeanings of the word are closely allied\u2014one cannot be truly separated\nto God without being separated from sin.\n\n\nII. HOW MEN ARE SANCTIFIED\n\nWe come now to the second question, _How are men sanctified?_ There are\nseveral parts to the complete answer of this question.\n\n1. The first part of the answer is found in our text of this chapter,\nI Thess. 5:23, +\"And the God of Peace himself sanctify you wholly\nand may your Spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without\nblame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.\"+ It appears from\nthis verse that _God sanctifies men, and Sanctification is God's work_.\nBoth the separation of men from sin and their separation unto God,\nis God's work. As it was God who in the old dispensation set apart\nthe first-born of Israel unto Himself, so it is God who in the new\ndispensation sets apart the believer unto Himself and separates him\nfrom sin. Sanctification is primarily not our work but God's.\n\n2. The second part of the answer is found in Eph. 5:25, 26,\n+\"Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church,\nand gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed\nit by the washing of water by the word.\"+ Here we are taught that\n_Christ sanctifies the church_ and that _Sanctification is Christ's\nwork_. The question, of course, arises, in what sense does Christ\nsanctify the church. The answer is found in Heb. 10:10, +\"By which\nwill we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus\nChrist once for all.\"+ Here it appears that Jesus Christ sanctifies\nthe church by giving Himself up a sacrifice for it. By thus giving\nHimself up for it as a sacrifice Christ sets the Church apart for God.\nJust as the blood of the Passover Lamb in the 11th and 12th chapters\nof Exodus set a difference between Israel and the Egyptians, so our\nLord Jesus by the offering of His own body has forever put a difference\nbetween the believer in Himself and the world, and has forever set\nevery believer apart for God. The Cross of Christ stands between the\nbeliever and the world. The shed blood of Christ separates the believer\nfrom the world, purchases him to God and thus makes him to belong to\nGod.\n\n3. The third part of the answer to the question, how men are\nsanctified, is found in 2 Thess. 2:13 and in other passages, +\"But we\nare bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the\nLord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation through\nsanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.\"+ It appears\nfrom this passage, as from other passages in the Bible, that _it is\nthe Holy Spirit who sanctifies the believer_, and that _Sanctification\nis the Holy Spirit's work_. Here the question arises, In what sense\ndoes the Holy Spirit sanctify the believer? In this sense, just as in\nthe Old Testament type, tabernacle, altar and priest were set apart\nfor God by the anointing oil (Lev. 8:10-12), so in the New Testament\nanti-type, the believer, who is both tabernacle and priest, is set\napart for God by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Further than that,\nit is the Holy Spirit's work in the heart that overcomes the flesh and\nits defilements, and thus separates the believer from sin and clothes\nhim with divine graces of character, and makes him fit to be God's own.\nAs Paul puts it in Gal. 5:22, 23, +\"But the fruit of the Spirit is\nlove, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness,\nself-control.\"+ In opposition to this work of the Holy Spirit, we\nread in the immediately preceding verses what \"the works of the flesh\"\nare, an awful catalogue of vileness and sin, and we are told in the\n16th verse, +\"Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of\nthe flesh.\"+\n\n4. The fourth part of the answer to the question how we are sanctified\nis found in Heb. 13:12, +\"Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might\nsanctify the people through his own blood suffered without the\ngate.\"+ It is plain from this passage that _believers are sanctified\nthrough the blood of Jesus Christ_. Here the question arises, In what\nsense does the blood of Jesus sanctify? The answer is plain: _The\nblood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all the guilt of sin_, and thus\nseparates us from the mass of men under the curse of the broken law,\nand sets us apart for God (cf. 1 John 1:7, 9). In the Old Testament\ndispensation the blood of the sacrifice cleansed the Israelites from\nthe _guilt_ of ceremonial offenses and set them apart for God; in the\nNew Testament anti-type the blood of Christ cleanseth the believer from\nthe _guilt_ of moral offenses and sets him apart for God.\n\n5. The fifth part of the answer to the question, how men are\nsanctified, is found in John 17:17, +\"Sanctify them in the truth: thy\nword is truth.\"+ Here our Lord Jesus in His prayer indicates that we\nare _sanctified in the truth, and that the truth is the Word of God_.\nIn what sense does the Word of God sanctify? This question is plainly\nanswered in different parts of the Word of God, where we are taught\nthat the Word of God cleanses from the presence of sin, and thus\nseparates us from it and sets us apart to God. (Ps. 119:9, 11; John\n15:3.) As we bring our lives into daily contact with the Word, the sins\nand imperfections of our lives and hearts are disclosed and put away,\nand thus we are more and more separated from sin unto God. (cf. John\n13:10.)\n\n6. The sixth part of the answer to the question, how men are\nsanctified, is found in 1 Cor. 1:30, +\"But of Him are ye in Christ\nJesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and\nsanctification, and redemption.\"+ In this passage we are taught that\n_Jesus Christ was made unto us from God sanctification_. Just what\ndoes that mean? Simply this: that separation from sin and separation\nto God are provided for us in Christ Jesus and by the appropriation\nof Jesus Christ we obtain this sanctification thus provided. The more\ncompletely we appropriate Christ the more completely are we sanctified.\nBut perfect sanctification is provided for us in Him, just as perfect\nwisdom is provided in Him (Col. 2:3). We appropriate either wisdom or\nsanctification or anything else that is provided for us in Christ in\never-increasing measure. Through the indwelling Christ presented to us\nby the Spirit in the Word, we are made Christlike and bear fruit.\n\n7. The seventh part of the answer to the question of how men are\nsanctified is found in Heb. 12:14, +\"Follow after peace with all men,\nand the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord.\"+\nHere we are taught that we have our own part in sanctification, and\nthat if we are to be sanctified in the fullest sense, _sanctification\nis something that we must pursue, or seek earnestly, if we are to\nobtain it_. While sanctification is God's work, we have our part in it,\nviz., to make it the object of our earnest desire and eager pursuit.\n\n8. The eighth part of the answer to the question of how we are\nsanctified is found in Rom. 6:19, 22, +\"As ye presented your\nmembers as servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity,\neven so present your members as servants to righteousness unto\nsanctification. . . . But now being made free from sin, and become\nservants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification.\"+ The\nmeaning of these words is plain, and the teaching important and\npractical. We are here taught that _we attain unto sanctification\nthrough presenting our members as servants (bondservants, or slaves)\nto righteousness and becoming ourselves bondservants unto God_. In\nother words, if we wish to attain unto sanctification we should present\nour whole body and every member of it to God, to be His servants,\nbelonging wholly unto Him, and we should present ourselves to God as\nHis servants, to be His absolute property. This is the practical method\nof attaining unto sanctification, a method that is open to each one of\nus here to-day, no matter how weak we are in ourselves.\n\n9. The ninth and final part of the answer to the question of how we are\nsanctified, is found in Acts 26:18, +\"To open their eyes, that they\nmay turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God,\nthat they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them\nthat are sanctified by faith in Me.\"+ Here we are told that we are\n_sanctified by faith in Christ_. Sanctification, just as justification,\nregeneration, and adoption, is conditioned upon faith. Faith is the\nhand that appropriates to ourselves the blessing of sanctification that\nGod has provided for us through His Son Jesus Christ by His death on\nthe cross, and through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. And\nwe claim sanctification by simple faith in Him who shed His blood and\nby surrendering ourselves to the control of the Holy Spirit, Whom Jesus\nChrist gives.\n\n\nIII. WHEN DOES SANCTIFICATION TAKE PLACE\n\nWe now come to the question about which there has been the most\ndiscussion, the most differences of opinion, the most controversy. When\ndoes sanctification take place? If we will go to our Bibles to get the\nanswer to the question there need be no difference of opinion. There\nare three parts to the answer.\n\n1. The first part of the answer is found in I Cor. 1:2, +\"Unto the\nChurch of God, which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in\nChrist Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of\nour Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours.\"+ Here\nthe Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul, plainly declares\nthat _all the members of the church of God are already sanctified in\nChrist Jesus_. Sanctification in this sense is not something that\nwe are to look for in the future, it is something that has already\ntaken place. The moment any one becomes a member of the Church of God\nby simple faith in Christ Jesus, for all who have faith in Christ\nJesus are members of the Church of God, that moment that person _is_\nsanctified. Every saved man and woman in this building this morning,\nevery one who has living faith in Jesus Christ, _is_ sanctified. Our\nsanctification is involved in our salvation. But in what sense are we,\nthat is, all believers, already sanctified? The answer to this question\nis found in a passage of Scripture to which we have already referred,\nHeb. 10:10, 14, +\"By which will we have been sanctified through\nthe offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. . . . For by one\noffering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.\"+ The\nmeaning is plain. By the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once\nfor all on the Cross of Calvary as a perfect atonement for sin, every\nbeliever is cleansed forever from the guilt of sin. We are _\"perfected\nforever\" as far as our standing before God is concerned_, and are set\napart for God. The sacrifice of Christ does not need to be repeated\nas were the Jewish sacrifices (V. I). The work is done once for all,\nsin is put away, and forever put away (Heb. 9:26; cf. Gal. 3:13), and\nwe are set apart forever as God's peculiar and eternal possession. If\nany one asks you if you are sanctified; if you are a believer in Jesus\nChrist, i.e., if you have a living faith, in Jesus Christ, you have a\nright to say, \"I am.\" _Every believer in Christ is a saint_, a saint\nnot in the sense in which that word is oftentimes used in modern usage,\nbut in the Bible sense, as being set apart for God and belonging to\nGod and being God's peculiar property. But there is another sense in\nwhich every believer may be fully sanctified to-day. This is found in\nRom. 12:1, +\"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of\nGod, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to\nGod, which is your spiritual service.\"+ In this passage we see that\n_it is the believer's present and blessed privilege, and important and\nsolemn duty, to present his body to God a living sacrifice\u2014not some\npart or parts of the body, but the whole body with its every member\nand every faculty. And when we do thus present our whole body to God a\nliving sacrifice, then we are wholly sanctified._ Such an offering is\nwell-pleasing to God. As God in the Old Testament showed His pleasure\nin the offering by sending down fire to take it to Himself, so when the\nwhole body is thus offered to God, God will send down fire again, the\nfire of the Holy Ghost, and take to Himself what is thus presented. The\nmoment a believer does thus present himself a living sacrifice to God,\nthen, so far as his will, the governing purpose of his life, the very\ncentre of his being, is concerned, he is wholly God's, or \"_perfectly_\nsanctified.\" He may still, and will still, daily discover, as he\nstudies the Word of God and is illumined by the Holy Spirit, acts of\nhis, habits of life, forms of feeling, speech and action, that are not\nin conformity with this central purpose of his will, and these must be\nconfessed to God as blameworthy and put away, and this department of\nhis being and life brought, by God's Spirit and the indwelling Christ,\ninto conformity with God's will as revealed in His Word. The victory\nin this newly discovered and unclaimed territory may be instantaneous.\nFor example, I may discover in myself an irritability of temper that is\nmanifestly displeasing to God. I can go to God, confess it, renounce\nit and then instantly, not by my own strength, but by looking to Jesus\nand claiming His patience and gentleness, overcome it and never have\nanother failure in that direction. And so it is with every other sin\nand weakness in my life that I am brought to see is displeasing to God.\n\n2. But this is not the whole answer to the question of when we are\nsanctified. The second part of the answer is found in I Thess. 3:12,\n+\"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward\nanother, and toward all men, even as we also do towards you.\"+\nAnd the 4th chapter of this same epistle, the 1st and 10th verses,\n+\"Finally then, brethren, we beseech you and exhort you in the Lord\nJesus, that as you received of us how ye ought to walk and to please\nGod, even as ye do walk, that ye abound more and more. . . . For indeed\nye do it toward all the brethren that are in all Macedonia. But we\nexhort you, brethren, that ye abound more and more.\"+ And in II Pet.\n3:18, +\"Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus\nChrist.\"+ And II Cor. 3:18, R. V., +\"But we all, with unveiled\nface reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed\ninto the same image from glory to glory, and even as from the Lord the\nSpirit.\"+ And in Eph. 4:15, 16, +\"But speaking truth in love, may\ngrow up in all things unto him, who is the head, even Christ; from\nwhom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which\nevery joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each\nseveral part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up\nof itself in love.\"+ From these passages we see that _there is a\nprogressive work of Sanctification, an increasing in love, an abounding\nmore and more in a godly walk and in pleasing God, a growing in the\ngrace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, a being\ntransformed into the image of our Lord from glory unto glory_, each new\ngaze at Him making us more like Him; a _growing up_ into Christ in all\nthings, until we attain unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the\nstature of the fullness of Christ. Here we see there is a progressive\nwork of Sanctification.\n\n3. But we have not found the whole answer to the question of When\nMen are Sanctified, even yet. We find the remainder of the answer to\nthe question in our text, 1 Thess. 5:23 accurately translated as it\nis in the Revised Version, +\"And the God of peace himself sanctify\nyou wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire,\nwithout blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.\"+ Here we are\nplainly told that _the complete sanctification of believers, complete\nin the fullest sense, is something to be sought for in prayer and that\nis to be accomplished by God in the future and perfected at the coming\nof our Lord Jesus Christ_. The same thought is found in this same book,\nthe 3rd chapter and 12th and 13th verses, +\"And the Lord make you to\nincrease and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men,\neven as we do toward you, to the end that he may establish your hearts\nunblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our\nLord Jesus with his saints.\"+ It is \"at the coming of our Lord Jesus\nwith all His saints\" that He is to establish our hearts unblamable in\nholiness before our God and Father and that our spirit and soul and\nbody are to be preserved entire without blame. The same thought is\nfound in I John 3:2, +\"Beloved, now are we children of God, it is\nnot yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be\nmanifested, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.\"+\n_It is not in the life that now is, and it is not at death, that we\nare entirely sanctified, spirit, soul, and body. It is at the coming\nof our Lord Jesus Christ._ This is one of the many reasons why the\nwell-instructed believer constantly cries, \"_Even so, come, Lord Jesus.\nCome quickly._\"\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nTHE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY OF JESUS AND OF OUR BODIES\n\n \"Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David, was raised\n from the dead, according to my gospel.\"\u20142 Tim. 2:8.\n\n \"For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I\n received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the\n scriptures; and that he was buried; and that _he hath been\n raised_ on the third day according to the scriptures.\"\u20141 Cor.\n 15:3, 4.\n\n \"Now, if Christ is preached that he hath been raised from the\n dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of\n the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither\n hath Christ been raised: and if Christ hath not been raised,\n then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain. Yea, and\n we are found false witnesses of God, because we witnessed of\n God that he hath raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if\n so be that he did not rise. But if the dead are not raised;\n neither hath Christ been raised: and if Christ hath not been\n raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they\n also that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in\n this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most\n pitiable.\"\u20141 Cor. 15:12-19.\n\n\nWe commemorate to-day the resurrection of Christ from the dead. We\nshall see that the resurrection of Christ was a resurrection of the\nbody of Christ, that it was not merely the indwelling Spirit of Jesus\nChrist, clothed upon with a new and entirely different body, that\nappeared to the disciples on the first resurrection day, but that it\nwas the body that was buried, raised again, and that this involves\nfor us not merely the immortality of our souls, but the resurrection\nand eternal continuance of our bodies. Yet there are many who call\nthemselves Christians and who say that they believe in the Bible, and\nwho consider themselves perfectly orthodox Christians, who do not\nbelieve in the Resurrection of the Body, they merely believe in the\nimmortality of the soul.\n\n\nI. THE FACT OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY OF CHRIST AND OF OUR BODIES\n\nWe shall consider first _the fact of the resurrection of the body of\nJesus Christ and of our bodies_.\n\n1. Turn first, please, to II Tim. 2:8, +\"Remember that Jesus\nChrist of the seed of David, was raised from the dead, according to\nmy gospel.\"+ Here Paul explicitly declares that Jesus Christ was\nraised from the dead according to the gospel which he preached. Now\nwhat was raised? Certainly not His soul. That did not die. Turning to\nActs 2:27-31, we find that the soul of the Lord Jesus went into Hades,\nthe abode of the dead. These are Peter's words, spoken on the day of\nPentecost, there recorded, +\"Because thou wilt not leave my soul\nunto Hades, neither wilt thou give thy holy one to see corruption+\n(i.e., in His body). +Thou madest known unto me the ways of life;\nthou shalt make me full of gladness with thy countenance. Brethren, I\nmay say unto you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and\nwas buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day. Being therefore\na prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that\nof the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise\nup Christ to sit on his throne; he foreseeing this spake of the\nresurrection of Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did\nhis flesh see corruption. This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all\nare witnesses.\"+ Peter here declares that the soul of Jesus went\nto Hades and that it was \"His flesh,\" i.e., His body, that was kept\nfrom corruption and afterwards raised. Turning now to I Cor. 15:3,\n4, we read these words of Paul: +\"For we delivered unto you first\nof all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins\naccording to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he hath\nbeen raised on the third day according to the scriptures.\"+ Paul\nhere declares that Jesus Christ died and was buried and was raised.\nWhat was raised? Paul says, that _that which \"was buried\"_ was raised.\nBut what was buried? _Not the soul_ of the Lord Jesus, _but His\nbody_. Peter makes this even plainer, if possible, in I Pet. 3:18-20:\n+\"Because Christ also suffered for our sins once, the righteous for\nthe unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death\nin the flesh, but quickened in the spirit; in which also he went and\npreached to the spirits in prison; which aforetime were disobedient,\nwhen the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah.\"+ These\nwords clearly mean that it was the body of Jesus that was put to death,\nbut that the spirit still lived and went into Hades; so it was _the\nbody_ that was raised and to which the spirit that had not died or\nbecome unconscious came back. I Cor. 15:12-19 removes all possibility\nof doubt on this point on the part of any man who goes to the Bible\nto find out what it actually teaches and not merely to see how he can\ntwist and distort it to fit it into his own preconceived opinions.\nPaul's Spirit-given words here read, +\"Now if Christ be preached\nthat he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that\nthere is no resurrection of the dead?+ (Mark, not _no immortality of\nthe soul_, but _no resurrection_ of the dead.) +But if there is no\nresurrection of the dead neither hath Christ been raised: and if Christ\nhath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is\nvain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we witness\nof God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up if so be that\nthe dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised neither hath\nChrist been raised: and if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is\nvain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also that have fallen asleep\nin Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ,\nwe are of all men most pitiable.\"+ There is no honest mistaking the\nplain meaning of these words: by the \"resurrection of the dead\" Paul\nplainly means _a resurrection of the body_; and in the whole chapter,\nbeyond an honest doubt, he is not talking about the immortality of\nthe soul, but the resurrection of the body. The whole argument turns\non that, and Paul here clearly says _if the body of Jesus was not\nraised_, then the whole Christian system is a sham and our faith vain\nand that we Christians of all men are most to be pitied. For if the\nbody of Jesus was not raised, and if our bodies are not to be raised,\nthen we Christians are making tremendous sacrifices for a lie. Paul\nsays further that _if our bodies_ are not to be raised, then Christ's\nbody has not been raised and Christianity is a humbug. Christianity as\ntaught in the New Testament stands or falls with the resurrection of\nthe body of Jesus and the resurrection of our bodies. There is no room\nin this argument of Paul's for \"Pastor\" Russell's doctrine, that the\nresurrection of Jesus Christ was not a resurrection of the body that\nwas laid in the grave, the body that was crucified, and that the body\nof Jesus Christ, the body that was laid in the sepulchre, was carried\naway and preserved somewhere, or else dissolved into gases. Paul says\nhere, _if the body that was laid in the sepulchre was not raised, \"then\nis our preaching vain\" and your \"faith also is vain.\"_\n\nIn Luke 24:5, 6, the angels at the tomb from which the body of Jesus\nhad disappeared are recorded as saying to the women who were seeking\nthe body of Jesus to embalm it, +\"Why seek ye the living among\nthe dead? He is not here but is risen.\"+ Now what were the women\nseeking? The body of Jesus to embalm it, and the angels say that\nwhat they were seeking was not there but was risen, had been raised.\nFurthermore, in the remainder of the 6th verse and verse 7, they say:\n+\"Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying\nthat the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men,\nand be crucified, and the third day rise again.\"+ Here they told the\nwomen plainly that what was crucified, which of course was the body\nof Jesus, was raised. If the actual, literal body of Jesus had not\nbeen raised, then these angels were liars. Do you believe that? These\nare only a few of the very many passages in which it is very clearly\ntaught that the very body of Jesus was raised from the dead. The body\nof Jesus was raised from the dead and our bodies shall be raised from\nthe dead, else Christianity is a lie from start to finish. But Christ\nwas raised from the dead and we shall be raised. Or, as Paul puts it\nin the 20th verse of this same chapter, \"+But now hath Christ been\nraised from the dead, the first fruits of them that are asleep.\"+\nOur resurrection, the resurrection of our bodies, will be _the harvest_\nthat follows the resurrection of the body of Christ, which was \"_the\nfirst fruits_.\"\n\n\nII. THE CHARACTER OF OUR RESURRECTION BODIES\n\nHaving clearly settled the fact of the resurrection _of the body_ of\nJesus Christ and of our bodies, let us next consider the character of\nour resurrection bodies.\n\n1. First of all, we know that _the body which is raised will not be\nexactly the same body that it was when it was laid in the grave_. This\nappears from I Cor. 15:35-38: +\"But some will say, how are the dead\nraised? And with what manner of body do they come? Thou foolish one,\nthat which thou thyself sowest is not quickened, except it die: and\nthat which thou sowest, thou sowest not in the body that shall be, but\na bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind; but God\ngiveth it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its\nown.\"+ Here we are told that our bodies when they are raised will\nnot be exactly the same as our bodies when they are buried, any more\nthan the wheat that springs from the kernel of wheat that is planted is\nthe same as the kernel that was planted. But just as what grows from\nthe seed comes from the seed and bears the most intimate relation to\nthe seed, so our resurrection bodies come from the body that is buried\nand bear the most intimate relation to it. The resurrection body is the\noutcome of the body that is buried. It is the old body quickened and\ntransformed; or, as Paul puts it in Phil. 3:20, 21: +\"Jesus Christ\n. . . shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be\nconformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he\nis able even to subject all things unto himself.\"+\n\n2. The next thing that the Bible teaches about _our resurrection\nbodies_ is that _they are like the glorified body of Jesus Christ_.\nThis appears from the verses just quoted, Phil. 3:20, 21: +\"The\nLord Jesus Christ . . . shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation,\nthat it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the\nwork whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.\"+\nChrist's resurrection body was not the same body that was laid in the\nsepulchre. It was the old body _transformed_ and delivered from the\nlimitations of the body that He had while living here among men, and\nnew qualities imparted to it, and our bodies will also be transformed\ninto the likeness of this glorious body of Christ and thus delivered\nfrom the limitations to which they are subjected now, and new qualities\nimparted to them. It will be a transformed body; the character of its\ntransformation is indicated by the transformation that took place in\nthe body of Jesus Christ. Some suggestion as to what that transformed\nbody of Jesus Christ was like is found in that anticipation of His\nresurrection which was seen by Peter, James and John on the mount of\ntransfiguration. Matthew in his description of the appearance of Jesus\nat His transfiguration, tells us that +\"His face did shine as the\nsun, and his garments became white as the light\"+ (Matt. 17:2).\nLuke tells us that +\"the fashion of his countenance was altered and\nHis raiment became white and dazzling\"+ (Luke 9:29). Mark tells\nus that +\"He was transfigured before them: and his garments became\nglistering, exceeding white; so as no fuller on earth can whiten\nthem\"+ (Mark 9:2, 3).\n\n3. The next thing that we are told about _our resurrection bodies_ is\nthat they _will not be flesh and blood_. In I Cor. 15:50, 51 we read,\n+\"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit\nthe kingdom of God.\"+ Paul is here talking about our resurrection\nbodies. It is in the resurrection chapter he says this, and he\ndistinctly tells us that our resurrection bodies will not be \"_flesh\nand blood_.\"\n\n4. But while _our resurrection bodies_ will not be \"flesh and blood,\"\nthey _will have \"flesh and bones.\"_ This appears from what our Lord\nHimself says about His own resurrection body in Luke 24:39. Here we\nread that Jesus said: +\"See my hands and my feet, that it is I\nmyself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye\nbehold me having.\"+ As our resurrection bodies are to be transformed\ninto the likeness of His, we also must have \"flesh and bones\" in our\nresurrection bodies. Some have fancied that they saw a contradiction\nbetween what our Lord says here and what Paul says in the passage\nquoted above (I Cor. 15:50, 51), but there is no contradiction. \"Flesh\"\nwe shall have, but not \"flesh _and blood_,\" i.e., not flesh, the\nanimating principle of which is blood. The question arises, What takes\nthe place of the blood in our resurrection bodies? The answer seems to\nbe that in the present life, \"blood is the life\" of the natural body,\nbut in the life to come our bodies are to be, as we are told elsewhere\nin this same chapter, \"_spiritual_ bodies,\" i.e., bodies, the animating\nprinciple of which is the Spirit of God, not our own blood. Our not\nhaving \"_blood_\" in our resurrection bodies involves many great and\nglorious possibilities, upon which we cannot dwell now.\n\n5. In the fifth place (and closely connected with 3 and 4), _our\nresurrection bodies will be incorruptible_. We read in I Cor.\n15:42: +\"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in\ncorruption; it is raised in incorruption.\"+ The thought of this\nword \"incorruption\" is that the body is not subject to decay, it is\nimperishable. Our present bodies are decaying all the time. We are\nperishing every day and every minute. My present body is disintegrating\nwhile I talk to you. But the bodies that we shall receive in the\nresurrection will be absolutely free from the liability to corruption\nor decay. They _cannot_ disintegrate or suffer decay or deterioration\nof any kind.\n\n6. The next thing that we are taught about _the resurrection body_\nis that it _is a glorious body_. This comes out in the first part of\nthe following verse, I Cor. 15:43, +\"It is sown in dishonour; it is\nraised in glory.\"+ Some idea of the glory, the glorious beauty,\nof that body is suggested by the representation of our glorified Lord\nthat we have in Rev. 1:13-17: +\"And in the midst of the candlesticks\none like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot\nand girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. And his head and his\nhair were white as white wool, white as snow, and his eyes were as a\nflame of fire and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been\nrefined in a furnace, and his voice as the voice of many waters. And\nhe had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a\nsharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in\nhis strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead, and\nhe laid his right hand upon me saying, Fear not; I am the first and the\nlast.\"+ Our resurrection bodies will be like that.\n\n7. Furthermore, _our resurrection bodies will be powerful_, or as we\nread in the last half of this same verse (1 Cor. 15:43), +\"It is\nsown in weakness, it is raised in power.\"+ Then all our weariness\nand weakness will be forever at an end. In our present bodies our\nbodies are oftentimes a hindrance to our highest aspirations, they\nthwart the carrying out of our loftiest purposes, we cannot put into\nexecution our loftiest purposes, +\"the spirit is willing but the\nflesh is weak.\"+ But in our resurrection bodies the body will be\nable to accomplish all that the spirit purposes. The redeemed body will\nbe a perfect counterpart of the redeemed spirit that inhabits it. No\ndeafness, dimsightedness nor blindness, no tired hands and feet, no\nmaimed soldier boys coming home from the war.\n\n8. _It will be a heavenly body._ This appears from the 47th to the 49th\nverses of this same chapter. +\"The first man is of+ (literally,\n_out of_) +the earth, earthy: the second man is of+ (literally,\n_out of_) +heaven: as is the earth, such are they also that are\nearthy: and as is the heavenly such are they also that are heavenly.\nAnd as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the\nimage of the heavenly.\"+ The thought plainly is that our present\nbodies are of an earthly origin and an earthly character, but that the\ntransformed body will be of a heavenly character. Paul explains it\nat length in 2 Cor. 5:1-4 where he says, +\"For we know that if the\nearthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from\nGod, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. For verily\nin this+ (i.e., in this present earthly house, earthy body) +we\ngroan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from\nheaven+ (i.e., our heavenly body): +if so be that being clothed we\nshall not be found naked. For indeed we that are in this tabernacle+\n(i.e., in the present earthy body) +groan, being burdened; not for\nthat we would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon+\n(i.e., with our heavenly body), +that what is mortal may be swallowed\nup of life.\"+\n\n9. _Our transformed bodies will be luminous, shining, dazzling, bright\nlike the sun._ This is seen in many passages. For example, Matt. 13:43,\n+\"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom\nof their Father.\"+ This is to be taken literally for it is in the\n_interpretation_ of the parable and not in the parable. This suggests\nwhat we have already seen about the transfigured body of Jesus in Matt.\n17:2, where we are told that +\"His face did shine as the sun, and his\ngarments became white as the light.\"+ We have the same thought also\nin the Old Testament in Dan. 12:3, where we are told, +\"And they that\nare wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that\nturn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.\"+ They\nshall shine literally as well as figuratively. Some suggestion of what\nthe luminous glory of our faces and forms in our resurrection bodies\nwill be is seen in the light that Paul tells us that he saw beaming\nfrom the person of Jesus when the glorified Jesus met him on the\nDamascus road. In Paul's description of what he saw on that occasion,\nas given in Acts 26:12, 13, we read, +\"Whereupon as I journeyed\nto Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,\nat midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the\nbrightness of the sun, shining around about me and them that journeyed\nwith me.\"+ The light that Saul saw, as is evident from the whole\naccount, was the light that shone from the person of our glorified\nLord, and in our resurrection bodies we shall be like Him.\n\n10. _Three interesting facts regarding our resurrection bodies_ are\nstated in Matt. 22:30 and Luke 20:35, 36. In Matt. 22:30 we read:\n+\"For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in\nmarriage, but are as angels in heaven.\"+ In Luke 20:35, 36 we read:\n+\"But they that are counted worthy to attain to that world, and the\nresurrection of the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: for\nneither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and\nare sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.\"+ Taking these two\npassages together, we learn that our resurrection bodies are like the\nangels, that we do not marry in our resurrection bodies and that these\nbodies cannot die any more.\n\n11. _Though all these resurrection bodies are glorious, they differ\nfrom one another, each one having its own peculiar glory._ This appears\nfrom 1 Cor. 15:41, 42: +\"There is one glory of the sun, and another\nglory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star\ndiffereth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection from\nthe dead.\"+ Glorious as all our bodies shall be, there will be no\ntiresome uniformity even of glory in the world of resurrection bodies.\nEach body will have its own peculiar glory.\n\n12. Let us say finally in regard to the character of our resurrection\nbody, that _the resurrection of our body will be the consummation of\nour adoption_, i.e., of our placing as sons, our manifestations as\nsons of God. In Rom. 8:23 we read: +\"We, which have the first fruits\nof the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for\nour adoption+ (i.e., our placing as sons), +to wit, the redemption\nof our body.\"+ The resurrection body will be the consummation of our\nplacing as sons, i.e., in the resurrection body it will be outwardly\nmanifested that we are sons of God. Before His incarnation Christ was\n\"_in the form_ of God.\" (Phil. 2:6), i.e., in the visible appearance of\nGod. So shall we also be in the resurrection, for our bodies shall be\nlike His. This throws light upon what Paul meant when he said in Col.\n3:4: +\"When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall\nwe also with him be manifested in glory.\"+ And also it throws light\non what John meant when he says in I John 3:2, R. V.: +\"Beloved, now\nare we the children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we\nshall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like\nhim; for we shall see him as he is.\"+\n\n\nIII. WHEN WILL THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY TAKE PLACE?\n\nThere remains but one question to be considered and we can deal with\nthat very briefly. That question is, when will the resurrection of\nthe body take place? This question is plainly answered time and\nagain in the Bible. For example, it is answered in Phil. 3:20, 21:\n+\"For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a\nSaviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall fashion anew the body of\nour humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory,\naccording to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things\nunto himself.\"+ Here it is plainly declared that _the transformation\nof our bodies into the likeness of the glorious body of Christ will\ntake place when the Lord Jesus whom we are awaiting shall appear from\nheaven_. The same thought is given in I Thess. 4:16, 17: +\"For the\nLord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of\nthe archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall\nrise first; then we which are alive, that are left, shall together with\nthem be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so\nshall we ever be with the Lord.\"+ The question will arise in some of\nour minds, what about us in the meantime if we chance to die before the\ncoming of the Lord? This question also is plainly answered in II Cor.\n5:1-8: +\"For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle+\n(our present bodies) +be dissolved+ (die and decay) +we have a\nbuilding from God, a house not made with hands+ (our resurrection\nbody that we are to get at the coming of the Lord), +eternal, in the\nheavens. For verily in this+ (i.e., while living in this present\nbody) +we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which\nis from heaven+ (our resurrection body) +if so be that being\nclothed we shall not be found naked. For indeed we that are in this\ntabernacle+ (this present earthy body) +do groan, being burdened;\nnot for that we would be unclothed+ (i.e., not that we would merely\nget rid of our present bodies), +but that we would be clothed\nupon+ (i.e., that we would receive our resurrection bodies) +that\nwhat is mortal may be swallowed up of life. Now he that wrought us for\nthis very thing is God, who gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit+\n(i.e., the Holy Ghost, whom we have received as the earnest of the\nfull redemption in our resurrection bodies which are to be obtained\nat the coming of the Lord). +Being therefore always of good courage\nand knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body+ (i.e., while\nwe are still in our earthly life in this present earthly body) +we\nare absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith not by sight); we are\nof good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the\nbody+ (i.e., to have our present earthly body die even before we\nget our resurrection bodies, which we shall not get until the return\nof the Lord), +and to be at home with the Lord.\"+ The teaching\nof this plainly is that if we die before the return of the Lord and\ntherefore before we obtain our resurrection body, our spirits are\nunclothed, i.e., they are unclothed from this present body and not yet\nclothed upon with the resurrection body, but that we are \"at home with\nthe Lord\" in conscious blessedness, in a condition that is far better\nthan that that we are in in this present life (see Phil. 1:23, R. V.),\nbut not so perfect as that condition which shall be when our redeemed\nspirits are clothed upon with our resurrection bodies. _It will be at\nthe return of the Lord Jesus that we get our full redemption._ That is\none reason why \"we wait\" (literally, assiduously wait) for Him (Phil.\n3:20, 21, see Greek). That is one reason why we long for the return\nof the Lord. There are many reasons why we long for the return of our\nLord. All the great problems that are confronting us at this present\ntime in national and international life, in social, commercial and\npolitical life, will be solved when He comes, and will never be solved\nuntil He comes; and for these reasons we long for Him. But we long for\nHim also because while this present body serves many a useful purpose\nfor the redeemed spirit that inhabits it, it is often a hindrance. It\nis often subject to aches and pains, to frailties, and it is a constant\ntemptation to folly. But when our Lord Jesus comes again He will\ntransform this present body of our humiliation into the likeness of His\nown glorious body and at that time we shall know what \"full salvation\"\nmeans, when we shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of our\nFather.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nTHE DEVIL\n\n \"The Devil. . . .is.\"\u2014John 8:44.\n\n \"The Devil Sinneth.\"\u20141 John 3:8.\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nOur subject in this chapter is The Devil. I have two texts\u2014John 8:44:\n+\"The Devil. . . .is.\"+\n\nThe second text is 1 John 3:8: +\"The Devil Sinneth.\"+ The Bible\ndoctrine concerning the Devil, his Existence, Nature, Character, Work\nand Destiny is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, and is\nof vital importance. The teaching of the Bible on this subject is not\na mere matter of theory or dogma. It is a matter of most practical\nevery day importance. Experience shows that if men are in error in\nregard to this subject, they are pretty sure to be in error on other\nquestions that are fundamental. When men and women begin to question\nthe existence of a personal Devil it is pretty sure that before long\nthey will be questioning a good many other things regarding which a\ntrue child of God should have no questions. Doubt of the existence of\na personal Devil is widespread to-day. Many preachers in supposedly\northodox pulpits do not hesitate to say, \"I do not believe in the\nexistence of a personal Devil.\" Denial of the existence of a personal\nDevil is one of the main points in the system which is so widespread\nto-day, and which is doing so much evil, that with considerable reason\nit has been called \"The Devil's Masterpiece\"\u2014Christian Science. A\nwell-known and popular pastor in this city some months ago proclaimed\nto his people that he was going to preach to them a gospel \"without\nan atonement of blood, without an infallible Bible, without hell,\nand without a personal Devil.\" If he does preach to them a system of\ndoctrine without any of these he will preach some other system of\ndoctrine than that which is contained in the book, which our Lord Jesus\nChrist has endorsed as the Word of God, i.e., the Bible.\n\n\nI. THERE IS A DEVIL\n\nThe first point to make clear is that _there is a Devil_. This is\nplain from our first text, John 8:44: +\"The Devil. . . .is.\"+ The\nwhole verse reads: +\"Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts\nof your father it is your will to do: He was a murderer from the\nbeginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in\nhim. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar,\nand the father thereof.\"+ These are the words of Jesus Christ. With\nany one who has any right to call himself a Christian, the words of\nJesus Christ have infinitely more weight than the words of Mrs. Mary\nBaker Eddy or any one else, or all others together, and Jesus here\nsays, +\"The Devil. . . .is.\"+ But this is not the only passage by\nany means in which our Lord Jesus asserts in the most emphatic and most\nunmistakable terms the existence of the Devil. Turn to Matt. 13:19,\nand you will read these words: +\"When any one heareth the word of\nGod, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one and snatcheth\naway that which has been sown in his heart.\"+ These words are found\nin the interpretation of a parable\u2014the Parable of the Sower. It is\nimpossible to say that these words are figurative. In parables we have\nfigures, in the explanation of the parables we have the literal facts\nthat the figures symbolise, and these words are not taken from the\nparable, but from our Lord's own explanation of the parable, and here\nwe are distinctly told that there is _a person_, who is here called\n\"The Evil One,\" whose business it is to snatch away the Word of God\nwhen it has been sown in hearts that do not understand and heed it. If\nevil is only impersonal and our Lord had only referred to impersonal\ninfluences, or human influences, as taking away the Word out of the\nhearts where it had been sown, these words of His would be utterly\nwithout meaning. That Jesus Christ believed that there was a person\nof whom He here speaks as \"The Evil One\" and of whom He elsewhere\nspeaks, as we shall see directly, as \"The Devil,\" admits of no doubt if\nwe grant that the Lord Jesus was an honest man. _We must_, therefore,\n_if we believe in the Lord Jesus, believe that there is a Devil. We\ncan deny his existence only by questioning either the honesty or\nthe intelligence of our Lord._ He certainly taught that there was a\nDevil. It would be easy to show from the teachings of Peter (1 Pet.\n5:8, 9; Acts 5:3) and from the teachings of John (John 13:2) and from\nthe teachings of Paul (Eph. 6:10-12) also that there is a Devil; but\nthat is unnecessary for any one who has any right to call himself a\nChristian, for if the Lord says so, that settles it, and the Lord Jesus\ndoes say +\"The devil. . . .is.\"+ If there is no Devil, then our Lord\nJesus was either a fool or a fraud. The question of believing in the\npersonality of the Devil involves the honour of our Lord Jesus. If His\nteaching is not to be trusted on this point, it is not to be trusted\non any other point, and the denial of a personal Devil involves the\ntrustworthiness of the Lord Jesus as a Teacher and a Saviour at every\npoint. So we see that the question of the existence of the Devil is\nfundamental and of vital importance.\n\n\nII. THE NATURE OF THE DEVIL\n\nHaving settled it that there is a Devil, we now face the question as to\nthe nature of the Devil.\n\n1. First of all, the Bible teaches us that the _Devil is a person_.\nThis comes out in our second text, 1 John 3:8: +\"The devil\nsinneth.\"+ Only a person can sin. When we say that the Devil is\na person we do not mean that necessarily he has a body, certainly\nnot such a body as he is pictured as having in various paintings and\nengravings that are supposed to represent the Devil. A person is any\nbeing who knows and feels and wills. When we say that the Devil is\na person we mean that he is a being who has intelligence, feeling\nand will, that he is not a mere principle of evil. The personality\nof the Devil is taught over and over again in the Bible. Just a few\nillustrations in addition to our texts. Turn again to Matt. 13:19:\n+\"When any one heareth the word of God, and understandeth it not,\nthen cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been\nsown in his heart.\"+ The representation of this passage is the\nrepresentation of a person. He is called \"The Evil One,\" not merely\n\"evil,\" but \"The Evil One,\" which of course is the representation of a\nperson. If evil is only impersonal, or if it only works through human\nbeings, these words of our Lord Jesus would be without meaning. The\npersonality of the Devil comes out again very clearly and very forcibly\nin Eph. 6:10-12: +\"Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and the\nstrength of his might. (11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may\nbe able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For our wrestling\nis not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities,\nagainst the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against\nthe spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.\"+ Here\nPaul distinctly tells us that the great reason why we need to be strong\nin the Lord and in the strength of His might and why we need to put on\nthe whole armour of God, is because there is a being of great cunning,\nsubtlety and power, a person named \"The Devil,\" and that this being\nhas under him a multitude of other personalities of such dignity and\npower as to be called by the titles: \"principalities,\" \"powers,\" \"world\nrulers,\" \"spiritual hosts of wickedness.\" Beyond a question our Lord\nJesus, and the Apostle Peter and the Apostle John and the Apostle Paul\nbelieved in and taught the existence of a personal Devil. If there is\nnot a personal Devil we may as well give up our Bible, for in that\ncase it is a book that is full of folly and of fraud. If there is not\na personal Devil we must give up our belief in the inspired authority\nof the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, the Apostle John, and we must\ngive up our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. No intelligent student of\nthe Bible can retain his faith in the inspiration and authority of that\nBook, or his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if he gives up belief in\nthe existence of a personal Devil. As intelligent men and women, we\nmust take our choice between believing in the existence of a personal\nDevil or giving up our faith in Jesus Christ and Christianity. _Any\nsystem of doctrine that denies the existence of a personal Devil is\nradically unchristian whatever name it may arrogate to itself._\n\n2. The second thing that the Bible teaches as to the nature of\nthe Devil, is that, _the Devil is a being of very great power and\nauthority_. This comes out in the verses we have just read, Eph.\n6:10, 11: +\"Finally be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his\nmight. (11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to\nstand against the wiles of the devil.\"+ These words make it clear\nthat the Devil is so mighty that the people of God cannot resist his\ncunning wiles without having on the whole armour of God, and it is also\nevident from the 10th verse that we cannot resist his power unless\nwe are strengthened with the strength of God. And this is not all:\nin the 12th verse we read: +(12) \"For our wrestling is not against\nflesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers,\nagainst the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual\nhosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.\"+ These are tremendous\nwords. If they mean anything, they certainly mean that there are\nbeings of great authority and dignity who are under the leadership of\nthe one supreme being of evil, the Devil. The conflict that we have\non hand as believers in Christ is terrific. The conflict that the\nAllies have on hand with the mighty military forces of the Kaiser is\nnothing to the battle we have on hand with the Devil and his hosts.\nWe are fools if we underestimate the battle. On the other hand, we\nmust not over-estimate it. While our conflict is with the Devil, and\nwhile our wrestling is against \"the principalities,\" against \"the\npowers,\" against \"the world-rulers,\" against \"the spiritual hosts of\nwickedness,\" nevertheless He that is for us is far mightier than they.\nThe Devil is mighty but our Saviour is almighty. It is quite possible\nfor one to become morbid over this subject of the Devil, and to become\nutterly discouraged and even deranged. That is entirely unnecessary and\nunwarranted. While our conflict is with the Devil and his mighty hosts,\nGod has provided for us a strength and an armour whereby we may \"be\nable to quench all the fiery darts of the Evil One\" and to \"withstand\nin the evil day, and having done all to stand\" (v. 13).\n\n3. The third thing that the Bible teaches us as to the Nature of the\nDevil is that, _the Devil is a being of great majesty and dignity of\nposition_. Turn to Jude 8, 9: +\"Yet in like manner these also in\ntheir dreamings defile the flesh, and set at nought dominion, and rail\nat dignities+ (the literal translation of the Greek word rendered\ndignities is \"_glories_\"). +(9) But Michael the Archangel, when\ncontending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst\nnot bring against him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke\nthee.\"+ From these words it is evident that _the position of the\nDevil was so exalted that even Michael the archangel did not dare to\nbring a railing judgment against him_. The context seems to imply that\nthe position of the Devil was more exalted than that of Michael the\narchangel himself. The Devil of the Bible is not at all the Devil of\ncommon thought. He is not a being hideous in appearance, with hoofs and\nhorns and tail. He is not even the being pictured by Milton or Bunyan.\nHe is a being of very great original majesty and dignity, a being of\ngreat wisdom and power. When people talk lightly and contemptuously\nabout the Devil they display gross ignorance of what the Bible teaches\nabout him. It is true that he is evil in character and therefore\ncalled \"The Evil One\" (John 5:19, R. V.). It is true he is a liar and\na murderer (John 8:44), it is true that he is full of malignity (II\nCor. 4:4): but he is a being of great dignity and majesty, so that even\nMichael the archangel durst not bring against him a railing accusation.\n\n4. The Bible teaches furthermore that _the Devil is \"the prince of\nthis world.\"_ Our Lord Jesus Himself taught this. He says in John\n12:31: +\"Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of\nthis world be cast out.\"+ The Greek word translated \"world\" in this\npassage is _kosmos_, and the thought is of the present world order, and\nour Lord's teaching is that the Devil is the prince of this present\nworld order. We have the same teaching of our Lord in John 14:30, where\nwe read: +\"I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of\nthe world cometh: and he hath nothing in me.\"+ These words of our\nLord are found in what many regard as the most precious chapter in\nthe Bible, the 14th chapter of John, and if we give up this teaching\nof our Lord regarding Satan we must give up, not merely the Bible as a\nwhole, but this most precious chapter in the Bible. We find the Lord\nteaching the same thing again on that same night, the night before His\ncrucifixion, in John 16:11 where he says: +\"The prince of this world\nis judged\"+\u2014the evident reference being to Satan.\n\nHow the Devil came to be Prince of this world it may be impossible\nfor us to say, but that he is so admits of no question, if we are to\naccept the teaching of Jesus Christ, and any one who will study the\nruling principles of commercial life, of political life, of social\nlife, and above all of international relations, to such an one it will\nbecome perfectly evident that the Devil is the one who is master of\nthe present order of things. If we ever doubted before that there was\na Devil, and just such a Devil as the Bible pictures, we can scarcely\ndoubt it now, when we consider the action of the rulers of the earth in\nthis present mad world war. How could beings so intelligent in matters\nof science and philosophy and economics as the present rulers of\nGermany are, ever be guilty of plunging the nations of the earth into\nthis mad war? There is but one reasonable answer: because there is a\nDevil who rules the present Kosmos, or world order, and he controls the\nKaisers and the Reichstags of the world and will until the true Prince\ncomes, the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n\nIII. THE CHARACTER OF THE DEVIL\n\n1. _As to the character of the Devil, the Bible teaches us that he is\na being absolutely wicked._ In Matt. 13:19 he is called, \"_The Wicked\nOne_.\" That is to say, he is one who is the personal embodiment of\nabsolute wickedness. In I John 5:19 R. V. also he is called \"The Wicked\nOne.\" God is \"The Holy One,\" that is to say the One who is the personal\nembodiment of perfect holiness. The Devil is just His opposite, the\npersonal embodiment of consummate wickedness.\n\n2. The Devil is to evil what God is to good. In I John 3:8, we read:\n+\"He that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the\nbeginning. To this end was the son of God manifested, that he might\ndestroy the works of the devil.\"+ This does not mean that the Devil\nsinned from the very origin of all things and that he was created\nsinful, for we learn from Ezek. 28:15 that the Devil was created\nupright. The verse does mean, however, that _Satan is the original\nsinner_. The expression \"from the beginning\" is characteristic of the\nepistle from which these words are taken and does not necessarily mean\nfrom the origin of things (see for example verse 11). In a similar\nway we are told in one of our texts\u2014John 8:44\u2014that the Devil was a\nmurderer from the beginning and that he is \"A liar and the father of\nit.\" There is absolutely \"no truth in him.\" So much for the nature and\ncharacter of the Devil.\n\n\nIV. THE WORK OF THE DEVIL\n\nWe come now to the question of the Work of the Devil, or How the Devil\nManifests Himself, and What He Does.\n\n1. In the first place we are taught that _the Devil tempts men to sin_.\nWe have a most striking illustration of this in his temptation of our\nLord. We have in the Bible three accounts of this temptation. We will\nlook at Matthew's account. Matt. 4:1-9: +\"Then was Jesus led up of\nthe Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. (2) And when\nhe had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterward hungered. (3)\nAnd the tempter came and said unto him, If thou art the son of God,\ncommand that these stones become bread. (4) But he answered and said,\nIt is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word\nthat proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (5) Then the devil taketh him\ninto the Holy City; and he set him on the pinnacle of the temple. (6)\nAnd saith unto Him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down:\nfor it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee:\nand, on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest haply thou dash thy\nfoot against a stone. (7) Jesus said unto him, Again it is written,\nthou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God. (8) Again, the devil\ntaketh him unto an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the\nkingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (9) And He said unto him,\nAll these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship\nme.\"+ Of course we have not time this morning to go into the whole\nquestion of our Lord's temptation, but this much is certainly plain,\nthat the Devil is represented as the tempter, tempting our Lord. _If\nthere is no personal Devil, as so many would have us believe_, or\n_if he is not the tempter, there would be absolutely no reason for\nbringing him into this account_. As the Devil tempted our Lord, so he\ntempts us to-day. And it is to be noticed that he does not tempt us\nmerely to gross animal lusts and vile sins, but with subtle spiritual\ntemptations, and above all he tempts us to doubt God's Word. It was\nwith this form of temptation that he first assaulted our Lord. God had\njust said to the Lord Jesus at His baptism, +\"Thou art my beloved\nSon; in thee I am well pleased\"+ (Luke 3:22), and Satan came\ninsinuating doubt of God's Word by beginning his temptation with these\nwords: +\"If thou art the Son of God,\"+ and again further down in\nthe temptation, he repeats the doubt, saying to the Lord Jesus again:\n+\"If thou art the Son of God.\"+ In just the same way Satan began\nhis assault upon Eve in the Garden of Eden, by insinuating a doubt of\nGod's Word and of God's goodness. He began by saying: +\"Yea, hath\nGod said. . . .?\"+ (Gen. 3:2), and further on when Eve stated exactly\nwhat God had said, the Devil flatly contradicted and said: +\"Ye shall\nnot surely die\"+ (literally, Dying, _thou shalt not_ die) when God\nhad said: +\"Thou shalt surely die\"+ (_Dying, thou shalt_ die).\nThis is Satan's favourite method of attack to-day. He gets us to doubt\nGod's Word. Satan's most effective mode of work is by leading men\ninto doubt and into error on fundamental points. The saloons and the\ngambling hells and the brothels are not the chief spheres of Satan's\nactivities, but the schools and colleges and theological seminaries\nwhere he is inducing men and women, and callow youths and maidens, to\ndoubt the truth of God's Word, and to reject the fundamental truths of\nGod's word and accept Satan's errors in their place. Satan knows well;\nthat, if he can get men to doubting God's Word, it is easy to lead them\ninto the vilest sins. False doctrine has been a more prolific source of\nthe vilest sins than even the saloons.\n\n2. But Satan not merely tempts men to sin by insinuating doubts of\nGod's Word, he also _has his_ +synagogues and ministers among men to\ndo his work.+ Turn to Rev. 3:9: +\"Behold, I give of the synagogue\nof Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie;\nbehold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to\nknow that I have loved thee.\"+ What I wish you to notice here are\nthe words, \"The synagogue of Satan.\" In this case it was a Jewish\nsynagogue, but now-a-days, it is often a so-called Christian church. In\nII Cor. 11:14, 15 we have an even more remarkable passage: +\"For even\nSatan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. (15) It is no great\nthing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers\nof righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.\"+\nHere we are told that Satan has his ministers. They do not advertise\nthemselves as ministers of Satan, oftentimes they are not even\nconscious that they are; but they put themselves forward as \"ministers\nof righteousness.\" They advocate \"_ethical culture_,\" a system of\nsalvation without atoning blood. They are frequently men of very\nattractive personality and great intellectual brilliance and ability,\nbut they are doing the Devil's work. Satan is never so dangerous as\nwhen he \"Fashioneth himself into an angel of light,\" and no other\nministers of his are so dangerous as the men and women of attractive\npersonality and brilliant intellectual gifts who are undermining the\nfaith of God's children, or who are teaching various forms of seductive\nand alluring error, \"Christian Science,\" \"New Thought,\" \"Theosophy,\"\n\"Occultism\" (Spiritualism), and all that species of cults.\n\n3. We have not time to speak here of Satan's work as the author of\nsickness (Acts 10:38; Luke 13:16), and as the one who has the power of\ndeath (Heb. 2:14).\n\n4. But we must also speak of another work of the Devil. It is set forth\nin II Cor. 4:3, 4, R. V.: +\"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is\nveiled in them that perish: (4) In whom the god of this world hath\nblinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel\nof the glory of Christ, who is the image of God should not dawn upon\nthem.\"+ We read here that it is the work of Satan to blind the\nminds of unbelievers in order +\"That the light of the gospel of\nthe glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon\nthem.\"+ It is evident then that _the Devil is the author of false\nviews, especially false views of the person of Christ_. He is the\nauthor of Unitarianism, and the denial of the Deity of our Lord in all\nits forms. He so blinds the minds of men who submit to his blinding\nthat the Divine \"Glory of Christ,\" \"who is the very image of God,\" is\nhidden from them. This explains why it is that Unitarianism in all its\nvarious forms persists even after its folly has been so often exposed.\nSatan's work along this line is to culminate at the appearing of the\nAnti-Christ, +\"Even he, whose coming is according to the working of\nSatan with all power, and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit\nof unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the\nlove of the truth, that they might be saved.\"+ (II Thess. 2:9, 10,\nR. V.)\n\n\nV. THE DEVIL'S DESTINY\n\nWe come now to the fifth general division of our subject\u2014_The Devil's\nDestiny_.\n\n1. Turn in the first place to Rev. 20:1-3: +\"And I saw an angel\ncoming down out of heaven, having the keys of the abyss and a great\nchain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the old serpent,\nwhich is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and\ncast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he\nshould deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should\nbe finished: After this he must be loosed for a little time.\"+ We\nare here taught that _at the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ\nSatan shall be bound with a great chain and cast into the abyss for a\nthousand years_. The abyss, or as it is translated in the Authorised\nVersion, \"bottomless pit,\" does not mean hell. Satan, as we shall see\nfurther on, shall be cast into hell later.\n\n2. Turn now to Rev. 20:7, 8: +\"And when the thousand years are\nfinished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth\nto deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog\nand Magog, to gather them together to the war: The number of whom is\nas the sand of the sea.\"+ We are here taught that _at the end of\nthe Millennium, the thousand years, Satan shall be loosed for a little\nseason from the abyss into which he has been cast chained, and that he\nshall come forth to deceive the nations_. But the time of his power\nthen will be very brief.\n\n3. In Rev. 20:10 we find the ultimate destiny of the Devil: +\"And\nthe devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and\nbrimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they\nshall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.\"+ Here is\none of the points at which the theories of the \"Reconciliation\"\npeople and \"Universalists\" generally break down. The argument of the\nReconciliationists and Universalists, by which they attempt to prove\nthat all men must ultimately be saved, carried to its logical issue, if\nit proved anything, would prove the salvation of Satan also, and this\nmany of them do teach. They say plainly that the Devil will ultimately\nbe brought to repentance and saved. Indeed that is what I believed\nand taught in my early ministry. But this passage which we have just\nread shows the impossibility of this being true. \"The lake of fire\"\nwas \"prepared for the Devil and his angels.\" Our Lord Himself says in\nMatt. 25:41 that when He comes back to judge this world He will say to\nthose on His left hand: +\"Depart from me, ye cursed into the eternal\nfire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels.\"+ Hell was not\nprepared for men, but for the Devil and his angels. If any man goes\nthere it will be because he has chosen to cast in his lot with the\nDevil rather than with God. Therefore they go where the Devil goes.\nEvery one who rejects Jesus Christ is throwing in his lot with the\nDevil.\n\n\nVI. HOW TO GET VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL\n\nNow just for a few moments let me show you from the Word of God, _how,\nin practical every day life, to get the victory over the Devil_. There\nare four things to be borne in mind.\n\n1. Read first, James 4:7, +\"Be subject therefore unto God: but resist\nthe devil, and he will flee from you.\"+ This teaches us that, _we\nare first of all to surrender to God and then to resist the Devil and\nthat, if we do resist him, for all his cunning and power, he will flee\nfrom us_. Although the Devil is strong, it is ours in God's strength to\nwithstand him and overcome him.\n\n2. Now turn to I John 2:14: +\"I have written unto you, fathers,\nbecause ye know him which is from the beginning. I have written unto\nyou young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in\nyou, and ye have overcome the evil one.\"+ This passage teaches us\nthat, _it is when we feed upon the Word of God and store the Word of\nGod in our hearts, thus having it abiding in us, that we shall be able\nto overcome the Devil_. If we neglect the study of the Bible for a\nsingle day, we leave an open door for the Devil to enter. I have been\na Christian for forty-three years, but I would not dare to neglect the\nstudy of God's word for one single day. Why not? Because there is a\nDevil; and, if I neglect the study of the Word of God for a single day,\nI leave a window open for him to enter and leave myself too weak to\ncope with him and conquer him. But if we will feed upon the Word of God\ndaily, and trust in God, we can resist the devil at every point. Though\nthe Devil is cunning and strong, God is stronger, and _God imparts His\nstrength to us through His written word_.\n\n3. Turn now to Eph. 6:11: +\"Put on the whole armour of God, that\nye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.\"+ Here we\nare taught that, _in order_ +\"to stand against the wiles of the\nDevil\"+ _we must_ +\"Put on the whole armour of God.\"+ What that\narmour is, is found in the verses that immediately follow. This armour,\nthis whole armour, this \"panoply of God,\" is at our disposal. The fact\nthat there is a Devil, that he is a being of such majesty, dignity,\ncunning, and power, that he is so incessantly plotting our ruin and to\nundermine our faith, is no reason for fear or discouragement. By taking\n\"the shield of faith\" we shall be \"able to quench all the fiery darts\nof the evil one,\" by taking \"the helmet of salvation,\" and the \"sword\nof the Spirit which is the Word of God,\" and by \"praying always with\nall prayer and supplication in the Spirit,\" it is our privilege to have\nvictory over the Devil every day of our lives, every hour of the day,\nand every minute of the hour.\n\n4. The final step in the way to get victory over Satan is found in\nEph. 6:10: +\"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of\nhis might.\"+ _The way to get victory over Satan is to give up all\nconfidence in our own strength and believe in the almighty strength\nof Jesus Christ and claim that strength for ourselves._ It is in the\nstrength of Jesus Christ's might that we shall get the victory over\n\"the evil one.\" In the strength of His might, as we have already said,\nit is our privilege to have victory over the Devil every day of our\nlives, every hour of the day and every minute in the hour. Hallelujah!\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nIS THERE A LITERAL HELL?\n\n \"In danger of the hell of fire.\"\u2014Matt. 5:22.\n\n\nMy subject is \"Is There a Literal Hell?\" I wish that the things that I\nam going to preach to you were not true. God wishes so, too, +\"The\nLord is longsuffering to usward, not wishing that any should perish,\nbut that all should come to repentance\"+ (2 Peter 3:9). But God has\nmade us in His own image, with a moral nature, with a capacity for\nself-determination, with a power of choice; and men can if they will\nchoose darkness instead of light. They can choose to trample God's\nsaving love under foot. They can choose to reject the One who was\nwounded for their transgressions and bruised for their iniquities, and\nupon whom the chastisement of their peace was laid; and some will so\nchoose. I am sorry that they will. I would be willing to die to save\nthem. The Lord Jesus did die to save them. But they spurn Him. So these\nthings that I am to speak to-night are true and I am going to preach\nthem in order that you may know them, and in order that you may be sure\nof them. I am going to preach about hell to keep as many of you as\npossible from going there.\n\nIs There a Literal Hell? Almost all intelligent people who believe that\nthere is a future life at all, believe that men and women who sin in\nthe present life and who die impenitent and unsaved will be punished\nto some extent at least in the life that is to come. They believe that\nwhoever sins must suffer, and that the suffering which sin causes will\nnot be limited to this present life. But, while almost all intelligent\npeople who believe in a future life at all believe that there is some\nkind of future punishment, there are many that do not believe in a\nliteral hell, that is, in a place of awful and unutterable torment. Is\nthere a hell? Is there a place to which impenitent men and women will\ngo some time after death and suffer agonies far beyond those that any\none suffers here on earth? Some say, \"yes,\" there is a hell. Many,\neven including not a few supposedly orthodox preachers, say, \"No, the\nonly hell is the inward hell in a man's heart.\" How are we to settle\nthis question? How are we to determine who is right? We cannot settle\nit as some are trying to settle it by \"counting noses.\" Majorities are\nnot always right. Especially is it true that majorities are not always\nright in science and in philosophy and in theology. What the majority\nof scientists firmly believed a century ago the majority of scientists\nlaugh at to-day. What the majority of philosophers once believed, the\nmajority of philosophers to-day regard as ridiculous. So majorities\ncannot always be right. And, therefore, we cannot settle this question\nby asking what the majority believe.\n\nWe cannot settle the question by reasoning as to what such a being\nas God must do, for how can finite and foolish man judge what an\ninfinitely holy and infinitely wise God would do? Man never appears\nmore foolish than when he tries to reason out what an infinite God\n_must_ do. All these arguments about hell by reasoning as to what\nGod must, or must not, do are stupid. A child of seven cannot reason\ninfallibly as to what a wise and good man of fifty will do, much less\ncan puny creatures of the dust (such as you and I are, such as the most\nlearned philosophers and theologians are) reason infallibly as to what\nan infinitely wise and infinitely holy God must do. It is, however, far\neasier to believe in a literal hell, and an everlasting hell, from the\nstandpoint of pure reasoning to-day than it was three years and a half\nago. Nevertheless, we cannot settle the question as to whether there is\na literal hell by reasoning even to-day as to what such a being as God\nmust do.\n\nThere is only one way to settle this question right, that is by going\nto the Bible and finding out what it says, and taking our stand firmly\nand unhesitatingly upon that. We have seen the last three Sunday nights\nthat the Bible is beyond an honest question God's word, so whatever the\nBible says on this subject, or any other subject, is true and is sure.\nEspecially is it true that we must go to the Bible and find what it\nsays in the matter of future punishment and future blessedness. All we\nknow about the future is what the Bible tells us. All reasoning about\nthe future outside of what the Bible tells us is pure guessing, it is\na waste of time. We know nothing about heaven but what the Bible tells\nus, and we know nothing about hell but what the Bible tells us. On a\nsubject like this one ounce of God's revelation is worth a thousand\ntons of man's speculation. The whole question is what does the Bible\nsay about Hell? But while we are dependent entirely upon the Bible,\nthe Bible clearly reveals all that we need to know. The Bible tells us\na great deal about heaven, and it tells us still more about hell, and\nit is an interesting fact that the Lord Jesus Himself, whose authority\nmany are ready to accept who do not accept the authority of the rest of\nthe Bible, is the One Who tells us the most about hell, and the most\nclearly about hell. Indeed, all that I am going to show you is what\n_the Lord Jesus Himself says_ on this subject.\n\n\nI. HELL AND HADES ARE NOT THE SAME\n\nFirst of all, in order to clear the way for the study of what Jesus\nsays on this subject, let me call your attention to the fact that\nHell and Hades are not the same. There are numerous places in the\nAuthorised Version where we find the word \"Hell\" but where that word\ndoes not occur in the Revised Version, and where the word \"Hades\" is\nsubstituted for the word \"Hell.\" The Revised Version is right at that\npoint, as every Greek scholar knows. Hades is not Hell. \"Hades\" is\nthe Greek equivalent of the Old Testament Hebrew word \"Sheol.\" This\nHebrew word \"Sheol\" is frequently translated in the Authorised Version\nof the Old Testament by the English word \"Grave.\" It ought never to\nbe so translated, as it never means \"Grave.\" I have taken the pains\nto look up every passage where this Hebrew word is used and in not a\nsingle instance does it mean \"Grave.\" There is an entirely different\nHebrew word which can properly be translated in that way. \"Sheol,\" or\nNew Testament \"Hades,\" means the place of departed spirits. Sheol (or\nHades) before the coming, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of\nour Lord, was _the place where all the spirits of the dead, good and\nbad, went_. Before the ascension of Christ, in Hades was Paradise, the\nplace of the blessed dead, and Tartaros, the place of the wicked dead.\nAt His ascension Christ emptied the Paradise of Hades, and took it up\nto Heaven with Him, as we read in Eph. 4:8, +\"When he ascended on\nhigh, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.\"+ Before\nChrist ascended Paradise was down, now it is up. Christ said to the\nrepentant thief on the cross, +\"Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt\nthou be with me in Paradise,\"+ and Jesus Himself taught us He went\ndown into +\"the heart of the earth\"+ (Luke 12:40) and the dying\nthief went down with Him into this subterranean Paradise. I think Jesus\nHimself went also into that part of Hades where the lost spirits were\n(1 Peter 3:18-20), but that is another story that we will consider\nlater. All that is important now is that the repentant, dying thief\nwent _down_ into Paradise, but after the ascension of the Lord, when\nPaul went to Paradise, he was +\"caught up even to the third heaven\ninto Paradise\"+ (II Cor. 12:2-4). No blessed dead are now left in\nHades, and ultimately \"death\" and \"Hades,\" i.e., all that are dead who\nhave not yet been raised, or caught up into the Celestial Paradise, all\nwho are still in Hades, shall be +\"cast into the lake of fire\"+\n(Rev. 20:14). This +\"lake of fire\"+ into which death and Hades are\nto be cast, is the true and ultimate Hell.\n\n\nII. THERE IS TO BE A LITERAL HELL\n\nHaving cleared the way by removing the misapprehension so common in the\nminds of people to-day, that Hades and Hell are the same, now let us\nsay next that _there is to be a Hell_. The Bible says so, Jesus says\nin Matt. 5:22, +\"but I say unto you, that every one who is angry\nwith his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever\nshall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council;\nand whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell\nof fire.\"+ In the 29th verse of the same chapter the Lord Jesus\nsays: +\"And if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble pluck it out,\nand cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy\nmembers should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast\ninto hell.\"+ And in the 30th verse He says: +\"And if thy right\nhand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee; for\nit is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,\nand not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.\"+ We read\nagain what our Lord Jesus said in Mark 9:45-48, +\"and if thy foot\ncauseth thee to stumble, cut it off; it is good for thee to enter\ninto life halt, rather than having thy two feet to be cast into hell.\nAnd if thine eye causeth thee to stumble, cast it out; it is good\nfor thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than\nhaving two eyes to be cast into hell; where their worm dieth not, and\nthe fire is not quenched.\"+ Some one may say that these words of\nour Lord are figurative. There is not the slightest suggestion that\nthey are figurative. The whole context is against their being taken\nfiguratively. It is indeed wrong to interpret figurative language as\nif it were literal, but it is just as unwarranted and just as wrong to\ninterpret literal language as if it were figurative. Of course, the\nword \"Gehenna,\" which is translated \"Hell\" is derived from the valley\nof Hinnom, where in ancient times human sacrifices were offered, but\nthe _use_ of the word is literal throughout the New Testament, though\nits _derivation_ is figurative. Many words that are figurative in\ntheir derivation are literal in their use, and the meaning of words\nis never determined by derivation, but by usage. For example, our\nword \"eclipse\" is a figure of speech. According to the figure it is a\nleaving or failing or fainting of the moon or sun, whichever it may be\nthat is eclipsed. But though it is figurative in its derivation, the\nordinary usage of it is literal. The universal use in the New Testament\nof \"Gehenna\" or \"Hell\" is literal. The word here translated \"Hell\" is\nfound twelve times in the New Testament, eleven of these twelve times\nit is used by our Lord Jesus Himself, and He uniformly uses it, as in\nthe passages which I have just read, of a literal hell. If there is\nno literal hell, then our Lord Jesus was either a fool or a fraud.\nHe certainly meant to convey the impression that there was a literal\nhell. There can be no doubt of that, if we go to His words to find out\nwhat is the natural meaning of them. If there is no literal hell then\neither Jesus thought there was one when there was not, in which case He\nwas a fool; or else He knew that there was not, but tried to make men\nthink that there was, in which case He was a fraud. There is no other\nalternative but either to believe that there is a literal hell or else\nto believe that Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord and Saviour, was a fool or\na fraud. I know that Jesus was not a fool. I know that He was the only\nbegotten Son of God, that in Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead\nbodily, that He and the Father are one, that all men should honour the\nSon even as they honour the Father. I know that He spoke the very words\nof God, therefore I know that there is a literal hell, for He said so.\nIt is worthy of note, furthermore, that most of these words about hell\nthat I have read you to-night are taken from the Sermon on the Mount,\nthe one part of the Bible that pretty much all men claim to believe.\nThere are many who say they do not know about the Bible as a whole, but\nthey do accept the Sermon on the Mount. Well, these passages are for\nthe most part from the Sermon on the Mount. Either accept this part of\nthe Sermon on the Mount or else throw the whole thing overboard as the\nutterance of a fool or a fraud. There is no other ground possible for\nany man who is willing to think things through.\n\n\nIII. IS THE FIRE OF HELL LITERAL FIRE?\n\nThe next question that confronts us is, Is the fire of hell mentioned\nin some of the passages we have read, literal fire? This is not\nso vital a question as the question, is there a literal hell, but\nnevertheless it is an important question, and I believe the question\nis plainly answered in the Bible, and plainly answered by Jesus Christ\nHimself. To turn again to the passage already referred to, Matt. 5:22,\nwe read: +\"But I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his\nbrother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to\nhis brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever\nshall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire.\"+\nThese are Christ's own words. He not only speaks of hell, but a \"_hell\nof fire_,\" and this too is from the Sermon on the Mount. In Matt. 18:9\nthe Lord Jesus says again, +\"And if thine eye cause thee to stumble,\npluck it out, and cast it from thee; it is good for thee to enter into\nlife with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the\nhell of fire.\"+ And again in Mark 9:43-49, the passage read a few\nmoments ago, we read, +\"And if thy hand cause thee to stumble, cut\nit off; it is good for thee to enter into life maimed, rather than\nhaving thy two hands to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire. And\nif thy foot cause thee to stumble, cut it off; it is good for thee to\nenter into life halt, rather than having thy two feet to be cast into\nhell. And if thine eye cause thee to stumble, cast it out; it is good\nfor thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than\nhaving two eyes to be cast into hell, where the worm dieth not, and\nthe fire is not quenched.\"+ Here again some may say the fire is\nfigurative. Turn to Matt. 13:30, 41, 42, we read these words: +\"Let\nboth grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I\nwill say to the reapers, gather up first the tares, and bind them in\nbundles to barn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.\"+ Now here\nis a parable and we have figures and there would be warrant, if this\nwere all that we had, for saying that the fire was figurative, as other\nthings in the verse are figurative; but in the 41st and 42nd verses\nof the same chapter we read, +\"The Son of man shall send forth his\nangels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause\nstumbling, and they that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the\nfurnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.\"+\nHere we have _the interpretation_ of the parable. Now in parables, as\nalready said, we have figures, but in the interpretation of parables we\nhave the literal facts which the figures represent, but we see clearly\nthat here _in the interpretation as well as in the parable_, we have\n_fire_. Everything else in the parable is explained, every item in the\nparable except the fire, but that remains fire in the interpretation of\nthe parable as well as in the parable itself. We find the same thing in\nanother parable in verses 47 to 50, the parable of the net cast into\nthe sea. Here, also, in the interpretation of the parable as well as in\nthe parable itself we have _fire_. Every other figure of the parable\nis explained by the literal fact that it represents, but _in the\ninterpretation_ of the parable we have \"_fire_.\" In the light of these\nfacts we cannot deny the literal fire of hell without doing violence\nto every reasonable law of interpretation. Furthermore still, we read\nin Rev. 20:15 that at the judgment of the great white throne, +\"and\nif any was not found written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the\nlake of fire.\"+ There is nothing in the whole context that suggests\na figure. And in the 21st chapter and the 8th verse we read: +\"But\nfor the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and\nfornicators, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, their part\nshall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the\nsecond death.\"+\n\nRemember furthermore that the wicked in the eternal world are not mere\ndisembodied spirits. This is plain both from the Old Testament and the\nNew. We read in Dan. 12:2: +\"And many of them that sleep in the dust\nof the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame\nand everlasting contempt.\"+ Now this says \"them that sleep in the\ndust of the earth.\" The soul departs into Hades. It is _the body_ that\ncrumbles into dust, and it is the body that is to be raised. In the New\nTestament, in John 5:28, 29, our Lord is recorded as saying: +\"Marvel\nnot at this; for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs\nshall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good,\nunto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the\nresurrection of judgment.\"+ Now it is not the souls of men that are\nin the tombs, it is the bodies of men, and this passage teaches the\nresurrection of the bodies, both of the good and of the wicked. In I\nCor. 15:22 we read, +\"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ\nshall all be made alive.\"+ What Paul is talking about in this entire\nchapter is the resurrection _of the body_, not merely the immortality\nof the soul, and we are here distinctly told that every child of Adam\ngets resurrection of his body in Christ.\n\nFurthermore, in Matt. 5:30 Jesus says: +\"If thy right hand causeth\nthee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee; for it is\nprofitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy\nwhole body go into hell.\"+ Here in the plainest possible terms the\nbody is spoken of as going into hell, and in a similar way in Matt.\n10:28, the Lord Jesus says: +\"Be not afraid of them that kill the\nbody, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is\nable to destroy both soul and body in hell.\"+ From these plain and\ndefinite words of our Lord it is plain as day that in the future life\nwe are to have bodies, and that the bodies of the lost are to have a\nplace in a literal physical hell of fire. While the bodily torments\nof hell fire are not the most appalling feature of hell, while the\nmental agony, the agony of remorse, the agony of shame, and the agony\nof despair, is worse, immeasurably worse; nevertheless, physical\nsuffering, a physical suffering to which no pain on earth is anything\nin comparison, is a feature of hell.\n\n\nIV. IS THE LAKE OF FIRE A PLACE OF CONSCIOUS TORMENT, OR IS IT A PLACE\nOF ANNIHILATION, I.E., A PLACE OF NON-EXISTENCE OR IS IT A PLACE OF\nNON-CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE?\n\nThere is one other question that remains to be answered, and that is,\n_is the lake of fire a place of conscious torment, or is it a place\nof annihilation, i.e., a place of non-existence, or is it a place of\nnon-conscious existence_? There are those who believe in a literal\nhell, but they do not believe that those who are consigned to it will\nconsciously suffer there for any great length of time. They hold\neither that those who are sent to hell are annihilated, or else that\nthey exist there in a non-conscious state. Of course, this would be\nan everlasting hell, and everlasting punishment, but is it the hell\nthat is taught in the Bible? Is the lake of fire a place of continued\nconscious torment, or is it a place of non-conscious existence? In\nanswer to this question let me call your attention to the fact that the\npunishment of the wicked is spoken of in the Bible most frequently as\n\"Death\" and \"Destruction.\" What do these words mean in biblical usage?\n\n1. Let us look first at the biblical usage of the word \"Death.\" Many\ntell us, time and time again, that death means non-existence, or at\nleast non-conscious existence, and therefore that is what it must\nmean in the passages where it is spoken of as the future punishment\nof the impenitent. But does \"death\" _as used in the Bible_ mean\neither non-conscious existence, or annihilation? Look first at 1 Tim.\n5:6; here we read, \"She that liveth in pleasure is _dead_ while she\nliveth.\" Death here certainly does not mean either non-existence, or\nnon-conscious existence. The woman that lives in pleasure still exists,\nand she certainly exists consciously, but she is \"_dead_.\" Death means\nwrong existence rather than non-existence. It is just the opposite of\nlife, and life in the New Testament usage does not mean mere existence,\nit means right existence. God-like existence, holy existence. It\nmeans the ennoblement and glorification and deification of existence;\nand death means just the opposite, it means wrong existence, debased\nexistence, the ruin, the shame, and the ignominy and the despair of\nexistence. In a similar way we are told in Eph. 2:1, that men until\nthey are quickened, or made alive, by the power of God are \"_Dead in\ntrespasses and sins_.\" It is perfectly clear then that death does not\nmean either non-existence, or non-conscious existence. But even more\ndecisive than this is the fact that God Himself has defined death\nvery accurately and very fully in Rev. 21:8: +\"But the fearful and\nunbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and\nsorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in\nthe lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second\ndeath.\"+ Here we are told in so many words that the \"death\" which\nis the final outcome of persistent sin and unbelief is a portion in\nthe place of torment, the lake of fire. That this lake of fire is a\nplace of conscious suffering is made clear in the preceding chapter,\nRev. 20:10, where we are told that \"the devil that deceived them was\ncast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false\nprophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.\"\nThe beast and false prophet had already been there a thousand years\nwhen the devil was cast into the lake of fire, and they were tormented\nconsciously, without rest.\n\n2. Now let us look at what \"_Destruction_\" means in the New Testament.\nWe are told by a certain school of religious thought that \"destruction\"\nmeans destruction. Yes, \"destruction\" means destruction, but what does\ndestruction mean? They say it means annihilation, or ceasing to be,\nbut the Greek word so translated never means that in the Bible, nor\neven out of the Bible. In the best Greek-English lexicon of the New\nTestament extant, Thayer's translation of Grimm's great work, we are\ntold that when a thing is said to \"perish\" (and the verb from which\nthe noun commonly translated \"destruction\" and \"perdition\" is derived,\nis the one translated \"to perish\") it is not meant that it ceases to\nbe, but that it is \"so ruined that it no longer subserves the use for\nwhich it was designed.\" Furthermore, here again God has been careful to\ndefine His terms. He Himself has given us in the Bible a definition\nof \"destruction.\" We read in Rev. 17:8, 11: +\"The beast that thou\nsawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,\nand go into perdition; and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder\n. . . and the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is\nof the seven, and goeth into perdition.\"+ Here we are told that\nthe beast goes into \"perdition.\" The word here translated \"perdition\"\nis precisely the same word that is elsewhere translated \"destruction\"\nand should be so translated here; or else in the other instances it\nshould be translated, as here, \"perdition.\" Now if we can find what\nthe beast goes into, then we shall know exactly what \"destruction\"\nmeans, for we are told that he goeth \"into destruction.\" In the 19th\nchapter of Revelation, the 20th verse, we are told exactly where\nthe beast goes: +\"And the beast was taken, and with him the false\nprophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them\nthat had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his\nimage. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with\nbrimstone.\"+ Now looking forward to the next chapter, the 10th\nverse, which I have already quoted, we read: +\"And the devil that\ndeceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are\nalso the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day\nand night for ever and ever.\"+ Putting these passages together\nwe see that the beast goeth into \"destruction,\" and the destruction\ninto which he goes is a place in the lake which burneth with fire\nand brimstone, where for a thousand years he is in conscious torment,\nand where after the thousand years are over he is still there and is\nstill tormented. So then \"destruction\" is clearly defined in the New\nTestament in the same way in which \"death\" is defined, as the condition\nof beings in a place of conscious torment.\n\nAgain in Rev. 14:10, 11, we read regarding those who worship the beast\nand his image and receive his mark in their foreheads or in their\nhands: +\"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which\nis poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he\nshall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy\nangels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment\nascendeth for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who\nworship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of\nhis name.\"+ The Bible makes it clear as language can make it that\nthe lake of fire to which \"whoever is not written in the Lamb's book of\nlife\" is consigned, is a place of continued, conscious torment. There\nis no escaping the clear teaching of the Word of God unless we throw\nour Bibles away and discredit the teaching of the Apostles and the\nteaching of Jesus Christ Himself.\n\nNext Sunday night we will take up the question, Is the Punishment\nof the Wicked Everlasting, but we must stop at this point to-night.\nSherman said, \"War is hell.\" Of course, in the way in which Sherman\nmeant it, this is true. It is far more true of war to-day than it was\nin the worst and most inexcusable phases of our Civil War\u2014Libby and\nAndersonville, for example, on the part of the South, and the march\nthrough Georgia on the part of the North. But even war to-day as\ncarried on by Germany in all its appalling frightfulness, is not hell.\nHell is incomparably more awful than the war now raging in Europe, and\nthis awful hell of which we have been studying to-night is the destiny\nof some of you here in this room, unless you soon repent and accept\nthe Lord Jesus Christ. Other appalling facts about hell we will take\nup next Sunday night, but we have already seen enough to make any true\nChristian determine to work with all his might to save others from this\nawful hell. And we have seen enough to make every honest and sensible\nperson here to-night determine to escape this awful hell at any cost.\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nIS FUTURE PUNISHMENT EVERLASTING?\n\n\nJesus Christ plainly taught that there was to be a literal hell and\nthat this hell would be a place of conscious suffering, suffering far\nbeyond that experienced by any one here in this present life, but we\nare faced by another question of great importance, Is this future,\nconscious suffering of the impenitent to be _endless_? There are many\nwho believe in future punishment of a very severe and awful character,\nand who indeed believe in a literal hell of awful, conscious suffering,\nbut they deny, or at least doubt, that this future hell will be a place\nof _endless_, conscious suffering. Many of them admit and teach that\nthe suffering may go on for a long time, and perhaps for thousands of\nyears, but they hold that it will end at last and that all men will\nultimately come to repentance, accept Jesus Christ, and be saved. What\nis the exact truth about the matter? We cannot decide this by asking\nwhat the majority of supposedly reliable theologians believe, for\nmajorities are often wrong and minorities are often right. Neither\ncan we decide it by reasoning as to what such a being as God is must\ndo. It is impossible for finite and foolish men such as we are, and\nsuch as the wisest philosophers and theologians are, to judge what an\nInfinitely wise and Infinitely holy God must do. All reasonings by\nfinite men as to what an Infinitely wise God must do are utterly futile\nand an utter waste of time. _All we know about the future is what God\nhas been pleased to tell us in His Word._ The Bible, as we have seen,\nis beyond a question the Word of God, and therefore what it has to say\non this subject, or any other subject, is true and absolutely sure, and\nin a question of this character one ounce of God's revelation is worth\nmore than a thousand tons of man's speculation. The whole question then\nis, what does the Bible teach in regard to this matter?\n\n\nI. WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES REGARDING THE ENDLESSNESS OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT\n\n1. To find out exactly what the Bible teaches as to the endlessness of\nfuture punishment let us turn first of all to the words of our Lord\nJesus Himself in Matt. 25:46 (R. V.), +\"And these shall go away into\neternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.\"+ The first\nquestion that confronts us in studying this passage is what the word\n_aionios_ (_aionion_) which is here translated \"_eternal_\" means. The\nbest Greek-English dictionary of the New Testament is Thayer's. In this\ndictionary Thayer after a careful study of the word, its derivation\nand its usage, gives these three definitions of the word, and these\nthree only: (1) \"Without beginning or end, that which always has been\nand always will be.\" (2) \"Without beginning.\" (3) \"Without end, never\nto cease, everlasting.\" It is frequently said that the word _aionios_\naccording to its derivation means _age-lasting_, and therefore may\nrefer to a limited period. Even admitting this to be true, we should\nbear in mind that the meaning of words is not determined by their\nderivation but by their usage, and the most important question is\nnot what the derivation of this word may be, but as to how it is\nused in the New Testament. It is used 72 times in the New Testament.\nForty-four of these 72 times it is used in the phrase \"eternal life,\"\nor as it is sometimes rendered, \"everlasting life.\" No one questions\nthat everlasting life is endless and that in connection with the word\n\"life\" \"age lasting\" (if that be its proper derivation of the word)\nmeans _lasting through all ages, never ending_. Once it is used in\nconnection with the word \"habitations,\" referring to the habitations\nwhich the blessed are to have in the world to come, and, of course,\nthese also are never-ending. Once it is used of the \"weight of glory\"\nthat in the world to come awaits the believer in Jesus Christ who\nendures affliction for Christ in the life that now is. In this case\nagain, of course, by universal consent it means endless. Once it is\nused of the \"house not made with hands\" that believers in Christ are\nto receive at the coming of the Lord Jesus (II Cor. 5:1-8). Of course,\nthis \"house not made with hands\" is everlasting. In fact the very point\nthat is being brought forward in this passage is the contrast between\nour present bodies which are but for a brief time and our resurrection\nbodies which are to exist throughout all eternity. Once it is used of\nthe future unseen things that never end, contrasted with the present\nseen things that are for a season (II Cor. 4:18). Of course, these\nare never-ending. That is the very point that is being brought out in\nthe contrast. Once it is used of the everlasting \"comfort\" (R. V.) or\n\"consolation\" (A. V.) that \"our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God\nour Father\" give us, and that is certainly never ending. Twice it is\nused of the \"glory\" that those in Christ obtain (II Tim. 2:10). That,\nof course, by universal consent is endless. Once it is used of the\n\"salvation\" Christ brings, which is beyond question never ending. Once\n(Heb. 9:12) it is used of the \"redemption\" that Jesus Christ secures\nfor us by His blood. This redemption is never ending. In fact, the\nchief point of contrast in the context in this case is between the\ntemporary redemption secured by the _constantly repeated_ sacrifices\nof the Mosaic ritual and the never ending redemption secured by the\nperfect sacrifice of Christ made _once for all_. Once it is used of\nthe \"inheritance\" that those who are in Christ receive (Heb. 9:15).\nHere again beyond a question it is never ending. Once it is used of\nthe \"_everlasting_ covenant\" through Christ's blood contrasted with\nthe _temporary_ covenant, based on the blood of bulls and goats,\ngiven through Moses. Here again it necessarily and emphatically means\nnever ending. That is the very point at issue. Once it is used of the\n\"everlasting kingdom\" of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (II Peter\n1:11), and we are told in Luke 1:33, \"of His kingdom there shall be no\nend.\" Once it is used of \"everlasting gospel\" (or good news) and that,\nof course, also never ends. Once it is used of the \"everlasting God\"\n(Rom. 16:26) and He certainly endures not merely through long ages,\nbut without end. Once it is used of the Holy Spirit who is called \"the\neternal (or everlasting) Spirit,\" and He certainly endures, not merely\nthrough long ages, but throughout an absolutely endless eternity. This\ncovers fifty-nine of the seventy-two times it is used, and in these\nfifty-nine instances the thought of endlessness is absolutely necessary\nto the sense, and in not a single one of the thirteen remaining times\nwhere it is used is it used of anything that is known to end. If usage\ncan determine the meaning of any word then certainly the New Testament\nuse of this word determines it to mean _never ending_, or, as Thayer\ndefines it, \"_without end, never to cease_, everlasting.\"\n\nNor is this all, God Himself determines it to mean _never ending_: He\ndefines it to mean never-ending by specifically using it in contrast\nwith that which does end. For example, in 2 Cor. 4:18 we read,\n+\"While we look not on the things which are seen, but the things\nwhich are unseen: for the things which are seen are temporal+\n(literally, for a season); +but the things which are not seen are\neternal.\"+ Here the whole point is that the unseen things in\ndistinction from the seen which are _for a season_ are for a _never\nending duration_.\n\nBut even allowing that the word according to its usage could be used\nof that which, though it last throughout an age, or ages, has an end;\neven if that were true (which it is not), then the meaning of the word\nin any given instance would have to be determined by the context in\nwhich it is found. Now what is the context in the passage which we\nare studying? Let us read it again, +\"And these shall go away into\neternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.\"+ The\nsame Greek adjective is used in connection with \"punishment\" and with\n\"life.\" (In the Authorised Version it is differently rendered, but in\nthe Greek and in the Revised Version it is exactly the same.) Certainly\nthis qualifying adjective must mean the same in the one half of the\nsentence that it means in the other half of the sentence. We must at\nleast admit that Jesus Christ was an honest man, and He certainly was\ntoo honest to juggle with words: He would not use a word to mean one\nthing in one half of a sentence and something utterly different in\nthe other half. _He evidently sought to convey the impression that\nthe punishment of the unsaved was of the same duration as the life\nof the saved._ No one questions that the life is endless. It would be\nthe destruction of all our hopes if it were not endless. Therefore,\nif we are to deal honestly with our Lord's words, He taught that the\npunishment of the unsaved was to be endless. We have exactly the same\nreason in God's Word for believing in endless punishment that we have\nfor believing in endless life. If you give up the one you must give up\nthe other, or else deal dishonestly with the words of Jesus Christ.\n\n2. We might rest the case here and call it proven, but let us turn to\nanother passage, Rev. 14:9-11, +\"And another angel, a third, followed\nthem, saying with a great voice, If any man worshipeth the beast and\nhis image and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he\nalso shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared\nunmixed in the cup of His anger; and he shall be tormented with fire\nand brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence\nof the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever;\nand they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and\nhis image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name.\"+ Here we have\nanother expression for the duration of the punishment and suffering of\nthe impenitent, the expression rendered _for ever and ever_. There are\nin the Greek two slightly differing forms of expression that are so\ntranslated. The one form of expression literally rendered is \"unto the\nages of the ages,\" the other form is \"unto ages of ages.\" What thought\ndo these expressions convey. It has been said by those who seek to\nescape the force of these words as referring to absolute endlessness,\nthat the expression \"is a Hebraism for the supreme one of its class,\"\nand as an illustration of the same alleged Hebraism the expressions,\n\"Lord of Lords\" and \"Holy of Holies\" are cited. But this is not so.\nIn the first place, the form of neither of the two expressions is\nthe same; and, in the second place, that is not the meaning of the\nexpression \"The Lord of Lords\" or the meaning of the expression \"The\nHoly of Holies.\" The expression \"Lord of Lords\" does not mean merely\n_the supreme_ Lord, but one who is Himself Lord of all other Lords,\nand this expression \"unto the ages of the ages\" never means merely\nthe ages which are the supreme ages in distinction from other ages\n(nor as another puts it, the ages which _come out of_ the other ages,\ni.e., the closing ages before eternity). The expression according\nto its form means ages which are themselves _composed of ages_. It\nrepresents not years tumbling upon years, nor centuries tumbling upon\ncenturies, but ages tumbling upon ages in endless procession. It is\nthe strongest possible form of expression for absolute endlessness.\nFurthermore, the way to determine conclusively what the expression\nmeans is by considering its usage. Usage is always the decisive thing\nin determining the meaning of words and phrases. What is the usage of\nthese expressions in the book from which we have taken our passage?\nThese expressions are used twelve times in this book. In eight of the\ntwelve times they refer to the duration of the existence, or reign,\nor glory of God and His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Of course, in\nthese instances it must stand not merely for the supreme ages, or any\nindividual ages, it must refer to absolute eternity and endlessness.\nOnce it is used of the duration of the blessed reign of the righteous,\nand, of course, here again it refers to an endless eternity: and\nin the three remaining instances it is used of the duration of the\ntorment of the Devil, the Beast, the False Prophet, and the finally\nimpenitent. It is urged by those who would deny that the expression\nmeans an absolutely endless eternity, that it is used in Rev. 11:15,\nwhere we are told that \"the kingdom of the world is become the kingdom\nof our Lord, and of His Christ: and He shall reign for ever and ever\n(unto the ages of the ages),\" and that we are told in 1 Cor. 15:24 that\nChrist \"shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father\"; and\nthat therefore His kingdom must come to an end, and consequently \"for\never and ever\" in this passage cannot mean without end. There are two\nanswers to this objection, either of which is sufficient. The first is\nthat the \"he\" in \"he shall reign for ever and ever\" in Rev. 11:15, does\nnot necessarily refer to the Christ, but rather to the Lord Jehovah,\nin which case the argument falls to the ground. The second answer is\nthat while we are taught in I Cor. 15:24, etc., that Jesus Christ\nwill deliver up His _mediatorial_ kingdom to the Father, nevertheless\nwe are distinctly taught that He shall rule with the Father, and we\nare told in so many words in Luke 1:33 that \"of His kingdom _there\nshall be no end_,\" so that even if the \"he\" in Rev. 11:15 referred\nto the Christ and not to the Lord Jehovah, still the statement would\nbe exactly correct that He, the Christ, was to reign for ever and\never, i.e., without end. _There is not a single passage in the whole\nbook in which this expression is used of anything but that which is\nabsolutely endless._ So the question is answered again and answered\ndecisively that the conscious suffering of the persistently impenitent\nis absolutely endless.\n\n3. Now let us look at another passage, II Thess. 1:7-9: +\"The Lord\nJesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming\nfire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the\ngospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting\ndestruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His\npower.\"+ Here we are told that the punishment of those that know not\nGod and obey not the gospel is \"everlasting _destruction_.\"\n\nWhat does \"everlasting destruction\" mean? In Rev. 17:8, 11 we are told\nthat the beast goeth into \"destruction,\" so if we can find out where\nthe beast goes, or into what he goes, we shall know what \"destruction\"\nmeans in the Bible usage. In Rev. 19:20 we are told that +\"the beast\nwas taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in\nhis sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of\nthe beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast\nalive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone,\"+ so we\nsee that \"_destruction_\" is a portion in the lake of fire. And in the\nnext chapter, Rev. 20:10, we are told that +\"The devil that deceived\nthem was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the\nbeast and the false prophet+ (after having already been there for\none thousand years, see context); +and they shall be tormented day\nand night for ever and ever.\"+ So we see that destruction means\na portion in the lake of fire where its inhabitants are consciously\nsuffering without cessation _for ever and ever_. It is clear then, from\na comparison of II Thess. 1:7-9 with these passages, that those who\nknow not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be\npunished with never-ending, conscious suffering.\n\n4. Let us look at one more passage, Matt. 25:41 (these again are the\nwords of the Lord Jesus Himself): +\"Then shall he say also unto them\non the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire\nwhich is prepared for the devil and his angels.\"+ What I wish you\nto notice here is that the punishment into which the impenitent are\nsent is the \"eternal fire\" which is \"_prepared for the devil and his\nangels_.\" We have an exact description of just what the eternal fire\nprepared for the devil and his angels is in the passage read a few\nmoments ago, Rev. 20:10: +\"And the devil that deceived them was cast\ninto the lake of fire and brimstone where are also the beast and the\nfalse prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and\never.\"+ By a comparison of these two statements we have another\nexplicit declaration of our Lord that the punishment of the impenitent\nis to be a conscious agony, where they are punished without rest day\nand night for ever and ever.\n\nFrom any one of these passages and especially from all taken together,\nit is clear that the Scriptures make it as plain as language can make\nit that THE FUTURE PUNISHMENT OF THE PERSISTENTLY IMPENITENT IS\nABSOLUTELY ENDLESS.\n\n\nII. OBJECTIONS\n\nThere are several passages of Scripture which those who believe that\nall men will ultimately repent and be brought to accept Christ and thus\nsaved, urge against what seems to be the plain teaching of the passages\nwe have been studying.\n\n1. The first of these is 1 Peter 3:18-20: +\"Because Christ also\nsuffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he\nmight bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive\nin the spirit; in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in\nprison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God\nwaited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few,\nthat is, eight souls, were saved through water.\"+ It is urged that\nas Christ went and preached to the spirits in prison there will be\nanother chance after men have died. But this the passage in question\ndoes not assert or imply in any way.\n\n(1) First of all there is no proof that \"the spirits in prison\" refers\nto the departed spirits of men who once lived here on earth. In the\nBible departed spirits of men are not spoken of in this way. These\nwords are used of other spirits, but not of human spirits disembodied,\nand there is every reason for supposing that these \"spirits in prison\"\nwere not the sinful men that were on earth when the ark was preparing,\nbut the angels who sinned at that time, just as we are told in Gen.\n6:1, 2 that they did sin (cf. Jude 6, 7).\n\n(2) Furthermore, even if \"the spirits in prison\" here spoken of were\nthe spirits of men who were disobedient in the time of Noah, there is\nnot a hint in the passage that they were saved through the preaching of\nChrist to them, or that they had another chance. There are two words\ncommonly used in the New Testament for preaching, one is _kerusso_\nand the other is _euaggelizo_. The first of these means _to herald_,\nas to herald a king, or to herald the kingdom. It may, however, be\nused of preaching a message, the gospel message or some other message.\nThe second word _euaggelizo_, means to preach _the gospel_. In the\npassage that we are studying it is the first word that is used, and\nthere is not a hint that Christ preached _the gospel_ to these spirits\nin prison. He simply heralded the triumph of the kingdom. It was not\na saving message. So there is nothing in this passage to put up even\ninferentially against the plain, direct statements regarding the\ndestiny of the wicked found in the passages we have been studying.\n\n2. The second passage that is appealed to by those who deny the\nendlessness of future punishment is Phil. 2:9-11: +\"Wherefore also\nGod highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name which is above\nevery name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things\nin heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that\nevery tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory\nof God the Father.\"+ Here it is said, we are told, that all those\n\"under the earth\" as well as in heaven and on earth should bow the\nknee in the name of Jesus and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and\nthat this implies that they are saved. But it does not imply that they\nare saved. Every knee of lost men and of the devil and his angels too\nwill be forced some day to bow in the name of Jesus and every tongue\nforced to confess that He is Lord. If any one does that in the present\nlife of his own free choice, he will be saved, but otherwise he will\ndo it by compulsion in the age to come and every one has his choice\nbetween doing it now willingly and gladly and being saved, or doing it\nby compulsion hereafter and being lost. There is absolutely nothing\nin this passage to teach universal salvation or to militate even\ninferentially against the plain statements we have been studying.\n\n3. The third passage that is appealed to is Acts 3:19-21: +\"Repent\nye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that\nso there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;\nand that He may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even\nJesus: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of\nall things whereof God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets that\nhave been from of old.\"+ Here we are told of a coming \"restoration\n_of all things_\" and those who contend for the doctrine of universal\nsalvation hold that this means the restoration to righteousness of all\npersons. But that is not what it says, and that is not what it refers\nto. We are taught in Old Testament prophecy and also in the book of\nRomans, that in connection with the return of our Lord Jesus there is\nto be a _restoration of all nature_, of the whole physical universe,\nfrom its fallen state. For example, in Rom. 8:19-21 we read: +\"For\nthe earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of\nthe sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of\nits own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the\ncreation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption\ninto the liberty of the glory of the children of God.\"+ And in Isa.\n55:13 we read: +\"Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree;\nand instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall\nbe to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be\ncut off.\"+ And in Isa. 65:25 we are told: +\"The wolf and the lamb\nshall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust\nshall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my\nholy mountain, saith Jehovah,\"+ and in Isa. 32:15, we are told that\n+\"until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness\nbecome a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a\nforest.\"+ It is to this restoration of the physical universe, here\nplainly predicted in Rom. 8:19-21 and these Old Testament prophecies,\nthat the \"restoration of all things\" spoken of in Acts 3:21 refers.\nThere is not a hint, not the slightest suggestion, of a restoration of\nimpenitent sinners.\n\n4. Still another passage that is urged is Eph. 1:9, 10, where we read:\n+\"Having made known unto us the mystery of His will according to\nHis good pleasure which He purposed in Him unto a dispensation of\nthe fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things\nin the heavens, and the things upon the earth.\"+ Here it is urged\nthat things in heaven and things in earth are to be summed up in\nChrist. This is true, but it should be noticed that the Holy Spirit\nhas specifically omitted here the phrase that is found in Phil. 2:10,\nthe \"_things under the earth_,\" that is the abode of the lost, so this\npassage, so far from suggesting that the lost ones in hell will be\nrestored, suggests exactly the opposite thing. There is then certainly\nnothing in this passage to militate even inferentially against the\nplain statements we have been studying.\n\n5. One more passage that is urged against the doctrine we have been\nstudying remains to be considered, that is 1 Cor. 15:22. Here we read,\n+\"For as in Adam all died, so also in Christ shall all be made\nalive.\"+ It is urged in connection with this passage that we are\ndistinctly told here that all who die in Adam, that is every human\nbeing, shall be made alive in Christ, and that \"made alive\" means\n\"obtain eternal life,\" or \"be saved.\" For years I thought that this\nwas the true interpretation of this passage, and for that reason in\npart, I held and preached at that time that all men ultimately, some\ntime, somewhere, somehow, would be brought to accept Jesus Christ and\nbe saved; but when I came to study the passage more carefully I saw\nthat this was a misinterpretation of the passage. Every passage in\nthe Bible, or in any other book, must be interpreted in its context.\nThe whole subject that Paul is talking about in this chapter is not\neternal life, not the immortality of the soul, but _the resurrection of\nthe body_, and all this passage declares is that as all lose physical\nlife in Adam, so also all will obtain a resurrection of the body in\nChrist. Whether that resurrection of the body is a resurrection to\neverlasting life or a resurrection to shame and everlasting contempt\n(Dan. 12:2) depends entirely upon what men do with the Christ in whom\nthey get it. There is absolutely nothing here to teach universal\nsalvation. It only teaches a universal resurrection, resurrection of\nthe wicked as well as of the righteous.\n\nTo sum up the teaching of all these passages that are so often urged to\nprove universal salvation, there is nothing in any one of the passages,\nnor in all of them together, to teach that all men will ultimately be\nsaved, and there is nothing in them to in any way conflict with what\nwe have seen to be the honest meaning of the passages studied above,\nnamely, that the future punishment of sin is absolutely endless. There\nis not a passage to be found in the Bible that teaches universal\nsalvation, or that all men will ultimately come to repentance and be\nsaved. I wish that there were, but there is not. I have been searching\ndiligently for such a passage for nearly forty years and I have not\nfound it, and it cannot be found.\n\n\nIII. WHERE ARE THE ISSUES OF ETERNITY SETTLED?\n\nThere remains one other important question; and that is, where are\nthe issues of eternity settled. There are those who believe that the\npunishment of the persistently impenitent is everlasting, that it has\nno end, but they also believe that the issues of eternity are not\nsettled in the life that now is, but that with many they are settled\nafter death and that when men die impenitent they will have another\nchance. Believing in endless punishment does not necessarily involve\nbelieving that there is no chance after death. There are many who\nbelieve that there will be a chance after death, and that many will\naccept it, who also believe that some will not accept it and will\ntherefore be punished for ever and ever. Now what is the teaching of\nthe Word of God on this point? Let me call your attention to four\npassages, any one of which settles the question, and taken together\nthey leave no possible room for doubt for any candid man who is willing\nto take the Bible as meaning what it says, any man who is really trying\nto find out what the Bible teaches and not merely trying to support a\ntheory.\n\n1. The first passage in 2 Cor. 5:10: +\"For we must all be made\nmanifest before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive\nthe things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether\nit be good or bad.\"+ In this passage we are plainly told that the\nbasis of judgment in the world to come is \"the things done _in the\nbody_,\" i.e., the things done this side the grave, the things done\nbefore we shuffle off this mortal coil, the things done before the\nspirit leaves the body. Of course, this particular passage has to do\nprimarily with the judgment of the believer, but it shows what the\nbasis of future judgment is, viz., the things done this side of the\ngrave.\n\n2. The second passage is Heb. 9:27: +\"It is appointed unto men once\nto die, and after this cometh judgment.\"+ Here we are distinctly\ntold that \"_after death_\" there is to be, not an opportunity to prepare\nfor judgment, but \"judgment,\" and that, therefore, our destiny is\nsettled _at death_, and that there is no chance of salvation \"after\ndeath.\"\n\n3. The third passage is John 5:28, 29: +\"Marvel not at this: for the\nhour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice,\nand shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection\nof life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of\njudgment.\"+ Here also it is clearly implied that the resurrection of\ngood and bad is for the purpose of judgment _regarding the things done\nbefore their bodies were laid in their graves_.\n\n4. A fourth passage, if possible more decisive than any of these, gives\nour Lord's words, John 8:21: +\"He said therefore again unto them; I\ngo away, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sin, whither I\ngo, ye cannot come.\"+ Here our Lord distinctly declares that the\nquestion whether men shall come to be with Him or not depends upon what\nthey do _before they die_, that if they die impenitent, if they \"_die\nin their sins_,\" that whither He goes they cannot come. To sum up the\nteaching of all these passages, the issues of eternity, the issues of\neternal life or eternal destruction, the issues of eternal blessedness\nand glory, or eternal agony and shame, are settled in the life that now\nis.\n\n\nIV. CONCLUSION\n\nThe future state of those who reject in the life that now is the\nredemption offered to them in Christ Jesus is plainly declared in the\nWord of God to be a state of conscious, unutterable, endless torment\nand anguish. This conception is an appalling one, but it is the\nScriptural conception. It is the unmistakable, inescapable teaching of\nGod's own word.\n\nI wish that all men would repent and accept Christ. If any one could\nshow me one single passage in the Bible that clearly taught that all\nmen would ultimately repent, accept Christ and be saved, it would be\nthe happiest day of my life, but it cannot be found. I once thought\nit could, and I so believed and taught. These ideas so widely noised\nabout to-day as something new, these theories of \"Pastor\" Russell,\nformerly of Pittsburg, Mr. Gelesnoff of this city, and Dr. Mabie of\nLong Beach, and Mr. Pridgeon of Pittsburg, and many others, are not at\nall new to me. I held and taught substantially the same views regarding\nultimate universal salvation years before these men were heard of,\nindeed nearly forty years ago. I was familiar with the arguments that\nthey now urge, and other arguments which they do not seem to know, but\nwhich were to me more decisive than those that they urge. But the time\ncame, as I studied the Bible more carefully, when I could not reconcile\nmy teaching with what I found to be the unmistakable teaching of God's\nWord. I had to do one of three things: I had to either give up my\nbelief that the Bible was the Word of God, or else I must twist the\nwords of Jesus (and others in the New Testament) to mean something else\nthan what they clearly appeared to teach, or else I must give up my\ndoctrine of ultimate universal restoration and salvation. I could not\ngive up my faith that the Bible was the Word of God, for I had found\nabsolutely overwhelming proof that it was God's Word. I could not twist\nthe words of Jesus and of others to mean something else than what was\nclearly their intended meaning, for I was an honest man. There was only\none thing left to do and that was to give up my doctrine of universal\nrestoration and salvation. I gave it up with great reluctance, but\nI was compelled to give it up or be untrue to my own reason and\nconscience. It is the inescapable teaching of the Word of God that all\nwho go out of this world without having accepted Jesus Christ, will\nspend eternity in hell, in a hell of unutterable, conscious anguish.\n\nThis Bible conception is also a reasonable one when we come to see the\nappalling nature of sin, and especially the appalling nature of the sin\nof trampling under foot God's mercy toward sinners, and rejecting God's\nglorious Son, Whom in His love He has provided as a Saviour.\n\nShallow views of sin and of God's holiness and of the glory of\nJesus Christ lie at the bottom of weak theories of the doom of the\nimpenitent. When we see Sin in all its hideousness and enormity, the\nHoliness of God in all its perfection, and the Glory of Jesus Christ in\nall its infinity, nothing but a doctrine that those who persist in the\nchoice of sin, who love darkness rather than light, and who persist in\nthe rejection of the Son of God, shall endure everlasting anguish, will\nsatisfy the demands of our own moral intuitions. Nothing but the fact\nthat we dread suffering more than we loathe sin, and more than we love\nthe glory of Jesus Christ, makes us repudiate the thought that beings\nwho eternally choose sin should eternally suffer, or that men who\ndespise God's mercy and spurn His Son should be given over to endless\nanguish.\n\nIf, after men have sinned and God still offers them mercy, and makes\nthe tremendous sacrifice of His Son to save them\u2014if they still\ndespise that mercy and trample God's Son under foot, if then they are\nconsigned to everlasting torment, I cannot but say, \"Amen! Hallelujah!\nTrue and righteous are thy judgments, O Lord!\"\n\nAt all events the doctrine of conscious, eternal torment for impenitent\nmen is clearly revealed in the Word of God, and whether we can defend\nit on philosophical grounds or not, it is our business to believe\nit; and leave it to the clearer light of eternity to explain what we\ncannot now understand, realising that God may have many infinitely\nwise reasons for doing things for which we in our ignorance can see\nno sufficient reason at all. It is the most ludicrous conceit for\nbeings so limited and foolish as the wisest of men are, to attempt to\ndogmatise how a God of infinite wisdom must act. All we know as to how\nGod is to act is what God has seen fit to tell us.\n\nIn conclusion, two things are certain. First, the more closely men\nwalk with God and the more devoted they become in His service, the\nmore likely they are to believe this doctrine. Many there are who tell\nus they love their fellow men too much to believe this doctrine; but\nthe men who show their love in more practical ways than by sentimental\nprotestations about it, the men who show their love for their fellow\nmen as Jesus Christ showed His, by laying down their lives for them,\nthey believe this doctrine, even as Jesus Christ Himself believed it.\n\nAs Christians become worldly and easy-going they grow loose in their\ndoctrine concerning the doom of the impenitent. The fact that loose\ndoctrines are spreading so rapidly and widely in our day is nothing\nfor them, but against them, for worldliness is also spreading in the\nchurch (1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1; 4:2, 3). Increasing laxity of life and\nincreasing laxity of doctrine go arm in arm.\n\nSecond, men who accept a loose doctrine regarding the ultimate penalty\nof sin, be it Universalism, Restorationism, or Annihilationism, or\nthat fantastic combination, or conglomeration, of them all, Millennial\nDawnism, lose their power for God. I have seen this proven over and\nover again. These men may be and are very clever at argument, and very\nzealous in proselyting, but they are seldom found beseeching men to\nbe reconciled to God. They are far more likely to be found trying to\nupset the faith of those already won by the efforts of those who do\nbelieve in everlasting punishment than trying to win men who have no\nfaith at all. If you really believe the doctrine of the endless torment\nof the impenitent, if the doctrine really gets hold of you, you will\nwork as you never worked before for the salvation of the lost. If you\nin any wise abate the doctrine, it will abate your zeal. Time and time\nagain I have come up to this awful doctrine and tried to find some way\nof escape from it, but when I have failed, as I always have failed at\nlast, when I have determined to be honest with the Bible and myself,\nI have returned to my work with an increased burden for souls and an\nintensified determination to spend and be spent for their salvation.\n\nEternal, conscious suffering, suffering without the least ray of\nhope of relief, awaits every one of you here to-night who goes on\npersistently rejecting Jesus Christ, as you are rejecting Him to-night,\nand who shall pass out of this world having rejected Him. In that world\nof never ending gloom there will be no possibility of repentance. As\nyou look out into the future there will not be one single ray of hope.\n\"Forever and ever\" will be the unceasing wail of that restless sea of\nfire. After you have been there ten million years and look out toward\nthe future you will see eternity still stretching on and on and on and\non, with no hope. Oh, men and women out of Christ, why will you risk\nsuch a doom for a single year, or a month, or a week, or a day? Hell\nis too awful to risk for five minutes the chance of going there. There\nis but one rational thing for you to do, that is to accept Christ and\naccept Him _right now_ as your Saviour, surrender to Him as your Lord\nand Master, confess Him as such before the world, and strive from this\ntime on to please Him in everything day by day. Any other course is\nutter madness.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER'S NOTES\n\n\nWhen a book of the Bible has multiple volumes, the volume is sometimes\nreferenced with a number and sometimes with a Roman numeral. These\nreferences remain as in the original.\n\nThe abbreviations \"i.e.\" and \"e.g.\" were both spaced and unspaced in\nthe original. Spelling has been made consistent throughout the text.\n\nVariations in spelling and hyphenation remain as in the original.\n\nEllipses match the original.\n\nThe following corrections have been made to the original text:\n\n Page iv: By R. A.[period missing in original] Torrey\n\n Page 15: (1 Cor. 12:406 R. V.[original has \"RV\"])\n\n Page 48: make to explain it away.[period missing in original]\n\n Page 48: nations are not able to abide his\n indignation.[original has extraneous quotation mark]\n\n Page 51: conception of Pantheism and Buddhism[original has\n \"Bhuddhism\"]\n\n Page 69: Gal. 3:28[original has \"328\"]\n\n Page 70: In Gen. 3:22[original has a period instead of a colon]\n we read\n\n Page 81: the thousands of Judah, yet[original has \"Judah? Yet\"]\n\n Page 82: shows that[original has \"that that\"] the Lord addressed\n\n Page 90: demand on Jesus'[apostrophe missing in original] part\n\n Page 123: He is grieved beyond[original has \"beyong\"] expression\n\n Page 127: \"[quotation mark missing in original]I have yet many\n things to say\n\n Page 133: you ever have insomnia[original has \"insomia\"]\n\n Page 142: Spirit is \"[original has single quote]done despite\n unto,\"\n\n Page 180: at the point of death?[question mark missing in\n original]\n\n Page 188: means more than mere forgiveness.[period missing in\n original]\n\n Page 192: literally, \"in,\" _Christ's blood_,[original has\n extraneous quotation mark]\n\n Page 198: Can _that_ faith save him?\"[quotation mark missing in\n original]\n\n Page 208: \"[quotation mark missing in original]He is renewed in\n knowledge\n\n Page 214: _sin is not doing_,[original has a period] because\n His (God's) seed\n\n Page 219: _Regeneration is God's work; wrought by Him by the\n power of His Holy Spirit working in the mind, feelings and will\n of[italics ended here in the original] the one born again_\n\n Page 236: sin unto God. (cf.[original has \"c.\"] John 13:10.)\n\n Page 239: every place, their Lord and ours.\"[quotation mark\n missing in original]\n\n Page 251: \"[quotation mark missing in original]But some will say\n\n Page 264: our first text, John[original has \"Jno.\"] 8:44\n\n Page 267: our second text, 1 John[original has \"Jno.\"] 3:8\n\n Page 277: \"New[original has extraneous quotation mark]\n Thought,\" \"Theosophy,\" \"Occultism\"\n\n Page 295: judgment of the great white throne[original has\n \"thorn\"]\n\n Page 296: I Cor. 15:22[original has a period instead of a colon]\n\n Page 314: 1 Peter 3:18-20[original has \"3:18:20\"]","title":"The Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian faith","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":83703}