All, therefore, having been found pure, and fit for God's altar, it

becomes the happy place of _Aaron's sons_ to send up before God the

sweet savor of this most acceptable offering, as we read: "And the

_sons_ _of Aaron_ the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay

the wood in order upon the fire. And _the priests_, Aaron's _sons_,

shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that

is on the fire which is upon the altar. But _his inwards and his legs_

shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn _all_ on the altar,

to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor

unto the Lord" (vers. 7-9). The fat of the offering was God's peculiar

part; no one could with impunity touch that; yea, the punishment for

so doing was the same as for eating blood; i.e., it was as wrong and

as daringly presumptuous for a man to intrude upon God's portion of

the offering as it was for him to assume life in his own right, which

latter was an open denial of the state of death and ruin in which he

was by reason of sin. God, then, I say, claimed the fat. He alone

could feed upon the inward excellency and peerless perfections of

Jesus, just as in the case of the unmeasured ointment in Exodus xxx.,

where we see, as well as in the above cited passage, that the infinite

mind of God could alone appreciate the infinite value of Christ. But

we find _the head_ burnt in connection with the fat, showing us, I

suppose, that both the hidden energies of the Lord Jesus and the seat

of His understanding were equally suited to be a sweet savor unto God.

Lastly, the inwards and legs were washed and burned upon the altar,

showing us that the secret thoughts, purposes and counsels of the Lord

Jesus, as well as the outward development of these in His _walk_, were

perfectly pure and fit for the altar: and, in connection with this

last point, one cannot help dwelling with comfort upon the marvelous

contrast between the Lord Jesus and His poor people. How often may our

_outward walk_, typified by "the legs," appear quite right in the eye

of man, when, at the same time, perhaps, in the eye of God, our

"_inwards_" may be full of gross impurity. But it is well for us that

such was not the case with our great Head: in Him _all was alike_, for

_all was pure_. May our hearts, dear Christian reader, enter more and

more fully, under the teaching of the Spirit, into the intrinsic

excellency of the Lord Jesus; and may we be enabled daily, standing at

the altar before God, to send up in His presence the savor of all

this!

As to the meat offering, we need not enter minutely into it. It was

composed, as we know, of that which sprang from _the earth_, and such

as aptly shadowed out "the Man Christ Jesus," the frankincense thereon

marking the entire devotedness of all the actings of Christ's human

nature to God His Father. Nothing was done by Him to meet man's eye,

or man's approbation; nothing was done to produce mere effect; no,

_all was directly before God_. Whether we trace the footsteps of the

Lord Jesus, while, for thirty years, _He was subject_ to His parents

at home; or while, for three years, He was engaged in public ministry

amongst the Jews--all was alike: all showed forth the pure

frankincense that marked Him, in all things, as God's peculiar and

devoted servant. We may observe further that this meat offering was

_baked_ with oil, and _anointed_ with oil; thus showing forth, I

suppose, the incarnate Son of God, who was first "_conceived_ of the

Holy Ghost" (Matt. i. 20), and then "_anointed_ with the Holy Ghost"

(Matt. iii. 16; Acts x. 38).

We now come to speak of the sin offering, and may the Lord graciously

refresh our spirits while dwelling for a little on the blessed

principles unfolded therein. The sin offering is brought before us in

Leviticus iv., from whence we may select one case for our present

purpose. "If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin

of the people, then _let him_ bring for his sin which he hath sinned a

young bullock without blemish unto the Lord for a sin offering. _And

he shall bring_ the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the

congregation before the Lord, and shall lay his hand upon the

bullock's head and kill the bullock before the Lord" (vers. 3, 4).

The reader will, no doubt, observe a marked difference between the

above passage and that in which the burnt offering was referred to;

and the difference so far mainly consists in this, that in the last

cited passage the words "_voluntary will_" are not found, and this was

quite to be looked for. In the burnt offering we were enabled to

recognize the Lord Jesus Christ _offering_ Himself voluntarily before

God, in which aspect of His blessed work He could say, "No man taketh

it (My life) from Me, _I lay it down of Myself_." In other words, He

offered Himself "of His own voluntary will at the door of the

tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord." But in the sin

offering it is quite different: "_He shall be brought_" and "_He shall

be killed_;" i.e., instead of _coming_, _He shall be brought_; and

instead of laying down His life of _Himself_, His life _shall be taken

from Him_. These, I say, are important distinctions, and such as arise

from the very nature of the two offerings. In the burnt offering the

Lord Jesus is seen offering Himself in all the unblemished perfectness

which belonged to Him; and in this His soul had great delight, because

He was presenting that before God which was so acceptable to Him. But

in the sin offering the Lord Jesus is seen standing in connection with

that which His pure and spotless soul must have deeply abhorred and

keenly resented--abhorred and resented, indeed, in a way of which we

cannot form the faintest idea. He is seen, in a word, as standing in

connection with _sin_: yea, more, as "made sin" (2 Cor. v. 21). _Thus_

it was that the prophet, through the Spirit, viewed Him when he said,

"He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our

iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with _His

stripes_ we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have

turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the

iniquity of us all" (Isa. liii. 5, 6).

Now I believe that by looking at the two offerings in connection we

get a very deep and wondrous view of sin's dark and dreadful enormity

in the sight of God: for sin in this point of view appears sinful

just according to the measure of Christ's perfectness in God's

account. If in the burnt offering we were enabled to see that such was

the beauty and excellency of Christ that His _whole man_ could go up

before God as a sweet savor, and that God could "find nothing in Him"

but perfection, as a necessary consequence then we must see in the sin

offering the blackness and heinousness of sin, which could oblige God

to hide His face from "His elect, in whom His soul delighted."

This brings us to the next point connected with the sin offering,

viz., "He shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head" (ver. 4). Here

we have at once the secret of the deep and profound mystery of the

three hours' darkness.

It was before observed that God had to hide His face from the Lord

Jesus on the cross, but how are we to account for such a mysterious

circumstance? Simply by the words, "he (the sinner) shall lay his hand

upon the bullock's head." If, in contemplating the burnt offering, we

were struck by the fact that all the perfectness of the offering was

communicated to the "fierce and cruel" Levi, so here we are called

upon to adore the grace that devised the wondrous plan whereby that

could be effected, which was by imputing to the offering all the sin

and defilement of Levi, and dealing with the sin of Levi in the person

of the sin offering, in order that Levi himself might be dealt with in

the person of the burnt offering.

And all this, be it observed, is conveyed to us in the action of "the

laying on of hands." This action was performed in both cases; i.e.,

Levi laid his hands on the head of the burnt-offering, and Levi laid

his hands on the head of the sin offering. As to the _act_, it was the

same in each case; but oh, how different the results! they were, in a

word, as different as life and death, heaven and hell, sin and

holiness. In fact, we cannot conceive a wider contrast than that which

is observable in the results of this action, to all appearance the

same in each case. We may, perhaps, be able to form some idea of it by

considering that the act of imposition of hands was at once the

imputation of _sin_ to one "_who knew no sin_," but was "holy,

harmless, undefiled," and whose very nature abhorred _all sin_. And,

on the other hand, it was the imputation of _perfect righteousness_ to

one who was by nature "a cruel, fierce, and self-willed murderer."[9]

Furthermore, the act of imposition of hands obliged the One who from

before all worlds dwelt in the bosom of the Father to travel far away

into the cold and barren regions of death and darkness, where the

genial and life-giving rays of His Father's countenance, which He

alone could truly appreciate, had never penetrated; and standing upon

the confines of which, He cried out, "_If it be possible_, let this

cup pass from Me!" and again, when these gloomy regions, with their

ten thousand unutterable horrors, burst upon His spotless soul, "My

God, My God, WHY HAST THOU forsaken Me?" And, on the other hand, it

enabled the one who dwelt in "the habitations of cruelty," into whose

"assembly" God could not come, to stand in the very blaze of the light

of God's throne. These considerations, I say, may perhaps assist our

conceptions in some measure upon this astounding truth. Now, the

apostle states the same truth in the didactic language of the New

Testament when he says, "He (God) hath _made Him_ to be _sin for us_,

that _we_ might be _made the righteousness_ of God _in Him_" (2 Cor.

v. 21). That is, He hath made the One whose perfectness is seen in the

burnt offering to be judged _as sin_, and treated as such in the sin

offering, in order that _we_, who deserved the treatment of the sin

offering, might be treated as accepted in the burnt offering.

[9] I would observe here that in speaking of "the imputation of

righteousness," I by no means desire to be understood as giving any

countenance to the prevailing theory of "the imputed righteousness of

Christ." Of this expression, so much in use in the theology of the

present day, it would be sufficient to say that it is nowhere to be

found in the oracles of God. I read of "the righteousness of God"

(Rom. iii. passim), and, moreover, of the imputation of righteousness

(Rom. iv. 11), but never of "the righteousness of Christ." It is true,

we read of the Lord Jesus being "_made of God_ unto us righteousness"

(Jer. xxiii. 6), but these passages do not support the above theory. I

would further add that the moral effect of this idea will be found to

be decidedly pernicious, because it of _necessity_ supposes the

believer as standing apart from the Lord Jesus, whereas the doctrine

of Scripture is that the believer is "made the righteousness of God IN

HIM" (2 Cor. v. 21). And again, "we are IN HIM that is true, even in

_His Son Jesus Christ_" (1 Jno. v. 20).

I would also observe here that there is much force and value in the

word "_made_:" it shows out most fully that righteousness was just as

foreign to the nature of man as sin was to the nature of Christ. Man

had no righteousness of his own, or, in other words, he knew no

righteousness, and therefore he had to be "_made_" righteousness.

Christ "_knew no sin_," and therefore had to be "_made sin_" in order

that we might be _made_ righteousness, even "the righteousness of God

_in Him_." But further, we learn from the passage to which we are

referring that the Lord Jesus having been "made sin for us," is not

more real, not more true, not more palpable, than that the believer is

"_made righteousness_ in Him."

If there be any truth or reality in the record concerning the cross

and passion of the Lord Jesus, then, it is plain that the moment a

soul acts faith upon Christ in His death and resurrection, that moment

he is accepted in all the acceptableness of Christ. His consciousness

of this is, of course, quite another question: a truth and the

realization of a truth are quite distinct.

The measure of our realization will be in proportion to the measure of

our communion with God. If we are satisfied to move at a cold and

heartless distance from God, our consciousness of the power and value

of any truth will, as a consequence, be meagre and shallow: while,

therefore, it is not to be forgotten that the root and source of all

life and communion is the truth stated in the passage to which we are

alluding, it is manifest that the more we walk in communion with Him

who gives us the life, the more shall we enjoy both Himself and the

life which He gives. Dear Christian reader, let us pray that the cross

and passion of the Lord Jesus may sink so deeply into our hearts that

we may have on the one hand such a view of the loathsomeness of sin as

shall lead us to abhor it with a holy abhorrence "all the days of our

life," and on the other hand such a view of the amazing love of God as

shall constrain us "to live not unto ourselves but unto Him who died

for us and rose again."

Thus, then, we see that the laying on of hands shows forth nothing

less than _a change of places_ on the part of the sinner and the

Saviour. The sinner was _out_ of the favor of God: "O my soul, come

not thou into their habitation." The Saviour was _in_ the favor of

God, "_daily His delight_," dwelling in His bosom from before all

worlds. But the amazing plan of redemption _shows us the Saviour out

of the favor of God_, _and God forsaking Him_, _while at the same time

a condemned malefactor is brought at once into the very presence of a

loving and pardoning God_. Amazing, deep, inconceivable, eternal love!

unfathomable wisdom! love which soars far aloft above the most

gigantic conception! wisdom which has written everlasting contempt

upon all the power and base designs of the great enemy of God and man!

For, ere Levi could be introduced into the enjoyment of the "covenant

of _life_ and _peace_" (Mal. ii. 5), a spotless Victim must stand the

shock of the king of terrors and all his thunders. But who is this

Victim? We ask not, "Who is this King of glory?" but _Who_ is this

Victim? The answer to this question it is which gives to the plan of

redemption its grandest and most divine characteristic. The Victim was

none less than the Son of God Himself! Yes! here was love, here was

wisdom. The Son of God had to stoop because man had exalted himself.

And surely we may say, If God had not entered upon the work, _all_,

_all_ were lost, and that forever. No mere mortal could have entered

into that dark scene where sin was being atoned for; no one but the

Son of God could have sustained the weight which, in the garden and on

the cross, rested on the shoulders of the "One that was mighty." And

here we might refer to the Lord's language to His disciples when He

was about to enter into conflict with the adversary: "Hereafter I will

not talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath

nothing in Me" (John xiv. 30). Why could He not "talk much with them?"

Because He was just going to enter upon the work of atonement, in

which they could do nothing, because the prince of this world, had he

come, would have had _plenty in them_; but then, the moment He, as it

were, in spirit passes through that sorrowful hour, He says, "_Arise_,

let us go hence;" i.e., although we could not move a single step in

the achievement of the victory, yet we could enjoy the fruits of it;

and not only so, but _display_ the fruits of it in a life of service

and fruit-bearing to God, which forms the subject of teaching in the

next chapter.

Here, then, is what gives peace to the awakened conscience of the

sinner. God Himself has done the work. God has triumphed over all

man's wickedness and rebellion, and now every soul who feels his need

of pardon and peace can draw near in faith and holy confidence and

reap the fruits of this wondrous triumph of grace and mercy.

And now, dear reader, if _you_ have not as yet made these wondrous

fruits your own; if you have not as yet cast the whole burden of your

sins on God's eternal love as seen in the cross, I ask you, Why do you

stand aloof? Why do you doubt? Perhaps you feel the hardness of your

heart, perhaps you are ready to say that you feel yourself even now

unmoved by the contemplation of all the deep sorrow endured by the Son

of God. Well, what of that? If it be a question of _your_ guilt, you

may go much farther than even this, for in that hour of which we have

been speaking you stood unmoved, looked on with cold and heartless

indifference, while all creation owned the wondrous fact. Yea, more,

you yourself crucified the incarnate God, you spat in His face, and

plunged your spear into His side. Do you shrink back and say, "Oh, not

so bad!" I say _it was the act of the human heart_; and if you have a

human heart, it was your act. But the Scriptures at once decide this

point, for it is written, "For of a truth against Thy holy child

Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, _with

the Gentiles_ and the people of Israel, were gathered together" (Acts

iv. 27). This passage, I say, proves that all the world were

_representatively_ around the cross. But why insist on this? Simply to

show forth the riches of the grace of God, which can only be seen in

all its effulgent lustre in the cross; and therein it is seen mounting

far above all man's sin and malignant rebellion; for when man, in the

fiendish pride of his heart, could plunge his spear into the side of

incarnate Deity, God's cry was--BLOOD! and through _that blood

"remission of sins, beginning at Jerusalem_." Thus, "where _sin_

abounded, _grace_ did _much more abound_," and "grace REIGNS through

righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord."

Enough, I trust, has been said to show the grounds upon which the

Levites stood before God. These grounds were free and _eternal

grace_--grace exercised toward them through the blood, which is the

only channel through which grace can flow. Man has been found to be

_utterly ruined_ before God, and therefore it must be a question

either of salvation through _free grace_, or eternal damnation; for

"by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh living be justified."

But then, while man is by nature utterly unfit to render anything like

an acceptable righteousness or service to God, yet, when God gives us

_new life_ through grace, He, of course, looks for the development of

that life. In other words, grace brings the soul into circumstances of

responsibility and service, and it is as we meet those circumstances

that God is glorified in us and our souls grow in the knowledge of

God. Thus it was in the case of the leper: up to a certain point in

his history he had nothing to do, _the priest_ was the sole actor. But

when the priest had done his part; when, by virtue of _the blood_

which had been shed, he had pronounced him "clean," the leper had

_then_ to begin to "_wash himself_" (Lev. xiv. 8). Now we shall find

that the history of Levi develops all these principles most fully.

We have hitherto been engaged with Levi's condition and character by

nature and also the wondrous remedy devised by grace to meet him in

his lost estate, and not only to save him _from_ that estate but also

to raise him up to an elevation which could never have entered into

the heart of man, even into the very tabernacle of God. We shall now,

with God's blessing and grace, proceed to examine that high elevation

to which we have referred, and also the service which it involved, as

put before us in

NUMBERS iii.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, _Bring the tribe of

Levi near_, and present them before Aaron the priest, that

they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge,

and the charge of the whole congregation before the

tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the

tabernacle. And they shall keep _all the instruments of the

tabernacle_ of the congregation, and the charge of the

children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And

thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron, and to his sons:

they are wholly given unto him out of the children of

Israel" (vers. 5-9).

Here, then, God's marvelous purposes of grace toward Levi fully open

before us, and _truly_ marvelous they are indeed. We see that the

sacrifices were but a means to an end; but both the means and the end

were in every way worthy of each other. The means were, in one word,

"death and resurrection," and _all included therein_. The end was,

_nearness_ to God, and _all included therein_.

Looking at Levi by nature, there could not be any point farther

removed from God than that at which he stood; but _grace_ in exercise,

through the blood, could _lift him up_ out of that ruin in which he

stood, and "bring him nigh," yea, bring him into association with the

great head of the priestly family, there to serve in the tabernacle.

Thus, we read, "You _hath He quickened who were dead_ in trespasses

and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of

this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the

spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.... _But God_,

who is _rich in mercy_, for His _great love_ wherewith _He loved us_,

even _when we were dead in sins_, hath quickened us _together with

Christ_ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and

made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. ii.

1-6). And again, "But _now_, _in Christ Jesus_, ye who sometime were

_afar off_, are _made nigh_ by the blood of Christ" (ver. 13).

When _nature_ is left free to work, it will ever go as far away from

_God_ as it can. This is true since the day when man said, "I heard

_Thy voice_, and I was _afraid_ and I hid myself" (Gen. iii. 10). But

when grace is left free and sovereign to work, it will ever bring the

soul "nigh." Thus it was with Levi. He was by nature "_black as the

tents of Kedar_;" by grace, "comely as the curtains of Solomon:" by

_nature_ he was "_joined_" in a covenant of murder; by _grace_

"joined" in a covenant of "life and peace." The former, because he was

"_fierce and cruel_;" the latter, because he feared and was afraid of

the Lord's name. (Comp. Gen. xlix. 6, 7; Mal. ii. 5.) Furthermore,

Levi was by _nature_ conversant with the "instruments of cruelty;" by

_grace_, with "_the instruments of God's tabernacle_:" by _nature_ God

could not come into _Levi's assembly_; by _grace_, Levi is brought

into _God's assembly_: by nature, "his feet were swift _to shed

blood_;" by grace, _swift_ to follow the movements of the cloud

through the desert, in real, patient service to God. In a word, Levi

had become a "_new creature_," and "old things had passed away," and

therefore he was no longer to "live unto himself," but unto Him who

had done such marvelous things for him in grace.

I would further observe, on the last cited passage, that the Levites

are, in the first place, declared to be God's property, and then they

are "WHOLLY GIVEN UNTO AARON." Thus we read: "_Thine they were_, _and

Thou gavest them Me_, and they have kept Thy word" (John xvii. 6). And

again, "All that _the Father giveth Me_ shall come to Me" (John vi.

37).

I would now look a little into the detail of their service, in which,

I doubt not, we shall find much to edify and refresh us.

We find that although the whole tribe of Levi were, _as to standing_,

"_joined with Aaron_," yet, as to _service_, they were divided into

classes. "All had not the same office;" and this is what we might have

expected, for, although in the matter _of life_ and _standing_ they

were all _on a level_, yet, in the development of that life, and in

the manifestation of the power of that standing, they would, no doubt,

display different measures; and not only so, but there would also be

seen an assignment to each of distinct position and line of service,

which would serve to distinguish him from his brethren in a very

marked and decided manner. And here I would observe that I know of

nothing connected with the walk and service of the Christian which

demands more attention than this point to which I am now alluding,

viz., _unity_ in the matter of life and standing, and at the same time

the greatest variety in the manifestation of character and in the line

of service. A due attention to this important point would save us from

much of that "unwise" comparing of ourselves and our service with the

persons and services of others, which is most unholy, and, as a

consequence, most unhealthy.[10] And not only would it lead thus to

beneficial results in a negative point of view, it would also have a

most happy effect in producing and cultivating originality and

uniqueness of Christian character. But while there was this diversity

in the line of service amongst the Levites, it is also to be

remembered that there was _manifested unity_. The Levites were _one

people_, and seen as such; they were "_joined_" with Aaron in the work

of the tabernacle; moreover, THEY HAD ONE STANDARD, round which they

_all_ rallied, and that was "the tabernacle of the congregation," the

well known type of Christ in His character and offices. And, indeed,

this was one of the ends which God had in view in calling out the

Levites by His grace from amongst the people of Israel; it was that

they should stand in marked association with Aaron and his sons, and

in that association bear the tabernacle and all pertaining thereto on

their shoulders, through the barren wilderness around.[11]

[10] It is worthy the serious attention of the Christian reader who

may desire the unity of the Church, that the tribe of Levi in the

desert was a truly striking example of what may be termed "unity in

diversity." Gershon was in one sense totally different from Merari,

and Merari was totally different from Kohath; and yet Gershon, Merari

and Kohath were _one_: they should not, therefore, contend about their

service, because they were _one_; nor yet would it have been right to

confound their services, because they were totally different. Thus,

attention to _unity_ would have saved them from contention, and

attention to _diversity_ would have saved them from confusion. In a

word, all things could only be "done decently and in order" by a due

attention to the fact of there being "unity in diversity."

[11] I say "one of the ends," for we should ever remember that the

grand object before the divine mind in redemption is to show in the

ages to come His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus; and this

object will be secured even though our poor puny services had never

been heard of.

God did not call out the Levites _merely_ that they might escape the

sad effects of God's absence from their assembly; or, in other words,

God had more than THEIR blessing and security in view in His dealings

with them. He designed that they should serve in the tabernacle, and

thus be to His praise and glory. We shall, however, I trust, see this

principle upon which I am dwelling in a clearer and stronger point of

view as we proceed in our subject.

We find that Levi had three sons, viz., "Gershon, and Kohath, and

Merari" (Num. iii. 17). These formed the heads of the three classes

alluded to, and we shall find that the nature of the service of each

was such as of necessity to impart that tone of character signified by

their very name. Thus: "Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites and

the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites.

And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be

Eliasaph, the son of Lael. And the charge of the sons of Gershon in

the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle and the

tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the

tabernacle of the congregation, and the hangings of the court, and the

curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by

the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service

thereof" (vers. 21-26).

Here was Gershon's work, to carry through the waste and howling

wilderness the tabernacle and its coverings. This was indeed _true

Levite service_, but it was most blessed service, and its antitype in

the Church now is what we should much seek after, because it is that

which alone puts the Christian into his right place in the world,

i.e., the place of a STRANGER. There could be but little

attractiveness in the rams' skins and badgers' skins; but, little as

there was, it was, nevertheless, the high privilege of the Gershonite

to take them all up and bear them cheerfully on his shoulders across

the trackless sands. What, then, are we to understand by the covering

of the tabernacle? I believe, in a word, it shadowed out the character

of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was that which would meet the eye. There

might be, and were, other services among the Levites of a very blessed

nature, but surely it was most elevated service to carry through the

desert that which so strikingly prefigured the character of Christ.

This is what makes the saint "a stranger" (as the name Gershon

imports) in the world. If we are walking in _the manifestation of the

character of the Lord Jesus_, and in so doing realize our place as _in

the wilderness_, we may rest assured it will impart a very decided

tone of strangership to our character in the world. And oh, would that

we knew much more of this. The Church has laid down the rams' skins

and badgers' skins, and with them the Gershonite character: in other

words, the Church has ceased to walk in the footsteps of her rejected

Lord and Master, and the consequence has been that instead of being

the wearied and worn stranger, as she should be, treading the parched

and sterile desert, with the burden on the shoulders, she has settled

herself down in the green places of the world and made herself at

home. But there was another feature of the stranger character shadowed

out in the curtain, viz., _anticipation_. This was most blessed--God

dwelling in curtains showed plainly that neither God nor the ark of

His strength had found a resting-place, but were _journeying on_

towards "_a rest that remained_."

And how could there be a _rest_ in the desert? There were no rivers

and brooks _there_--no old corn _there_--no milk and honey _there_.

True, the smitten rock sent forth its refreshing streams to meet their

need, and heaven sent down their _daily bread_; but all this was not

Canaan. They were still in the desert, eating wilderness food and

drinking wilderness water, and it was Gershon's holy privilege to

carry upon his shoulders that which in the fullest manner expressed

all this, viz., THE CURTAIN. "Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me

an house for Me to dwell in? Whereas I have not _dwelt_ in any house

since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt,

even to this day, but have _walked_ in a _tent_ and in a _tabernacle_"

(2 Sam. vii. 5, 6). Here, too, we have sadly failed. The Church grew

weary of the curtain, and wished to build a house before the time; she

grew weary of "_walking in a tent_," and earnestly desired to "_dwell

in a house_."

And truly we have all to watch and pray against this disposition to

grow weary of our Gershonite character. There is nothing so trying to

nature as continual labor in a state of expectancy; our hearts love

rest and fruition, and therefore nothing but the continual remembrance

that "our sufficiency is of God" can at all sustain us in our Gershon

or stranger condition.

Let us therefore remember that we bear on our shoulders the curtains,

and have beneath our feet the sand of the desert, above our heads the

pillar of cloud, and before us "the land of rest" clothed in

never-withering green, and, both as a stimulus and a warning, let us

remember that "He that endureth to the end THE SAME shall be

saved."[12]

[12] It would surely be of all importance in this day, when so many

are declining from the narrow path of obedience to the written Word,

and entering upon the wide and bewildering field of human tradition,

to bear in mind that the Levite, when carrying the tabernacle through

the desert, found no support nor guide _from beneath_; no, _the grace_

in which he stood was his _sole support_, and _the pillar above_ his

_sole guide_. It would have been miserable indeed had he been left to

find a guide in the footmarks on the sand, which would change at every

wind that blew. _But all the sand did for him was to add to his labor

and toil while he endeavored to follow the heavenly guide above his

head._

* * * * *

We shall next consider the Merarite feature of character; for,

although the family of Merari does not stand next in order in the

chapter, yet there is a kindredness of spirit, as it were, arising out

of the very nature of their service, that would link them together in

the mind. But, not only is there this intimate connection between the

services of these two classes of Levites, which would lead us to link

them together thus, the Lord Himself presents them to us in marked

unity of service, for we read, "And the Kohathites set forward bearing

the sanctuary; and _the other_ (i.e., the Gershonites and the

Merarites) _did set up the tabernacle against they came_" (Num. x.

21). Here, then, we see that it was the great business of these two

families to pass onward through the desert in holy companionship,

bearing with them, wherever they went, "_the tabernacle_," and,

moreover, the tabernacle as looked at in its character of outward

manifestation or testimony; which would, as a matter of course, put

those who carried it thus into a place of _very laborious_

discipleship. "And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari

shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the

pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof,

and all that serveth thereto, and the pillars of the court round

about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords" (chap. iii.

36, 37). Here, then, was what Merari had to do: he had to take his

place here or there, according to the movement of the cloud, and _set

up_ the boards of the tabernacle in their sockets of silver--and all

this, be it remembered, upon the sand of the desert.[13]

[13] It has been well observed that in the tabernacle God was seen

bringing all His glory into immediate connection with _the sand of the

desert_: and when the high priest went into the holy place, he found

himself in the very presence of that glory, _with his feet upon the

sand of the desert_ likewise. In the temple, however, this was not the

case, for the floor of the house was _overlaid with gold_ (1 Kings vi.

30).

So is it with the Christian now; he has not as yet his feet upon the

"pure gold" of the heavenly city, but his deepest and most abiding

knowledge of God is that which he obtains in connection with his

sorrow, toil and conflict in the wilderness.

Could anything be more opposed to another than the nature of all that

Merari had to set up was to the waste and howling wilderness around?

What could be more unlike than silver and barren sand? But Merari

might not shrink from all this; no, his language was, when he had

arrived at a spot in the desert at which the cloud halted, "I am come

to set up the patterns of things in heaven in the very midst of all

the desolation and misery of the wilderness around." All this was most

laborious, and would, no doubt, impart to the character of Merari a

tone of sadness or sorrow which was at once expressed in his name,

which means "_sorrow_."

And surely the antitype of all this in the Church now will fully

confirm what has been stated about the character of Merari. Let any

one take his stand firmly and decidedly in the world _for Christ_--let

him penetrate into those places where "the _world_" is really seen in

its vigor--let him oppose himself, _firm as a rock_, to the deep and

rapid tide of worldliness, and _there_ let him begin to set up "_the

sockets of silver_," and, rest assured of it, he will find such a

course attended with very much sorrow and bitterness of soul; in a

word, he will realize it to be a path in which the cross is to be

taken up "_daily_," and not only taken up, but borne. Now, if any

further proof were needed of the above interpretation, we have a most

striking one in the fact that there are but _very few_ of the

laborious Merarite character to be found; and why is this? Simply

because the exhibition of such a character will ever be attended with

very much labor and sorrow to nature, and nature loves ease, and

therefore human nature never could be a Merarite; nothing will make us

true Merarites but deep communion with Him who was "THE MAN OF

SORROWS."

There is something in the service of Gershon from which one does not

shrink so much as from that of Merari. For what had Gershon to do? He

had to place the curtains and badgers' skins over the boards _which

had been already set up by his laborious and sorrowful brother_. And

just so now: if a laborious servant of God has gone to a place where

hitherto the world and Satan have reigned supreme, and there raised a

testimony for Christ, it will be comparatively easy for another to go

and walk on in the simple _manifestation_ of Christian character,

which would of itself put him into the place of "a stranger."

But, although nature may assume the character of a misanthropist, yet

nothing but grace can make us Merarites, and _the true Merarite_ is

the _true philanthropist_, because he introduces that which alone _can

bless_; and the very fact that a Merarite should have to take a place

of sorrow is a most convincing proof that the world is an evil place.

There was no need of a Merarite in Canaan, nor a Gershonite either:

for the Merarite was _happy there_, and the Gershonite _at home_. But

the world is not the Levite's home, and therefore if any will carry

the curtains, he must be a stranger; and if any will carry the sockets

and boards, he must be a man of sorrow; for when He who was a true

Gershonite and a true Merarite came into the world He was emphatically

_the Man of sorrows_, _who had not where to lay His head_.

However, if the Gershonite and the Merarite had to occupy a place in

which they endured not a little of "the burden and heat of the day,"

yet the Lord graciously met them in that with a very rich reward, for

"He is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love," and

therefore, if they had to labor and toil _amongst_ their brethren,

they were blessedly ministered to _by_ their brethren. Thus we read

concerning the offerings of the princes: "And the Lord spake unto

Moses, saying, Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of

the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the

Levites, to every man according to his service. And Moses took the

wagons and the oxen and gave them unto the Levites. Two wagons and

four oxen he gave unto the sons of Gershon, according to their

service. And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of

Merari according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son

of Aaron the priest. _But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none_,

because _the service of the sanctuary_ belonging unto them was that

they should bear upon their shoulders" (Num. vii. 4-9).

Here we see that the service of Gershon and Merari was that which met

the rich and blessed ministrations of their brethren. Grace had filled

the hearts and affections of the princes, and not only filled but

overflowed them, and in its overflow it was designed to refresh the

spirits of the homeless Gershonite and sorrowful Merarite: on the

other hand, the Kohathites had no part in these ministrations; and

why? Because _their service_, as we shall see presently, was in

_itself_ a rich reward indeed. We see the very same doctrine taught in

the case of the Levites generally, as contrasted with the priests, in

chap. xviii., where we read: "And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou

shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither _shalt thou have any

part among them_: _I am thy part and thine inheritance among the

children of Israel_" (ver. 20).

On the other hand, He says of the Levites, "Behold, I have given the

children of Levi all the tenth in _Israel for an inheritance_, _for

their service which they serve_, even the service of the tabernacle of

the congregation."

And again, "Ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households,

for _it is your reward_ for your service in the tabernacle of the

congregation" (vers. 21, 31).

Aaron occupied a position so truly elevated that any inheritance in

the way of earthly things would have been to him most degrading;

whereas the Levites (looked at in one aspect) had not this high

standing, but had much hard labor; and consequently, while Aaron's

very place and service was "_his reward_," the Levites had to get _a

tenth_ for "_their reward_."

* * * * *

We come now to consider the third and last division of the Levites,

viz., the Kohathites, of whom we read, "The families of the sons of

Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. And the

chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites

shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. And their charge shall be the

ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the

vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and

all the service thereof" (chap. iii. 29-31). We can now have no

difficulty in understanding why it was that Kohath had no share in the

ministrations of the princes. Gershon and Merari might need wagons and

oxen to carry the boards, etc., but not so Kohath; his charge was too

precious to be committed to any or aught but himself, and therefore it

was his high and honored place to carry all upon his shoulders. What a

privilege, for example, to be allowed to carry _the ark_, _the table_,

or _the golden candlestick_! And would it not have argued an entire

absence of ability to appreciate his elevated calling if he had sought

for the assistance of oxen in his holy service? What, then, we ask,

would have been the effect produced upon the character of Kohath by

this his service? Would it not have imparted a very elevated tone

thereto? Surely it would. What can be more elevated, at least as far

as development of character in the world is concerned, than the

display of that congregational spirit which is expressed in the name

of Kohath? Should not Christians be found rebuking, by a _real_ union

_in everything_, man's oft-repeated attempt at forming associations

for various purposes? And how can they effect that if it be not by

gathering more closely around their common centre, Christ, in all the

blessed fulness and variety of that Name? a fulness and variety

typified by the varied furniture of the tabernacle, some of the most

precious parts of which were designed to be borne on the shoulders of

this favored division of the tribe of Levi.

And surely we may safely assert that what would lead the saints now

into more of the congregational spirit is just communion with Him whom

the ark and table shadowed forth. If we were more conversant with

Christ as the ark, covering in this scene of death, and, moreover,

with the table of showbread, whereon stood _the food of the

priests_--if, I say, we knew more of Christ in these blessed aspects

of His character--we should not be as we are, _a proverb_ and a byword

by reason of our gross disunion. But, alas, as the Church grew weary

of the curtains and the boards, and laid aside her Gershonite and

Merarite character, so has she laid aside her Kohathite character,

because she has ceased to carry the ark and the table upon her

shoulder, and cast those precious pearls which were, through the grace

of God, her peculiar property, to the swine, and thus has she lost her

elevated character and position in the world.

Thus, let us review those three grand features of character shown

forth in the tribe of Levi.

* * * * *

1st. Strangership. "Therefore the world _knoweth us not_, because it

knew Him not." "Here we have no abiding city." "Dearly beloved, I

beseech you _as strangers and pilgrims_, abstain from fleshly lusts,

which war against the soul."

* * * * *

2d. Sorrow in the world. "_In the world_ ye shall have tribulation."

"If they have _persecuted Me_, they will also _persecute you_." "I

RECKON that _the sufferings of this present_ time are not worthy to be

compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." "After that

_ye have suffered awhile_, make you perfect"--"_ye have need_ of

patience"--"ye yourselves know that ye are appointed thereunto." "If

we _suffer_ with Him, we shall also reign with Him." "These are they

that came out of _great tribulation_, and have washed their robes and

made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

* * * * *

3d. Union. "That they _all may be one_." "He should gather together in

_one_ the children of God that are _scattered_ abroad." "That He might

reconcile _both_ unto God in ONE body by the cross." And here, again,

I would request of my reader to bear in mind that, while there was

this beautiful diversity in the character and line of service of the

Levites, yet they were _one people_, and that _manifestly_--they were

_one_ in _life_, _one_ in standing, _one_ in calling, _one_ in

inheritance; and so should it be with Christians _now_. We are not to

expect uniformity of opinion on every point, nor yet are we to look

for a perfect correspondence in the line of service and development of

life; but then the saints should be seen as _one people_--_one_ in

worship,[14] _one_ in labor, _one_ in object, _one_ in sympathy; in a

word, _one_ in everything that belongs to them in common as the people

of God.

[14] I say, _one in worship_; and I would press this point, because at

the present day it seems to be a thought in the minds of many that

there may be unity in service and at the same time the greatest

diversity in worship. I would appeal to the spiritual mind of the

Christian reader, and I would ask him, Can this really be? What should

we say to a family who would unite, or appear to do so, for the

purpose of carrying on their father's work, but who could not, by

reason of division, meet around their father's table? Could such unity

satisfy a father who loved his children?

* * * * *

How sadly out of order it would have been for a Levite to call upon

one of the uncircumcised of the nations around to assist him in

carrying any part of the tabernacle! and yet we hear Christians now

justifying and insisting upon the propriety of conduct not less

disorderly, viz., calling upon the openly unconverted and profane to

put their hands to the Lord's work. Thus we see that the Levites have

become scattered, and have forsaken their posts. The Gershonite has

refused to carry the curtains because he has become weary of the

stranger condition; the Merarite has laid down the boards and sockets

because he grew weary of bearing the cross, and the Kohathite has

degraded his high and holy office by making it the common property of

those who have not authority from God to put their hands thereunto.

Thus the name of God is blasphemed among the heathen by us, and we do

not "sigh and cry for the abominations" thus practiced, but lift up

our heads in proud indifference as if it all were right, and as if the

camp of God were moving onward in all heavenly order, under the

guidance of the cloud, communicated by the silver trumpets. "My

brethren, these things ought not so to be." May we walk more humbly

before our God, and, while we mourn over the sad fact that "Overturn,

overturn, overturn" has been written by the finger of God upon all

human arrangements, let us remember that it is only "_until He come

whose right it is_," and then _all_ shall be set right forever, for

God, in all things, shall be fully glorified through Jesus Christ.

* * * * *

Thus, dear reader, have we followed Levi in his course; and oh, what a

marvelous course has it been! a course, every step of which displays

the visible marks of sovereign grace abounding over man's sin--grace,

which led God to stoop from His throne in the heavens to visit "the

habitations of cruelty," in order to lift a poor perishing sinner from

thence, and bring him, through the purging power of the blood, into a

place of marvelous blessing indeed, even into the very tabernacle of

God, there to be employed about the instruments of God's house. We

have found Levi to have been indeed the one who "was _dead_ and is

_alive_ again, who was _lost_ and is found." May we, then, adore the

grace that could do such mighty acts! and if we have felt in our

hearts the operations of the same grace in delivering us from the

death and darkness of Egypt, may we remember that its effects should

be to constrain us to live, not unto ourselves, but unto Him who died

for us and rose again. We are now in the wilderness, where we are

called to carry the tabernacle. May we cheerfully move onward,

"_declaring_ PLAINLY that we seek a country," and anxiously look out

for "THE REST THAT REMAINS."

PART I.

GLAD TIDINGS

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that

whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting

life" (John iii. 16).

There are some passages of holy Scripture which seem to contain, in a

line or two, an entire volume of most precious truth. The verse which

we have just penned is one of such. It is part of our Lord's memorable

discourse with Nicodemus, and it embodies, in a condensed form, a very

full statement of gospel truth--a statement which may well be termed,

"Glad Tidings."

It should ever be borne in mind, both by preachers and those to whom

they preach, that one grand object of the gospel is to bring God and

the sinner together in such a way as to secure the sinner's eternal

salvation. It reveals a _Saviour God_ to a _lost man_. In other words,

it presents God to the sinner in the very character that meets the

sinner's need. A Saviour is precisely what suits the lost, just as a

life-boat suits a drowning man, or a physician a sick man, or bread a

hungry man. They are fitted the one for the other; and when God as a

Saviour, and man as a lost sinner, meet together, the whole question

is settled forever. The sinner is saved, because God is a Saviour. He

is saved according to the perfection which belongs to God, in every

character He wears, in every office He fills, in every relationship He

sustains. To raise a question as to the full and everlasting salvation

of a believing soul, is to deny that God is a Saviour. So it is in

reference to justification. God has revealed Himself as a Justifier;

and hence, the believer is justified according to the perfection which

attaches to God in that character. If a single flaw could be detected

in the title of the very weakest believer, it would be a dishonor to

God as a Justifier. Grant me but this, that God is my Justifier, and I

argue, in the face of every opposer and every accuser, that I am, and

must be, perfectly justified.

And, on the same principle, grant me but this, that God has revealed

Himself as a Saviour, and I argue, with unclouded confidence and holy

boldness, that I am, and must be, perfectly saved. It does not rest

upon aught in me, but simply and entirely upon God's revelation of

Himself. I know He is perfect in everything; and, therefore, perfect

as my Saviour. Hence, I am perfectly saved, inasmuch as the glory of

God is involved in my salvation. "There is no God else beside Me: a

just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me." What then? "_Look_

unto _Me_, and be ye saved, _all the ends of the earth_; for I am God,

and there is none else" (Isa. xlv. 21, 22). One believing _look_ from

a lost sinner to a just God and a Saviour, secures eternal salvation.

"_Look!_" How simple! It is not "Work"--"Do"--"Pray"--"Feel"--no; it

is simply "Look." And what then? Salvation--everlasting life. It must

be so, because God is a Saviour; and the precious little word "look"

fully implies all this, inasmuch as it expresses the fact that the

salvation which I want is found in the One to whom I look. It is all

there, ready for me, and one look secures it--secures it

forever--secures it for _me_. It is not a thing of to-day or

to-morrow; it is an eternal reality. The bulwarks of salvation behind

which the believer retreats have been erected by God Himself--the

Saviour-God, on the sure foundation of Christ's atoning work; and no

power of earth or hell can ever shake them. "Wherefore also it is

contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief

Corner-stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him shall not

be confounded" (Isa. xxviii. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 6).

But let us now turn directly to the profound and comprehensive passage

which forms the special subject of this paper. In it, most assuredly,

we listen to the voice of a Saviour-God--the voice of Him who came

down from heaven to reveal God in such a way as He had never been

revealed before. It is a marvelously blessed fact that God has been

fully revealed in this world--revealed, so that we--the writer and the

reader of these lines--may know Him, in all the reality of what He

is--know Him, each for himself, with the utmost possible certainty,

and have to do with Him, in all the blessed intimacy of personal

communion.

Reader, think of this! Think, we beseech you, of this amazing

privilege. You may know God for yourself, as _your_ Saviour, _your_

Father, _your_ own very God. You may have to do with Him; you may lean

upon Him, cling to Him, walk with Him, live and move and have your

being in His own most blessed presence, in the bright sunshine of His

loving countenance, under His own immediate eye.

This is life and peace. It is far more than mere theology or

systematic divinity. These things have their value, but, be it

remembered, a man may be a profound theologian, an able divine, and

yet live and die without God and perish eternally. Solemn, awful,

overwhelming thought! A man may go down to hell, into the blackness

and darkness of an eternal night, with all the dogmas of theology at

his fingers' ends. A man may sit in the professor's chair, stand in

the pulpit and at the desk; he may be looked up to as a great teacher

and an eloquent preacher: hundreds may sit at his feet and learn,

thousands may hang on his lips and be enraptured, and, after all, he

himself may descend into the pit, and spend a dismal, miserable

eternity in company with the most profane and immoral.

Not so, however, with one who knows God as He is revealed in the face

of Jesus Christ. Such a one has gotten life eternal. "This," says

Christ, "is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God,

and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John xvii. 3). It is not life

eternal to know theology or divinity. A man may sit down to the study

of these, as he would to study law or medicine, astronomy or geology,

and all the while know nothing of God, and therefore be without divine

life, and perish in the end.

So also as to mere religiousness. A man may be the greatest devotee in

the world. He may most diligently discharge all the offices, and

sedulously attend upon all the ordinances of systematic religion; he

may fast and pray; hear sermons and say prayers; be most devout and

exemplary; and all the while know nothing of God in Christ; yea, he

may live and die without God, and sink into hell forever. Look at

Nicodemus. Where could you find a better sample of religious human

nature than in him? A man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a

master in Israel; one, moreover, who seemed to discern in the miracles

of our Lord the clear proofs of His divine mission; and yet the word

to him was, "Ye must be born again." We have no need, surely, to go

farther than this to prove that a man may be not only religious, but

actually a guide and a teacher of others, and yet not have divine life

in his soul.

But it is not so with one who knows God in Christ. Such a one has life

and an object. He has God Himself for his priceless portion. This is

divine. It lies at the very foundation of personal Christianity and

true religion. It is above and beyond everything. It is not, we

repeat, mere theology, divinity, or religiousness; it is God Himself,

known, trusted, and enjoyed. It is a grand, unmistakable reality. It

is the soul of theology, the groundwork of divinity, the life of true

religion. There is nothing in all this world like it. It is something

which must be _felt_ in order to be known. It is acquaintance with

God, confidence in Him, and enjoyment of Him.

Now, it may be that the reader is disposed to ask, "How can I possess

this priceless treasure? How can I know God for myself, in this

living, saving, powerful manner? If it be true that without this

personal knowledge of God I _must_ perish eternally, then how am I to

obtain it? What am I to do, what am I to be, in order to know God?"

The answer is, God has revealed Himself. If He had not, we may say

with decision that nothing that we could do, nothing that we could be,

nothing in us or of us, could possibly make us acquainted with God. If

God had not manifested Himself, we should have remained forever in

ignorance of Him and perished in our ignorance. But, seeing that He

has come forth from the thick darkness and showed Himself, we may know

Him according to the truth of His own revelation, and find, in that

knowledge, everlasting life, and a spring of blessedness at which our

ransomed souls shall drink throughout the golden ages of eternity.

We know of nothing which so clearly and forcibly proves man's utter

incompetency to do aught towards procuring life, as the fact that the

possession of that life is based upon the knowledge of God: and this

knowledge of God must rest upon the _revelation_ of God. In a word, to

know God is life, to be ignorant of Him is death.

But where is He to be known? This is, in very deed, a grave question.

Many a one has had to cry out, with Job, "Oh, that I knew where I

might find Him." Where is God to be found? Am I to look for Him in

creation? Doubtless, His hand is visible there; but ah! that will not

do for me. A Creator-God will not suit a lost sinner. _The hand of

power_ will not avail for a poor, guilty wretch like me. I want _a

heart of love_. Yes, I want a heart that can love me in all my guilt

and misery. Where can I find this? Shall I look into the wide domain

of providence--the widely extended sphere of God's government? Has God

revealed Himself there in such a way as to meet me, a poor lost one?

Will providence and government avail for one who knows himself to be a

hell-deserving sinner? Clearly not. If I look at these things, I may

see what will perplex and confound me. I am short-sighted and

ignorant, and wholly unable to explain the ins and outs, the bearings

and issues, the why and the wherefore, of a single event in my own

life, or in the history of this world. Am I able to explain all about

the loss of _The London_? Can I account for the fact that a most

valuable life is suddenly cut short, and an apparently useless one

prolonged? There is a husband and the father of a large family; he

seems perfectly indispensable to his domestic circle and yet, all in a

moment, he is cut down, and they are left in sorrow and destitution;

while, on the other hand, yonder lies a poor bed-ridden creature, who

has outlived all her relations, and is dependent on the parish, or on

individual benevolence. She has lain there for years, a burden to

some, no use to any. Can I account for this? Am I competent to

interpret the voice of Providence in this deeply mysterious

dispensation? Certainly not. I have nothing in or of myself wherewith

to thread my way through the mazes of the labyrinth of what is called

providence. I cannot find a Saviour-God there.

Well, then, shall I turn to the law--to the Mosaic economy--the

Levitical ceremonial? Shall I find what I want there? Will a Lawgiver,

on the top of a fiery mount, wrapped in clouds and thick darkness,

sending forth thunders and lightnings, or hidden behind a veil--will

such a One avail for me? Alas! alas! I cannot meet Him--I cannot

answer His demands nor fulfil the conditions. I am told to love Him

with all my heart, with all my mind, and with all my strength; but I

do not know Him. I am blind and cannot see. I am alienated from the

life of God, an enemy by wicked works. Sin has blinded my mind,

blunted my conscience, and hardened my heart. The devil has completely

perverted my moral being, and led me into a state of positive

rebellion against God. I want to be renewed in the very source of my

being ere I can do what the law demands. How can I be thus renewed?

Only by the knowledge of God. But God is not revealed in the law.

Nay, He is hidden--hidden behind an impenetrable cloud, an unrent

veil. Hence I cannot know Him there. I am compelled to retire from

that fiery mount, and from that unrent veil, and from the whole

economy of which these were the characteristic features, the prominent

objects, still crying out, "Oh! that I knew where I might find Him."

In a word, then, neither in creation, nor in providence, nor in the

law, is God revealed as "a just God and a Saviour." I see a God of

power in creation: a God of wisdom in providence; a God of justice in

the law; a God of love _only_ in the face of Jesus Christ. "_God was

in Christ_, reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor. v. 19).

To this stupendous fact we call the reader's earnest attention; that

is, if he be one who does not yet know the Lord. It is of the very

last possible importance that he be clear as to this. Without it there

can be nothing right. To know God is the first step. It is not merely

knowing some things about God. It is not unrenewed nature turning

religious, trying to do better, endeavouring to keep the law. No,

reader; it is none of these things. It is God, known in the face of

Jesus Christ. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of

darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the

knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." This is

the deep and blessed secret of the whole matter. The reader, so far as

his natural condition is concerned, is in a state of darkness. There

is not so much as a single ray of spiritual light. He is, spiritually

and morally, just what creation was physically before that sublime and

commanding utterance fell from the lips of the Almighty Creator, "Let

there be light." All is dark and chaotic, for the "god of this world

hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of

the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine

unto them" (2 Cor. iv. 4-6).

Here are two things; namely, the god of this world blinding the mind,

and seeking to hinder the in-shining of the precious life-giving beams

of the light of God's glory; and, on the other hand, God, in His

marvelous grace, shining in the heart, to give the light of the

knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Thus all hinges

upon the grand reality of the knowledge of God. Is there light? It is

because God is known. Is there darkness? It is because God is not

known. No doubt there are various measures in the experience and

exhibition of this light: but there is light, because there is the

knowledge of God. So also there may be various forms of darkness; some

more hideous than others; but there is darkness because God is not

known. The knowledge of God is light and life. Ignorance of God is

darkness and death. A man may enrich himself with all the treasures of

science and literature; but if he does not know God, he is in the

darkness of primeval night. But, on the other hand, a man may be

profoundly ignorant of all human learning; but if he knows God, he

walks in broad day-light.

In the passage of Scripture which is engaging our attention, namely,

John iii. 16, we have a very remarkable illustration of the character

of the entire Gospel of John, and especially the opening chapters. It

is impossible to meditate upon it without seizing this interesting

fact. In it we are introduced to God Himself, in that wondrous aspect

of His character and nature, as loving _the world_, and giving His

Son. In it, too, we find, not only the "world" as a whole, but the

individual sinner, under that most satisfactory title of "whosoever."

Thus God and the sinner are together--God, _loving_ and _giving_; and

the sinner, _believing_ and _having_. It is not God judging and

exacting; but God loving and giving. The former was law; the latter,

grace; that was Judaism; this, Christianity. In the one, we see God

demanding obedience in order to life; in the other, we see God giving

life as the only basis of obedience. In the one, we see man struggling

for life, but never obtaining it; in the other, we see man receiving

life as a free gift, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such is

the contrast between the two systems--a contrast which cannot be too

deeply pondered. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came

by Jesus Christ" (John i. 17).

But let us mark the way in which this is unfolded in our text. "God so

loved the world." Here we have the wide aspect of the love of God. It

is not confined to any particular nation, tribe, caste, or family. It

embraces the whole world. God is love; and, being so, it is not a

question of the fitness or worthiness of the object of His love. It is

what He _is_. He is love, and He cannot deny Himself. It is the very

energy and activity of His nature. The heart may have many a question,

many an exercise as to its state and condition before God, and very

right it should have them. The Spirit Himself may produce such

exercises and raise such questions; but, after all, the grand truth

shines forth in all its lustre, "God is love." Whatever we are,

whatever the world is, that is what God is; and we know that the truth

as to God forms the deep and rich substratum which underlies the whole

system of Christianity. The soul may pass through deep and sore

conflict, under the sense of its own wretchedness; there may be many

doubts and fears; many dark and heavy clouds; weeks, months, or years

may be spent under the law, in one's inward self-consciousness, and

that, moreover, long after the mere intellect has yielded its assent

to the principles and doctrines of evangelical truth. But, after all,

we must be brought into direct personal contact with God Himself--with

what He is--with His nature and character, as He has revealed Himself

in the gospel. We have to acquaint ourselves with Him, and He is love.

Observe, it does not say merely that God is _loving_, but that He is

_love_. It is not only that love is an attribute of His character,

but it is the very activity of His nature. We do not read that God is

justice, or holiness; He is just and He is holy; but it would not

express the full and blessed truth to say that God is loving; He is

much more, He is love itself. Hence, when the sinner--"whosoever" he

be, it matters not--is brought to see his own total and absolute ruin,

his hopeless wretchedness, his guilt and misery, the utter vanity and

worthlessness of all within and around him, (and there is nothing in

the whole world that can satisfy his heart, and nothing in his heart

that can satisfy God, or satisfy even his own conscience) when these

things are opened in any measure to his view, then is he met by this

grand substantial truth that "God is love," and that He so loved the

world as to give His only-begotten Son.

Here is life and rest for the soul. Here is salvation, full, free, and

everlasting, for the poor, needy, guilty, lost one;--salvation resting

not upon anything in man or of man, upon aught that he is or can be,

aught that he has done or can do, but simply upon what God is and has

done. God _loves_ and _gives_, and the sinner _believes_ and _has_.

This is far beyond creation, government, or law. In creation, God

spake and it was done. He called worlds into existence by the word of

His mouth. But we hear nothing, throughout the entire record of

creation, of God loving and giving.

So as to government, we see God ruling in unsearchable wisdom, amid

the armies of heaven, and among the children of men: but we cannot

comprehend Him. We can only say, as to this subject, that

"God moves in a mysterious way,

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea,

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never failing skill,

He treasures up His bright designs,

And works His sovereign will."

Finally, as to the law, it is, from beginning to end, a perfect system

of command and prohibition--a system perfect in its action as testing

man, and making manifest his entire alienation from God. "The law

worketh wrath." And again, "By the law is the knowledge of sin." But

what could such a system do in a world of sinners? Could it give life?

Impossible. Why? Because man could not fulfil its holy requirements.

"If there had been a law given which could have given life, then

verily, righteousness should have been by the law." But no; the law

was a ministration of death and condemnation. (See 2 Cor. iii.) The

only effect of the law, to anyone who is under it, is the pressure of

death upon the soul, and of guilt and condemnation upon the

conscience. It cannot possibly be otherwise with an honest soul under

the law.

What, then, is needed? Simply this, the knowledge of the love of God,

and of the precious gift which that love has bestowed. This is the

eternal groundwork of all. Love, and the gift of love. For, be it

observed and ever remembered, that God's love could never have reached

us save through the medium of that gift. God is holy, and we are

sinful. How could we come near Him? How could we dwell in His holy

presence? How could sin and holiness ever abide in company?

Impossible. Justice demands the condemnation of sin; and if love will

save the sinner, it must do so at no less a cost than the gift of the

only-begotten Son. Darius loved Daniel, and labored hard to save him

from the lions' den; but his love was powerless because of the

unbending law of the Medes and Persians. He spent the night in sorrow

and fasting. He could weep at the mouth of the den; but he could not

save his friend. His love was not mighty to save. If he had offered

himself to the lions instead of his friend, it would have been morally

glorious; but he did not. His love told itself forth in unavailing

tears and lamentations. The law of the Persian kingdom was more

powerful than the love of the Persian king. The law, in its stern

majesty, triumphed over an impotent love which had nothing but

fruitless tears to bestow upon its object.

But the love of God is not like this--eternal and universal praise to

His name! His love is mighty to save. It _reigns_ through

righteousness. How is this? Because "God _so_ loved the world that He

gave His only-begotten Son." The law had declared in words of awful

solemnity, "The soul that sinneth it shall die." Was this law less

stern, less majestic, less stringent, than the law of the Medes and

Persians? Surely not. How then, was it to be disposed of? It was to be

magnified and made honorable, vindicated and established. Not one jot

or tittle of the law could ever be set aside. How, then, was the

difficulty to be solved? Three things had to be done: the law had to

be magnified; sin condemned; the sinner saved. How could these grand

results be reached? We have the answer in two bold and vivid lines

from one of our own poets--

"On Jesus' cross this record's graved,

Let sin be damned, and sinners saved."

Precious record! May many an anxious sinner read and believe it! Such

was the amazing love of God, that He spared not His own Son, but

delivered Him up for us all. His love cost Him nothing less than the

Son of His bosom. When it was a question of creating worlds, it cost

Him but the word of His mouth: but when it was a question of loving a

world of sinners, it cost His only-begotten Son. The love of God is a

holy love, a righteous love, a love acting in harmony with all the

attributes of His nature, and the claims of His throne. "Grace

_reigns_, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Christ Jesus

our Lord." The soul can never be set at liberty till this truth be

fully laid hold of. There may be certain vague hopes in the mercy of

God, and a measure of confidence in the atoning work of Jesus, all

true and real so far as it goes; but true liberty of heart cannot

possibly be enjoyed until it is seen and understood that God has

glorified Himself in the manner of His love toward us. Conscience

could never be tranquilized, nor Satan silenced, if sin had not been

perfectly judged and put away. But "God _so_ loved the world that He

gave His only-begotten Son." What depth and power in the little word

"so"!

It may here be needful to meet a difficulty which often occurs to

anxious souls, in reference to the question of appropriation.

Thousands have been harassed and perplexed by this question, at some

stage or other of their spiritual history; and it is not improbable

that many who shall read these pages may be glad of a few words on the

subject. Many may feel disposed to ask, "How am I to know that this

love, and the gift of love, are intended for _me_? What warrant have

_I_ for believing that 'everlasting life' is for _me_? I know the plan

of salvation; I believe in the all-sufficiency of the atonement of

Christ for the forgiveness and justification of all who truly believe.

I am convinced of the truth of all that the Bible declares. I believe

we are all sinners, and moreover, that we can do nothing to save

ourselves--that we need to be washed in the blood of Jesus, and to be

taught and led by the Holy Ghost, ere we can please God here, and

dwell with Him hereafter. All this I fully believe, and yet I have no

assurance that I am saved, and I want to know on what authority I am

to believe that my sins are forgiven and that I have everlasting

life."

If the foregoing be, in any measure, the language of the reader--if it

be, at all, the expression of his difficulty, we would, in the first

place, call his attention to two words which occur in our precious

text (John iii. 16), namely, "_world_" and "_whosoever_." It seems

utterly impossible for anyone to refuse the application of these two

words. For what, let us ask, is the meaning of the term "_world_"?

What does it embrace? or, rather, what does it not embrace? When our

Lord declares that "God so loved the world," on what ground can the

reader exclude himself from the range, scope, and application of this

divine love? On no other ground whatever, unless he can show that he

alone belongs not to the world, but to some other sphere of being. If

it were declared that "the world" is hopelessly condemned, could

anyone making a part of that world avoid the application of the

sentence! Could he exclude himself from it? Impossible. How then can

he--why should he--exclude himself, when it is a question of God's

free love, and of salvation by Christ Jesus?

But, further, we would ask, What is the meaning, what is the force of

the familiar word, "_whosoever_"? Assuredly it means "_anybody_;" and

if anybody, why not the reader? It is infinitely better, infinitely

surer and more satisfactory to find the word "whosoever" in the

gospel than to find my own name there, inasmuch as there may be a

thousand persons in the world of the same name; but "whosoever"

applies to me as distinctly as though I were the only sinner on the

face of the earth.

Thus, then, the very words of the gospel message--the very terms used

to set forth the glad tidings, are such as leave no possible ground

for a difficulty as to their application. If we listen to our Lord in

the days of His flesh, we hear such words as these: "God so loved the

_world_ that He gave His only-begotten Son, that _whosoever_ believeth

in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life." Again, if we

listen to Him after His resurrection, we hear these words, "Go ye into

_all the world_, and preach the gospel to _every creature_" (Mark

xvi.). And lastly, if we listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost sent

from a risen, ascended, and glorified Lord, we hear such words as

these: "The same Lord over all is rich unto _all_ that call upon Him.

For _whosoever_ shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved"

(Rom. x. 12, 13).

In all the above-cited passages we have two terms used, one general,

the other particular, and both together so presenting the message of

salvation as to leave no room whatever for anyone to refuse its

application. If "all the world" is the scope, and "every creature" is

the object of the precious gospel of Christ, then, on what ground can

anyone exclude himself? Where is there authority for any sinner out

of hell to say that the glad tidings of salvation are not for him?

There is none. Salvation is as free as the air we breathe--free as the

dewdrops that refresh the earth--free as the sunbeams that shine upon

our pathway; and if any attempt to limit its application, they are

neither in harmony with the mind of Christ, nor in sympathy with the

heart of God.

But it may be that some of our readers would, at this stage of the

subject, feel disposed to ask us, "How do you dispose of the question

of election?" We reply, "Very simply, by leaving it where God has

placed it, namely, as a landmark in the inheritance of the spiritual

Israel, and not as a stumbling-block in the pathway of the anxious

inquirer." This we believe to be the true way of dealing with the

deeply important doctrine of election. The more we ponder the subject,

the more thoroughly are we convinced that it is a mistake on the part

of the evangelist or preacher of the gospel to qualify his message,

hamper his subject, or perplex his hearers, by the doctrine of

election or predestination. He has to do with lost sinners in the

discharge of his blessed ministry. He meets men where they are, on the

broad ground of our common ruin our common guilt, our common

condemnation. He meets them with a message of full, free, present,

personal, and eternal salvation--a message which comes fresh, fervent,

and glowing from the very bosom of God. His ministry is, as the Holy

Ghost declares in 2 Cor. v., "a ministry of reconciliation," the

glorious characteristics of which are these, "God in Christ" ...

"reconciling the world unto Himself" ... "not imputing their

trespasses;" and the marvelous foundation of which is, that God has

made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the

righteousness of God in Him.

Does this trench, in the smallest degree, upon the blessed and clearly

established truth of election? By no means. It leaves it, in all its

integrity and in its full value, as a grand fundamental truth of Holy

Scripture, exactly where God has placed it; not as a preliminary

question to be settled ere the sinner comes to Jesus, but as a most

precious consolation and encouragement to him when he has come. This

makes all the difference. If the sinner be called upon to settle

beforehand the question of his election, how is he to set about it?

Whither is he to turn for a solution? Where shall he find a divine

warrant for believing that he is one of the elect? Can he find a

single line of Scripture on which to base his faith as to his

election? He cannot. He can find scores of passages declaring him to

be lost, guilty and undone--scores of passages to assure him of his

total inability to do aught in the matter of his own salvation--hundreds

of passages unfolding the free love of God, the value and efficacy of

the atonement of Christ, and assuring him of a hearty welcome to come

_just as he is_, and make God's blessed salvation his own. But if it

be needed for him to settle the prior question of his predestination

and election, then is his case hopeless, and he must, in so far as he

is in earnest, be plunged in black despair.

And is it not thus with thousands at this moment through the

misapplication of the doctrine of election? We fully believe it is,

and hence our anxiety to help our readers by setting the matter in

what we judge to be the true light before their minds. We believe it

to be of the utmost importance for the anxious inquirer to know that

the standpoint from which he is called to view the cross of Christ is

not the standpoint of election, but of conscious ruin. The grace of

God meets him as a lost, dead, guilty sinner; not as an elect one.

This is an unspeakable mercy, inasmuch as he knows he is the former,

but cannot know that he is the latter until the gospel has come to him

in power. "Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God." How did

he know it? "Because our gospel came not unto you in word only, but

also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance" (1 Thess.

i. 4, 5). Paul preached to the Thessalonians as lost sinners; and when

the gospel had laid hold of them as lost, he could write to them as

elect.

This puts election in its right place. If the reader will turn for a

moment to Acts xvii., he will there see how Paul discharged his

business as an evangelist amongst the Thessalonians: "Now when they

had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to

Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his

manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with

them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must

needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this

Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ." So, also, in that passage at

the opening of 1 Cor. xv.: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the

gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and

wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory

what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I

delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was

buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the

Scriptures" (verses 1-4).

From this passage, and many others which might be quoted, we learn

that the apostle preached not merely a doctrine, but a person. He did

not preach election. He taught it to saints, but never preached it to

sinners. This should be the evangelist's model at all times. We never

once find the apostles preaching election. They preached Christ--they

unfolded the goodness of God--His loving-kindness--His tender

mercy--His pardoning love--His gracious readiness to receive all who

come in their true character and condition as lost sinners. Such was

their mode of preaching, or, rather, such was the mode of the Holy

Ghost in them; and such, too, was the mode of the blessed Master

Himself. "_Come unto Me_, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and

_I will give_ you rest." "If _any man_ thirst, let him come unto Me

and drink." "Him that cometh to Me I will _in no wise_ cast out"

(Matt. xi.; John vi., vii.).

Here are no stumbling-blocks in the way of anxious inquirers--no

preliminary questions to be settled--no conditions to be fulfilled--no

theological difficulties to be solved. No, the sinner is met on his

own ground--met as he is--met just now. There is rest for the weary,

drink for the thirsty, life for the dead, pardon for the guilty,

salvation for the lost. Do these free invitations touch the doctrine

of election? Assuredly not. And what is more, the doctrine of election

does not touch them. In other words, a full and free gospel leaves

perfectly untouched the grand and all-important truth of election; and

the truth of election, in its proper place, leaves the gospel of the

grace of God on its own broad and blessed base, and in all its divine

length, breadth, and fulness. The gospel meets us as lost, and saves

us; and then, when we know ourselves as saved, the precious doctrine

of election comes in to establish us in the fact that we can never be

lost. It never was the purpose of God that poor anxious souls should

be harassed with theological questions or points of doctrine. No;

blessed forever be His name, it is His gracious desire that the

healing balm of His pardoning love, and the cleansing efficacy of the

atoning blood of Jesus, should be applied to the spiritual wounds of

every sin-sick soul. And as to the doctrines of predestination and

election, He has unfolded them in His Word to comfort His saints, not

to perplex poor sinners. They shine like precious gems on the page of

inspiration, but they were never intended to lie as stumbling-blocks

in the way of earnest seekers after life and peace. They are deposited

in the hand of the teacher to be unfolded in the bosom of the family

of God; but they are not intended for the evangelist, whose blessed

mission is to the highways and hedges of a lost world. They are

designed to feed and comfort the children, not to scare and stumble

the sinner. We would say, and that with real earnestness, to all

evangelists, Do not hamper your preaching with theological questions

of any sort or description. Preach Christ. Unfold the deep and

everlasting love of a Saviour-God. Seek to bring the guilty,

conscience-smitten sinner into the very presence of a pardoning God.

Thunder, if you please, if so led, at the conscience--thunder loud at

sin--thunder forth the dread realities of the great white throne, the

lake of fire, and everlasting torment; but see that you aim at

bringing the guilt-stricken conscience to rest in the atoning virtues

of the blood of Christ. Then you can hand over the fruits of your

ministry to the divinely qualified, to be instructed in the deeper

mysteries of the faith of Christ. You may rest assured that the

faithful discharge of your duty as an evangelist will never lead you

to trespass on the domain of sound theology.

And to the anxious inquirer we would say with equal earnestness, Let

nothing stand in your way in coming this moment to Jesus. Let theology

speak as it may, you are to listen to the voice of Jesus, who says,

"_Come unto Me_." Be assured there is no hindrance, no difficulty, no

hitch, no question, no condition. You are a lost sinner, and Jesus is

a full Saviour. Put your trust in Him, and you are saved forever.

Believe in Him, and you will know your place amongst the "elect of

God" who are "predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son."

Bring your sins to Jesus and He will pardon them, cancel them by His

blood, and clothe you in a spotless robe of divine righteousness. May

God's Spirit lead you now to cast yourself simply and entirely upon

that precious, all-sufficient Saviour!

We will now notice, very briefly, three distinct evils resulting from

a wrong application of the doctrine of election, namely:

I. The discouragement of really earnest souls, who ought to be helped

on in every possible way. If such persons are repulsed by the question

of election, the result must be disastrous in the extreme. If they are

told that the glad tidings of salvation are only for the elect--that

Christ died only for such, and hence only such can be saved--that

unless they are elect they have no right to apply to themselves the

benefits of the death of Christ: if, in short, they are turned from

Jesus to theology--from the heart of a loving, pardoning God to the

cold and withering dogmas of systematic divinity, it is impossible to

say where they may end; they may take refuge either in superstition on

the one hand, or in infidelity on the other. They may end in high

church, broad church, or no church at all. What they really want is

Christ, the living, loving, precious, all-sufficient Christ of God. He

is the true food for anxious souls.

II. But, in the second place, careless souls are rendered more

careless still by a false application of the doctrine of election.

Such persons, when pressed as to their state and prospects, will fold

their arms and say, "You know I cannot believe unless God give me the

power. If I am one of the elect, I must be saved; if not, I cannot. I

can do nothing, but must wait God's time." All this false and flimsy

reasoning should be exposed and demolished. It will not stand for a

moment in the light of the judgment-seat of Christ. Each one will

learn there that election furnished no excuse whatever, inasmuch as it

never was set up by God as a barrier to the sinner's salvation. The

word is, "_Whosoever_ will, let him take the water of life _freely_."

The very same form of speech and style of language which removes the

stumbling-block from the feet of the anxious inquirer snatches the

plea from the lips of the careless rejecter. No one is shut out. All

are invited. There is neither barrier on the one hand, nor a plea on

the other. All are made welcome; and all are responsible. Hence, if

any one presumes to excuse himself for refusing God's salvation, which

is as clear as a sunbeam, by urging God's decrees, which are entirely

hidden, he will find himself fatally mistaken.

III. And now, in the third and last place, we have frequently seen

with real sorrow of heart the earnest, loving, large-hearted

evangelist damped and crippled by a false application of the truth of

election. This should be most carefully avoided. We hold that it is

not the business of the evangelist to preach election. If he is

rightly instructed, he will _hold_ it; but if he is rightly directed,

he will not _preach_ it.

In a word, then, the precious doctrine of election is not to be a

stumbling-block to the anxious--a plea for the careless--a damper to

the fervent evangelist. May God's Spirit give us to feel the adjusting

power of truth!

Having thus briefly endeavored to clear away any difficulty arising

from the misuse of the precious doctrine of election, and to show the

reader, "whosoever" he be, that there is no hindrance whatever to his

full and hearty acceptance of God's free gift, even the gift of His

only-begotten Son, it now only remains for us to consider the result,

in every case, of this acceptance, as set forth in the words of our

Lord Jesus Christ: "God so loved the world, that He gave His

only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,

but have everlasting life."

Here, then, we have the result in the case of every one who believes

in Jesus. He shall never perish, but possesses everlasting life. But

who can attempt to unfold all that is included in this word "perish"?

What mortal tongue can set forth the horrors of the lake that burneth

with fire and brimstone, "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is

not quenched"? We believe, assuredly, that none but the One who used

the word, in speaking to Nicodemus, can fully expound it to anyone;

but we feel called upon to bear our decided and unequivocal testimony

as to what He has taught on the solemn truth of eternal punishment. We

have occasionally referred to this subject, but we believe it demands

a formal notice; and inasmuch as the word "_perish_" occurs in the

passage which has been occupying our thoughts, we cannot do better

than call the reader's attention to it.

It is a serious and melancholy fact that the enemy of souls and of the

truth of God is leading thousands, both in Europe and America, to call

in question the momentous fact of the everlasting punishment of the

wicked. This he does on various grounds, and by various arguments,

adapted to the habits of thought and moral condition and intellectual

standpoint of individuals. Some he seeks to persuade that God is too

kind to send anyone to a place of torment. It is contrary to His

benevolent mind and His beneficent nature to inflict pain on any of

His creatures.

Now, to all who stand, or affect to stand, upon this ground of

argument, we would suggest the important inquiry, "What is to be done

with the sins of those who die impenitent and unbelieving?" Whatever

there may be in the idea that God is too kind to send sinners to hell,

it is certain that He is too holy to let sin into heaven. He is "of

purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity" (Hab. i.

13). God and evil cannot dwell together. This is plain. How, then, is

the case to be met? If God cannot let sin into heaven, what is to be

done with the sinner who dies in his sins? He must perish! But what

does this mean? Does it mean annihilation--that is, the utter

extinction or blotting out of the very existence of body and soul?

Nay, reader, this cannot be. Many would like this, no doubt. "Let us

eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," would, alas, suit many thousands

of the sons and daughters of pleasure who think only of the present

moment, and who roll sin as a sweet morsel under their tongue. There

are millions on the surface of the globe who are bartering their

eternal happiness for a few hours of guilty pleasure, and the crafty

foe of mankind seeks to persuade such that there is no such place as

hell, no such thing as the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone;

and in order to obtain a footing for this fatal suggestion, he bases

it upon the plausible and imposing notion of the kindness of God.

Reader, do not believe the arch-deceiver. Remember, God is holy. He

cannot let sin into His presence. If you die in your sins you must

perish, and this word "perish" involves, according to the clear

testimony of Holy Scripture, eternal misery and torment in hell. Hear

what our Lord Jesus Christ saith, in His solemn description of the

judgment of the nations: "Then shall the King say also to them on His

left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into _everlasting_ fire,

prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. xxv. 41). And while you

harken to these awfully solemn accents, remember that the word

translated "everlasting" occurs seventy times in the New Testament,

and is applied as follows: "Everlasting fire"--"eternal

life"--"everlasting punishment"--"eternal damnation"--"everlasting

habitations"--"the everlasting God"--"eternal weight of

glory"--"everlasting destruction"--"everlasting consolation"--"eternal

glory"--"eternal salvation"--"eternal judgment"--"eternal

redemption"--"the eternal Spirit"--"eternal inheritance"--"everlasting

kingdom"--"eternal fire."

Now, we ask any candid, thoughtful person, upon what principle can a

word be said to mean _eternal_ when applied to the Holy Ghost or to

God, and only _temporary_ when applied to hell-fire or the punishment

of the wicked? If it means eternal in the one case, why not also in

the other? We have just glanced at a Greek Concordance, and we should

like to ask, Would it be right to mark off some half-dozen passages in

which the word "everlasting" occurs, and write opposite to each these

words: "Everlasting here only means for a time"? The very thought is

monstrous. It would be a daring and blasphemous insult offered to the

volume of inspiration. No, reader, be assured of it, you cannot touch

the word "everlasting" in one case without touching it also in all the

seventy cases in which it occurs. It is a dangerous thing to tamper

with the Word of the living God. It is infinitely better to bow down

under its holy authority. It is worse than useless to seek to avoid

the plain meaning and solemn force of that word "perish" as applied to

the immortal soul of man. It involves, beyond all question, the awful,

the ineffably awful reality of burning forever in the flames of hell.

This is what Scripture means by "perishing." The votary of pleasure,

or the lover of money, may seek to forget this. They may seek to drown

all thought of it in the glass or in the busy mart. The sentimentalist

may rave about the divine benevolence; the skeptic may reason about

the possibility of eternal fire; but we are intensely anxious that the

reader should rise from this paper with the firm and deeply wrought

conclusion and hearty belief that the punishment of all who die in

their sins will be eternal in hell as surely as the blessedness of all

who die in the faith of Christ will be eternal in the heavens. Were it

not so, the Holy Ghost would most assuredly have used a different

word, when speaking of the former, from that which He applies to the

latter. This, we conceive, is beyond all question.

But there is another objection urged against the doctrine of eternal

punishment. It is frequently said, "How can we suppose that God would

inflict eternal punishment as a penalty for a few short years of sin?"

We reply, It is beginning at the wrong end to argue in this way. It

is not a question of time as viewed from man's standpoint, but of the

gravity of sin itself as looked at from God's standpoint. And how is

this question to be solved? Only by looking at the Cross. If you want

to know what sin is in God's sight, you must look at what it cost Him

to put it away. It is by the standard of Christ's infinite sacrifice,

and by that alone, that you can rightly measure sin. Men may compare

their few years with God's eternity; they may compare their short span

of life with that boundless eternity that stretches beyond; they may

seek to put a few years of sin into one scale, and an eternity of woe

and torment into the other, and thus attempt to reach a just

conclusion: but it will never do to argue thus. The question is, Did

it require an infinite atonement to put away sin? If so, the

punishment of sin must be eternal. If nothing short of an infinite

sacrifice could deliver from the consequences of sin, those

consequences must be eternal.

In a word, then, we must look at sin from God's point of view, and

measure it by His standard, else we shall never have a just sense of

what it is or what it deserves. It is the height of folly for men to

attempt to lay down a rule as to the amount or duration of the

punishment due to sin. God alone can settle this. And, after all, what

was it that produced all the misery and wretchedness, the sickness and

sorrow, the death and desolation, of well-nigh six thousand years?

Just _one_ act of disobedience--the eating of a forbidden fruit. Can

man explain this? Can human reason explain how one act produced such

an overwhelming amount of misery? It cannot. Well, then, if it cannot

do this, how can it be trusted when it attempts to decide the question

as to what is due to sin? Woe be to all those who commit themselves to

its guidance on this most momentous point!

Ah, reader, you must see that God alone can estimate sin and its just

deserts, and He alone can tell us all about it. And has He not done

so? Yes, verily, He has measured sin in the cross of His Son; and

there, too, He has set forth in the most impressive manner what it

deserves. What, think you, must that be that caused the bitter cry,

"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" If God forsook His

only-begotten Son when He was made sin, must He not also forsake all

who are found in their sins? But how can they ever get rid of them? We

believe the conclusion is unavoidable. We consider that the infinite

nature of the atonement proves unanswerably the doctrine of eternal

punishment. That peerless and precious sacrifice is at once the

foundation of our eternal life and of our deliverance from eternal

death. It delivers from eternal wrath and introduces to eternal glory.

It saves from the endless misery of hell and procures for us the

endless bliss of heaven. Thus, whatever side of the Cross we look at,

or from whatever side we view it, we see eternity stamped upon it. If

we view it from the gloomy depths of hell or from the sunny heights of

heaven, we see it to be the same infinite, eternal, divine reality.

It is by the Cross we must measure both the blessedness of heaven and

the misery of hell. Those who put their trust in that blessed One who

died on the cross obtain everlasting life and felicity. Those who

reject Him must sink into endless perdition.

We do not by any means pretend to handle this great question

theologically, or to adduce all the arguments that might be advanced

in defence of the doctrine of eternal punishment; but there is one

further consideration which we must suggest to the reader as tending

to lead him to a sound conclusion, and that is the immortality of the

soul.[15] "God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and

man became a living soul." The fall of man in nowise touched the

question of the soul's immortality. If, therefore, the soul is

immortal, annihilation is impossible. The soul must live forever.

Overwhelming thought! Forever! Forever! Forever! The whole moral being

sinks under the awful magnitude of the thought. It surpasses all

conception and baffles all mental calculation. Human arithmetic can

only deal with the finite. It has no figures by which to represent a

never-ending eternity. But the writer and the reader must live

throughout eternity either in that bright and blessed world above or

in that terrible place where hope can never come.

[15] For a full examination of this subject, the reader is referred to

"Facts and Theories as to a future state,--the Scripture doctrine

considered with reference to current denials of eternal punishment,"

by F. W. Grant, 640 pp., $1,50 (with full index of texts and subjects

examined.)

May God's Spirit impress our hearts more and more with the solemnity

of eternity, and of immortal souls going down into hell. We are

deplorably deficient in feeling as to these weighty realities. We are

daily thrown in contact with people, we buy and sell and carry on

intercourse in various ways with those who must live forever, and yet

how rarely do we seek occasion to press upon them the awfulness of

eternity and the appalling condition of all who die without a personal

interest in the blood of Christ!

Reader, let us ask God to make us more earnest, more solemn, more

faithful, more zealous in pleading with souls, in warning others to

flee from the wrath to come. We want to live more in the light of

eternity, and then we shall be better able to deal with others.

It only remains for us now to ponder the last clause of the fruitful

passage of Scripture which has been under consideration (John iii.

16). It sets forth the positive result, in every case, of simple faith

in the Son of God. It declares, in the simplest and clearest way, the

fact that every one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is a

possessor of everlasting life. It is not merely that his sins are

blotted out; that is blessedly true. Nor is it merely that he is saved

from the consequences of his guilt, which is equally true. But there

is more. The believer in Jesus has a new life, and that life is in

the Son of God. He is placed upon a new footing altogether. He is no

longer looked at in the old Adam condition, but in a risen Christ.

This is an immense truth, and one of deepest possible moment. We

earnestly pray the reader's calm and prayerful attention while we

seek, in some feeble way, to present to him what we believe to be

wrapped up in the last clause of John iii. 16.

There is in the minds of many a very imperfect sense of what we get by

faith in Christ. Some seem to view the atoning work of Christ merely

as a remedial measure for the sins of our old nature--the payment of

debts contracted in our old condition. That it is all this we need not

say; blessed be God for the precious truth. But it is much more. It is

not merely that the sins are atoned for, but the nature which

committed them is condemned and set aside by the cross of Christ, and

is to be "_reckoned_" dead by the believer. It is not merely that the

debts contracted in the old condition are canceled, but the old

condition itself is completely ignored by God, and is to be so

accounted by the believer.

This great truth is doctrinally unfolded in 2 Cor. v., where we read,

"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed

away; behold, all things are become new" (ver. 17). The apostle does

not say, "If any man be in Christ he is pardoned--his sins are

forgiven--his debts paid." All this is divinely true; but the

statement just quoted goes very much farther. It declares that a man

in Christ is a new creation altogether. It is not the old nature

pardoned, but completely set aside, with all its belongings, and a new

creation introduced in which there is not a single shred of the old.

"All things are become new; and all things are of God."

Now this gives immense relief to the heart. Indeed, we question if any

soul can enter into the full liberty of the gospel of Christ until he

lay hold, in some measure, of the truth of the "new creation." There

may be a looking to Christ for pardon, a vague hope of getting to

heaven at the last, a measure of reliance on the goodness and mercy of

God--there may be all this, and yet no just sense of the meaning of

"everlasting life," no happy consciousness of being "a new

creation"--no understanding of the grand fact that the old Adam nature

is entirely set aside, the old condition in which we stood done away

in God's sight.

But it is more than probable that some of our readers may be at a loss

to know what is meant by such terms as "the old Adam nature"--"the old

condition"--"the flesh"--"the old man," and such like. These

expressions may fall strangely on the ears of those for whom we

specially write; and we certainly wish to avoid shooting over the

heads of our readers. As God is our witness, there is one thing we

earnestly desire, one object which we would ever keep before our

minds, and that is the instruction and edification of our readers; and

therefore we would rather run the risk of being tedious than make use

of phrases which convey no clear or intelligible idea to the mind.

Such terms as "the old man"--"the flesh," and the like, are used in

Scripture in manifold places: for example, in Rom. vi. we read, "Our

_old man_ is crucified with Him (Christ), that _the body of sin_ might

be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (ver. 6).

Now what does the apostle mean by the "old man"? We believe he means

man as in that Adam nature which we inherited from our first parents.

And what does he mean by "the body of sin"? We believe he means the

whole system or condition in which we stood in our unregenerate,

unrenewed, unconverted state. The old Adam, then, is declared to be

crucified--the old condition of sin is said to be destroyed

(annulled)--by the death of Christ. Hence the soul that believes on

the Lord Jesus Christ is privileged to know that he--his sinful,

guilty self--is looked upon by God as dead and set aside completely.

He has no more existence as such before God. He is dead and buried.

Observe, it is not merely that our sins are forgiven, our debts paid,

our guilt atoned for; but the man in the nature that committed the

sins, contracted the debts, and incurred the guilt, is put forever out

of God's sight. It is not God's way to forgive us our sins and yet

leave us in the same relations in which we committed them. No; He has,

in His marvelous grace and vast plan, condemned and abolished forever,

for the believer, the old Adam relationship, with all its belongings,

so that it is no longer recognized by Him. We are declared, by the

voice of holy Scripture, to be "crucified"--"dead"--"buried"--"risen"

with Christ. God tells us we are so, and we are to "_reckon_"

ourselves to be so. It is a matter of faith, and not of feeling. If I

look at myself from _my_ standpoint, or judge by my feelings, I shall

never, can never understand this truth. And why? Because I feel myself

to be just the same sinful creature as ever. I feel that there is sin

in me; that in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing; that my old

nature is in nowise changed or improved; that it has the same evil

tendencies as ever, and, if not mortified and kept down by the

gracious energy of the Holy Spirit, it will break out in its true

character.

And it is just here, we doubt not, that so many sincere souls are

perplexed and troubled. They are looking at themselves, and

_reasoning_ upon what they see and feel, instead of resting in the

truth of God, and _reckoning_ themselves to be what God tells them

they are. They find it difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile what

they feel in themselves with what they read in the word of God--to

make their inward self-consciousness harmonize with God's revelation.

But we must remember that faith takes God at His word. It ever thinks

with Him on all points. It believes what He says because He says it.

Hence, if God tells me that my old man is crucified, that He no longer

sees me as in the old Adam state, but in a risen Christ, I am to

believe, like a little child, what He tells me, and walk in the faith

of it from day to day. If I look in at myself for evidences of the

truth of what God says, it is not faith at all. Abraham "considered

not his own body, now dead, when he was about an hundred years old;

neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb; he staggered not at the

promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory

to God" (Rom. iv. 19, 20).

This is the great principle which underlies the whole Christian

system. "Abraham believed God," not something about God, but God

Himself. This is faith. It is taking God's thoughts in place of our

own. It is, in short, allowing God to think for us.

Now, when we apply this to the subject before us, it makes it most

simple. He that believeth in the Son of God hath everlasting life.

Mark, it is not he that believeth something about the Son of God. No,

it is he that believeth in Himself. It is a question of simple faith

in the person of Christ; and everyone that has this faith is the

actual possessor of everlasting life. This is the direct and positive

statement of our Lord in the Gospels. It is repeated over and over

again. Nor is this all. Not only does the believer thus possess

eternal life, but by the further light which the epistles throw upon

this grand question he may see that his old self--that which he was in

nature--that which the apostle designates "the old man"--is accounted

by God dead and buried. This may be difficult to understand; but the

reader must remember he must believe not because he understands, but

because it is written in God's word. It is not said, "Abraham

understood God." No; but he "believed God." It is when the heart

believes that light is poured in upon the understanding. If I wait

till I understand in order to believe, I am leaning to my own

understanding, instead of committing myself in childlike faith to

God's word.

Reader, ponder this! You may say you cannot understand how your sinful

self can be looked upon as dead and gone while you feel its workings,

its heavings, its tossings, its tendencies, continually within you. We

reply, or rather God's eternal Word declares, that if your heart

believes in Jesus, then is all this true for you, namely, you _have_

eternal life; you _are_ justified from all things; you _are_ a new

creation; old things _are_ passed away; _all_ things _are_ become new;

and _all_ things _are_ of God. In a word, you are "_in Christ_," and

"_as_ He is, so _are_ you in this world" (1 John iv. 17).

And is not this a great deal more than the mere pardoning of your

sins, the canceling of your debts, or the salvation of your soul from

hell? Assuredly it is. And suppose we were to ask you on what

authority you believe in the forgiveness of your sins. Is it because

you feel, realize, or understand? Nay; but because it is written, "To

Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever

believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins" (Acts x. 43). "The

blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John

i. 7). Well, then, upon precisely the same authority you are to

believe that your old man has been crucified, that you are not in the

flesh, not in the old creation, not in the old Adam relation; but

that, on the contrary, you are viewed by God as actually in a risen

and glorified Christ--that He looks upon you as He looks upon Christ.

True it is--alas, how true!--the flesh is in you, and you are still

here, as to the fact of your condition, in this old world, which is

under judgment. But then, hear what your Lord saith, when speaking

about you to His Father: "They are not of the world, even as I am not

of the world." And again, "As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even

so have I also sent them into the world."

Hence, therefore, if you will just bow to God's word, if you will

reason not about what you see in yourself, and feel in yourself, and

think of yourself, but simply _believe_ what God says, you will enter

into the blessed peace and holy liberty flowing from the fact that you

are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; not in the old creation, but

in the new; not under law, but under grace; not of the world, but of

God. You have passed clean off the old platform which you occupied as

a child of nature and a member of the first Adam, and you have taken

your place on a new platform altogether as a child of God and a member

of Christ.

All this is vividly prefigured by the deluge and the ark, in the days

of Noah. (See Gen. vi.-viii.) "And God looked upon the earth, and,

behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the

earth. And God said unto Noah, _The end of all flesh_ is come before

Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I

will destroy them with the earth." Here, then, was, in type, the end

of the old creation. All was to pass under the waters of judgment.

What then? "Make thee an ark of gopher wood." Here we have set forth a

figure of the new thing. That ark, floating peacefully over the dark

abyss of waters, was a type of Christ, and the believer in Him. The

old world, together with man, was buried beneath the waves of

judgment, and the only object that remained was the ark--the vessel of

mercy and salvation, riding in safety and triumph over the billows.

Thus it is now, in truth and reality. There is nothing before the eye

of God but a risen, victorious and glorified Christ, and His people

linked with Him. The end of _all_ flesh has come before God. It is not

a question of some very gross forms of "flesh," or of nature, of that

merely which is "vile and refuse." No; it is "the _end_ of _all_."

Such is the solemn, sweeping verdict; and then--what? A risen Christ.

Nothing else. All in Him are seen by God as He is seen. All out of Him

are under judgment. It all hinges upon this one question, "Am I in or

out of Christ?" What a question!

Reader, are you in Christ? Do you believe in His name? Have you given

Him the confidence of your heart? If so, you have "eternal life"--you

are "a new creature"--"old things are passed away." God does not see

a single shred of the old thing remaining for you. "All things are

become new, and all things are of God." You may say you do not _feel_

that old things are all passed away. We reply, God says they are, and

it is your happy privilege to _believe_ what He says, and "_reckon_"

yourself to be what He declares you are. God speaks according to that

which is true of you in Christ. He does not see you in the flesh, but

in Christ. There is absolutely nothing before the eye of God but

Christ: and the very weakest believer is viewed as part of Christ,

just as your hand is a part of your body. You have no existence before

God apart from Christ--no life--no righteousness--no holiness--no

wisdom--no power. Apart from Him, you have nothing, and can be

nothing. In Him you have all and are all, He says; you are thoroughly

identified with Christ. Marvelous fact! Profound mystery! Most

glorious truth! It is not a question of attainment or of progress. It

is the settled and absolute standing of the feeblest member of the

Church of God. True, there are various measures of intelligence,

experience, and devotedness; but there is only one life, one standing,

one position before God, and that is Christ. There is no such thing as

a higher or lower Christian life. Christ is the believer's life, and

you cannot speak of a higher or a lower Christ. We can understand the

higher stages of Christian life; but there is no spiritual

intelligence in speaking of a higher Christian life.