Let us ponder this fact. The scribes and Pharisees murmured because

Jesus received sinners. How little they understood Him! How little

they knew of the object that brought Him down into this dark and

sinful world! How little they knew of themselves! It was the "lost"

that Jesus came to seek. But scribes and Pharisees did not think

themselves lost. They thought they were all right. They did not want a

Saviour. They were thoroughly unbroken, unrepentant, self-confident:

and hence they had never afforded one atom of joy in heaven. All the

learning of the scribes, and all the righteousness of the Pharisees,

could not waken up a single note of joy in the presence of the angels

of God. They were like the elder son in the parable who said, "Lo,

these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time

thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make

merry with my friends."

Here we have a true specimen of an unbroken heart and an unrepentant

spirit--a man thoroughly satisfied with himself. Miserable object! He

had never touched a chord in the Father's heart--never drawn out the

Father's love--never felt the Father's embrace--never received the

Father's welcome. How could he? He had never felt himself lost. He was

full of himself, and therefore had no room for the Father's love. He

did not feel that he owed anything, and hence he had nothing to be

forgiven. It rather seemed to him that his father was his debtor. "Lo,

these many years do I serve thee; and yet thou never gavest me a kid."

He had not received his wages.

What egregious folly! And yet it is just the same with every

unrepentant soul--every one who is building upon his own

righteousness. He really makes God his debtor. "I have served Thee;

but I have never gotten what I earned." Miserable notion! The man who

talks of his duties, his doings, his sayings, his givings, is really

insulting God. But on the other hand, the man who comes with a broken

heart, a contrite spirit, repentant, self-judged--that is the man who

gives joy to the heart of God.

And why? Simply because such a one feels his need of God. Here lies

the grand moral secret of the whole matter. To apprehend this is to

grasp the full truth on the great question of repentance. A God of

love desires to make His way to the sinner's heart, but there is no

room for Him so long as that heart is hard and impenitent. But when

the sinner is brought to the end of himself, when he sees himself a

helpless, hopeless wreck, when he sees the utter emptiness, hollowness

and vanity of all earthly things; when like the prodigal he comes to

himself and feels the depth and reality of his need, then there is

room in his heart for God, and--marvelous truth!--God delights to come

and fill it. "To this man will I look." To whom? To the man who does

his duty, keeps the law, does his best, lives up to his light? Nay;

but "to him who is of a contrite spirit."

It will perhaps be said that the words just quoted apply to Israel.

Primarily, they do; but morally they apply to every contrite heart on

the face of the earth. And, further, it cannot be said that Luke xv.

applies specially to Israel. It applies to all. "There is joy in the

presence of the angels of God over one sinner that"--What? Does his

duty? Nay, it does not even say, "that believeth." No doubt believing

is essential in every case; but the interesting point here is that a

truly repentant sinner causes joy in heaven. A person may say, "I fear

I do not believe." Well, but do you repent? Have your eyes been opened

to see your true condition before God? Have you taken your true place

before God as utterly lost? If so, you are one of those over whom

there is joy in heaven. What gave joy to the shepherd's heart? Was it

the ninety and nine sheep that went not astray? Nay, it was finding

the lost sheep.[17] What gave joy to the woman's heart? Was it the

nine pieces in her possession? Nay, it was finding the one lost piece.

What gave joy to the father's heart? Was it the service and the

obedience of the elder son? Nay, it was getting back his lost son. A

repentant, broken-hearted, returning sinner wakens up heaven's joy.

"Let _us_ eat and be merry." Why? Because the elder son has been

working in the fields and doing his duty? No; but "This my son was

_dead_, and is alive again; he was _lost_, and is found."

[17] Let the reader note that the "ninety and nine just persons that

need no repentance" and the elder son that "never transgressed his

father's commandment" is the expression of their own thoughts as to

themselves. When _God's_ judgment of man is expressed, the Scriptures

declare, "There is none righteous, no, not one.... They are all gone

out of the way; ... there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Rom.

iii. 10, 12).--_Ed._

All this is perfectly wonderful. Indeed, it is so wonderful that if we

had it not from the lips of Him who is the Truth, and on the eternal

page of divine inspiration, we could not believe it. But, blessed be

God, there it stands, and none can gainsay it. There shines the

glorious truth that a poor, self-convicted, broken-hearted, penitent,

though hell-deserving sinner, gives joy to the heart of God. Let

people talk as they will about keeping the law and doing their duty:

it may go for what it is worth; but be it remembered there is no such

clause within the covers of the volume of God--no such sentence ever

dropped from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ as "There is joy in

heaven over one sinner that does his duty."

_A sinner's duty!_ What is it? "God commandeth _all_ men _everywhere_

to repent." What is it that can really define our duty? Surely the

divine command. Well, here it is, and there is no getting over it.

God's command to all men, in every place, is to repent. His

commandment binds them to do it; His goodness leads them to it; His

judgment warns them to it; and, above all, and most marvelous of all,

He assures us that our repentance gives joy to His heart. A penitent

heart is an object of profoundest interest to the mind of God, because

that heart is morally prepared to receive what God delights to bestow,

namely, "remission of sins"--yea, all the fulness of divine love. A

man might spend millions in the cause of religion and philanthropy,

and not afford one atom of joy in heaven. What are millions of money

to God? A single penitential tear is more precious to Him than all the

wealth of the universe. All the offerings of an unbroken heart are a

positive insult to God; but a single sigh from the depths of a

contrite spirit goes up as fragrant incense to His throne and to His

heart.

No man can meet God on the ground of duty; but God can meet any

man--the very chief of sinners--on the ground of repentance, for that

is man's true place; and we may say with all possible confidence that

when the sinner, as he is, meets God as He is, the whole question is

settled once and forever. "I said, _I will confess_ my transgressions

unto the Lord, and _Thou forgavest_ the iniquity of my sin." The

moment man takes his true place--the place of repentance--God meets

him with a full forgiveness, a divine and everlasting righteousness.

It is His joy to do so. It gratifies His heart and it glorifies His

name to pardon, justify and accept a penitent soul that simply

believes in Jesus. The very moment the prophet cried, "Woe is me; for

I am undone,"--"Then _flew_ one of the seraphims with a live coal from

off the altar," to touch his lips, and to purge his sins (Isa. vi.

5-7).

Thus it is always. The fulness of God ever waits on an empty vessel.

If I am full of myself, full of my own fancied goodness, my own

morality, my own righteousness, I have no room for God, no room for

Christ. "He filleth the _hungry_ with good things; but the _rich_ He

hath sent _empty_ away." A self-emptied soul can be filled with the

fulness of God; but if God sends a man empty away, whither can he go

to be filled? All Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, goes to prove

the deep blessedness as well as the moral necessity of repentance. It

is the grand turning-point in the soul's history--a great moral epoch

which sheds its influence over the whole of one's after life. It is

not, we repeat, a transient exercise, but an abiding moral condition.

We are not now speaking of how repentance is produced; we are speaking

of what it is according to Scripture, and of the absolute need of it

for every creature under heaven. It is the sinner's true place; and

when through grace he takes it, he is met by the fulness of God's

salvation.

And here we see the lovely connection between the first and second

clauses of "the great commission," namely, "repentance and remission

of sins." They are inseparably linked together. It is not that the

most profound and genuine repentance forms the meritorious ground of

remission of sins. To say or to think so would be to set aside the

atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, for in that, and _in that alone_,

have we the divine ground on which God can righteously forgive us our

sins. This we shall see more fully when we come to consider the

"_basis_" of "the great commission." We are now occupied with the

commission itself; and in it we see those two divinely settled facts,

repentance and remission of sins. The holy apostles of our Lord and

Saviour were charged to preach among all nations--to declare in the

ears of every creature under heaven "repentance and remission of

sins." Every man, be he Jew or Gentile, is absolutely commanded by God

to repent; and every repentant soul is privileged to receive, on the

spot, the full and everlasting remission of sins. And we may add, the

deeper and more abiding the work of repentance, the deeper and more

abiding will be the enjoyment of remission of sins. The contrite soul

lives in the very atmosphere of divine forgiveness; and as it inhales

that atmosphere, it shrinks with ever-increasing horror from sin in

every shape and form.

Let us turn for a moment to the Acts of the Apostles, and see how

Christ's ambassadors carried out the second part of His blessed

commission. Hear the apostle of the circumcision addressing the Jews

on the day of Pentecost. We cannot attempt to quote the whole of his

address; we merely give the few words of application at the close.

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath

made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ."

Here the preacher bears down upon the consciences of his hearers with

the solemn fact that they had proved themselves to be at issue with

God Himself about His Christ. What a tremendous fact! It was not

merely that they had broken the law, rejected the prophets, refused

the testimony of John the Baptist; but they had actually crucified the

Lord of glory, the eternal Son of God. "Now when they heard this,

they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest

of the apostles, Men, brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto

them, _Repent_, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus

Christ, for _the remission of sins_, and ye shall receive the gift of

the Holy Ghost" (Acts ii. 36-38).

Here are the two parts of the great commission brought out in all

their distinctness and power. The people are charged with the most

awful sin that could be committed, namely, the murder of the Son of

God; they are called upon to repent, and assured of full remission of

sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. What wondrous grace shines forth

in all this! The very people that had mocked and insulted the Son of

God, and crucified Him, even these, if truly repentant, were assured

of the complete pardon of all their sins, and of this crowning sin

amongst the rest. Such is the wondrous grace of God--such the mighty

efficacy of the blood of Christ--such the clear and authoritative

testimony of the Holy Ghost--such the glorious terms of "the great

commission."

But let us turn for a moment to Acts iii. Here the preacher, after

charging his hearers with this awful act of wickedness against God,

even the rejection and murder of His Son, adds these remarkable words:

"And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did

also your rulers. But those things, which God before had showed by the

mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, _He hath so

fulfilled._ _Repent ye_ therefore, and be converted, that _your sins

may be blotted out_."

It is not possible to conceive anything higher or fuller than the

grace that shines out here. It is a part of the divine response to the

prayer of Christ on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know

not what they do." This surely is royal grace. It is victorious

grace--grace reigning through righteousness. It was impossible that

such a prayer should fall to the ground. It was answered in part on

the day of Pentecost, It will be answered in full at a future day, for

"All Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of

Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."

But mark particularly the words "Those things which God before had

shewed ... He hath so fulfilled." Here the preacher brings in God's

side of the matter: and this is salvation. To see only man's part in

the cross would be eternal judgment. To see God's part, and to rest in

it is eternal life, full remission of sins, divine righteousness,

everlasting glory.

The reader will doubtless be reminded here of the touching scene

between Joseph and his brethren. There is a striking analogy between

Acts iii. and Genesis xiv. "Now therefore," says Joseph, "be not

grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God

did send me before you to preserve life.... And God sent me before you

to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a

great deliverance. _So now it was not you that sent me hither, but

God._"

But when were these words uttered? Not until the guilty brethren had

felt and owned their guilt. Repentance preceded the remission. "They

said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in

that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would

not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us." Joseph "spake

roughly" to his brethren at the first. He brought them through deep

waters, and made them feel and confess their guilt. But the very

moment they took the ground of repentance, he took the ground of

forgiveness. The penitent brethren were met by a pardoning Joseph, and

the whole house of Pharaoh was made to ring with the joy which filled

the heart of Joseph on getting back to his bosom the very men that had

flung him into the pit.

What an illustration of "repentance and remission of sins!" It is ever

thus. It is the joy of the heart of God to forgive us our sins. He

delights in causing the full tide of His pardoning love to flow into

the broken and contrite heart.

Yes, beloved reader, if you have been brought to feel the burden of

your guilt, then be assured it is your privilege this very moment to

receive a divine and everlasting remission of all your sins. The blood

of Jesus Christ has perfectly settled the question of your guilt, and

you are now invited to rejoice in the God of your salvation.

PART III.

We shall now turn for a few moments to the ministry of the apostle of

the Gentiles, and see how he fulfilled the great commission. We have

already heard him on the subject of "repentance." Let us hear him also

on the great question of "remission of sins."

Paul was not of the twelve. He did not receive his commission from

Christ on earth, but, as he himself distinctly and repeatedly tells

us, from Christ in heavenly glory. Some have spent not a little time

and pains in laboring to prove that he was of the twelve, and that the

election of Matthias in Acts i. was a mistake. But it is labor sadly

wasted, and only proves an entire misunderstanding of Paul's position

and ministry. He was raised up for a special object, and made the

depositary of a special truth which had never been made known to any

one before, namely, the truth of the Church--the one body composed of

Jew and Gentile, incorporated by the Holy Ghost, and linked, by His

personal indwelling, to the risen and glorified Head in heaven.

Paul received his own special commission, of which he gives a very

beautiful statement in his address to Agrippa, in Acts xxvi.,

"Whereupon, as I went to Damascus, with authority and commission from

the chief priests,"--what a different "commission" he received ere he

entered Damascus!--"at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from

heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and

them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the

earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew

tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? it is hard for thee to

kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And He said,

I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." Here the glorious truth of the

intimate union of believers with the glorified Man in heaven, though

not stated, is beautifully and forcibly implied. "But rise, and stand

upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make

thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast

seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

delivering thee from the people and the Gentiles, unto whom now I send

thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and

from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of

sins" (the same word as in the commission to the twelve in Luke xxiv.)

"and inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith that is in

Me."[18]

[18] "By faith" is connected with remission of sins and inheritance

among the sanctified.

What depth and fulness in these words! What a comprehensive statement

of man's condition! What a blessed presentation of the resources of

divine grace! There is a very remarkable harmony between this

commission to Paul and that to the twelve in Luke xxiv. It will

perhaps be said there is nothing about repentance. True, the word does

not occur; but we have the moral reality, and that with singular force

and fulness. What mean the words, "_To open their eyes?_" Do they not

most certainly involve the discovery of our condition? Assuredly. A

man who has his eyes opened is brought to the knowledge of himself,

the knowledge of his condition, the knowledge of his ways; and this is

true repentance. It is a wonderful moment in a man's history when his

eyes are opened. It is the grand crisis, the momentous epoch, the one

turning-point. Till then he is blind--morally and spiritually blind.

He cannot see a single divine object. He has no perception of anything

pertaining to God, to Christ, to heaven.

This is truly humbling to proud human nature. Think of a clear-headed,

highly educated, deeply learned, intellectual man, a profound thinker,

a powerful reasoner, a thorough philosopher, who has won the honors,

the medals, the degrees, that this world's universities can bestow;

and yet he is blind to everything spiritual, heavenly, divine. He

gropes in moral darkness. He thinks he sees, assumes the right to

judge and pronounce upon things, even upon Scripture and upon God

Himself. He undertakes to decide what is fitting for God to say and to

do. He sets up his own mind as the measure in the things of God. He

reasons upon immortality, upon eternal life, and eternal punishment.

He deems himself perfectly competent to give judgment in reference to

all these solemn and weighty matters; and all the while his eyes have

never been opened. How much is his judgment worth? Nothing! Who would

take the opinion of a man who, if his eyes were only opened, would

reverse that opinion in reference to everything heavenly and divine?

Who would think for a moment of being guided by a blind man?

But how do we know that every man in his natural, unconverted state is

blind? Because, according to Paul's commission, the very first thing

which the gospel is to do for him is "to open his eyes." This proves,

beyond all question, that he must be blind. Paul was sent to the

people and to the Gentiles--that is, to the whole human family--to

open their eyes. This proves, to a divine demonstration, that all are

by nature blind.

But there is more than this. Man is not only blind, but he is in

"darkness." Supposing for a moment that a person has his eyesight, of

what use is it to him if he is in the dark? It is the double statement

as to man's state and position. As to his state, he is blind. As to

his position, he is in darkness; and when his eyes are opened, and

divine light streams in upon his soul, he then judges himself and his

ways according to God. He sees his folly, his guilt, his rebellion,

his wild, infidel reasonings, his foolish notions, the vanity of his

mind, his pride and ambition, his selfishness and worldliness--all

these things are judged and abhorred. He repents, and turns right

round to the One who has opened his eyes and poured in a flood of

living light upon his heart and conscience.

But, further, not only is man--every man--Jew and Gentile, blind and

in darkness, but, as if to give the climax of all, he is under the

power of Satan. This gives a terrible idea of man's condition. He is

the slave of the devil. He does not believe this. He imagines himself

free--thinks he is his own master--fancies he can go where he pleases,

do what he likes, think for himself, speak and act as an independent

being. But he is the bondslave of another, he is sold under sin, Satan

is his lord and master. Thus Scripture speaks, and it cannot be

broken. Man may refuse to believe, but that cannot in the least change

the fact. A condemned criminal at the bar may refuse to believe the

testimony from the witness table, the verdict from the jury-box, the

sentence from the bench; but that in nowise alters his terrible

condition. He is a condemned criminal all the same. So with man as a

sinner; he may refuse the plain testimony of Scripture, but that

testimony remains notwithstanding. Even if the thousand millions that

people this globe were to deny the truth of God's word, that Word

would still stand unmoved. Scripture does not depend for its truth

upon man's belief. It is true whether he believes it or not. Blessed

forever is the man who believes; doomed forever is the man who refuses

to believe; but the word of God is settled forever in heaven, and it

is to be received on its own authority, apart from all human thoughts

for or against it.

This is a grand fact, and one demanding the profound attention of

every soul. Everything depends upon it. The word of God claims our

belief because it is His word. If we want any authority to confirm the

truth of God's word, we are in reality rejecting God's word

altogether, and resting on man's word. A man may say, "How do I know

that the Bible is the word of God?" We reply, It carries its own

divine credentials with it; and if these credentials do not convince,

all the human authority under the sun is perfectly worthless. If the

whole population of the earth were to stand before me, and assure me

of the truth of God's word, and that I were to believe on their

authority, it would not be saving faith at all. It would be faith in

men, and not faith in God; but the faith that saves is the faith that

believes what God says because God says it.

It is not that we undervalue human testimony, or reject what are

called the external evidences of the truth of the Holy Scripture. All

these things must go for what they are worth; they are by no means

essential in laying the foundation of saving faith. We are perfectly

sure that all genuine history, all true science, all sound human

evidence, must go to establish the divine authenticity of the Bible;

but we do not rest our faith upon them, but upon the Scriptures to

which they bear witness; for if all human evidence, all science, and

every page of history, were to speak against Scripture, we should

utterly and absolutely reject them; reverently and implicitly believe

it. Is this narrow? Be it so. It is the blessed narrowness in which we

gladly find our peace and our portion forever. It is the narrowness

that refuses to admit the weight of a feather as an addition to the

word of God. If this be narrowness,--we repeat it with emphasis, and

from the very centre of our ransomed being,--let it be ours forever.

If to be broad we must look to man to confirm the truth of God's word,

then away with such broadness; it is the broad way that leadeth

straight down to hell. No, reader, your life, your salvation, your

everlasting peace, blessedness and glory, depend upon your taking God

at His word, and believing what He says because He says it. This is

faith--living, saving, precious faith. May you possess it!

God's word, then, most distinctly declares that man in his natural,

unrenewed, unconverted state is Satan's bondslave. It speaks of Satan

as "the god of this world," as "the prince of the power of the air,

the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." It

speaks of man as "led captive by the devil at his will." Hence, in

Paul's commission, the third thing which the gospel is to do is to

turn man from "the power of Satan to God." Thus his eyes are opened;

divine light comes streaming in; the power of Satan is broken, and the

delivered one finds himself, peacefully and happily, in the presence

of God. Like the demoniac in Mark v., he is delivered from his

ruthless tyrant, his cruel master; his chains are broken and gone; he

is clothed and in his right mind, and sitting at the feet of Jesus.

What a glorious deliverance! It is worthy of God in every aspect of

it, and in all its results. The poor blind slave, led captive by the

devil, is set free; and not only so, but he is brought to God,

pardoned, accepted, and endowed with an eternal inheritance among the

sanctified. And all this is by faith, through grace. It is proclaimed

in the gospel of God to every creature under heaven--not one is

excluded. The great commission, whether we read it in Luke xxiv. or in

Acts xxvi., assures us that this most precious, most glorious

salvation is unto all.

Let us, ere we close this paper, listen for a moment to our apostle as

he discharges his blessed commission in the synagogue at Antioch of

Pisidia. Most gladly would we transcribe the whole of his precious

discourse, but our limited space compels us to confine ourselves to

the powerful appeal at the end. "Be it known unto you therefore, men

and brethren, that through THIS MAN" (Jesus Christ, crucified, risen,

and glorified) "is preached"--not promised in the future, but preached

_now_, announced as a present reality--is preached "_unto you_ the

remission of sins. And by Him all who believe ARE justified from _all

things_, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."

From these words we learn, in the clearest possible manner, that every

soul in that synagogue was called upon, there and then, to receive

into his heart the blessed message which fell from the preacher's

lips. Not one was excluded. "_Unto you_ is the word of this salvation

sent." If any one had asked the apostle if the message was intended

for him, what would have been the reply? "Unto _you_ is the word of

this salvation sent." Was there no preliminary question to be settled?

Not one. All the preliminaries had been settled at the cross. Was

there no question as to election or predestination? Not a syllable

about either in the whole range of this magnificent and comprehensive

discourse.

But is there no such question? Not in that "great commission" whereof

we speak. No doubt the grand truth of election shines in its proper

place on the page of inspiration. But what is its proper and divinely

appointed place? Most assuredly not in the preaching of the

evangelist, but in the ministry of the teacher or pastor. When the

apostle sits down to instruct believers, we hear such words as these:

"Whom He did foreknow, He also did _predestinate_." And again:

"Knowing, brethren beloved, your _election_ of God."

But let it never be lost sight of, when he stands up as an ambassador

of Christ, the herald of salvation, he proclaims in the most absolute

and unqualified manner a present, a personal, a perfect salvation to

every creature under heaven; and every one who heard him was

responsible there and then to believe. And every one who reads him now

is equally so. If any one had presumed to tell the preacher that his

hearers were not responsible, that they were powerless, and could not

believe--that it was only deceiving them to call upon them to

believe--what would have been his reply? We think we are warranted in

saying that a full and overwhelming reply to this, and every such

preposterous objection, is wrapped up in the solemn appeal with which

the apostle closes his address, "_Beware_, therefore, lest that come

upon you which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and

wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye

shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you."

PART IV.

Having in the former papers dwelt a little upon the _terms_ of "the

great commission," we shall now, in dependence upon divine teaching,

seek to unfold the truth as to the _basis_. It is of the greatest

importance to have a clear understanding of the solid ground on which

"repentance and remission of sins" are announced to every creature

under heaven. This we have distinctly laid down in our Lord's own

words, "_It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the

third day_."

Here lies, in its impregnable strength, the foundation of the glorious

commission whereof we speak. God--blessed forever be His holy

name--has been pleased to set before us with all possible clearness

the moral ground on which He commands all men everywhere to repent,

and the righteous ground on which He can proclaim to every repentant

soul the perfect remission of sins.

We have already had occasion to guard the reader against the false

notion that any amount of repentance on the part of the sinner could

possibly form the meritorious ground of forgiveness. But inasmuch as

we write for those who may be ignorant of the foundations of the

gospel, we feel bound to put things in the very simplest possible

form, so that all may understand. We know how prone the human heart

is to build upon something of our own--if not upon good works, at

least upon our penitential exercises. Hence, it becomes our bounden

duty to set forth the precious truth of the atoning work of our Lord

Jesus Christ as the only righteous ground of the forgiveness of sins.

True, all men are commanded to repent. It is meet and right that they

should. How could it be otherwise? How can we look at that accursed

tree on which the Son of God bore the judgment of sin and not see the

absolute necessity of repentance? How can we hearken to that solemn

cry breaking forth from amid the shadows of Calvary, "My God, My God,

why hast Thou forsaken Me?" and not own, from the deepest depths of

our moral being, the moral fitness of repentance? If indeed sin is so

terrible, so absolutely hateful to God, so perfectly intolerable to

His holy nature, that He had to bruise His well beloved and only

begotten Son on the cross in order to put it away, does it not well

become the sinner to judge himself, and repent in dust and ashes? Had

the blessed Lord to endure the hiding of God's countenance because of

our sins, and we not be broken, self-judged and subdued on account of

these sins? Shall we with impenitent heart hear the glad tidings of

full and free forgiveness of sins--a forgiveness which cost nothing

less than the unutterable horrors and agonies of the cross? Shall we,

with flippant tongue, profess to have peace--a peace purchased by the

ineffable sufferings of the Son of God? If it was absolutely

necessary that Christ should suffer for our sins, is it not morally

fitting that we should repent of them?

Nor is this all. It is not merely that it becomes us, once in a way,

to repent. There is far more than this. The spirit of self-judgment,

genuine contrition and true humility must characterize every one who

enters at all into the profound mystery of the sufferings of Christ.

Indeed, it is only as we contemplate and deeply ponder those

sufferings that we can form anything approaching to a just estimate of

the hatefulness of sin on the one hand, and the divine fulness and

perfectness of remission on the other. Such was the hatefulness of

sin, that it was absolutely necessary that Christ should suffer;

but--all praise to redeeming love!--such were the sufferings of

Christ, that God can forgive us our sins according to the infinite

value which He attaches to those sufferings. Both go together; and

both, we may add, exert a formative influence, under the powerful

ministry of the Holy Ghost, on the Christian character from first to

last. Our sins are all forgiven; but "it behooved Christ to suffer;"

and hence, while our peace flows like a river, we must never forget

the soul-subduing fact that the basis of our peace was laid in the

ineffable sufferings of the Son of God.

This is most needful, owing to the excessive levity of our hearts. We

are ready enough to receive the truth of the remission of sins, and

then go on in an easy, self-indulgent, world-loving spirit, thus

proving how feebly we enter into the sufferings of our blessed Lord,

or into the real nature of sin. All this is truly deplorable, and

calls for the deepest exercise of soul. There is a sad lack amongst us

of that real brokenness of spirit which ought to characterize those

who owe their present peace and everlasting felicity and glory to the

sufferings of Christ. We are light, frivolous, and self-willed. We

avail ourselves of the death of Christ to save us from the

consequences of our sins, but our ways do not exhibit the practical

effect of that death in its application to ourselves. We do not walk

as those who are dead with Christ--who have crucified the flesh with

its affections and lusts--who are delivered from this present evil

world. In a word, our Christianity is sadly deficient in depth of

tone; it is shallow, feeble, and stunted. We profess to know a great

deal of truth; but it is to be feared it is too much in

theory--therefore not turned to practical account as it should be.

It may, perhaps, be asked, What has all this to do with "the great

commission?" It has to do with it in a very intimate way. We are

deeply impressed with a sense of the superficial way in which the work

of evangelization is carried on at the present day. Not only are the

_terms_ of the great commission overlooked, but the _basis_ seems to

be little understood. The sufferings of Christ are not duly dwelt upon

and unfolded. The atoning work of Christ is presented in its

sufficiency for the sinner's need--and no doubt this is a signal

mercy. We have to be profoundly thankful when preachers and writers

hold up the precious blood of Christ as the sinner's only plea,

instead of preaching up rites, ceremonies, sacraments, good works

(falsely so called), creeds, churches, religious ordinances, and

such-like delusions.

All this is most fully admitted. But at the same time we must give

expression to our deep and solemn conviction that much of our modern

evangelical preaching is extremely shallow and bald; and the result of

that preaching is seen in the light, airy, flippant style of many of

our so-called converts. Some of us seem so intensely anxious to make

everything so easy and simple for the sinner that the preaching

becomes extremely one-sided.

Thanks be to God, He has indeed made all easy and simple for the

needy, broken-hearted, penitent sinner. He has left him nothing to do,

nothing to give. It is "to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him

that justifieth the ungodly." It is not possible for any evangelist to

go too far in stating this side of the question. No one can go beyond

Rom. iv. 5 in setting forth salvation by free grace, through faith,

without works of any sort or description.

But then, we must remember that the blessed apostle Paul--the greatest

evangelist that ever lived, except his divine Master--did not confine

himself to this one side; and neither should we. He pressed the claims

of divine holiness. He called upon sinners to judge themselves, and he

called upon believers to subdue and deny themselves. He did not

preach a gospel that left people at ease in the world, satisfied with

themselves, and occupied with earthly things. He did not tell people

that they were saved from the flames of hell and were therefore free

to enjoy the follies of earth.

This was not Paul's gospel. He preached a gospel which, while it fully

met the sinner's deepest need, did also most fully maintain God's

glory--a gospel which, while it came down to the very lowest point of

the sinner's condition, did not leave him there. Paul's gospel not

only set forth a full, clear, unqualified, unconditional, present

_forgiveness of sins_, but also, just as fully and clearly, the

_condemnation of sin_, and the believer's entire deliverance from this

present evil world. The death of Christ, in Paul's gospel, not only

assured the soul of complete deliverance from the just consequences of

sins, as seen in the judgment of God in the lake of fire, but it also

set forth, with magnificent fulness and clearness, the complete

snapping of every link with the world, and entire deliverance from the

present power and rule of sin.

Now, here is precisely where the lamentable deficiency and culpable

one-sidedness of our modern preaching are so painfully manifest. The

gospel which one often hears nowadays is, if we may be allowed the use

of such a term, a carnal, earthly, worldly gospel. It offers a kind of

ease, but it is fleshly, worldly ease. It gives confidence, but it is

rather a carnal confidence than the confidence of faith. It is not a

delivering gospel. It leaves people in the world, instead of bringing

them to God.

And what must be the result of all this? We can hardly bear to

contemplate it. We greatly fear that, should our Lord tarry, the fruit

of much of what is going on around us will be a terrible combination

of the very highest profession with the very lowest practice. It

cannot be otherwise. High truth taken up in a light, carnal spirit

tends to lull the conscience and quash all godly exercise of soul as

to our habits and ways in daily life. In this way people escape from

legality only to plunge into levity, and truly the last state is worse

than the first.

We earnestly hope that the Christian reader may not feel unduly

depressed by the perusal of these lines. God knows we would not pen a

line to discourage the feeblest lamb in all the precious flock of

Christ. We desire to write in the divine presence. We have entreated

the Lord that every line of this paper, and of all our papers, should

come directly from Himself to the reader.

Hence, therefore, we must ask the reader--and we do so most faithfully

and affectionately--to ponder what is here put before him. We cannot

hide from him the fact that we are most seriously impressed with the

condition of things around us. We feel that the tone and aspect of

much of the so-called Christianity of this our day are such as to

awaken the gravest apprehension in the mind of every thoughtful

observer. We perceive a terribly rapid development of the features of

the last days, as detailed by the pen of inspiration. "This know also

that, in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be

_lovers of their own selves_, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,

_disobedient to parents_, unthankful, unholy, without natural

affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,

_despisers of those that are good_, traitors, _heady, high-minded,

lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of

godliness, but denying the power thereof_: from such turn away" (2

Tim. iii. 1-5).

What an appalling picture! How solemn to find the same evils that

characterize the heathen, as recorded in Rom. i., reproduced in

connection with the profession of Christianity! Should not the thought

of this awaken the most serious apprehensions in the mind of every

Christian? Should it not lead all who are engaged in the holy service

of preaching and teaching amongst us to examine themselves closely as

to the tone and character of their ministry, and as to their own

private walk and ways? We want a more searching style of ministry on

the part of evangelists and teachers. There is a lack of hortatory and

prophetic ministry. By prophetic ministry we mean that which brings

the conscience into the immediate presence of God. (See 1 Cor. xiv.

1-3, 23-26.)

In this we are lamentably deficient. There is a vast amount of

objective truth in circulation amongst us--more, perhaps, than ever

since the days of the apostles. Books and periodicals by hundreds and

thousands, tracts by thousands and millions, are sent forth annually.

Do we object to this? Nay; we bless God for it. But we cannot shut our

eyes to the fact that by far the largest proportion of this vast mass

of literature is addressed to the intelligence, and not enough to the

heart and conscience. Now, while it is quite right to enlighten the

understanding, it is quite wrong to neglect the heart and conscience.

We feel it to be a most serious thing to allow the intelligence to

outstrip the conscience--to have more truth in the head than in the

heart--to profess principles which do not govern the practice. Nothing

can be more dangerous. It tends to place us directly in the hands of

Satan. If the conscience be not kept tender, if the heart be not

governed by the fear of God, if a broken and contrite spirit be not

cultivated, there is no telling what depths we may plunge into. When

the conscience is kept in a sound condition, and the heart is humble

and true, then every fresh ray of light that shines in upon the

understanding ministers strength to the soul and tends to elevate and

sanctify our whole moral being.

This is what every earnest spirit must crave. All true-hearted

Christians must long for increased personal holiness, more likeness to

Christ, more genuine devotedness of heart, a deepening, strengthening

and expanding of the kingdom of God in the soul--that kingdom which is

righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

May we all have grace to seek after these divine realities! May we

diligently cultivate them in our own private life, and seek in every

possible way to promote them in all those with whom we come in

contact! Thus shall we in some measure stem the tide of hollow

profession around us, and be a living testimony against the powerless

_form_ of godliness so sadly dominant in this our day.

Christian reader! art thou one with us in this current of thought and

feeling? If so, then let us most earnestly entreat thee to join us in

earnest prayer to God that He will graciously raise our spiritual tone

by drawing us closer to Himself, and filling our hearts with love to

Him and earnest desire for the promotion of His glory, the progress of

His cause, and the prosperity of His people.

PART V.

In pursuing our subject, we have yet to consider the _authority_ and

the _sphere_ of "the great commission;" but ere proceeding to treat of

these we must dwell a little longer on the _basis_. The commission is

truly a great one, and would need a solid foundation on which to rest

it; and such it has, blessed be God, in the atoning death of His Son.

Nothing less than this could sustain such a magnificent fabric; but

the grace that planned the commission has also laid the foundation; so

that a full remission of sins can be preached among all nations,

inasmuch as God has been glorified, in the death of Christ, as to the

entire question of sin.

This is a grand point for the reader to seize. It lies at the very

foundation of the Christian system. It is the keystone of the arch of

divine revelation. God has been glorified as to sin. His judgment has

been executed upon it. The claims of His throne have been vindicated

as to it. The insult offered to His divine majesty has been flung back

in the enemy's face. If the sweet story of remission of sins had never

fallen upon a human ear or entered a human heart, the divine glory

would none the less have been most perfectly maintained. The Lord

Jesus Christ did, by His most precious death, wipe off the stain which

the enemy sought to cast upon the eternal glory of God. A testimony

has been given in the Cross, to all created intelligence, as to God's

thoughts about sin. It can there be seen, with all possible clearness,

that a single trace of sin can never enter the precincts of the divine

presence. God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on

iniquity. Sin, wherever found, must be met by divine judgment.

Where, we may ask, does all this come most fully and forcibly out?

Assuredly in the Cross. Harken to that solemn and most mysterious cry,

"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" What means this wondrous

inquiry? Who is the speaker? Is he one of Adam's fallen posterity? Is

he a sinner? Surely not; for were he such, there would be no moral

force whatever in the question. There never was a sinner on the face

of this earth who, so far as he was personally concerned, did not

richly deserve to be forsaken of a holy, sin-hating God. This must

never be forgotten. Some people entertain most foolish notions as to

this point. They have, in their own vain imagination, invented a god

to suit themselves--one who will not punish sin--one who is so tender,

so kind, so benevolent, that he will connive at evil and pass it over

as though it were nothing.

Now, nothing is more certain than that this god of the human

imagination is a false one, just as false as any of the idols of the

heathen. The God of the Bible, the God of Christianity, the God whom

we see at the cross, is not like this. Men may reason as they will;

but sin must be condemned--it must be met by the just and inflexible

judgment of a sin-hating God.

But we repeat the question, Who uttered those words at the opening of

Psa. xxii.? If he was not a sinner, who was he? Wonderful to declare,

He was the only spotless, perfectly holy, pure and sinless Man that

ever trod this earth. He was more. He was the eternal Son of the

Father, the object of God's ineffable delight, who had dwelt in His

bosom from all eternity, "the brightness of His glory and the exact

expression of His substance."

And yet He was forsaken of God! yes, that holy and perfect One, who

knew no sin, whose human nature was absolutely free from every taint,

who never had a single thought, never uttered a single word, never did

a single act that was not in the most perfect harmony with the mind of

God; whose whole life, from Bethlehem to Calvary, was a perfect

sacrifice of sweetest odor presented to the heart of God. Again and

again we see heaven opening upon Him, and the voice of the Father is

heard giving expression to His infinite complacency in the Son of His

bosom. And yet, He it is whose voice is heard in that bitter cry, "My

God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

Marvelous question! It stands alone in the annals of eternity. No such

question had ever been asked before; no such question has ever been

asked since; and no such question can ever be asked again. Whether we

consider the One who asked the question, or the One of whom it was

asked, or the answer, we must admit that it is perfectly unique. That

God should forsake such an One is the most profound and marvelous

mystery that could possibly engage the attention of men or angels.

Human reason cannot fathom its depths. No created intelligence can

comprehend its mighty compass.

Yet there it stands, a stupendous fact before the eye of faith. Our

blessed Lord Himself assures us that it was absolutely necessary.

"Thus it is written, and thus it _behooved_ Christ to suffer." But why

was it necessary? Why should the only perfect, sinless, spotless Man

have to suffer? Why should He be forsaken of God? The glory of God,

the eternal counsels of redeeming love, man's guilty, ruined, helpless

condition--all these things rendered it indispensable that Christ

should suffer. There was no other way in which the divine glory could

be maintained; no other way in which the claims of the throne of God

could be answered; no other way in which heaven's majesty could be

vindicated; no other way in which the eternal purposes of love could

be made good; no other way in which sin could be fully atoned for, and

finally taken away out of God's creation; no other way in which sins

could be forgiven; no other way in which Satan and all the powers of

darkness could be thoroughly vanquished; no other way in which God

could be just, and yet the Justifier of any poor ungodly sinner; no

other way in which death could be deprived of its sting, or the grave

of its victory; no other way in which any or all of these grand

results could be reached save by the sufferings and death of our

adorable Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.

But, blessed forever be His holy name, He went through it all. He went

down under the heavy billows and waves of God's righteous wrath

against sin. He took the sinner's place, stood in his stead, sustained

the judgment, paid the penalty, died the death, answered every

question, met every demand, vanquished every foe; and having done all,

He ascended into the heavens and took His seat on the throne of God,

where He is now crowned with glory and honor as the divine and

all-glorious Accomplisher of the entire work of man's redemption.

Such, then, reader, is the _basis_ of "the great commission" whereof

we speak. Need we wonder at the _terms_, when we contemplate the

basis? Can there be anything too good, anything too great, anything

too glorious, for the God of all grace to bestow upon us poor sinners

of the Gentiles, seeing He has been so fully glorified in the death of

Christ? That most precious death furnishes a divinely righteous ground

on which our God can indulge the deep and everlasting love of His

heart in the perfect remission of our sins. It has removed out of the

way every barrier to the full flood-tide of redeeming love which can

now flow through a perfectly righteous channel, to the very vilest

sinner that repents and believes in Jesus. A Saviour-God can now

publish a full and immediate remission of sins to every creature under

heaven. There is positively no hindrance. God has been glorified as

to the question of sin; and the time is coming when every trace of sin

shall be forever obliterated from His fair creation, and those words

of John the Baptist shall have their full accomplishment, "Behold the

Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." Meanwhile, the

heralds of salvation are commanded to go forth to the ends of the

earth and publish, without let or limitation, perfect remission of

sins to every soul that believes. It is the joy of God's heart to

pardon sins; and it is due to the One who bore the judgment of sin on

the cross that in His name forgiveness of sins should be thus freely

published, fully received, and abidingly enjoyed.

But what of those who reject this glorious message--who shut their

ears against it and turn away their hearts from it? This is the solemn

question. Who can answer it? Who can attempt to set forth the eternal

destiny of those who die in their sins, as all must who refuse God's

only basis of remission? Men may reason and argue as they will; but

all the reasoning and argument in the world cannot set aside the word

of God, which assures us in manifold places, and in terms so plain as

to leave no possible ground for questioning, that all who die in their

sins--all who die out of Christ--must inevitably perish eternally,

must bear the consequences of their sins, in the lake that burneth

with fire and brimstone.

To quote the passages in proof of the solemn truth of eternal

punishment would require a small volume. We cannot attempt it here;

nor is it necessary, inasmuch as we have gone into the subject again

and again in other places.

But we would here put a question which arises naturally out of our

present thesis. It is this: Was Christ judged, bruised and forsaken on

the cross--did God visit His only begotten and well beloved Son with

the full weight of His righteous wrath against sin--and shall

impenitent sinners escape? We solemnly press this question on all whom

it may concern. Men talk of its being inconsistent with the idea of

divine goodness, tenderness and compassion that God should send any of

His creatures to hell. We reply, Who is to be the judge? Is man

competent to decide as to what is morally fitting for God to do? And

further, we ask, What is to be the standard of judgment? Anything that

human reason can grasp? Assuredly not. What then? _The cross on which

the Son of God died, the Just for the unjust_--this, and this only, is

the great standard by which to judge the question as to sin's desert.

Who can harken to that bitter cry emanating from the broken heart of

the Son of God, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" and

question the eternal punishment of all who die in their sins? Talk of

tenderness, goodness, and compassion! Where do these shine out most

brightly and blessedly? Surely in "the great commission" which

publishes full and free forgiveness of sins to every creature under

heaven. But would it be just, or good, or compassionate, to suffer

the rejecter of Christ to escape? If we would see the goodness,

kindness, mercy and deep compassion of God, we must look at the cross.

"He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." "It

pleased Jehovah to bruise Him. He hath put Him to grief." "He hath

made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the

righteousness of God in Him."

But if men reject all this, and go on in their sins, in their

rebellion, in their infidel reasonings and impious speculations--what

then? If men maintain that suffering for sin is not necessary, and

that there is another and a better way of disposing of the

matter--what then? Our Lord declared in the ears of His apostles that

"it was necessary that Christ should suffer"--that there was no other

way possible by which the great question could be settled. Whom are we

to believe? Was the death of Christ gratuitous? Was His heart broken

for nothing? Was the Cross a work of supererogation? Did Jehovah

bruise His Son and put Him to grief for an end which might be gained

some other way?

How monstrous are the reasonings, or rather the ravings, of

infidelity! Infidel doctors begin by throwing overboard the word of

God--that peerless and perfect revelation; and then, when they have

deprived us of our divine guide, with singular audacity, they present

themselves before us, and undertake to point out for us a more

excellent way; and when we inquire what that way is, we are met by a

thousand and one fine-spun theories, no two of which agree in anything

save in shutting out God and His Word.

True, they talk plausibly about a God; but it is a God of their own

imagination--one who will connive at sin--who will allow them to

indulge in their lusts, and passions, and pleasures, and then take

them to a heaven of which they really know nothing. They talk of

mercy, and kindness, and goodness; but they reject the only channel

through which these can flow, namely, the Cross of our Lord Jesus

Christ. They speak not of righteousness, holiness, truth, and judgment

to come. They would fain have us to believe that God put Himself to

needless cost in delivering up His Son. They would ignore that

marvelous transaction which stands alone in the entire history of the

ways of God--the atoning death of His Son. In one word, the grand

object of the devil, in all the skeptical, rationalistic and infidel

theories that have ever been propounded in this world, is to shut out

completely the word of God, the Christ of God, and God Himself.

We solemnly call upon all our readers, specially our young friends, to

ponder this. It is our deep and thorough conviction that the harboring

of a single infidel suggestion is the first step on that inclined

plane which leads straight down to the dark and terrible abyss of

atheism--down to the blackness of darkness forever.

We shall have occasion to recur to the foregoing line of thought when

we come to consider the _authority_ on which "the great commission"

comes to us. We have been drawn into it by the sad fact that in every

direction, and on every subject, we are assailed by the contemptible

reasonings of infidelity; and we feel imperatively called upon to warn

all with whom we come in contact against infidel books, infidel

lectures, infidel theories in every shape and form. _May the inspired

word of God be more and more precious to our hearts! May we walk in

its light, feel its sacred power, bow to its divine authority, hide it

in our hearts, feed upon its treasures, own its absolute supremacy,

confess its all-sufficiency, and utterly reject all teaching which

dares to touch the integrity of_ THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.

PART VI.

We have seen that the _basis_ of "the great commission" is the death

and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This must never

be lost sight of. "It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the

dead the third day." It is a risen Christ that sends forth His heralds

to preach "repentance and remission of sins." The incarnation and the

crucifixion are great cardinal truths of Christianity; but it is only

in resurrection they are made available for us in any way.

Incarnation--precious and priceless mystery though it be--could not

form the groundwork of remission of sins, for "without shedding of

blood is no remission" (Heb. ix. 22). We are justified by the _blood_,

and reconciled by the _death_ of Christ. But it is in resurrection

that all this is made good unto us. Christ was delivered for our

offenses, and raised again for our justification (Rom. iv. 25; v. 9,

10). "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also

received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the

Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third

day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. xv. 3, 4).

Hence, therefore, it is of the very last possible importance, for all

who would carry out our Lord's commission, to know in their own souls,

and to set forth in their preaching, the grand truth of resurrection.

The most cursory glance at the preaching of the earliest heralds of

the gospel will suffice to show the prominent place which they gave to

this glorious fact.

Harken to Peter on the day of Pentecost, or rather to the Holy Ghost,

just come down from the risen, ascended and glorified Saviour. "Ye men

of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God

among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in

the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him being delivered by

the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and

by wicked hands have crucified and slain: _whom God hath raised up_,

having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He

should be holden of it.... _This Jesus hath God raised up_, whereof we

all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,

and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He

hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear" (Acts ii.). So also in

chapter iii.: "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God

of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up,

and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to

let Him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a

murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, _whom

God hath raised from the dead_; whereof we are witnesses.... Unto you

first _God, having raised up His Son Jesus_, sent Him to bless you, in

turning away every one of you from his iniquities.... And as they

spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and

the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the

people, and _preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead_."

Their preaching was characterized by the prominent place which it

assigned to the glorious, powerful and telling fact of resurrection.

True, there was the full and clear statement of incarnation and

crucifixion, with the great moral bearings of these facts. How could

it be otherwise? The Son of God had to become a man to die, in order

that by death He might glorify God as to the entire question of sin;

destroy the power of Satan; rob death of its sting, and the grave of

its victory; put away forever the sins of His people, and associate

them with Himself in the power of eternal life in the new creation,

where all things are of God, and where a single trace of sin or sorrow

can never enter. Eternal and universal homage and adoration to His

peerless name!

But let all preachers remember the place which resurrection holds in

apostolic preaching and teaching. "With great power gave the apostles

witness." Of what? Incarnation or crucifixion merely? Nay; but "of the

resurrection of the Lord Jesus." This was the stupendous fact that

glorified God and His Son Jesus Christ. It was this that attested, in

the view of all created intelligences, the divine complacency in the

work of redemption. It was this that demonstrated, in the most

marvelous way, the complete and eternal overthrow of the kingdom of

Satan and all the powers of darkness. It was this that declared the

full and everlasting deliverance of all who believe in Jesus--their

deliverance, not only from all the consequences of their sins, but

from this present evil world, and from every link that bound them to

that old creation which lies under the power of evil.

No marvel, therefore, if the apostles, filled as they were with the

Holy Ghost, persistently and powerfully presented the magnificent

truth of resurrection. Hear them again before the council--a council

composed of the great religious leaders and guides of the people. "The

God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a

tree." They were at issue with God on the all-important question as to

His Son. They had slain Him, but God raised Him from the dead. "Him

hath God exalted with His right hand, a Prince and a Saviour, for to

give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins."

So also in Peter's address to the Gentiles, in the house of Cornelius,

speaking of Jesus of Nazareth, he says, "whom they slew, and hanged on

a tree, _Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly_: not

to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, to us who

did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead."

The Holy Ghost is careful to set forth the weighty and, to us,

profoundly interesting fact that "God raised up His Son Jesus." This

fact has a double bearing. It proves that God is at issue with the

world, seeing He has raised, exalted and glorified the very One whom

they slew and hanged on a tree. But, blessed throughout all ages be

His holy name, it proves that He has found eternal rest and

satisfaction as to us, and all that was or could be against us, seeing

He has raised up the very One who took our place and stood charged

with all our sin and guilt.

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

Let us now listen for a moment to Paul's address in the synagogue at

Antioch. "Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and

whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation

sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they

knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every

Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though

they found no cause of death in Him, yet desired they Pilate that He

should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of

Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a sepulchre.

_But God raised Him from the dead._ And He was seen many days of them

which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His

witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how

that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled

the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus; as

it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have

I begotten Thee. And as concerning that _He raised Him up from the

dead_, no more to return to corruption, He said on this wise, I will

give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore He saith also in another

psalm, Thou shalt not suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption. For

David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell

on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: but _He

whom God raised again_ saw no corruption."

Then follows the powerful appeal which, though not bearing upon our

present line of argument, we cannot omit in this place. "Be it known

unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is

preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and _by Him_ all that

believe _are justified from all things_, from which ye could not be

justified by the law of Moses. _Beware_ therefore, lest that come upon

you which is spoken of in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and

wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye

shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you" (Acts

xiii. 26-41).

We shall close our series of proofs from the Acts of the Apostles by a

brief quotation from Paul's address at Athens. "Forasmuch then as we

are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is

like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

And the times of this ignorance God overlooked; but now commandeth

all men everywhere to repent; because He hath appointed a day in the

which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He

hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all, _in that He

hath raised Him from the dead_" (Acts xvii.).

This is a very remarkable and deeply solemn passage. The proof that

God is going to judge the world in righteousness--a proof offered to

all--is that He has raised His ordained Man from the dead. He does not

here name the Man; but at verse 18 we are told that some of the

Athenians deemed the apostle a setter forth of strange gods, "because

he preached unto them _Jesus and the resurrection_."

From all this it is perfectly plain that the blessed apostle Paul gave

a most prominent place in all his preachings to the glorious truth of

resurrection. Whether he addresses a congregation of Jews in the

synagogue at Antioch, or an assembly of Gentiles on Mars' Hill at

Athens, he presents a risen Christ. In a word, he was characterized by

the fact that he preached not merely the incarnation and the

crucifixion, but the resurrection; and this, too, in all its mighty

moral bearings--its bearing upon man in his individual state and

destiny; its bearing upon the world as a whole, in its history in the

past, its moral condition in the present, and its certain doom in the

future; in its bearing upon the believer, proving his absolute,

complete and eternal justification before God, and his thorough

deliverance from this present evil world.

And we have to bear in mind that in apostolic preaching the

resurrection was not presented as a mere doctrine, but as a living,

telling, mighty moral fact--a fact, the magnitude of which is beyond

all power of human utterance or thought. The apostles, in carrying out

"the great commission" of their Lord, pressed the stupendous fact that

God had raised Jesus from the dead--had raised the Man who was nailed

to the cross and buried in the grave. In short, they preached a

resurrection gospel. Their preaching was governed by these words, "It

was necessary that Christ should suffer, and rise from the dead the

third day."

We shall now turn for a moment to the Epistles, and see the wondrous

way in which the Holy Ghost unfolds and applies the fact of

resurrection. But ere doing so we would call the reader's attention to

a passage which is sadly misunderstood and misapplied. The apostle, in

writing to the Corinthians, says, "We preach Christ crucified." These

words are continually quoted for the purpose of casting a damper on

those who earnestly desire to advance in the knowledge of divine

things. But a moment's serious attention to the context would be

sufficient to show the true meaning of the apostle. Did he confine

himself to the fact of the crucifixion? The bare idea, in the face of

the body of Scripture which we have quoted, is simply absurd. The fact

is, the glorious truth of resurrection shines out in all his

discourses.

What, then, does the apostle mean when he declares, "We preach Christ

crucified?" Simply this, that the Christ whom he preached was the One

whom the world crucified. He was a rejected, outcast Christ--one

assigned by the world to a malefactor's gibbet. What a fact for the

poor Corinthians, so full of vanity and love for this world's wisdom!

A crucified Christ was the one whom Paul preached, "to the Jews a

stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but to those that

are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the

wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and

the weakness of God is stronger than men."

Remarkable words! words divinely suited to people prone to boast

themselves in the so-called wisdom and greatness of this world--the

vain reasonings and imaginations of the poor human mind, which all

perish in a moment. All the wisdom of God, all His power, all His

greatness, all His glory, all that He is, in short, comes out in a

crucified Christ. The Cross confounds the world, vanquishes Satan and

all the powers of darkness, saves all who believe, and forms the solid

foundation of the everlasting and universal glory of God.

We shall now turn for a moment to a very beautiful passage in Rom.

iv., in which the inspired writer sets forth the subject of

resurrection in a most edifying way for us. Speaking of Abraham, he

says, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the

father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall

thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own

body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the

deadness of Sarah's womb: _he staggered not_ at the promise of God

through unbelief,"--which is always sure to stagger,--"but was _strong

in faith, giving glory to God_"--as faith always does; "and being

_fully persuaded_ that what He had promised He was able also to

perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness." And

then, lest any should say that all this applied only to Abraham, who

was such a devoted, holy, remarkable man, the inspiring Spirit adds,

with singular grace and sweetness, "Now it was not written for his

sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it

shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that"--what? Gave His Son?

Bruised His Son on the cross? Not merely this, but "_that raised up

Jesus our Lord from the dead_."

Here lies the grand point of the apostle's blessed and powerful

argument. We must, if we would have settled peace, believe in God as

the One who raised up Jesus from the dead, and who in so doing proved

Himself friendly to us, and proved too His infinite satisfaction in

the work of the Cross. Jesus, having been "delivered for our

offenses," could not be where He now is if a single one of these

offenses remained unatoned for. But, blessed forever be the God of all

grace, He raised from among the dead the One who had been delivered

for our offenses; and to all who believe in Him righteousness shall

be reckoned. "It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead

the third day." See how this glorious theme, the _basis_ of the great

commission, expands under our gaze as we pursue our study of it!

One more brief quotation shall close this paper. In Heb. xiii. we

read, "_Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead_ our

Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the

everlasting covenant."

This is uncommonly fine. The God of judgment met the Sin-bearer at the

cross, and there, with Him, entered thoroughly into and definitively

settled the question of sin. And then, in glorious proof that all was

done--sin atoned for--guilt put away--Satan silenced--God

glorified--all divinely accomplished--"the God of peace" entered the

scene, and raised from the dead our Lord Jesus, that "great Shepherd

of the sheep."

Beloved reader, how glorious is all this! How enfranchising to all who

simply believe! Jesus is risen. His sufferings are over forever. God

has exalted Him. Eternal Justice has wreathed His blessed brow with a

diadem of glory; and, wondrous fact, that very diadem is the eternal

demonstration that all who believe are justified from all things, and

accepted in a risen and glorified Christ. Eternal and universal

hallelujahs to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!

PART VII.

We are now called to consider the deeply important subject of the

_authority_ on which the great commission proceeds. This we have

presented to us in that one commanding and most comprehensive sentence

"_It is written_"--a sentence which ought to be engraved in characters

deep and broad on the tablet of every Christian's heart.

Nothing can possibly be more interesting or edifying than to note the

way in which our blessed Lord on all occasions and under all

circumstances exalts the Holy Scriptures. He, though God over all,

blessed forever, and as such the Author of all Scripture, yet, having

taken His place as man on the earth, He plainly sets forth what is the

bounden duty of every man, and that is to be absolutely, completely

and abidingly governed by the authority of Scripture. See Him in

conflict with Satan! How does He meet him? Simply as each one of us

should meet him--by the written Word. It could be no example to us had

our Lord vanquished him by the putting forth of divine power. Of

course He could, there and then, have consigned him to the bottomless

pit or the lake of fire, but that would have been no example for us,

inasmuch as we could not so overcome. But on the other hand, when we

find the blessed One referring to Holy Scripture, when we find Him

appealing again and again to that divine authority, when we find Him

putting the adversary to flight simply by the written Word, we learn

in the most impressive manner the place, the value and the authority

of the Holy Scriptures.

And is it not of the very last possible importance to have this great

lesson impressed upon us at the present moment? Unquestionably it is.

If ever there was a moment in the history of the Church of God when it

behooved Christians to bow down their whole moral being to this very

lesson, it is the moment through which we are just now passing. On all

hands the divine authority, integrity, plenary inspiration and

all-sufficiency of Holy Scripture are called in question. The word of

God is openly insulted and flung aside. Its integrity is called in

question, and that too in quarters where we should least expect it. At

our colleges and universities our young men are continually assailed

by infidel attacks upon the blessed word of God. Men who are in total

spiritual blindness, and who therefore cannot possibly know anything

whatever about divine things, and are utterly incompetent to give an

opinion on the subject of Holy Scripture, have the cool audacity to

insult the sacred volume, to pronounce the five books of Moses an

imposture, to assert that Moses never wrote them at all!

What is the opinion of such men worth? Not worth the weight of a

feather. Who would think of going to a man who was born in a coal

mine, and had never seen the sun, to get his judgment as to the

properties of light, or the effect of the sun's beams upon the human

constitution? Who would think of going to one who was born blind to

get his opinion upon colors, or the effect of light and shade? Surely

no one in his senses. Well, then, with how much more moral force, may

we not ask, who would think of going to an unconverted man--a man dead

in trespasses and sins--a man spiritually blind, wholly ignorant of

things divine, spiritual, and heavenly--who would think for a moment

of going to such a one for a judgment on the weighty question of Holy

Scripture? And if such a one were audacious enough, in ignorant

self-confidence, to offer an opinion on such a subject, what man in

his sober senses would think of giving the slightest heed?

It will perhaps be said, "The illustration does not apply." Why not?

We admit it fails in force, but most certainly not in its moral

application. Is it not a commonly received axiom amongst us that no

man has any right to give an opinion on a subject of which he is

totally ignorant? No doubt. Well, what does the blessed apostle say as

to the unconverted man? We quote the whole context for the reader. It

is morally grand, and its interest and value just now are unspeakable.

"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of

speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I

determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him

crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much

trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words

of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

_that your faith_"--mark these words, beloved reader--"_should not

stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God_. Howbeit we speak

wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world,

nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught. But we speak

the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God

ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of

this world knew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified

the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear

heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which

God hath prepared for them that love Him. _But God hath revealed them

to us by His Spirit_;"--otherwise they could not possibly be

known;--"for the Spirit, searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of

God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man

which is in him? Even so _the things of God knoweth no man_, but the

Spirit of God. Now we"--all true believers, all God's children--"have

received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God;

that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom

teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual

things with spiritual"--or, communicating spiritual things through a

spiritual medium. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of

the Spirit of God; neither can he know them,"--be he ever so wise and

learned,--"because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is

spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For

who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we

have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. ii. 1-16).

We dare not offer an apology for giving so lengthened an extract from

the word of God. We deem it invaluable, not only because it proves

that it is only by divine teaching that divine things can be

understood, but also because it completely withers up all man's

pretensions to give judgment as to Scripture. If the natural man

cannot know the things of the Spirit of God, then it is perfectly

plain that all infidel attacks upon the word of God are absolutely

unworthy of the very smallest attention. In fact, all infidel writers,

be they ever so clever, ever so wise, ever so learned, are put out of

court; they are not to be listened to for a moment. The judgment of an

unconverted man in reference to the Holy Scriptures is more worthless

than the judgment of an uneducated plowman as to the use of the

differential calculus, or the truth of the Copernican system. As to

each, we have only to say, he knows nothing whatever about the matter.

His thoughts are absolutely good for nothing.

But how truly delightful and refreshing to turn from man's worthless

notions, and see the way in which our blessed Lord Jesus Christ prized

and used the Holy Scriptures! In His conflict with Satan, He appeals

three times over to the book of Deuteronomy. "_It is written_" is His

one simple and unanswerable reply to the suggestions of the enemy. He

does not reason. He does not argue or explain. He does not refer to

His own personal feelings, evidences, or experiences. He does not

argue from the great facts of the opened heavens, the descending

Spirit, the voice of the Father--precious and real as all these things

were. He simply takes His stand upon the divine and eternal authority

of the Holy Scriptures, and of that portion of the Scriptures in

particular which modern infidels have audaciously attacked. He uses as

His authority that which they are not afraid to pronounce an

imposture! How dreadful for them! What will be their end, unless they

repent?

But not only did the Son of God--Himself, as God, the Author of every

line of Holy Scripture--use the word of God as His only weapon against

the enemy, but He made it also the basis and the material of His

public ministry. When His conflict in the wilderness was over, "He

returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a

fame of Him through all the region round about. And He taught in their

synagogues, being glorified of all. And He came to Nazareth, where He

had been brought up; and, _as His custom was_, He went into the

synagogue on the Sabbath day, and _stood up for to read_"--_His custom

was to read the Scriptures publicly_. "And there was delivered unto

Him the book of the prophet Esaias." Here He puts His seal upon the

prophet Isaiah, as before upon the law of Moses. "And when He had

opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit

of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the

gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to

preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the

blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the

acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke iv.).

Let us turn now to that most solemn parable of the rich man and

Lazarus, at the close of Luke xvi., in which we have a solemn

testimony from the Master's own lips to the integrity, value and

surpassing importance of "Moses and the Prophets"--the very portions

of the divine Word which infidels impiously assail. The rich man in

torment--alas, no longer rich, but miserably and eternally

poor!--entreats Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brethren,

lest they also should come into that place of torment. Mark the reply!

Mark it, all ye infidels, rationalists, and skeptics! Mark it, all ye

who are in danger of being deluded and turned aside by the impudent

and blasphemous suggestions of infidelity! "Abraham saith unto him,

They have Moses and the Prophets; _let them hear them_." Yes; "hear

them"--hear those very writings which infidels tell us are not

divinely inspired at all, but documents palmed upon us by impostors

pretending to inspiration. Assuredly the rich man knew better;

indeed, the devil himself knows better. There is no thought of

calling in question the genuineness of "Moses and the Prophets;" but

perhaps "if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." Hear

the weighty rejoinder! "And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses

and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from

the dead."

Now we must confess we rejoice exceedingly in the grandeur of this

testimony. Nothing can be clearer, nothing higher, nothing more

thoroughly confirmatory as to the supreme authority and divine

integrity of "Moses and the Prophets." We have the blessed Lord

Himself setting His seal to the two grand divisions of Old Testament

Scripture; and hence we may with all possible confidence commit our

souls to the authority of these holy writings; and not only to Moses

and the Prophets, but to the whole canon of inspiration, inasmuch as

Moses and the Prophets are so largely and so constantly quoted

everywhere, are so intimately, yea, indissolubly, bound up with every

part of the New Testament, that all must stand or fall together.

But we must pass on, and turn for a moment to the last chapter of

Luke--that precious section which contains "the great commission"

whereof we speak. We might refer with profit and blessing to those

occasions in which our blessed Lord, in His interviews with Pharisees,

Sadducees, and lawyers, ever and only appeals to the Holy Scriptures.

In short, whether in conflict with men or devils, whether speaking in

private or in public, whether for His public ministry or for His

private walk, we find the perfect Man, the Lord from heaven, always

putting the very highest honor upon the writings of Moses and the

Prophets, thus commending them to us in all their divine integrity,

and giving us the very fullest and most blessed encouragement to

commit our souls, for time and eternity, with absolute confidence, to

those peerless writings.

But we turn to Luke xxiv., and listen to the glowing words uttered in

the ears of the two bewildered travelers to Emmaus--words which are

the sure and blessed remedy for all bewilderment--the perfect solution

of every honest difficulty--the divine and all-satisfying answer to

every upright inquiry. We do not quote the words of the perplexed

disciples; but here is the Master's reply. "Then said He unto them, O

fools and slow of heart to believe _all that the prophets have

spoken_!" Alas! nowadays a man is counted a fool if he does believe

all that the prophets have spoken. In many learned circles, yea, and

in not a few religious circles likewise, the man who avows--as every

true man ought--his hearty belief in every line of Holy Scripture, is

almost sure to be met with a sneer of contempt. It is deemed clever to

doubt the genuineness of Scripture,--fatal, detestable cleverness,

from which may the good Lord deliver us!--cleverness which is sure to

lead the soul that is ensnared by it down into the dark and dreary

abyss of atheism, and the darker and more dreary abyss of hell. From

all such cleverness, we again say, from the profoundest depths of our

moral being, may God, in His mercy, deliver us and all our young

people!

Beloved reader, have we not much cause to bless the Lord for these

words of His addressed to His poor perplexed ones on their way to

Emmaus? They may seem severe; but it is the necessary severity of a

pure, a perfect, and a divinely wise love. "O fools, and slow of heart

to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have

suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And"--mark these

words!--"beginning at _Moses and all the Prophets_, He expounded unto

them _in all the Scriptures_ the things concerning Himself." He

Himself--all homage to His glorious person!--is the divine centre of

all the things contained in the Scriptures from cover to cover. He is

the golden chain that binds into one marvelous and magnificent whole

every part of the inspired volume, from Genesis to Revelation. Hence

the man that touches a single section of the sacred canon is guilty of

the heinous sin of seeking to overthrow the word of God; and of such a

man even charity itself must say he knows neither the Christ of God

nor God Himself. The man who dares to tamper in any way with the word

of God has taken the first step on that inclined plane that leads

inevitably down to eternal perdition. Let men beware, then, how they

speak against the Scriptures; and if some _will_ speak, let others

beware how they listen. If there were no infidel listeners, there

would be few infidel lecturers. How awful to think that there should

be either the one or the other in this our highly favored land! May

God have mercy upon them, and open their eyes ere it be too late! Five

minutes in hell will quash forever all the infidel theories that ever

were propounded in this world. Oh, the egregious folly of infidelity!

We return to our chapter, which furnishes one more proof of the place

assigned by our risen Lord to the Holy Scriptures. After having

manifested Himself in infinite grace and tranquilizing power to His

troubled disciples, having shown them His hands and His feet, and

assured them of His personal identity by eating in their presence, "He

said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was

yet with you, that _all things must be fulfilled which were written in

the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms_, concerning

Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the

Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus _it is written_."

Here again we have the divine seal put upon all the grand divisions of

the Old Testament. This is most comforting and strengthening for all

pious lovers of Scripture. To find our Lord Himself on all occasions,

and under all circumstances, referring to Scripture, using it at all

times and for all purposes, feeding upon it Himself and commending it

to others, wielding it as the sword of the Spirit, bowing to its holy

authority in all things, appealing to it as the only perfect standard,

test and touchstone, the only infallible guide for man in this world,

the only unfailing light amid all the surrounding moral gloom--all

this is comforting and encouraging in the very highest degree, and it

fills our hearts with deepest praise to the Father of mercies who has

so provided for us in all our weakness and need.

Here we might close this branch of our subject, but we feel bound to

furnish our readers with two more uncommonly fine illustrations of our

thesis; one from the Acts, and one from the Epistles. In Acts xxiv.

the apostle Paul, in his address to Felix, thus expresses himself as

to the ground of his faith: "But this I confess unto thee, that after

the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers,

_believing all things which are written in the Law and in the

Prophets_." So, then, he reverently believed in Moses and the

Prophets. He fully accepted the Old Testament Scriptures as the solid

foundation of his faith, and as the divine authority for his entire

course. Now how did Paul know that the Scriptures were given of God?

He knew it in the only way in which any one can know it, namely, by

divine teaching. God alone can give the knowledge that the Holy

Scriptures are His own very revelation to man. If He does not give it,

no one can; if He does, no one need. If I want human evidence to

accredit the word of God, it is not the word of God to me. The

authority on which I receive it is higher than the Word itself.

Supposing I could by reason or human learning work my way to the

rational conclusion that the Bible is the word of God, then my faith

would merely stand in the wisdom of man, and not in the power of God.

Such a faith is worthless; it does not link me with God, and therefore

leaves me unsaved, unblessed, uncertain. It leaves me without God,

without Christ, without hope. Saving faith is believing what God says

because _He_ says it, and this faith is wrought in the soul by the

Holy Spirit. Intellectual faith is a cold, lifeless, worthless faith,

which only deceives and puffs up; it never can save, sanctify, or

satisfy.

* * * * *

We turn now to 2 Tim. iii. 14-17. The aged apostle, at the close of

his marvelous career, from his prison at Rome, looking back at the

whole of his ministry, looking around at the failure and ruin so sadly

apparent on every side, looking forward to the terrible consummation

of the "last days," and looking beyond all to "the crown of

righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give _in that

day_," thus addresses his beloved son: "But _continue thou_ in the

things which thou hast learned and _hast been assured of_, knowing of

whom thou hast learned; and that _from a child thou hast known the

Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation_

through faith which is in Christ Jesus. _All Scripture is given by

inspiration of God_, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for

correction, for instruction in righteousness; that _the man of God may

be perfect_ (complete), _thoroughly furnished unto all good works_."

All this is unspeakably precious to every true lover of the word of

God. The place here assigned, and the virtues here attributed, to the

Holy Scriptures are beyond all price. In short, it is utterly

impossible to overstate the value and importance of the foregoing

quotation. It is deeply touching to find the revered and beloved old

veteran, in the full power of the Holy Ghost, recalling Timothy to the

days of his childhood, when, at the knees of his pious mother, he

drank at the pure fountain of inspiration. How did the dear child know

that these holy writings were the word of God? He knew it just in the

same way that the blessed apostle himself knew it, by their divine

power and effect upon his heart and conscience through the Holy Ghost.

Did the Holy Scriptures need man's credentials? What an insult to the

dignity of Scripture to imagine that any human seal or guarantee is

necessary to accredit it to the soul! Do we want the authority of the

Church, the judgment of the Fathers, the decrees of councils, the

consent of the doctors, the decision of the universities, to accredit

the word of God? Far away be the thought! Who would think of bringing

out a rushlight at noon to prove that the sun shines, or to bring home

its beams in their genial virtue to the human frame? What son would

think of taking his father's letter to an ignorant crossing-sweeper to

have it accredited and interpreted to his heart?

These figures are feebleness itself when used to illustrate the

egregious folly of submitting the Holy Scriptures to the judgment of

any human mind. No, reader, the word of God speaks for itself. It

carries its own powerful credentials with it. Its own internal

evidences are amply sufficient for every pious, right-minded, humble

child of God. It needs no letter of commendation from men. No doubt

external evidences have their value and their interest. Human

testimony must go for what it is worth. We may rest assured that the

more thoroughly all human evidence is sifted, and the nearer all human

testimony approaches to the truth, the more fully and distinctly will

all concur in demonstrating the genuineness and integrity of our

precious Bible. And further, we must declare our deep and settled

conviction that no infidel theory can hold water for a moment; no

infidel argument can pass muster with an honest mind. We invariably

find that all infidel assaults upon the Bible recoil upon the heads of

those who make them. Infidel writers make fools of themselves, and

leave the divine volume just where it always was, and where it always

will be, like an impregnable rock, against which the waves of infidel

thought dash themselves in contemptible impotency.

There stands the word of God in its divine majesty, in its heavenly

power, in its beautiful simplicity, in its matchless glory, in its

unfathomed because unfathomable depths, in its never-failing freshness

and power of adaptation, in its marvelous comprehensiveness, in its

vastness of scope, its perfect unity, its thorough uniqueness. The

Bible stands alone. There is nothing like it in the wide world of

literature; and if anything further were needed to prove that that

book which we call "The Bible" is in very deed the living and eternal

word of God, it may be found in the ceaseless efforts of the devil to

prove that it is not.

"_Forever_, O Lord, Thy word is _settled in heaven_." What remains,

beloved reader, for thee? Just this: "Thy word have I _hid in my

heart_, that I might not sin against Thee." Thus it stands, blessed be

His holy name; and when we have His Word hid in the depths of our

hearts, the theories and the arguments, the reasonings or the ravings,

the questionings and the conclusions of skeptics, rationalists and

infidels, will be to us of less moment than the pattering of rain upon

the window.

Thus much as to the weighty question of the "_authority_" upon which

the great commission proceeds. The immense importance of the subject,

and the special character of the moment through which we are passing,

must account for the unusual length of this article. We feel

profoundly thankful for an opportunity of bearing our feeble testimony

to the power, authority, all-sufficiency and divine glory of "the Holy

Scriptures." "Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!"

PART VIII.

In full keeping with all that has passed in review before us is the

_sphere_ of "the great commission," as set forth in that comprehensive

clause, "_Among all nations_." Such was to be the wide range of those

heralds whom the risen Lord was sending forth to preach "repentance

and remission of sins." Theirs was emphatically a world-wide mission.

In Matt. x. we find something quite different. There the Lord, in

sending forth the twelve apostles, "commanded them, saying, Go not

into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans

enter ye not."

This was to be a mission exclusively to the house of Israel. There was

no message for the Gentiles, no word for the poor Samaritans. If these

messengers approached a city of the uncircumcised, they were on no

account to enter it. The ways of God--His dispensational

dealings--demanded a circumscribed sphere for the twelve apostles sent

forth by the Messiah in the days of His flesh. "The lost sheep of the

house of Israel" were to be the special objects of their ministry.

But in Luke xxiv. all is changed. The dispensational barriers are no

longer to interfere with the messengers of grace. Israel is not to be

forgotten, but the Gentiles are to hear the glad tidings. The sun of

God's salvation must now pour its living beams over the whole world.

Not a soul is to be excluded from the blessed light. Every city, every

town, every village, every hamlet, every street, lane and alley, hedge

and highway, must be diligently and lovingly searched out and visited,

so that "every creature under heaven" might hear the good news of a

full and free salvation.

How like our God is all this! How worthy of His large, loving heart!

He would have the tide of His salvation flowing from pole to pole, and

from the river to the ends of the earth. His righteousness is unto

all, and the sweet tale of His pardoning love must be wafted far and

wide over a lost and guilty world. Such is His most gracious purpose,

however tardy His servants may be in carrying it out.

It is of the greatest importance to have a clear view as to this

branch of our subject. It brings out the character of God in a very

magnificent light, and it leaves man wholly without excuse. Salvation

is sent to the Gentiles. There is absolutely no limit, and no

obstacle. Like the sun in the heavens, it shines on all. If a man will

persist in hiding himself in a mine or in a tunnel, so that he cannot

see the sun, he has none but himself to blame. It is no defect in the

sun if all do not enjoy his beams. He shines for all. And in like

manner, "the grace of God that bringeth salvation unto all men hath

appeared." No one need perish because he is a poor lost sinner, for

"God will have all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the

truth." "He willeth not that any should perish, but that all should

come to repentance."

And then, that not a single feature might be lacking to set forth with

all possible force and fulness the royal grace which breathes in "the

great commission," our blessed Lord does not fail to point out to His

servants the remarkable spot which was to be the centre of their

_sphere_. He tells them to "begin at Jerusalem." Yes, Jerusalem, where

our Lord was crucified; where every indignity that human enmity could

invent was heaped upon His divine person; where a murderer and a

robber was preferred to "God manifest in the flesh;" where human

iniquity had reached its culminating point in nailing the Son of God

to a malefactor's cross--there the messengers were to begin their

blessed work; that was to be the centre of the sphere of their

gracious operations; and from thence they were to travel to the utmost

bounds of the habitable globe. They were to begin with "Jerusalem

sinners"--with the very murderers of the Son of God, and then go forth

to publish everywhere the glorious tidings, so that all might know

that precious grace of God which was sufficient to meet the crimson

guilt of Jerusalem itself.

How glorious is all this! The guilty murderers of the Son of God were

the very first to hear the sweet tale of pardoning love, so that all

men might see in them a pattern of what the grace of God and the blood

of Christ can do. Truly the grace that could pardon Jerusalem sinners

can pardon any one; the blood that could cleanse the betrayers and

murderers of the Christ of God can cleanse any sinner outside the

precincts of hell. These heralds of salvation, as they made their way

from nation to nation, could tell their hearers where they had come

from; they could tell of that superabounding grace of God which had

commenced its operations in the guiltiest spot on the face of the

earth, and which was amply sufficient to meet the very vilest of the

sons of Adam.

"Sovereign grace o'er sin abounding:

Ransomed souls the tidings swell;

'Tia a deep that knows no sounding;

Who its length or breadth can tell?"

Precious grace of God! May it be published with increased energy and

clearness throughout the divinely appointed sphere. Alas, alas, that

those who know it should be so slow to make it known to others! That

slowness is, most surely, not of God. He absolutely delights in the

publication of His saving, pardoning grace. He tells us that the feet

of the evangelist are beautiful upon the mountains. He assures us that

the preaching of the Cross is a sweet savor to His heart. Ought not

all this to quicken our energies in the blessed work? Ought we not in

every possible way to seek to carry out the gracious desire of the

heart of God? Why are we so slow? Why so cold and indolent? Why so

easily discouraged and repulsed? Why so ready to make excuses for not

speaking to people about their souls?

There stands the great commission shining on the eternal page of

inspiration in all its moral grandeur--its _terms_, its _basis_, its

_authority_, its _sphere_! The work is not yet done. Nearly nineteen

hundred years have rolled past since the risen Saviour sent forth His

messengers; and still He waits, in sweet, long-suffering mercy, not

willing that any should perish. Why are we not more willing-hearted in

carrying out the gracious desire of His heart? It is not by any means

necessary that we should be great preachers, or powerful public

speakers, in order to carry on the precious work of evangelization.

What we want is a heart in communion with the heart of God, the heart

of Christ, and that will surely be a heart for souls. We do not, and

cannot, believe that one who is not led out in loving desire after the

salvation of souls can really be in communion with the mind of Christ.

We cannot be in His presence and not think of the souls of those

around us. For whoever cared for souls as He did? Mark His marvelous

path!--His ceaseless toil as a teacher and preacher!--His thirst for

the salvation and blessing of souls!

And has He not left us an example that we should follow His steps? Are

we doing so in this one matter of making known the blessed gospel? Are

we seeking to imitate Him in His earnest diligence in seeking the

lost? See Him at the well of Sychar! Mark His whole deportment! Listen

to His earnest, loving words! Note the joy and refreshment of His

spirit as He sees one poor sinner receiving His message! "I have meat

to eat that ye know not of;" "Lift up your eyes, and look on the

fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth

receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he

that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."

We would earnestly entreat the Christian reader to consider this great

subject in the divine presence. We deeply feel its importance. We

cannot but judge that, amid all the writing and reading, all the

speaking and hearing, all the coming and going, there is a sad lack of

deep-toned, earnest, solemn dealing with individual souls. How often

do we rest satisfied with inviting people to come to the preaching,

instead of seeking to bring them directly to Christ? How often do we

rest content with the periodical preaching, instead of earnestly

seeking, all the week through, to persuade souls to flee from the

wrath to come? No doubt it is good to preach, and good to invite

people to the preaching; but we may rest assured there is something

more than all this to be done, and that something must be sought in

deeper communion with the heart and mind of Christ.

Some there are who speak disparagingly of the blessed and holy work of

evangelization. We tremble for them. We feel persuaded they are not in

the current of the Master's mind, and hence we utterly reject their

thoughts. It is to be feared that their hearts are cold in reference

to an object that engages the heart of God. If so, they would need to

humble themselves in His presence, and seek to get their souls

restored to a true sense of the magnitude, importance and interest of

the grand question before us. At least let them beware of how they

seek to discourage and hinder others whose hearts the Lord has moved

to care for precious, immortal souls. The present is most assuredly

not the time for raising difficulties, and starting questions which

can only prove stumbling-blocks in the pathway of earnest workers. It

becomes us to seek in every right way to strengthen the hands of all

who are endeavoring, according to their measure, to publish the glad

tidings, and make known the unsearchable riches of Christ. Let us see

that we do so, so far as in us lies; and above all things, let us

never utter a sentence calculated to hinder any one in the blessed

work of winning souls to Christ.

But we must draw this paper, and this series of papers, to a close. We

might do so here, were it not that there is one more point in our

subject which we feel must not be omitted, and that is the _power_ by

which "the great commission" was to be carried out. To leave this out

would be a great defect, a serious blank indeed; and we are the more

anxious to notice it, inasmuch as the special form in which the power

was communicated links itself, in a very remarkable way, with that

which has been before us in this paper. If the _sphere_ was to be "all

nations," the _power_ must be adapted thereto; and, blessed be God, so

it was.

Our blessed Lord, in closing His commission to His disciples, said,

"And ye are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise

of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye

be endued with power from on high." This promise was fulfilled, this

power was communicated on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Ghost came

down from the ascended and glorified Man, to qualify His servants for

the glorious work for which He had called them. They had to "tarry"

until they got the power. How could they go without it? Who but the

Holy Ghost could speak adequately of the love of God, of the person,

work and glory of Christ? Who but He could enable any one to preach

repentance and remission of sins? Who but He could properly handle all

the weighty subjects comprehended in "the great commission?" In a

word, the power of the Holy Ghost is absolutely essential in every

branch of Christian service, and all who go to work without it will

find it to be barrenness, misery, and desolation.

But we must call the reader's special attention to the form in which

the Holy Ghost came down on the day of Pentecost. It is full of

deepest interest, and lets us into the precious secret of the heart of

God in a most touching manner.

Let us turn to chapter ii. of the Acts of the Apostles.

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were _all with one

accord in one place_"--instructive and suggestive fact!--"And suddenly

there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it

filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto

them _cloven tongues_, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost"--He had full possession

of their hearts and minds, full sway over their whole moral

being--blessed condition!--"And they began to speak with _other

tongues_" (not in the absurd and unintelligible jargon of cunning

impostors or deluded fanatics, but), "as the Spirit gave them

utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, _out

of every nation under heaven_." Note this fact. "Now when this was

noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded,

because that _every man heard them speak in his own language_."--How

real--how telling!--"And they were all amazed, and marveled, saying

one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And

how _hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born_?"--not

merely wherein we were educated--"Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites,

and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in

Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of

Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes

and Arabians, _we do hear them speak in our tongues_ the wonderful

works of God."

What a marvelous occurrence! How marked the coincidence! God so

ordered it, in His infinite wisdom and perfect grace, that there

should be assembled in the city of Jerusalem, at the exact moment,

people from every nation on the face of the whole earth, in order

that--even should the twelve apostles fail to carry out their

commission--all might hear, in the very dialect in which their mothers

first whispered into their infant ears the accents of a mother's love,

the precious tidings of God's salvation.

Can anything exceed this in interest? Who can fail to see in the fact

here recorded that it was the loving desire of the heart of God to

reach every creature under heaven with the sweet story of His grace?

The world had rejected the Son of God, had crucified and slain Him;

but no sooner had He taken His seat at the right hand of God than down

came the august Witness, God the Spirit, to speak to man--to every

man--to speak to him, not in accents of withering denunciation, not in

the thundering anathemas of judgment, but in accents of deep and

tender love, to tell him of full remission of sins through the blood

of the Cross.

True, He called on man to judge himself, to repent, to take his only

true and proper place. Why not? How could it be otherwise? Repentance

is--as we have already fully shown and earnestly insisted upon in

these papers--a universal and abiding necessity for man. But the

Spirit of God came down to speak face to face with man, to tell him in

his own mother tongue of the wonderful works of God. He did not speak

to a Hebrew in Latin, or to a Roman in Greek; but He spoke to each in

the very dialect in which he was born, thus proving to a

demonstration--proving in the most affecting manner possible--that it

was God's gracious desire to make His way to man's heart in deepest,

richest, fullest grace. All homage to His name!

How different it was when the law was to be published from mount

Sinai! If all the nations of the earth had been assembled round that

fiery mount, they could not have understood one word--unless, indeed,

any one happened to know the Hebrew tongue. The law was addressed to

one people, it was wrapped up in one language, it was enclosed in the

ark. God took no pains to publish the record of man's duty in every

language under heaven. But when grace was to be published, when the

glad tidings of salvation were to be sounded abroad, when testimony

was to be borne to a crucified, risen, ascended and coming Saviour and

Lord, then, verily, God the Holy Ghost came down, for the purpose of

fitting His messengers to speak to every man in a tongue which he

could understand.

Facts are powerful arguments, and assuredly the above two facts, in

reference to the law and the gospel, must speak to every heart, in a

manner the most convincing, of the matchless grace of God. God did not

send forth heralds to publish the law to "all nations." No--this was

reserved for "the great commission" on which we have been dwelling,

and which we now earnestly commend, with all its great subjects, to

the serious attention of every reader.

C. H. M.

* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained

except in obvious cases of typographical error.