PART II.

Produced by Mark Young, Julio Reis, Moises S. Gomes and

the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

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The Assembly of God

_Miscellaneous Writings of_ C. H. MACKINTOSH

_Volume III_

LOIZEAUX BROTHERS _New York_

FIRST EDITION 1898 TENTH PRINTING 1960

LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, INC., PUBLISHERS

_A Nonprofit Organization, Devoted to the Lord's Work and to the Spread

of His Truth_

19 WEST 21ST STREET, NEW YORK 10, N. Y.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

Pages

THE MAN OF GOD 3-39

DECISION FOR CHRIST 1-28

PRAYER IN ITS PROPER PLACE 1-8

"GILGAL" 1-48

THOUGHTS ON CONFIRMATION VOWS 1-16

THOUGHTS ON THE LORD'S SUPPER 1-46

THE ASSEMBLY OF GOD 1-47

THE CHRISTIAN: HIS POSITION AND HIS WORK 1-32

THE CHRISTIAN PRIESTHOOD 1-13

FATHER! THY SOVEREIGN LOVE--_Poem_

PAPERS ON EVANGELIZATION 1-86

THE LIVING GOD AND A LIVING FAITH 1-28

A SCRIPTURAL INQUIRY AS TO THE SABBATH,

THE LAW, AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 2-28

THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST; PAST, PRESENT,

AND FUTURE 3-30

PRAYER AND THE PRAYER MEETING 3-23

_The original numbering of these writings has been retained, Many of the

above may be had separately in pamphlet form._

"THE MAN OF GOD"

The sentence which we have just penned occurs in Paul's second Epistle

to his beloved son Timothy--an epistle marked, as we know, by intense

individuality. All thoughtful students of Scripture have noticed the

striking contrast between the two Epistles of Paul to Timothy. In the

first, the Church is presented in its order, and Timothy is instructed

as to how he is to behave himself therein. In the second, on the

contrary, the Church is presented in its ruin. The house of God has

become the great house, in the which there are vessels to dishonor as

well as vessels to honor; and where, moreover, errors and evils

abound--heretical teachers and false professors, on every hand.

It is in this epistle of individuality, then, that the expression, "The

man of God" is used with such obvious force and meaning. It is in times

of general declension, of ruin and confusion that the faithfulness,

devotedness, and decision of the individual man of God are specially

called for. And it is a signal mercy for such an one to know that, spite

of the hopeless failure of the Church as a responsible witness for

Christ, it is the privilege of the individual to tread as holy a path,

to taste as deep communion, and to enjoy as rich blessings, as could be

known in the Church's brightest days.

This is a most encouraging and consolatory fact--a fact established by

many infallible proofs, and set forth in the very passage from which our

heading is taken. We shall here quote at length this passage of

singular weight and power:

"But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been

assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 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_, throughly _furnished unto all good

works_"[I.] (2 Tim. iii. 14-17).

Here we have "the man of God," in the midst of all the ruin and

confusion, the heresies and moral pravities of the last days, standing

forth in his own distinct individuality, "perfect, thoroughly furnished

unto all good works." And, may we not ask, what more could be said in

the Church's brightest days? If we go back to the day of Pentecost

itself, with all its display of power and glory, have we anything

higher, or better, or more solid than that which is set forth in the

words "perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works?"

And is it not a signal mercy for anyone who desires to stand for God, in

a dark and evil day, to be told that, spite of all the darkness, the

evil, the error and confusion, he possesses that which can make a child

_wise_ unto salvation, and make a man _perfect_ and thoroughly furnished

unto all good works? Assuredly it is; and we have to praise our God for

it, with full and overflowing hearts. To have access, in days like

these, to the eternal fountain of inspiration, where the child and the

man can meet and drink and be satisfied--that fountain so clear that the

honest, simple soul can understand; and so deep that you cannot reach

the bottom--that peerless, priceless volume which meets the child at his

mother's knee, and makes him wise unto salvation; and meets the man in

the most advanced stage of his practical career and makes him perfect

and fully furnished for the exigence of every hour.

However, we shall have occasion, ere we close this paper, to look more

particularly at "the man of God," and to consider what is the special

force and meaning of this term. That there is very much more involved in

it than is ordinarily understood, we are most fully persuaded.

There are three aspects in which man is presented in Scripture: in the

first place, we have _man in nature_; secondly, _a man in Christ_; and,

thirdly, we have, _the man of God_. It might perhaps be thought that the

second and third are synonymous; but we shall find a very material

difference between them. True, I must be a man in Christ before I can be

a man of God; but they are by no means interchangeable terms.

Let us then, in the first place, consider

MAN IN NATURE.

This is a very comprehensive term indeed. Under this title, we shall

find every possible shade of character, temperament, and disposition.

Man, on the platform of nature, graduates between two extremes. You may

view him at the very highest point of cultivation, or at the very lowest

point of degradation. You may see him surrounded with all the

advantages, the refinements and the so-called dignities of civilized

life; or you may find him sunk in all the shameless and barbarous

customs of savage existence. You may view him in the almost numberless

grades, ranks, classes, and _castes_ into which the human family has

distributed itself.

Then again, in the self-same class, or caste, you will find the most

vivid contrasts, in the way of character, temper, and disposition.

There, for example, is a man of such an atrocious temper that he is the

very horror of every one who knows him. He is the plague of his family

circle, and a perfect nuisance to society. He can be compared to a

porcupine with all his quills perpetually up; and if you meet him once

you will not wish to meet him again. There, on the other hand, is a man

of the sweetest disposition and most amiable temper. He is just as

attractive as the other is repulsive. He is a tender, loving, faithful

husband; a kind, affectionate, considerate father; a thoughtful,

liberal master; a kindly, genial neighbor; a generous friend, beloved by

all, and justly so: the more you know him the more you must like him,

and if you meet him once you are sure to wish to meet him again.

Further, you may meet on the platform of nature, a man who is false and

deceitful to the very heart's core. He delights in lying, cheating, and

deception. He is mean and contemptible in his thoughts, words and ways;

a man to whom all who know him would like to give as wide a berth as

possible. And, on the other hand, you may meet a man of high principle,

frank, honorable, generous, upright; one who would scorn to tell a lie,

or do a mean act; whose reputation is unblemished, his character

unexceptionable. His word would be taken for any amount; he is one with

whom all who know him would be glad to have dealings; an almost perfect

natural character; a man of whom it might be said, he lacks but one

thing.

Finally, as you pass to and fro on nature's platform, you may meet the

atheist who affects to deny the existence of God; the infidel who denies

God's revelation; the skeptic and the rationalist who disbelieves

everything. And, on the other hand, you will meet the superstitious

devotee who spends his time in prayers and fastings, ordinances, and

ceremonies; and who feels sure he is earning a place in heaven by a

wearisome round of religious observances that actually _un_fit him for

the proper functions and responsibilities of domestic and social life.

You may meet men of every imaginable shade of religious opinion, high

church, low church, broad church, and no church; men who, without a

spark of divine life in their souls, are contending for the powerless

forms of a traditionary religion.

Now, there is one grand and awfully solemn fact common to all these

various classes, castes, grades, shades, and conditions of men who

occupy the platform of nature, and that is there is not so much as a

single link between them and heaven--there is no link with the Man who

sits at the right hand of God--no link with the new creation. They are

unconverted, and without Christ. As regards God, and Christ, and eternal

life, and heaven, they all--however they may differ morally, socially,

and religiously--stand on one common ground; they are far from God--they

are out of Christ--they are in their sins--they are in the flesh--they

are of the world--they are on their way to hell.

There is really no getting over this, if we are to listen to the voice

of Holy Scripture. False teachers may deny it. Infidels may pretend to

smile contemptuously at the idea; but Scripture is plain as can be. It

speaks in manifold places of a fire that NEVER shall be quenched, and of

a worm that shall never die.

It is the very height of folly for anyone to seek to set aside the plain

testimony of the word of God on this most solemn and weighty subject.

Better far to let that testimony fall, with all its weight and

authority, upon the heart and conscience--infinitely better to flee

from the wrath to come than to attempt to deny that it is coming, and

that, when it does come, it will abide forever--yes, forever, and

forever, and forever! Tremendous thought!--over-whelming consideration!

May it speak with living power to the soul of the unconverted reader,

leading him to cry out in all sincerity, "What is to be done?"

Yes, here is the question, "What must I do to be saved?" The divine

answer is wrapped up in the following words which dropped from the lips

of two of Christ's very highest and most gifted ambassadors. "Repent and

be converted," said Peter to the Jew. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and thou shalt be saved and thy house," said Paul to the Gentile. And

again, the latter of these two blessed messengers, in summing up his own

ministry, thus defines the whole matter, "Testifying both to the Jews,

and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord

Jesus Christ."

How simple! But how real! How deep! How thoroughly practical! It is not

a nominal, national head belief. It is not saying, in mere flippant

profession, "I believe." Ah! no; it is something far deeper and more

serious than this. It is much to be feared that a large amount of the

professed faith of this our day is deplorably superficial, and that many

who throng our preaching rooms and lecture halls are, after all, but

wayside and stony ground hearers. The plough of conviction and

repentance has not passed over them. The fallow ground has never been

broken up. The arrow of conviction has never pierced them through and

through. They have never been broken down, turned inside out--thoroughly

revolutionized. The preaching of the gospel to all such is just like

scattering precious seed on the hard pavement or the beaten highway. It

does not penetrate. It does not enter into the depths of the soul; the

conscience is not reached; the heart is not affected. The seed lies on

the surface, it has not taken root, and is soon carried away.

Nor is this all. It is also much to be feared that many of the preachers

of the present day, in their efforts to make the gospel simple, lose

sight of the abiding necessity of repentance, and the essential

necessity of the action of the Holy Ghost, without which so-called faith

is a mere human exercise and passes away like the vapors of the morning,

leaving the soul still in the region of nature, satisfied with itself,

daubed with the untempered mortar of a merely human gospel that cries

peace, peace, where there is no peace, but the most imminent danger.

All this is very serious, and should lead the soul into profound

exercise. We want the reader to give it his grave and immediate

consideration. We would put this pointed question to him, which we

entreat him to answer, now, "_Have you got eternal life_?" Say, dear

friend, _have you_? "He that believeth on the Son of God hath eternal

life." Grand reality! If you have not got this, you have nothing.

You are still on that platform of nature of which we have spoken so

much. Yes, you are still there; no matter though you were the very

fairest specimen to be found there--amiable, polished, affable, frank,

generous, truthful, upright, honorable, attractive, beloved, learned,

cultivated, and even pious after a merely human fashion. You may be all

this, and yet not have a single pulsation of eternal life in your soul.

This may sound harsh and severe. But it is true; and you will find out

its truth sooner or later. We want you to find it out _now_. We want you

to see that you are a thorough bankrupt, in the fullest sense of that

word. A deed of bankruptcy has been filed against you in the high court

of heaven. Here are its terms, "_They that are in the flesh cannot

please God_." Have you ever pondered these words? Have you ever seen

their application to yourself? So long as you are unrepentant,

unconverted, unbelieving, you cannot do a single thing to please

God--not one. "In the flesh" and "on the platform of nature" mean one

and the same thing; and so long as you are there, you cannot please God.

"You must be born again"--must be renewed in the very deepest springs of

your being: unrenewed nature is wholly unable to see, and unfit to

enter, the kingdom of God. You must be born of water and of the

Spirit--that is by the living word of God, and of the Holy Ghost. There

is no other way by which to enter the kingdom. It is not by

self-improvement, but by new birth we reach the blessed kingdom of God.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh;" and "the flesh profiteth

nothing," for "they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

How distinct is all this! How pointed! How personal! How earnestly we

desire that the unawakened or undecided reader should, just now, take it

home to himself, as though he were the only individual upon the face of

the earth. It will not do to generalize--to rest satisfied with saying,

"We are all sinners." No; it is an intensely individual matter. "You

_must_ be born again." If you again ask, "How?" hear the divine response

from the lips of the Master Himself, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in

the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever

believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

Here is the sovereign remedy, for every poor broken-hearted,

conscience-smitten, hell-deserving sinner--for every one who owns

himself lost--who confesses his sins, and judges himself--for every

weary, heavy-laden, sin-burdened soul--here is God's own blessed

promise: Jesus died, that you might live. He was condemned, that you

might be justified. He drank the cup of wrath, that you might drink the

cup of salvation. Behold Him hanging on yonder cross for thee. See what

He did for thee. Believe that He satisfied, on your behalf, _all_ the

claims of justice before the throne of God. See all your sins laid on

Him--your guilt imputed to Him--your entire condition represented and

disposed of by Him. See His atoning death answering perfectly for all

that was or ever could be brought against you. See Him rising from the

dead, having accomplished all. See Him ascending into the heavens,

bearing in His divine Person the marks of His finished atonement. See

Him seated on the throne of God, in the very highest place of power. See

Him crowned with glory and honor. Believe in Him, and you will receive

remission of sins, the gift of eternal life, the seal of the Holy Ghost.

You will pass off the platform of nature--you will be "_A man in

Christ_."

FOOTNOTE:

[I.] The reader should be informed that the word which is rendered

"perfect," in the above passage, occurs but this once in the entire New

Testament. It is [Greek: artios] (artios) and signifies, ready,

complete, well fitted; as an instrument with all its strings, a machine

with all its parts, a body with all its limbs, joints, muscles, and

sinews. The usual word for "perfect" is [Greek: teleios] (teleios) which

signifies the reaching of the moral _end_, in any particular thing.

PART II.

To all whose eyes have been opened to see their true condition by

nature, who have been brought under the convicting power of the Holy

Ghost, who know something of the real meaning of a broken heart and a

contrite spirit--to all such it must be of the deepest possible interest

to know the divine secret of rest and peace. If it be true--and it is

true, because God says it--that "they that are _in the flesh_ cannot

please God," then how is any one to get _out of the flesh_? How can he

pass off the platform of nature? How can he reach the blessed position

of those to whom the Holy Ghost declares, "Ye are not in the flesh but

in the Spirit"?

These are momentous questions, surely. For, be it thoroughly known and

ever remembered, that no improvement of our old nature is of any value

whatsoever as to our standing before God. It may be all very well, so

far as this life is concerned, for a man to improve himself by every

means within his reach, to cultivate his mind, furnish his memory,

elevate his moral tone, advance his social position. All this is quite

true, so true as not to need a moment's argument.

But, admitting in the fullest manner the truth of all this, it leaves

wholly untouched the solemn and sweeping statement of the inspired

apostle that, "they that are in the flesh cannot please God." There

_must_ be a new standing altogether, and this new standing cannot be

reached by any change in the old nature--by any doings or formalities,

feelings, ordinances of religion, prayers, alms or sacraments. Do what

you will with nature and it is nature still. "That which is born of the

flesh is flesh;" and do what you will with flesh you cannot make it

spirit. There must be a new life--a life flowing from the new man, the

last Adam, who has become, in resurrection, the Head of a new race.

How is this most precious life to be had? Hear the memorable

answer--hear it, anxious reader, hear it and live. "Verily, verily, I

say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent

Me, _hath_ everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but _is

passed_ from death unto life" (John v. 24).

Here we have a total change of standing; a passing from death to life;

from a position in which there is not so much as a single link with

heaven, with the new creation, with the risen Man in glory, into a

position in which there is not a single link with the first man, with

the old creation, and this present evil world. And all this is through

believing on the Son of God--not _saying_ we believe, but really, truly,

heartily, believing on the Son of God; not by a mere intellectual faith,

but believing with the heart.

Thus only does any one become

A MAN IN CHRIST.

Every true believer is a man in Christ. Whether it be the convert of

yesterday or the hoary headed saint of fifty or sixty years' standing as

a Christian, each stands in precisely the same blessed position--he is

in Christ. There can be no difference here. The practical _state_ may

differ immensely; but the positive standing is one and the same. As on

the platform of nature, you may meet with every imaginable shade, class,

grade, and condition (though all having one common standing) so on the

new, the divine, the heavenly platform, you may meet with every possible

variety of practical condition: the greatest possible difference in

intelligence, experience, and spiritual power, while all possessing the

same standing before God, all being in Christ. There can be no degrees

as to standing, whatever there may be as to state. The convert of

yesterday, and the hoary headed father in Christ are both alike as to

standing. Each is a man in Christ, and there can be no advance upon

this. We sometimes hear of, "The higher Christian life:" but, strictly

speaking, there is no such thing as a higher or a lower Christian life,

inasmuch as Christ is the life of every believer. It may be that those

who use the term mean a right thing. They probably refer to the higher

stages of the Christian life--greater nearness to God, greater likeness

to Christ, greater power in the Spirit, more devotedness, more

separation from the world, more entire consecration of heart to Christ.

But all these things belong to the question of our _state_, not to our

standing. This latter is absolute, settled, unchangeable. It is in

Christ--nothing less, nothing more, nothing different. If we are not in

Christ, we are in our sins; but if we are in Christ, we cannot possibly

be higher, as to standing.

If the reader will turn with us, for a few moments, to I Cor. xv. 45-48,

he will find some powerful teaching on this great foundation truth. The

apostle speaks here of two men, "The first and the second." And let it

be carefully noted that the Second Man is by no means federally

connected with the first, but stands in contrast with him--a new,

independent, divine, heavenly source of life in Himself. The first man

has been entirely set aside, as a ruined, guilty, outcast creature. We

speak of Adam federally, as the head of a race. Personally, Adam was

saved by grace; but if we look at him from a federal standpoint, we see

him a hopeless wreck.

The first man is an irremediable ruin. This is proved by the fact of a

_second_ Man; for truly we may say of the men as of the covenants, "If

the first had been found faultless, then should no place have been

sought for the Second." But the very fact of a second Man being

introduced demonstrates the hopeless ruin of the first. Why a second, if

aught could be made of the first? If our old Adam nature was, in any

wise, capable of being improved, there was no need of something new. But

"they that are in the flesh cannot please God." "For in Christ Jesus

neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new

creation" (Rom. viii.: Gal. vi.).

There is immense moral power in all this line of teaching. It sets forth

Christianity in vivid and striking contrast with every form of

religiousness under the sun. Take Judaism or any other _ism_ that ever

was known or that now exists in this world, and what do you find it to

be? Is it not invariably something designed for the testing, or

experimenting for the improvement, or advancement of the first man?

Unquestionably.

But what is Christianity? It is something entirely new--heavenly,

spiritual, divine. It is based upon the cross of Christ, in the which

the first man came to his end, where sin was put away, judgment borne,

the old man crucified and put out of God's sight forever, so far as all

believers are concerned. The cross closes, for faith, the history of the

first man. "I am crucified with Christ," says the apostle. And again,

"They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and

lusts."

Are these mere figures of speech, or do they set forth, in the mighty

words of the Holy Ghost, the grand fact of the entire setting aside of

the first man, as utterly worthless and condemned? The latter, most

assuredly. Christianity starts, as it were, from the open grave of the

Second Man, to pursue its bright career onward to eternal glory. It is,

emphatically, a new creation in which there is not so much as a single

shred of the old thing--for in this "all things are of God." And if

"_all things_" are of God, there can be nothing of man.

What rest! What comfort! What strength! What moral elevation! What sweet

relief for the poor burdened soul that has been vainly seeking, for

years perhaps, to find peace in self-improvement! What deliverance from

the wretched thralldom of legality, in all its phases, to find out the

precious secret that my guilty, ruined, bankrupt self--the very thing

that I have been trying by every means in my power to improve, has been

completely and forever set aside--that God is not looking for any

amendment in it--that He has condemned it and put it to death in the

cross of His Son! What an answer is here to the monk, the ascetic, and

the ritualist! Oh, that it were understood in all its emancipating

power! This heavenly, this divine, this spiritual Christianity. Surely

were it only known in its living power and reality, it would deliver the

soul from the thousand and one forms of corrupt religion whereby the

arch-enemy and deceiver is ruining the souls of untold millions. We may

truly say that Satan's most successful effort against the truth of the

gospel, against the Christianity of the New Testament, is seen in the

fact of his leading unconverted people to take and apply to themselves

ordinances of the Christian religion, and to profess many of its

doctrines. In this way he blinds their eyes to their own true condition,

as utterly ruined, guilty, and undone; and strikes a deadly blow at the

pure gospel of Christ. The best piece that was ever put upon the "old

garment" of man's ruined nature is the profession of Christianity; and,

the better the piece, the worse the rent. See Mark ii. 21.

Let us bend an attentive ear to the following weighty words of the

greatest teacher and best exponent of true Christianity the world ever

saw. "For _I_ through the law _am dead_ to the law, that I might live to

God. _I am crucified_ with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet _not I_, but

Christ liveth in me." Mark this, "I--not I--but Christ." The old

"I"--"crucified." The new "I"--Christ. "And the life which I now live in

the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave

Himself for me" (Gal. ii. 19, 20).[II.]

This, and nothing else, is Christianity. It is not "the old man," the

first man, becoming religious, even though the religion be the

profession of the doctrines, and the adopting of the ordinances of

Christianity. No; it is the death and burial of the old man--the old

I--and becoming a new man in Christ. Every true believer is a new man in

Christ. He has passed clean out of the old creation-standing--the old

estate of sin and death, guilt and condemnation; and he has passed into

a new creation-standing--a new estate of life and righteousness in a

risen and glorified Christ, the Head of the new creation, the last Adam.

Such is the position and unalterable standing of the feeblest believer

in Christ. There is absolutely no other standing for any Christian. I

must either be in the first man or in the Second. There is no _third_

man, for the Second Man is the last Adam. There is no middle ground. I

am either _in Christ_, or I am _in my sins_. But if I am in Christ, I am

as He is before God. "As _He is so are we_, in this world." He does not

say, "As He _was_" but "as He _is_." That is, the Christian is viewed by

God as one with Christ--the Second Man, in whom He delights. We do not

speak of His Deity, of course, which is incommunicable. That blessed One

stood in the believer's stead--bore his sins, died his death, paid his

penalty, represented him in every respect; took all his guilt, all his

liabilities, all that pertained to him as a man in nature, stood as his

substitute, in all the verity and reality of that word, and having

divinely met his case, and borne his judgment, He rose from the dead,

and is now the Head, the Representative, and the only true definition

of the believer before God.

To this most glorious and enfranchising truth, Scripture bears the

amplest testimony. The passage which we have just quoted from Galatians

is a most vivid, powerful, and condensed statement of it. And if the

reader will turn to Rom. vi. he will find further evidence. We shall

quote some of the weighty sentences.

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may

abound? Far be the thought. How shall _we that are dead_ to sin, live

any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized to

Jesus Christ were baptized to His death? Therefore we are buried with

Him by baptism unto death; that _like as Christ_ was raised up from the

dead by the glory of the Father, _even so we also_ should walk in

newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of

His death, we shall be also of resurrection. Knowing this that _our old

man is crucified with Him_, that the body of sin might be destroyed,

that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed

from sin. Now if we _be dead with Christ_, we believe that we shall also

live with Him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no

more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died

unto sin once; but in that He liveth He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon

ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God,

through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. vi. I-11).

Reader, mark especially these words in the foregoing quotation--"We that

_are dead_"--"We are buried with Him"--"_Like as Christ_ was raised ...

_even so_ we also"--"Our old man is crucified with Him"--"Dead with

Christ"--"Dead indeed unto sin." Do we really understand such

utterances? Have we entered into their real force and meaning? Do we, in

very deed, perceive their application to ourselves? These are searching

questions for the heart, and needful. The real doctrine of Rom. vi. is

but little apprehended. There are thousands who profess to believe in

the atoning virtue of the death of Christ, but who do not see aught

therein beyond the forgiveness of their _sins_. They do not see the

crucifixion, death, and burial of the old man--the destruction of the

body of sin--the condemnation of sin--the entire setting aside of the

old system of things belonging to their first Adam condition--in a word

their perfect identification with a dead and risen Christ. Hence it is

that we press this grand and all-important line of truth upon the

attention of the reader. It lies at the very base of all true

Christianity, and forms an integral part of the truth of the gospel.

Let us hearken to further evidence on the point. Hear what the apostle

said to the Colossians: "Wherefore, if ye be _dead with Christ_ from the

rudiments of the world, why, _as though living in the world_, are ye

subject to ordinances, after the commandments and doctrines of men,

[such as] touch not, taste not, handle not"?--thus it is that human

ordinances speak to us, telling us not to touch this, not to taste that,

not to handle the other, as if there could possibly be any divine

principle involved in such things--"which all are to perish with the

using;" and "which, have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and

humility, and neglecting of the body--not in any honor--to the

satisfying of the flesh. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those

things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your mind on things that are above, not on things on the earth. For

_ye have died_ and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. ii., iii.

2).

Here, again, let us inquire how far we enter into the true force,

meaning, and application of such words as these--"Why as though _living

in the world_," etc.? Are we living in the world or living in

heaven--which? The true Christian is one who has died out of this

present evil world. He has no more to do with it than Christ. "Like as

Christ ... even so we." He is dead to the law--dead to sin: alive in

Christ--alive to God--alive in the new creation. He belongs to heaven.

He is enrolled as a citizen of heaven. His religion, his politics, his

morals are all heavenly. He is a heavenly man walking on the earth, and

fulfilling all the duties which belong to the varied relationships in

which the hand of God has placed him, and in which the word of God most

fully recognizes him, and amply guides him, such as husband, father,

master, child, servant, and such like. The Christian is not a monk, an

ascetic, or a hermit. He is, we repeat, a heavenly, spiritual man, _in_

the world, but not _of_ it. He is like a foreigner, so far as his

residence here is concerned. He is in the body, as to the fact of his

condition; but not in the flesh as to the principle of his standing. He

is _a man in Christ_.

Ere closing this article, we should like to call the reader's attention

to 2 Cor. xii. In it he will find, at once, the _positive standing_ and

the _possible state_ of the believer. The standing is fixed and

unalterable, as set forth in that one comprehensive sentence--"A man in

Christ." The state may graduate between the two extremes presented in

the opening and closing verses of this chapter. A Christian may be in

the third heaven, amid the seraphic visions of that blessed and holy

place; or he may, if not watchful, sink down into all the gross and evil

things named in vers. 20, 21.

It may be asked, "Is it possible that a true child of God could ever be

found in such a low moral condition?" Alas! alas! reader, it is indeed

possible. There is no depth of sin and folly into which a Christian is

not capable of plunging, if not kept by the grace of God. Even the

blessed apostle himself, when he came down from the third heaven, needed

"a thorn in the flesh" to keep him from being "exalted above measure."

We might suppose that a man who had been up in that bright and blessed

region could never again feel the stirrings of pride. But the plain fact

is that even the third heavens cannot cure the flesh. It is utterly

incorrigible and must be judged and kept under, day by day, hour by

hour, moment by moment, else it will cut out plenty of sorrowful work

for us.

Still, the believer's standing is in Christ, forever justified,

accepted, perfect in Him. And, moreover, he must ever judge his state by

his standing, never his standing by his state. To attempt to reach the

standing by my state is _legalism_; to refuse to judge my state by the

standing is _antinomianism_. Both--though so diverse one from the

other--are alike false, alike opposed to the truth of God, alike

offensive to the Holy Ghost, alike removed from the divine idea of "A

man in Christ."

FOOTNOTE:

[II.] The reader will distinguish between the expression "in the flesh"

as used in Gal. ii. 20, and in Rom. viii. 8, 9. In the former, it simply

refers to our condition as in the body. In the latter, it sets forth the

principle or ground of our standing. The believer is in the body, as to

the fact of his condition; but he is not in the flesh as to the

principle of his standing.

PART III.

Having considered the deeply interesting questions of "a man in nature"

and "a man in Christ," it remains for us now to consider, in this third

and last Part, the deeply practical subject of the title of this paper,

namely,

THE MAN OF GOD.

It would be a great mistake to suppose that every Christian is a man of

God. Even in Paul's day--in the days of Timothy, there were many who

bore the Christian name who were very far indeed from acquitting

themselves as men of God, that is, as those who were really God's men,

in the midst of the failure and error which, even then, had begun to

creep in.

It is the perception of this fact that renders the second Epistle to

Timothy so profoundly interesting. In it we have what we may call ample

provision for the man of God, in the day in which he is called to

live--a dark, evil, and perilous day, most surely, in which all who will

live godly must keep the eye steadily fixed on Christ Himself--His

name--His person--His Word, if they would make any headway against the

tide.

It is hardly possible to read second Timothy without being struck with

its intensely individual character. The very opening address is

strikingly characteristic. "I thank God, whom I serve from my

forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have

remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day."

What glowing words are these! How affecting to harken thus to one man of

God pouring the deep and tender feelings of his great, large, loving

heart into the heart of another man of God! The dear apostle was

beginning to feel the chilling influence that was fast creeping over the

professing Church. He was tasting the bitterness of disappointed hopes.

He found himself deserted by many who had once professed to be his

friends and associates in that glorious work to which he had consecrated

all the energies of his great soul. Many were becoming "ashamed of the

testimony of our Lord, and of His prisoner." It was not that they

altogether ceased to be Christians, or abandoned the Christian

profession; but they turned their backs upon Paul, and left him alone in

the day of trial.

Now, it is under such circumstances that the heart turns, with peculiar

tenderness, to individual faithfulness and affection. If one is

surrounded, on all hands, by true-hearted confessors--by a great cloud

of witnesses--a large army of good soldiers of Jesus Christ--if the tide

of devotedness is flowing around one and bearing him on its bosom, he is

not so dependent upon individual sympathy and fellowship.

But, on the other hand, when the general condition of things is low,

when the majority prove faithless, when old associates are dropping off,

it is then that personal grace and true affection are specially valued.

The dark background of general declension throws individual devotedness

into beauteous relief.

Thus it is in this exquisite Epistle which now lies open before us. It

does the heart good to harken to the breathings of the aged prisoner of

Jesus Christ, who can speak of serving God from his forefathers with

pure conscience, and of unceasing remembrance of his beloved son and

true yoke-fellow.

It is specially interesting to notice that, both in reference to his own

history and that of his beloved friend, Paul goes back to facts of very

early date--facts in their own individual paths, facts prior to their

meeting one another, and prior to what we may call their church

associations--important and interesting as these things surely are in

their place. Paul had served God, from his forefathers, with pure

conscience, before he had known a fellow-Christian. This he could

continue to do though deserted by all his Christian companions. So also,

in the case of his faithful friend, he says, "I call to remembrance the

unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt in thy grandmother Lois,

and thy mother Eunice: and I am persuaded that is in thee also."

This is very touching and very beautiful. We cannot but be struck with

such references to the previous history of those beloved men of God. The

"pure conscience" of the one, and "the unfeigned faith" of the other,

indicate two grand moral qualities which all must possess if they would

prove true men of God in a dark and evil day. The former has its

immediate reference, in all things, to the one living and true God; the

latter draws all its springs from Him. That, leads us to walk _before_

God; this, enables us to walk _with_ Him. Both together are

indispensable in forming the character of the true man of God.

It is utterly impossible to over-estimate the importance of keeping a

pure conscience before God, in all our ways. It is positively

invaluable. It leads us to refer everything to God. It keeps us from

being tossed hither and thither by every wave and current of human

opinion. It imparts stability and consistency to the entire course and

character.

We are all in imminent danger of falling under human influence--of

shaping our way according to the thoughts of our fellow-man, adopting

his cue, or mounting his hobby.

All this is destructive of the character of the man of God. If you take

your tone from your fellow, if you suffer yourself to be formed in a

merely human mould, if your faith stands in the wisdom of man, if your

object is to please men, then instead of being a man of God, you will

become a member of a party or clique. You will lose that lovely

freshness and originality so essential to the individual servant of

Christ, and become marked by the peculiar and dominant features of a

sect.

Let us carefully guard against this. It has ruined many a valuable

servant. Many who might have proved really useful workmen in the

vineyard, have failed completely through not maintaining the integrity

of their individual character and path. They began with God. They

started on their course in the exercise of a pure conscience, and in the

pursuit of that path which a divine hand had marked out for them. There

was a bloom, a freshness, and a verdure about them, most refreshing to

all who came in contact with them. They were taught of God. They drew

near to the eternal fountain of Holy Scripture and drank for themselves.

Perhaps they did not know much; but what they did know was real because

they received it from God, and it turned to good account for "there is

much food in the tillage of the poor."

But, instead of going on with God, they allowed themselves to get under

human influence; they got truth secondhand, and became the vendors of

other men's thoughts; instead of drinking at the fountain head, they

drank at the streams of human opinion; they lost originality,

simplicity, freshness, and power, and became mere copyists, if not

miserable caricatures. Instead of giving forth those "rivers of living

water" which flow from the true believer in Jesus, they dropped into the

barren technicalities and cut and dry common-places of mere systematized

religion.

Beloved Christian reader, all this must be sedulously guarded against.

We must watch against it, pray against it, believe against it, and live

against it. Let us seek to serve God, with a pure conscience. Let us

live in His own immediate presence, in the light of His blessed

countenance, in the holy intimacy of personal communion with Him,

through the power of the Holy Ghost. This, we may rest assured, is the

true secret of power for the man of God, at all times, and under all

circumstances. We must walk with God, in the deep and cherished sense of

our own personal responsibility to Him. This is what we understand by "a

pure conscience."

But will this tend, in the smallest degree, to lessen our sense of the

value of true fellowship, of holy communion with all those who are true

to Christ? By no means; indeed it is the very thing which will impart

power, energy, and depth of tone to the fellowship. If every "man in

Christ" were only acquitting himself thoroughly as "a man of God," what

blessed fellowship there would be! what heart work! what glow and

unmistakable power! How different from the dull formalism of a merely

nominal assent to certain accredited dogmas of a party, on the one hand,

and from the mere _esprit de corps_ of cliquism, on the other.

There are few terms in such common use and so little understood as

"fellowship." In numberless cases, it merely indicates the fact of a

nominal membership in some religious denomination--a fact which

furnishes no guarantee whatsoever of living communion with Christ, or

personal devotedness to His cause. If all who are nominally "in fellow

ship" were acquitting themselves thoroughly as men of God, what a very

different condition of things we should be privileged to witness!

But what is fellowship? It is, in its very highest expression, having

one common object with God, and taking part in the same portion; and

that object, that portion, is Christ--Christ known and enjoyed through

the Holy Ghost. This is fellowship with God. What a privilege! What a

dignity! What unspeakable blessedness! To be allowed to have a common

object and a common portion with God Himself! To delight in the One in

whom He delights! There can be nothing higher, nothing better, nothing

more precious than this. Not even in heaven itself shall we know aught

beyond this. Our own condition will, thank God, be vastly different.

We shall be done with a body of sin and death, and be clothed with a

body of glory. We shall be done with a sinful, sorrowful, distracting

world, where all is directly opposed to God and to us, and we shall

breathe the pure, invigorating atmosphere of that bright and blessed

world above.

For, in so far as our fellowship is real, it is now as it shall be then,

"with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ"--"in the light," and by

the power of the Holy Ghost.

Thus much as to our fellowship with God. And, as regards our fellowship

one with another, it is simply as we walk in the light; as we read, "If

we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with

another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all

sin" (I John i. 7). We can only have fellowship one with another as we

walk in the immediate presence of God. There may be a vast amount of

mere intercourse without one particle of divine fellowship. Alas! alas!

a great deal of what passes for Christian fellowship is nothing more

than the merest religious gossip--the vapid, worthless, soul-withering

chit-chat of the religious world, than which nothing can be more

miserably unprofitable. True Christian fellowship can only be enjoyed in

the light. It is when we are individually walking with God, in the power

of personal communion, that we really have fellowship one with another,

and this fellowship consists in real heart enjoyment of Christ as our

one object, our common portion. It is not heartless traffic in certain

favorite doctrines which we receive to hold in common. It is not morbid

sympathy with those who think, and see, and feel with us in some

favorite theory or dogma. It is something quite different from all this.

It is delighting in Christ, in common with all those who are walking in

the light. It is attachment to Him, to His person, His name, His Word,

His cause, His people. It is joint consecration of heart and soul to

that blessed One who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own

blood, and brought us into the light of God's presence, there to walk

with Him and with one another. This, and nothing less, is Christian

fellowship; and where this is really understood it will lead us to pause

and consider what we say when we declare, in any given case, "such an

one is in fellowship."

But we must proceed with our Epistle, and there see what full provision

there is for the man of God, however dark the day may be in which his

lot is cast.

We have seen something of the importance--yea, rather, we should say the

indispensable necessity of "a pure conscience," and "unfeigned faith,"

in the moral equipment of God's man. These qualities lie at the very

base of the entire edifice of practical godliness which must ever

characterize the genuine man of God.

But there is more than this. The edifice must be erected as well as the

foundation laid. The man of God has to work on amid all sorts of

difficulties, trials, sorrows, disappointments, obstacles, questions

and controversies. He has his niche to fill, his path to tread, his work

to do. Come what may, he must serve. The enemy may oppose; the world may

frown; the Church may be in ruins around him; false brethren may thwart,

hinder, and desert; strife, controversy, and division may arise and

darken the atmosphere; still the man of God must move on, regardless of

all these things, working, serving, testifying, according to the sphere

in which the hand of God has placed him, and according to the gift

bestowed upon him. How is this to be done? Not only by keeping a pure

conscience and the exercise of an unfeigned faith--priceless,

indispensable qualities! but, further, he has to harken to the following

weighty word of exhortation--"Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that

thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my

hands."

The gift must be stirred up, else it may become useless if allowed to

lie dormant. There is great danger of letting the gift drop into disuse

through the discouraging influence of surrounding circumstances. A gift

unused will soon become useless; whereas, a gift stirred up and

diligently used grows and expands. It is not enough to possess a gift,

we must wait upon the gift, cultivate it, and exercise it. This is the

way to improve it.

And observe the special force of the expression, "the gift of God." In

Eph. iv. we read of "the gift of Christ," and there, too, we find all

the gifts, from the highest to the lowest range, flowing down from

Christ the risen and glorified Head of His body, the Church. But in

second Timothy, we have it defined as "the gift of God." True it

is--blessed be His holy name!--our Lord Christ is God over all, blessed

forever, so that the gift of Christ is the gift of God. But we may rest

assured there is never any distinction in Scripture without a

difference; and hence there is some good reason for the expression "gift

of God." We doubt not it is in full harmony with the nature and object

of the Epistle in which it occurs. It is "the gift of God" communicated

to "the man of God" to be used by him notwithstanding the hopeless ruin

of the professing Church, and spite of all the difficulty, darkness, and

discouragement of the day in which his lot is cast.

The man of God must not allow himself to be hindered in the diligent

cultivation and exercise of his gift, though everything seems to look

dark and forbidding, for "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but

of power and of love, and of a sound mind." Here we have "God" again

introduced to our thoughts, and that, too, in a most gracious manner, as

furnishing His man with the very thing he needs to meet the special

exigence of his day--"The spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound

mind."

Marvelous combination! Truly, an exquisite compound after the art of the

apothecary! Power, love, and wisdom! How perfect! Not a single

ingredient too much. Not one too little. If it were merely a spirit of

power, it might lead one to carry things with a high hand. Were it

merely a spirit of love, it might lead one to sacrifice truth for peace'

sake; or indolently to tolerate error and evil rather than give offence.

But the power is softened by the love; and the love is strengthened by

the power; and, moreover, the spirit of wisdom comes in to adjust both

the power and the love. In a word, it is a divinely perfect and

beautiful provision for the man of God--the very thing he needs for "the

last days" so perilous, so difficult, so full of all sorts of perplexing

questions and apparent contradictions. If one were to be asked what he

would consider most necessary for such days as these? surely he should,

at once, say, "power, love, and soundness of mind." Well, blessed be

God, these are the very things which He has graciously given to form the

character, shape the way, and govern the conduct of the man of God,

right on to the end.

But there is further provision and further exhortation for the man of

God. "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of

me His prisoner; but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel

according to the power of God." In pentecostal days, when the rich and

mighty tide of divine grace was flowing in, and bearing thousands of

ransomed souls upon its bosom; when all were of one heart and one mind;

when those outside were overawed by the extraordinary manifestations of

divine power, it was rather a question of partaking of the _triumphs_ of

the gospel, than its afflictions. But in the days contemplated in second

Timothy, all is changed. The beloved apostle is a lonely prisoner at

Rome; all in Asia had forsaken him; Hymeneus and Philetus are denying

the resurrection; all sorts of heresies, errors, and evils are creeping

in; the landmarks are in danger of being swept away by the tide of

apostasy and corruption.

In the face of all this, the man of God has to brace himself up for the

occasion. He has to endure hardness; to hold fast the form of sound

words; he has to keep the good thing committed to him; to be strong in

the grace that is in Christ Jesus; to keep himself _disentangled_

--however he may be _engaged_; he must keep himself free as a soldier;

he must cling to God's sure foundation; he must purge himself from the

dishonorable vessels in the great house; he must _flee_ youthful lusts,

and _follow_ righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on

the Lord out of a pure heart. He must avoid foolish and unlearned

questions. He must turn away from formal and heartless professors. He

must be thoroughly furnished for all good works, perfectly equipped

through a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. He must preach the Word; be

instant in season and out of season. He must watch in all things; endure

afflictions; and do the work of an evangelist.

What a category for the man of God! Who is sufficient for these things?

Where is the spiritual power to be had for such works? It is to be had

at the mercy-seat. It is to be found in earnest, patient, believing,

waiting upon the living God, and in no other way. All our springs are

in Him. We have only to draw upon Him. He is sufficient for the darkest

day. Difficulties are nothing to Him, and they are bread for faith. Yes,

beloved reader, difficulties of the most formidable nature are simply

bread for faith, and the man of faith will develop and grow strong

thereby. Unbelief says, "There is a lion in the way;" but faith slays

the lion that roars along the path of the nazarite of God. It is the

privilege of the true believer to rise above all the hostile influences

which surround him, no matter what they are, or from whence they spring;

and, in the calmness and brightness of the divine presence, enjoy as

high communion, and taste as rich and rare privileges as ever were known

in the Church's brightest days.

Let us remember this--every man of God needs to remember it: there is no

comfort, no peace, no strength, no moral power, no true elevation to be

derived from looking at the ruins. We must look up out of the ruins to

the place where our Lord Christ has taken His seat, at the right hand of

the Majesty in the heavens. Or rather, to speak more according to our

true position, we should look down from our place in the heavens upon

all the ruins of earth. To realize our place in Christ, and to be

occupied in heart and soul with Him, is the true secret of power to

carry ourselves as men of God. To have Christ ever before us--His work

for the conscience, His person for the heart, His Word for the path, is

the one grand, sovereign, divine remedy for a ruined self, a ruined

world, a ruined Church.

But we close. Very gladly would we linger, in company with the reader,

over the contents of this most precious second Timothy. Truly refreshing

would it be to dwell upon all its touching allusions, its earnest

appeals, its weighty exhortations. But this would demand a volume, and

hence we must leave the Christian reader to study the Epistle for

himself, praying that the eternal Spirit who indited it may unfold and

apply it in living power to his soul, so that he may be enabled to

acquit himself as an earnest, faithful, whole-hearted man of God and

servant of Christ, in the midst of a scene of hollow profession, and

heartless worldly religiousness.

May the good Lord stir us all up to a more thorough consecration of

ourselves, in spirit, soul, and body--all we are and all we have--to His

service! We think we can really say we long for this--long for it, in

the deep sense of our lack of it--long for it, more intensely, as we

grow increasingly sick of the unreal condition of things within and

around us.

O beloved Christian, let us earnestly, believingly, and perseveringly

cry to our own ever gracious God to make us more real, more

whole-hearted, more thoroughly devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ in all

things.

IN THE FATHER'S HOUSE

"The wanderer no more will roam,

The lost one to the fold hath come,

The prodigal is welcomed home,

O Lamb of God, through Thee!

"Though clothed in rags, by sin defiled,

The Father did embrace His child;

And I am pardoned, reconciled,

O Lamb of God, through Thee!

"It is the Father's joy to bless;

His love has found for me a dress,

A robe of spotless righteousness,

O Lamb of God, in Thee!

"And now my famished soul is fed,

A feast of love for me is spread,

I feed upon the children's bread,

O Lamb of God, in Thee!

"Yea, in the fulness of His grace,

God put me in the children's place,

Where I may gaze upon His face,

O Lamb of God, in Thee!

"Not half His Love can I express,

Yet, Lord, with joy my lips confess,

This blessed portion I possess,

O Lamb of God, in Thee!

"Thy precious name it is I bear,

In Thee I am to God brought near,

And all the Father's love I share,

O Lamb of God, in Thee!"

DECISION FOR CHRIST

In approaching the subject of "Decision for Christ," there are two or

three obstacles which lie in our way--two or three difficulties which

hang around the question, which we would fain remove, if possible, in

order that the reader may be able to view the matter on its own proper

ground, and in its own proper bearings.

In the first place, we encounter a serious difficulty in the fact that

very few of us, comparatively, are in a condition of soul to appreciate

the subject, or to suffer a word of exhortation thereon. We are, for the

most part, so occupied with the question of our soul's salvation,--so

taken up with matters affecting ourselves, our peace, our liberty, our

comfort, our deliverance from the wrath to come, our interest in

Christ,--that we have but little heart for aught that purely concerns

Christ Himself--His name, His person, His cause, His glory.

There are, we may say, two things which lie at the foundation of all

true decision for Christ, namely, a conscience purged by the blood of

Jesus, and a heart that bows with reverent submission to the authority

of His Word in all things. Now we do not mean to dwell upon these things

in this paper; first, because we are anxious to get at once to our

immediate theme; and secondly, because we have so often dwelt on the

subject of establishing the conscience in the peace of the gospel, and

on setting before the heart the paramount claims of the word of God. We

merely refer to them here for the purpose of reminding the reader that

they are absolutely essential materials in forming the basis of decision

for Christ. If my conscience is ill at ease, if I am in doubt as to my

salvation, if I am filled with "anxious thought" as to whether I am a

child of God or not, decision for Christ is out of the question. I must

know that Christ died for me before I can intelligently and happily live

for Him.

So, also, if there be any reserve in the heart as to my entire

subjection to the authority of Christ as my Lord and Master; if I am

keeping some chamber of my heart, be it ever so remote, ever so small,

closed against the light of His Word, it must of necessity hinder my

whole-hearted decision for Him in this world. In a word, I must know

that _Christ is mine_ and _I am His_ ere my course down here can be one

of unswerving, uncompromising decision for Him. If the reader hesitates

as to this, if he is still in doubt and darkness, let him pause and turn

directly to the cross of the Son of God and hearken to what the Holy

Spirit declares as to all those who simply put their trust therein. Let

him drink into his inmost soul these words: "Be it known unto you,

therefore, 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." Yes, reader,

these are the glad tidings for you. "_All_, from _all_," by faith in a

crucified and risen Lord.

But we see another difficulty in the way of our subject. We greatly fear

that while we speak of decision for Christ, some of our readers may

suppose that we are contending for some notion or set of notions of our

own; that we are pressing some peculiar views or principles to which we

vainly and foolishly venture to apply the imposing title of "Decision

for Christ." All this we do most solemnly disclaim. The words which

stand at the head of this paper are the simple expression of our thesis.

We do not contend for attachment to sect, party, or denomination; for

adherence to the doctrines or commandments of men. We write in the

immediate presence of Him who searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins

of the children of men, and we distinctly avow that our one object is to

urge upon the Christian reader the necessity of decision for Christ. We

would not, if we know ourselves, pen a single line to swell the ranks of

a party, or draw over adherents to any particular doctrinal creed or any

special form of church polity. We are impressed with the conviction that

where Christ has His right place in the heart, all will be right; and

that where He has not, there will be nothing right. And further, we

believe that nothing but plain decision for Christ can effectually

preserve the soul from the fatal influences that are at work around us

in the professing Church. Mere orthodoxy cannot preserve us. Attachment

to religious forms will not avail in the present fearful struggle. It

is, we feel persuaded, a simple question of Christ as our _life_, and

Christ as our _object_. May the Spirit of God now enable us to ponder

aright the subject of "Decision for Christ"!

It is well to bear in mind that there are certain great truths--certain

immutable principles--which underlie all the dispensations of God from

age to age and which remain untouched by all the failure, the folly and

the sin of man. It is on these great moral truths, these foundation

principles, that faith lays hold, and in them finds its strength and

sustenance. Dispensations change and pass away, men prove unfaithful in

their varied positions of stewardship and responsibility, but the word

of the Lord endureth forever. It never fails. "Forever, O Lord, Thy word

is settled in heaven." And again, "Thou hast magnified Thy word above

all Thy name."[III.] Nothing can touch the eternal truth of God, and

therefore what we want at all times is to give that truth its proper

place in our hearts; to let it act on our conscience, form our

character, and shape our way. "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I

might not sin against Thee." "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by

every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord." This is true

security. Here lies the real secret of decision for Christ. What God

has spoken must govern us in the most absolute manner ere our path can

be said to be one of plain decision. There may be tenacious adherence to

our own notions, obstinate attachment to the prejudices of the age, a

blind devotion to certain doctrines and practices resting on a

traditionary foundation, certain opinions which we have received to hold

without ever inquiring as to whether or not there be any authority

whatever for such opinions in Holy Scripture. There may be all this and

much more, and yet not one atom of genuine decision for Christ.

Now we feel we cannot do better than furnish our readers with an example

or two drawn from the page of inspired history, which will do more to

illustrate and enforce our theme than aught that we could possibly

advance. And first, then, let us turn to the book of Esther, and there

contemplate for a few moments the instructive history of

"MORDECAI THE JEW."

This very remarkable man lived at a time in which the Jewish economy had

failed through the unfaithfulness and disobedience of the Jewish people.

The Gentile was in power. The relationship between Jehovah and Israel

could no longer be publicly acknowledged. The faithful Jew had but to

hang his harp on the willows and sigh over the faded light of other

days. The chosen seed was in exile; the city and temple where their

fathers worshiped were in ruins, and the vessels of the Lord's house

were in a strange land. Such was the outward condition of things in the

day in which Mordecai's lot was cast. But in addition to this there was

a man very near the throne occupying only the second place in the

empire, sitting beside the very fountain-head of authority, possessing

princely wealth, and wielding almost boundless influence. To this great

man, strange to say, the poor exiled Jew sternly refuses to bow. Nothing

will induce him to yield a single mark of respect to the second man in

the kingdom. He will save the life of Ahasuerus, but he will not bow to

Haman.

Reader, why was this? Was this blind obstinacy, or bold decision--which?

In order to determine this we must inquire as to the real root or

principle of Mordecai's acting. If, indeed, there was no authority for

his conduct in the law of God, then must we at once pronounce it to have

been blind obstinacy, foolish pride, or, it may have been, envy of a man

in power. But if, on the other hand, there be within the covers of the

five inspired books of Moses a plain authority for Mordecai's deportment

in this matter, then must we, without hesitation, pronounce his conduct

to have been the rare and exquisite fruit of attachment to the law of

his God, and uncompromising decision for Him and His holy authority.

This makes all the difference. If it be merely a matter of private

opinion,--a question concerning which each one may lawfully adopt his

own view,--then, verily, might such a line of conduct be justly termed

the most narrow-minded bigotry. We hear a great deal now-a-days about

narrow-mindedness on the one hand, and large-heartedness on the other.

But as a Roman orator, over two thousand years ago, exclaimed in the

senate-house of Rome, "Conscript fathers: long since, indeed, we have

lost the true names of things," so may we, in the bosom of the

professing Church, at the close of the nineteenth century, repeat, with

far greater force, "Long since we have lost the true names of things."

For what do men now call bigotry and narrow-mindedness? A faithful

clinging to and carrying out of "Thus saith the Lord." And what do they

designate large-heartedness? A readiness to sacrifice truth on the altar

of politeness and civility.

Reader, be thou fully assured that thus it is at this solemn moment. We

do not want to be sour or cynical, morose or gloomy; but we must speak

the truth if we are to speak at all. We desire that the tongue may be

hushed in silence, and the pen may drop from the hand, if we could

basely cushion the plain, bold, unvarnished truth through fear of

scattering our readers, or to avoid the sneer of the infidel. We cannot

shut our eyes to the solemn fact that God's truth is being trampled in

the dust--that the name of Jesus is despised and rejected. We have only

to pass from city to city, and from town to town, of highly-favored

England, and read upon the walls the melancholy proofs of the truth of

our assertions. Truth is flung aside, in cold contempt. The name of

Jesus is little set by. On the other hand, man is exalted, his reason

deified, his will indulged. Where must all this end? "In the blackness

of darkness forever."

How refreshing, in the face of all this, to ponder the history of

Mordecai the Jew! It is very plain that he knew little and cared less

about the thoughts of men on the question of narrow-mindedness. He

obeyed the word of the Lord; and this we must be allowed to call real

breadth of mind, true largeness of heart. For what, after all, is a

narrow mind? A narrow mind we hold to be a mind which refuses to open

itself to admit the truth of God. And what, on the contrary, is a large

and liberal heart? A heart expanded by the truth and grace of God. Let

us not be scared away from decision in the path of obedience by the

scornful epithets which men have bestowed upon that path. It is a path

of peace and purity, a path where the light of an approving conscience

is enjoyed, and upon which the beams of divine favor ever pour

themselves in undimmed lustre.

But why did Mordecai refuse to bow to Haman? Was there any great

principle at stake? Was it merely a whim of his own? Had he a "Thus

saith the Lord" for his warrant in refusing a single nod of the head to

the proud Amalekite? Yes. Let us turn to the seventeenth chapter of the

book of Exodus, and there we read, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Write

this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua:

for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi; for

he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with

Amalek from generation to generation."[IV.]

Here, then, was Mordecai's authority for not bowing to Haman the

Agagite. A faithful Jew could not do reverence to one with whom Jehovah

was at war. The heart might plead a thousand excuses and urge a thousand

reasons. It might seek an easy path for itself on the plea that the

Jewish system was in ruins and the Amalekite in power, and that

therefore it was worse than useless, yea, it was positively absurd, to

maintain such lofty ground when the glory of Israel was gone and the

Amalekite was in the place of authority. "Of what use," it might be

argued, "can it be to uphold the standard when all is gone to pieces?

You are only making your degradation more remarkable by the pertinacious

refusal to bow your head. Would it not be better to give just one nod?

That will settle the matter. Haman will be satisfied, and you and your

people will be safe. Do not be obstinate. Show a tendency to be

courteous. Do not stand up in that dogged way for a thing so manifestly

non-essential. Besides, you should remember that the command in Exodus

xvii. was only to be rehearsed in the ears of Joshua, and only had its

true application in his bright and palmy days. It was never meant for

the ears of an exile, never intended to apply in the days of Israel's

desolation."

All this, and much beside, might have been urged on Mordecai; but ah,

the answer was simple: "God hath spoken. This is enough for me. True, we

are a scattered people; but the word of the Lord is not scattered. He

has not reversed His word about Amalek, nor entered into a treaty of

peace with him. Jehovah and Amalek are still at war, and Amalek stands

before me in the person of this haughty Agagite. How can I bow to one

with whom Jehovah is at war? How can I do homage to a man whom the

faithful Samuel would hew in pieces before the Lord?" "Well, then," it

might be further urged upon this devoted Jew, "you will all be

destroyed. You must either bow or perish." The answer is still most

simple: "I have nothing to do with consequences. They are in the hand of

God. Obedience is my path, the results are with Him. It is better to die

with a good conscience than live with a bad one. It is better to go to

heaven with an uncondemning heart than remain upon earth with a heart

that would make me a coward. God has spoken. I can do no otherwise. May

the Lord help me! Amen."

Oh, how well we can understand the mode in which this faithful Jew would

be assaulted by the enemy. Nothing but the grace of God can ever enable

any one to maintain a deportment of unflinching decision at a moment in

which everything within and around is against us. True it is, we know

that it is better to suffer anything than deny our Lord or fly in the

face of His commandments; but yet how little are some of us prepared to

endure a single sneer, a single scornful look, a single contemptuous

expression, for Christ's sake. And perhaps there are few things harder,

for some of us at least, to bear than to be reproached on the ground of

narrow-mindedness and bigotry. We naturally like to be thought

large-hearted and liberal. We like to be accounted men of enlightened

mind, sound judgment, and comprehensive grasp. But we must remember that

we have no right to be liberal at our Master's expense. We have simply

to obey.

Thus it was with Mordecai. He stood like a rock, and allowed the whole

tide of difficulty and opposition to roll over him. He would not bow to

the Amalekite, let the consequence be what it might. Obedience was his

path. The results were with God. And look at the result! In one moment

the tide was turned. The proud Amalekite fell from his lofty eminence,

and the exiled Jew was lifted from his sackcloth and ashes and placed

next the throne. Haman exchanged his wealth and dignities for a gallows;

Mordecai exchanged his sackcloth for a royal robe.

Now it may not always happen that the reward of simple obedience will be

as speedy and as signal as in Mordecai's case. And moreover, we may say

that we are not Mordecais, nor are we placed in his position. But the

principle holds good, whoever and wherever we are. There is not one of

us, however obscure or insignificant, that has not a sphere within which

our influence is felt for good or for evil. And besides, independent

altogether of our circumstances and the apparent results of our conduct,

we are called upon to obey implicitly the word of the Lord--to have His

word hidden in our hearts--to refuse with unswerving decision, to do or

say aught that the word of the living God condemns. "How can I do this

great wickedness, and sin against God?" This should be the language,

whether it be the question of a child tempted to steal a lump of sugar,

or the most momentous step in evil that one can be tempted to take. The

strength and moral security of Mordecai's position lay in this fact,

that he had the word of God for his authority. Had it not been so, his

conduct would have been senseless in the extreme. To have refused the

usual expression of respect to one in high authority, without some

weighty reason, could only be regarded as the most unmeaning obstinacy.

But the moment you introduce a "Thus saith the Lord," the matter is

entirely changed. The word of the Lord endureth forever. The divine

testimonies do not fade away or change with the times and seasons.

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but one jot or tittle of what our God

hath spoken shall never pass away. Hence, what had been rehearsed in the

ears of Joshua, as he rested in triumph under the banner of Jehovah, was

designed to govern the conduct of Mordecai, though clothed in sackcloth

as an exile, in the city of Shushan. Ages and generations had passed

away; the days of the Judges and the days of the Kings had run their

course; but the commandment of the Lord with respect to Amalek had

lost--could lose--none of its force. "The Lord _hath sworn_ that the

Lord will have war with Amalek," not merely in the days of Joshua, nor

in the days of the Judges, nor in the days of the Kings, but "from

generation to generation." Such was the record--the imperishable and

immutable record of God; and such was the plain, solid and

unquestionable foundation of Mordecai's conduct.

And here let us say a few words as to the immense importance of entire

submission to the word of God. We live in a day which is plainly marked

by strong self-will. Man's reason, man's will and man's interest are

working together, with appalling success, to ignore the authority of

Holy Scripture. So long as the statements of the word of God chime in

with man's reason, so long as they do not run counter to his will, and

are not subversive of his interests, so long will he tolerate them; or,

it may be, he will quote them with a measure of respect, or at least

with self-complacency; but the moment it becomes a question of Scripture

_versus_ reason, will or interest, the former is either silently ignored

or contemptuously rejected. This is a very marked and solemn feature of

the days that are now passing over our heads. It behooves Christians to

be aware of it, and to be on their watch-tower. We fear that very few,

comparatively, are truly alive to the real state of the moral atmosphere

which enwraps the religious world. We do not refer here so much to the

bold attacks of infidel writers. To these we have alluded elsewhere.

What we have now before us is rather the cool indifference on the part

of professing Christians as to Scripture; the little power which pure

truth wields over the conscience; the way in which the edge of Scripture

is blunted or turned aside. You quote passage after passage from the

inspired volume, but it seems like the pattering of rain upon the

window: the _reason_ is at work, the _will_ is dominant, _interest_ is

at stake, human opinions bear sway, God's truth is practically, if not

in so many words, set aside.

All this is deeply solemn. We know of few things more dangerous than

intellectual familiarity with the letter of Scripture where the spirit

of it does not govern the conscience, form the character, and shape the

way. We want to tremble at the word of God, to bow down in reverential

submission to its holy authority in all things. A single line of

Scripture ought to be sufficient for our souls on any point, even

though, in carrying it out, we should have to move athwart the opinions

of the highest and best of men. May the Lord raise up many faithful and

true-hearted witnesses in these last days,--men like the faithful

Mordecai,--who would rather ascend a gallows than bow to an Amalekite!

For the further illustration of our theme, we shall ask the reader to

turn to the sixth chapter of the book of Daniel. There is a special

charm and interest in the history of these living examples presented to

us in the Holy Scriptures. They tell us how the truth of God was acted

upon, in other days, by men of like passions with ourselves; they prove

to us that in every age there have been men who so prized the truth, so

reverenced the word of the living God, that they would rather face

death, in its most appalling forms, than to depart one hair's breadth

from the narrow line laid down by the authoritative voice of their Lord

and Master. It is healthful to be brought into contact with such

men--healthful at all times, but peculiarly so in days like the present,

when there is so much laxity and easy-going profession--so much of mere

theory--when every one is allowed to go his own way, and hold his own

opinion, provided always that he does not interfere with the opinions of

his neighbor--when the commandments of God seem to have so little

weight, so little power over the heart and conscience. Tradition will

get a hearing; public opinion will be respected; anything and

everything, in short, but the plain and positive statements of the word

of God, will get a place in the thoughts and opinions of men. At such a

time, it is, we repeat, at once healthful and edifying to muse over the

history of men like Mordecai the Jew, and Daniel the prophet, and scores

of others, in whose estimation a single line of Holy Scripture rose far

above all the thoughts of men, the decrees of governors, and the

statutes of kings, and who declared plainly that they had nothing

whatever to do with consequences where the word of the Lord was

concerned. Absolute submission to the divine command is that which alone

becomes the creature.

It is not, be it observed and well remembered, that any man or any

number of men have any right to demand subjection to their decisions or

decrees. No man has any right to enforce his opinions upon his fellow.

This is plain enough, and we have to bless God for the inestimable

privilege of civil and religious liberty, as enjoyed under this

government. But what we urge upon our readers, just now, is plain

decision for Christ, and implicit subjection to His authority,

irrespective of everything, and regardless of consequences. This is what

we do most earnestly desire for ourselves and for all the people of God

in these last days. We long for that condition of soul, that attitude of

heart, that quality of conscience, which shall lead us to bow down in

implicit subjection to the commandments of our Lord and Saviour Jesus

Christ. No doubt there are difficulties, stumbling blocks, and hostile

influences to be encountered. It may be said, for instance, that "It is

very difficult for one, now-a-days, to know what is really true and

right. There are so many opinions and so many ways, and good men differ

so in judgment about the simplest and plainest matters, and yet they all

profess to own the Bible as the only standard of appeal; and, moreover,

they all declare that their one desire is to do what is right, and to

serve the Lord, in their day and generation. How, then, is one to know

what is true or what is false, seeing that you will find the very best

of men ranged on opposite sides of the same question?"

The answer to all this is very simple. "If thine eye be single thy whole

body shall be full of light." But, most assuredly, my eye is not single

if I am looking at men, and reasoning on what I see in them. A single

eye rests simply on the Lord and His Word. Men differ, no doubt--they

have differed, and they ever will differ, but I am to harken to the

voice of my Lord and do His will. His Word is to be my light and my

authority, the girdle of my loins in action, the strength of my heart in

service, my only warrant for moving hither and thither, the stable

foundation of all my ways. If I were to attempt to shape my way

according to the thoughts of men, where should I be? How uncertain and

unsatisfactory would my course be! If I really want to be guided aright,

my God will surely guide me; but if I am looking to men, if I am

governed by mixed motives, if I am seeking my own ends and interests, if

I am seeking to please my fellows, then, undoubtedly, my body shall be

full of darkness, heavy clouds shall settle down upon my pathway, and

uncertainty mark all my goings.

Christian reader, think of these things. Think deeply of them. Depend

upon it they have a just claim upon your attention. Do you earnestly

desire to follow your Lord? Do you really aim at something beyond mere

empty profession, cold orthodoxy, or mechanical religiousness? Do you

sigh for reality, depth, energy, fervor, and whole-heartedness? Then

make Christ your one object, His Word your rule, His glory your aim. May

the blessed Spirit be pleased to use for the furtherance of these ends

our meditation on the interesting narrative of

"DANIEL THE PROPHET."

"It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes,

which should be over the whole kingdom; and over these, three

presidents, of whom Daniel was first; that the princes might give

accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel

was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent

spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel

concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion or fault;

forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found

in him" (Dan. vi. I-4).

What a testimony! How truly refreshing to the heart! "No error or

fault!" Even his most bitter enemies could not put their finger upon a

single blemish in his character, or a flaw in his practical career.

Truly this was a rare and admirable character--a bright witness for the

God of Israel, even in the dark days of the Babylonish captivity--an

unanswerable proof of the fact that no matter where we are situated, or

how we are circumstanced, no matter how unfavorable our position, or how

dark the day in which our lot is cast, it is our happy privilege so to

carry ourselves, in all the details of daily life, as to give no

occasion to the enemy to speak reproachfully.

How sad when it is otherwise! How humiliating when those who make a high

profession are found constantly breaking down in the most commonplace

affairs of domestic and commercial life! There are few things which more

tend to discourage the heart than that.

No doubt worldly people are only too ready to find occasion against

those who profess the name of Jesus; and, further, we have to remember

that there are two sides to every question, and that, very frequently, a

broad margin must be left for exaggeration, high coloring, and false

impressions. But still, it is the Christian's plain duty so to walk in

every position and relationship of life, as that "no error or fault" may

be found in him. We should not make any excuses for ourselves. The

duties of our situation, whatever it may happen to be, should be

scrupulously performed. A careless manner, a slovenly habit, an

unprincipled mode of acting, on the part of the Christian, is a serious

damage to the cause of Christ, and a dishonor to His holy name. And, on

the other hand, diligence, earnestness, punctuality, and fidelity, bring

glory to that name. And this should ever be the Christian's object. He

should not aim at his own interest, his own reputation, or his own

advancement, in seeking to carry himself aright in his family and in his

calling in life. True, it will promote his interest, establish his

reputation, and further his progress, to be upright and diligent in all

his ways; but none of these things should ever be his motive. He is to

be ever and only governed by the one thing, namely, to please and honor

his Lord and Master. The standard which the Holy Ghost has set before

us, as to all these things, is furnished in the words of the apostle to

the Philippians, "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God

without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom

ye shine as lights in the world." We should not be satisfied with

anything less than this. "They could find none occasion nor fault,

forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found

in him." Noble testimony! Would that it were more called forth, in this

our day, by the deportment, the habits, the temper, and ways of all

those who call themselves Christians.

But there was one point in which Daniel's enemies felt they could lay

hold of him. "Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion

against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning _the law

of his God_." Here was a something in the which occasion might be found

to ruin this beloved and honored servant of God. It appears that Daniel

had been in the habit of praying three times a day with his windows open

toward Jerusalem.

This fact was well known, and was speedily laid hold of, and turned to

account. "Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the

king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. All the

presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the

counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a

royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a

petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he

shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree,

and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of

the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore king Darius signed

the writing and the decree."

Here, then, was a deep plot, a subtle snare, laid for the blameless and

harmless Daniel. How would he act in the face of all this? Would he not

feel it right to lower the standard? Well, if the standard was something

of his own, he might surely lower it, and perhaps he ought. But if it

were something divine--if his conduct was based upon the truth of God,

then clearly it was his place to hold it up as high as ever, regardless

of statutes, decrees, and writings established, signed, and

countersigned. The whole question hinged upon this. Just as in the case

of Mordecai the Jew, the question hinged upon the one point of whether

he had any divine warrant for refusing to bow to Haman; so, in the case

of Daniel the prophet, the question was, had he any divine authority for

praying toward Jerusalem. It certainly seemed strange and odd. Many

might have felt disposed to say to him, "Why persist in this practice?

What need is there for opening your windows and praying toward

Jerusalem, in such a public manner? Can you not wait until night has

drawn her sable curtain around you, and your closet door has shut you

in, and then pour out your heart to your God? This would be prudent,

judicious, and expedient. And, surely, your God does not exact this of

you. He does not regard time, place, or attitude. All times and places

are alike to Him. Are you wise--are you right, in persisting in such a

line of action under such circumstances? It was all well enough before

this decree was signed, when you could pray when and as you thought

right; but now it does seem like the most culpable fatuity and blind

obstinacy to persevere; it is as though you really courted martyrdom."

All this, and much more, we may easily conceive, might be suggested to

the mind of the faithful Jew; but still the grand question remained,

"What saith the Scripture?" Was there any divine reason for Daniel's

praying toward Jerusalem? Assuredly there was! In the first place,

Jehovah had said to Solomon, in reference to the temple at Jerusalem,

"Mine eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually." Jerusalem was God's

earthly centre. It was, it is, and ever shall be. True, it was in

ruins--the temple was in ruins; but God's word was not in ruins; and

here is faith's simple but solid warrant. King Solomon had said, at the

dedication of the temple, hundreds of years before Daniel's time, "If

Thy people sin against Thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and

Thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and

they carry them away captive unto a land far off or near. Yet if they

bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and

turn and pray unto Thee, in the land of their captivity, saying, We have

sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly; if they return to

Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their

captivity, whither they have carried them captive, and pray toward their

land, which Thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which

Thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Thy name:

then hear Thou from the heavens, even from Thy dwelling-place, their

prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive

Thy people which have sinned against Thee" (2 Chron. vi. 36-39).

Now this was precisely what Daniel was doing--this was the ground he

took. He was a captive exile, but his heart was at Jerusalem, and his

eyes followed his heart. If he could not sing the songs of Zion, he

could at least breathe his prayers toward Zion's hill. If his harp was

on the willows at Babylon, his fond affections turned toward the city of

God, now a heap of ruins, but ere long to be an eternal excellency, "the

joy of the whole earth." It mattered not to him that a decree had been

signed by earth's greatest monarch, forbidding him to pray toward the

city of his fathers and to his father's God. It mattered not to him

that the lion's den was yawning to receive him, and the lion's jaws

ready to devour him. Like his brother Mordecai, he had nothing to do

with consequences. Mordecai would rather mount the gallows than bow to

Haman, and Daniel would rather descend to the lion's den than cease to

pray to Jehovah. These, surely, were the worthies. They were men whose

hearts and consciences were governed absolutely by the word of God. The

world may dub them bigots and fools; but, oh! how the heart does long

for such bigots and fools, in these days of false liberality and wisdom!

It might have been said to Mordecai and Daniel that they were contending

for mere trifles--for things wholly indifferent and non-essential. This

is an argument often used; but, oh! it has no weight with an honest and

devoted heart. Indeed, there is nothing more contemptible, in the

judgment of every true lover of Jesus, than the principle that regulates

the standard as to essentials and non-essentials. For, what is it?

Simply this, "All that concerns my salvation is essential; all that

merely affects the glory of Christ is non-essential." How terrible is

this! Reader, dost thou not utterly abhor it? What! shall we accept

salvation as the fruit of our Lord's death, and deem aught that concerns

Him non-essential? God forbid. Yea; rather let us entirely reverse the

matter, and regard all that concerns the honor and glory of the name of

Jesus, the truth of His Word, and the integrity of His cause, as vital,

essential, and fundamental; and all that merely concerns ourselves as

non-essential and indifferent. May God grant us this mind! May nothing

be deemed trivial by us which has for its foundation the word of the

living God!

Thus it was with those devoted men whose history we have been glancing

at. Mordecai would not bow his head, and Daniel would not close his

window. Blessed men! The Lord be praised for such, and for the inspired

record of their actings. Mordecai would rather surrender life than

diverge from the truth of God, and Daniel would rather do the same than

turn away from God's centre. Jehovah had said that He would have war

with Amalek from generation to generation, and therefore Mordecai would

not bow. Jehovah had said of Jerusalem, "Mine eyes and My heart shall be

there perpetually;" therefore Daniel would not cease to pray toward that

blessed centre. The word of the Lord endureth forever, and faith takes

its stand on that imperishable foundation. There is an eternal freshness

about every word that has come forth from the Lord. His truth holds good

throughout all generations; its bloom can never be brushed away, its

light can never fade, its edge can never be blunted. All praise be to

His holy name!

But let us look for a moment at the result of Daniel's faithfulness. The

king was plunged into the deepest grief when he discovered his mistake.

"He was sore displeased with himself." So well he might. He had fallen

into a snare; but Daniel was in good keeping. It was all right with

him. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into

it, and is safe." It matters not whether it be a lion's den at Babylon

or a prison at Philippi; faith and a good conscience can make a man

happy in either. We question if Daniel ever spent a happier night on

this earth, than the night he spent in the lion's den. He was there for

God, and God was there with him. He was there with an approving

conscience and an uncondemning heart. He could look up from the very

bottom of that den straight into heaven: yea, that den was heaven upon

earth to his happy spirit. Who would not rather be Daniel in the den

than Darius in the palace? The one happy in God; the other "sore

displeased with himself." Darius would have every one pray to him;

Daniel would pray to none but God. Darius was bound by his own rash

decree; Daniel was bound only by the word of the living God. What a

contrast!

And then see in the end what signal honor was put upon Daniel. He stood

publicly identified with the one living and true God. "O Daniel," cried

the king, "servant of the living God." Truly he had earned this title

for himself. He was, unquestionably, a faithful servant of God. He had

seen his three brethren cast into a furnace because they would worship

_only_ the true God, and he had been cast into the lion's den because he

would pray _only_ to Him; but the Lord had appeared for them and him,

and given them a glorious triumph. He had allowed them to realize that

precious promise made of old to their fathers, that they should be the

head and their enemies the tail; that they should be above and their

enemies below. Nothing could be more marked--nothing could more forcibly

illustrate the value which God puts upon plain decision and true-hearted

devotedness, no matter where, when, or by whom exhibited.

Oh! for an earnest heart in this day of lukewarmness! O Lord, revive Thy

work!

How gentle God's commands!

How kind His precepts are!

We'll cast our burdens on the Lord,

And trust His constant care.

Beneath His watchful eye

His saints securely dwell:

The hand that bears all nature up,

Will guard His children well.

Why should an anxious load

Press down our weary mind?

We haste, O Father, to Thy throne,

And sweet refreshment find.

Thy goodness stands approved--

Unchanged from day to day:

We drop our burdens at Thy feet,

To bear a song away!

---_Philip Doddrige._

FOOTNOTES:

[III.] ["Thou hast magnified Thy word (or saying) according to all Thy

Name," seems more exactly to give the meaning of the passage. ED.]

[IV.] It is deeply interesting to note that neither the Jews' best

Friend nor their worst enemy is once formally named in the book of

Esther; but faith could recognize both the one and the other.

PRAYER,

IN ITS PROPER PLACE

There is a strong tendency in the human mind to take a one-sided view of

things. This should be carefully guarded against. It would ever be our

wisdom to view things as God presents them to us, in His holy Word. We

should put things where He puts them, and leave them there. Were this

more faithfully attended to, the truth would be much more clearly

understood, and souls much better instructed. There is a divinely

appointed place for everything, and we should avoid putting right things

in wrong places, just as carefully as we would avoid setting them aside

altogether. The one may do as much damage as the other. Let any divine

institution be taken out of its divinely-appointed place, and it must

necessarily fail of its divinely-appointed end. This, I imagine, will

hardly be questioned by any enlightened or well-regulated mind. It will

be admitted, on all hands, to be wrong to put things in any place but

just where God intended them to be.

And in proportion to the importance of a right thing is the importance

of having it in its right place. This remark holds good, in a special

manner, with respect to the hallowed and most precious exercise of

prayer. It is hard to imagine how any one, with the word of God in his

hand, could presume to detract from the value of prayer. It is one of

the very highest functions, and most important privileges of the

Christian life. No sooner has the new nature been communicated by the

Holy Ghost, through faith in Christ, than it expresses itself in the

sweet accents of prayer. Prayer is the earnest breathing of the new man,

drawn forth by the operation of the Holy Ghost, who dwells in all true

believers. Hence, to find any one praying is to find him manifesting

divine life in one of its most touching and beauteous characteristics,

namely, dependence. There may be a vast amount of ignorance displayed in

the prayer, both in its character and object; but the _spirit_ of prayer

is, unquestionably, divine. A child may ask for a great many foolish

things; but, clearly, he could not ask for any thing if he had not life.

The ability and desire to ask are the infallible proofs of life. No

sooner had Saul of Tarsus passed from death unto life, than the Lord

says of him, "_Behold he prayeth_!" (Acts ix.) Doubtless he had, as "a

Pharisee of the Pharisees," said many "long prayers;" but not until he

"saw that Just One, and heard the voice of His mouth," could it be said

of him, "behold, _he prayeth_."

Saying prayers and praying, are two totally different things. A

self-righteous Pharisee may excel in the former; none but a converted

soul can enjoy the latter. The spirit of prayer is the spirit of the new

man; the language of prayer is the distinct utterance of the new life.

The moment a spiritual babe is born into the new creation, it sends up

its cry of dependence and of trust toward the Source of its birth. Who

would dare to hush or hinder that cry? Let the babe be gently satisfied

and encouraged, not ignorantly hindered or rudely silenced. The very cry

which ignorance would seek to stifle, falls like sweetest music on the

parent's ear. It is the proof of life. It evidences the existence of a

new object around which the affections of a parent's heart may entwine

themselves.

All this is plain enough. It commends itself to every renewed mind. The

man who could think of hushing the accents of prayer must be wholly

ignorant of the precious and beautiful mysteries of the new creation.

The understanding of the praying one may need to be instructed; but oh!

let not the spirit of prayer be quenched. Let the beams of divine

revelation, in all their emancipating power, shine in upon the

struggling conscience, but let not the breathings of the new life be

interrupted. The newly-converted soul may be in great darkness. The

chilling mists of legalism may enwrap his spirit. He may not, as yet, be

able to rest fully in Christ and His accomplished work. His awakened

conscience may not, as yet, have found its peace-giving answer in the

precious blood of Jesus. Doubts and fears may sorely beset him. He may

not know about the important doctrine of the two natures, and the

continual conflict between them. He is bowed down beneath the

humiliating sense of indwelling sin, and sees not, as yet, the ample

provision which redeeming love has made for that very thing, in the

sacrifice and priesthood--the blood and advocacy of the Lord Jesus

Christ. The joyous emotions which attended upon the first moments of his

conversion may have passed away. The beams of the Sun of Righteousness

may be hidden by the heavy clouds which arise from within and around

him. It is not with him as in days past. He marvels at the sad change

which has come over him, and well nigh doubts if he were ever converted

at all.

Need we wonder that such an one should cry mightily to God? Yea, the

wonder would be if he could do aught else. How, then, should we treat

him? Should we teach him not to pray? God forbid. This would be to do

the work of Satan, who, assuredly, hates prayer most cordially. To drop

a syllable which could even be understood as making little of an

exercise so entirely divine, would be to fly in the face of the entire

book of God, to deny the very example of Christ, and hinder the

utterance of the Holy Ghost in the new-born soul. The Old and New

Testament Scriptures literally teem with exhortations and encouragements

to pray. To quote the passages would fill a volume. The blessed Master

Himself has left His people an example as to the unceasing exercise of a

spirit of prayer. He both prayed Himself and taught His disciples to

pray. The same is true of the Holy Ghost in the apostles. (See the

following passages; Luke iii. 21; vi. 12; ix. 28, 29; xi. I-13; xviii.

I-8; Acts i. 14; iv. 31; Rom. xii. 12; xv. 30; Eph. vi. 18; Phil. iv. 6;

Col. iv. 2-4; I Thess. v. 17; 2 Thess. iii. I, 2; I Tim. ii. I-3; Heb.

xiii. 18; James v. 14, 15.)

If my reader will look out and ponder the foregoing passages, he will

have a just view of the place which prayer occupies in the Christian

economy. He will see that disciples are exhorted to pray; and that it is

only disciples who are so exhorted. He will see that prayer is a grand

prominent exercise of the household of God, and that he must be of that

household to engage in it. He will see that prayer is the undoubted

utterance of the new life; and that the life therefore must be there to

utter itself. He will see that prayer is an important part of the

Christian's privilege; and that it enters in no wise in the foundation

of the Christian's peace.

Thus, he will be able to put prayer in its proper place; and how

important it is that it should be so put! How important it is that the

anxious inquirer should see that the deep and solid foundations of his

present and everlasting peace were laid in the work of the Cross,

nineteen centuries ago! How important that the blood of Jesus should

stand out before the soul in clear and bold relief, in its solitary

grandeur, as the alone foundation of the sinner's rest! A soul may be

earnestly seeking and crying for salvation, and all the while be

ignorant of the great fact that it is ready to his hand--that he is

actually commanded to accept a free, full, present, personal, and

eternal salvation--that Christ has done all--that a brimming cup of

salvation is set before him, which faith has only to take and drink for

its everlasting satisfaction. The gospel of God's free grace points to

the rent vail--the empty tomb--the occupied throne above. (Matt. xxviii;

Heb. i. and x.) What do these things declare? What do they utter in the

anxious sinner's ear? Salvation! salvation! The rent vail, the empty

tomb, the occupied throne, all cry out, salvation!

Reader, do you really want salvation? Then why not take it, as God's

free gift? Are you looking to your own heart or to Christ's finished

work for salvation? Is it needful, think you, to wait that God should do

something more for your salvation? If so, then Christ's work were not

finished; the ransom were not paid. But Christ said "_It is finished_,"

and God says, "I have found a ransom" (Job xxxiii. John xix.). And if

_you_ have to do, say, or think aught, to complete the work of

salvation, then Christ would not be a whole, a perfect Saviour. And,

further, it would be a plain denial of Rom. iv. 5, which says, "To him

that _worketh not_, but believeth on Him that _justifieth the ungodly_,

his faith is counted for righteousness." Take heed that you are not

mixing up your poor prayers with the glorious work of redemption,

completed by the Lamb of God on the cross. Prayer is most precious; but,

remember, "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. xi. 6);

and if you have faith, you have Christ; and having Christ, you have ALL.

If you say you are crying for mercy, the word of God points you to

mercy's copious stream flowing from the finished sacrifice. You have all

your anxious heart can want in Jesus, and He is God's free gift to you

just as you are, where you are, _now_. If you had _to be_ aught else but

what you are, or _to go_ anywhere else from where you are, then

salvation would not be "by grace, through faith" (Eph. ii. 8). If you

are anxious to get salvation, and God desires you should have it, why

need you be another moment without it? It is all ready. Christ died and

rose again. The Holy Ghost testifies. The word is plain. "_Only

believe._"

Oh, may the Spirit of God lead any anxious soul to find settled repose

in Jesus. May He lead you to look away from all besides, straight to an

all-sufficient atonement. May He give clearness of apprehension, and

simplicity of faith to all; and may He especially endow all who stand up

to teach and preach with the ability "rightly to divide the word of

truth," so that they may not apply to the unregenerate sinner, or the

anxious inquirer, such passages of Scripture as refer only to the

established believer. Very serious damage is done both to the truth of

God, and to the souls of men, by an unskilful division and application

of the Word. There must be spiritual life, before there can be spiritual

action; and the _only_ way to get spiritual life is by _believing_ on

the name of the Son of God[V.] (John i. 12, 13; iii. 14-16, 36; v. 24; xx.

31). If, therefore, the precepts of God's word be applied to persons who

have not the spiritual life to act in them, confusion must be the result.

The precious privileges of the Christian are turned into a heavy yoke for

the unconverted. A strange system of half-law half-gospel is propounded,

whereby true Christianity is robbed of its characteristic glory, and the

souls of men are plunged in mist and perplexity. There is urgent need

for clearness in setting forth the true ground of a sinner's peace. When

souls are convicted of sin, and have life, but not liberty, they want a

full, clear, unclouded gospel. The claims of a divinely-awakened

conscience can only be answered by the blood of the Cross. If anything,

no matter what, be added to the finished work of Christ, the soul must

be filled with doubt and darkness.

May God grant us to know more fully the true place and value of simple

faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and of earnest prayer in the Holy Ghost.

C. H. M.

FOOTNOTE:

[V.] When the jailer at Philippi inquired of Paul and Silas, "What must

I do to be saved?" they simply replied, "_Believe_ on the Lord Jesus

Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts xvi. 30, 31). It

would, surely, be well if this method of dealing with an anxious

inquirer were more faithfully adopted.

"GILGAL"

JOSHUA V.

"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,

that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope"

(Rom. xv. 4). These few words furnish a title, distinct and

unquestionable, for the Christian to range through the wide and

magnificent field of Old Testament Scripture, and gather therein

instruction and comfort, according to the measure of his capacity and

the character or depth of his spiritual need. And were any further

warrant needed, we have it with equal clearness in the words of another

inspired epistle: "Now all these things happened unto them (Israel) for

ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends

of the world are come" (I Cor. x. 11).

No doubt, in reading the Old Testament, as in reading the New, there is

constant need of watchfulness--need of self-emptiness, of dependence

upon the direct teaching of the Holy Spirit, by whom all Scripture has

been indited. The imagination must be checked, lest it lead us into

crude notions and fanciful interpretations, which tend to no profit,

but rather to the weakening of the power of Scripture over the soul,

and hindering our growth in the divine life.

Still, we must never lose sight of the divine charter made out for us in

Rom. xv. 4--never forget for a single moment that "whatsoever things

were written aforetime were written for our learning." It is in the

strength of these words that we invite the reader to accompany us back

to the opening of the book of Joshua, that we may together contemplate

the striking and instructive scenes presented there, and seek to gather

up some of the precious "learning" there unfolded. If we mistake not, we

shall learn some fine lessons on the banks of the Jordan, and find the

air of Gilgal most healthful and bracing for the spiritual constitution.

We have all been accustomed to look at Jordan as the figure of

death--the death of the believer--his leaving this world and going to

heaven. Doubtless the believer has often read and heard these lines:

"Could we but stand where Moses stood,

And view the landscape o'er,

Not Jordan's stream nor death's cold flood

Could fright us from the shore."

But all this line of thought, feeling and experience is very far below

the mark of true Christianity. A moment's reflection in the true light

which Scripture pours upon our souls would be sufficient to show how

utterly deficient is the popular religious thought as to Jordan. For

instance, when a believer dies and goes to heaven, is he called to

fight? Surely not. All is rest and peace up yonder--ineffable, eternal

peace. Not a ripple on that ocean. No sound of alarm throughout that

pure and holy region. No conflict there. No need of armor. We shall want

no girdle, because our garments may flow loosely around us. We shall not

need a breast-plate of righteousness, for divine righteousness has there

its eternal abode. We shall have no need of sandals, for there will be

no rough or thorny places in that fair and blissful region. No shield

called for there, inasmuch as there will be no fiery darts flying. No

helmet of salvation, for the divine and eternal results of God's

salvation shall then be reached. No sword, inasmuch as there will be

neither enemy nor evil occurrent throughout all that blissful, sunny

region.

Hence, therefore, Jordan cannot mean the death of the believer and his

going to heaven, for the simplest of all reasons, that it was when

Israel crossed the Jordan that their fighting, properly speaking, began.

True they had fought with Amalek in the wilderness; but it was in Canaan

that their real war commenced. The careful reader of the Scriptures will

readily see this.

But does not Jordan represent death? Most surely it does. And must not

the believer cross it? Yes; but he finds it dry, because the Prince of

Life has gone down into its deepest depths, and opened up a pathway for

His people, by the which they pass over into their heavenly

inheritance.

Moses, from Pisgah's top, gazed upon the promised land. _Personally_,

under the governmental dealings of God, he was prevented from going over

Jordan. But looking at him _officially_, we know that the law could not

possibly bring the people into Canaan; so Moses' course must end there,

for he represents the law.

But Christ, the true Joshua, has crossed the Jordan, and not only

crossed it, but turned it into a pathway by which the ransomed host can

pass over dry-shod into the heavenly Canaan. The Christian is not called

to stand shivering on the brink of the river of death, as one in doubt

as to how it may go with him. That river is dried up for faith. Its

power is gone. Our adorable Lord "has abolished death, and brought life

and incorruptibility to light by the gospel." Faith can now, therefore,

sing triumphantly, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy

victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law;

but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus

Christ" (I Cor. xv. 55-57).

Glorious, enfranchising fact! Let us praise Him for it. Let all our

ransomed powers adore Him. Let our whole moral being be stirred up to

chant the praises of Him who has taken the sting from death, and

destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and

conducted us into a sphere which is pervaded throughout with life,

light, incorruptibility, and glory. May our entire practical career be

to His glory!

We shall now proceed to examine more particularly the teaching of

Scripture on this great subject, and may the Holy Spirit Himself be our

immediate instructor!

"And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim,

and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there

before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days, that the

officers went through the host; and they commanded the people, saying,

When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the

priests, the Levites, bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place,

and go after it. _Yet there shall be a space between you and it_, about

two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, _that ye may know

the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way

heretofore_" (Josh. iii. I-4).

There are three deeply important points in Israel's history which the

reader would do well to ponder. There is, first, the blood-stained

lintel, in the land of Egypt; secondly, the Red Sea; thirdly, the river

Jordan.

Now in each of these we have a type of the death of Christ, in some one

or other of its grand aspects--for, as we know, that precious death has

many and various aspects, and nothing can be more profitable for the

Christian, and nothing, surely, ought to be more attractive, than the

study of the profound mystery of the death of Christ. There are depths

and heights in that mystery which eternity alone will unfold; and it

should be our delight now, under the powerful ministry of the Holy

Ghost, through the perfect light of Holy Scripture, to search into these

things for the strength, comfort and refreshment of the inward man.

Looking, then, at the death of Christ, as typified by the blood of the

paschal lamb, we see in it that which screens us from the judgment of

God. "I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite

all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against

all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment; I am the Lord. And the

blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when

I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon

you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt" (Ex. xii.).

Now, we need hardly say, it is of the deepest moment for the exercised,

consciously guilty soul, to know that God has provided a shelter from

wrath and judgment to come. No right-minded person would think for a

moment of undervaluing this aspect of the death of Christ. "When I see

the blood, I will pass over you." Israel's safety rested upon God's

estimate of the blood. He does not say, "When _you_ see the blood." The

Judge saw the blood, knew its value, and passed over the house. Israel

was screened by the blood of the lamb--by God's estimate of that blood,

not by their own. Precious fact!

How prone we are to be occupied with our thoughts about the blood of

Christ, instead of with God's thoughts! We feel we do not value that

precious blood as we ought--who ever did, or ever could? and then we

begin to question if we are safe, seeing we so sadly fail in our

estimate of Christ's work and in our love to His person.

Now if our _safety_ depends in the smallest degree upon our estimate of

Christ's work, or our love to His person, we are in more imminent danger

than if it depended upon our keeping the law. True it is,--most

true--who could think of denying it?--we ought to value Christ's work,

and we ought to love Himself. But if all this be put upon the footing of

a righteous claim, and if our safety rests upon our answering to that

claim, then are we in greater danger and more justly condemned than if

we stood on the ground of a broken law. For just in proportion as the

claims of Christ are higher than the claims of Moses, and in proportion

as Christianity is higher than the legal system, so are we worse off, in

greater danger, farther from peace, if our safety depends upon our

response to those higher claims.

Mark, it is not that we ought not to answer to such claims; we most

certainly ought. But who among us does? and hence, so far as we are

concerned, our ruin and guilt are only made more manifest, and our

condemnation more righteous, if we stand upon the claims of Christ,

because we have not answered to them. If we are to be saved by our

estimate of Christ, by our response to His claims, by our appreciation

of His love, we are worse off by far than if we were placed under the

claims of the law of Moses.

But, blessed be God, it is not so. We are saved by grace,--free,

sovereign, divine and eternal grace,--not by our sense of grace. We are

sheltered by the blood, not by our estimate of the blood. Jehovah did

not say, on that awful night, "When _you_ see the blood, and estimate it

as you ought, I will pass over you." Nothing of the kind. This is not

the way of our God. He wanted to shelter His people, and to let them

know that they were sheltered,--perfectly, because divinely

sheltered,--and therefore He places the matter wholly upon a divine

basis; He takes it entirely out of their hands, by assuring them that

their safety rested simply and entirely upon the blood, and upon His

estimate thereof. He gives them to understand that they had nothing

whatever to do with providing the shelter. It was His to _provide_. It

was theirs to _enjoy_.

Thus it stood between Jehovah and His Israel in that memorable night;

and thus it stands between Him and the soul that simply trusts in Jesus

now. We are not saved by _our_ love, or _our_ estimate, or _our_

anything. We are saved by the blood behind which faith has fled for

refuge, and by God's estimate of it, which faith apprehends. And just as

Israel, within that blood-stained lintel screened from judgment,--safe

from the sword of the destroyer,--could feed upon the roasted lamb, so

may the believer, perfectly sheltered from the wrath to come,--sweetly

secure from all danger, screened from judgment,--feed upon Christ in all

the preciousness of what He is.

But more of this by and by.

We are specially anxious that the reader should weigh the point on which

we have been dwelling, if he be one who has not yet found peace, even as

to the question of safety from judgment to come, which, as we shall see

(if God permit) ere we close this paper, is but a part, though an

ineffably precious part, of what the death of Christ has procured for

us.

We have very little idea indeed of how much of the leaven of

self-righteousness cleaves to us, even after our conversion, and how

immensely it interferes with our peace, our enjoyment of grace, and our

consequent progress in the divine life. It may be we fancy we have done

with self-righteousness when we have given up all thought of being saved

by our works; but alas, it is not so, for the evil takes new forms; and

of all these, none is more subtle than the feeling that we do not value

the blood as we ought, and the doubting our safety on that ground. All

this is the fruit of self-righteousness. We have not done with _self_.

True, we are not, it may be, making a saviour of our _doings_, but we

are of our _feelings_. We are seeking, unknown to ourselves perhaps, to

find some sort of title in our love to God or our appreciation of

Christ.

Now all this must be given up. We must rest simply on the blood of

Christ, and upon God's testimony to that blood. He sees the blood. He

values it as it deserves. He is satisfied. This ought to satisfy us. He

did not say to Israel, When I see how you behave yourselves; when I see

the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, the girded loins, the shod feet,

I will pass over you.

No doubt all these things had their proper place; but that proper place

was not as the ground of safety, but as the secret of communion. They

were called to behave themselves--called to keep the feast; but it was

as _being_, not _in order to be_, a sheltered people. This made all the

difference. It was because they were divinely screened from judgment

that they could keep the feast. They had the authority of the word of

God to assure them that there was no judgment for them; and if they

believed that word, they could celebrate the feast in peace and safety.

"Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest

He that destroyed the firstborn should touch them" (Heb. xi. 28).

Here lies the deep and precious secret of the whole matter. It was by

faith he kept the passover. God had said, "When I see the blood, I will

pass over you," and He could not deny Himself. It would have been a

denial of His very nature and character, and an ignoring of His own

blessed remedy, had a single hair of an Israelite's head been touched on

that deeply solemn night. It was not, we repeat, in anywise a question

of Israel's state or Israel's deservings. It was simply and entirely a

question of the value of the blood _in God's sight_, and of the truth

and authority of His own word.

What stability is here!--what peace and rest! What a solid ground of

confidence! The blood of Christ! the word of God! True, divinely

true--let it never be forgotten or lost sight of--it is only by the

grace of the Holy Spirit that the word of God can be received, or the

blood of Christ relied upon. Still, it is the word of God and the blood

of Christ, and nothing else, which give peace to the heart as regards

all question of coming judgment. There can be no judgment for the

believer. And why? Because the blood is on the mercy-seat, as the

perfect proof that judgment has been already executed.

"He bore on the tree the sentence for me,

And now both the Surety and sinner are free."

Yet, all praise to His name, thus it stands as to every soul that simply

takes God at His word, and rests in the precious blood of Christ. It is

as impossible that such an one can come into judgment, as that Christ

Himself can. All who are sheltered by the blood are as safe as the word

of God is sure--as safe as Christ Himself. It seems perfectly wonderful

for any poor sinful mortal to be able to pen such words; but the blessed

fact is, it is either this or nothing. If there is any question as to

the believer's safety, then the blood of Christ is not on the

mercy-seat, or it is of no account in the judgment of God. If it be a

question of the believer's state, of his worthiness, of his feelings,

of his experience, of his walk, of his love, of his devotedness, of his

appreciation of Christ, then would there be no force, no value, no truth

in that glorious sentence, "When I see the blood, I will pass over;" for

in that case the form of speech should be entirely changed, and a dark

and chilling shade be cast over its heavenly lustre. It should then be,

"When I see the blood, and----"

But no, beloved, anxious reader, it is not, and it never can be, thus.

Nothing must ever be added--not the weight of a feather, to that

precious blood which has perfectly satisfied God as a Judge, and which

perfectly shelters every soul that has fled for safety behind it. If the

righteous Judge has declared Himself satisfied, surely the guilty

culprit may well be satisfied also. God is satisfied with the blood of

Jesus; and when the soul is satisfied likewise, all is settled, and

there is peace as regards the question of judgment. "There is no

condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." How can there be, seeing

He has borne the condemnation in their stead? To doubt the believer's

exemption from judgment is to make God a liar, and to make the blood of

Christ of none effect.

The reader will note that thus far we have been occupied only with the

question of deliverance from judgment--a most weighty question surely.

But, as we shall see in the course of this series of papers, there is

far more secured for us by the death of Christ than freedom from

judgment and wrath, blessed as that is. That peerless sacrifice does a

great deal more for us than keep God out as a Judge.

But for the present we pause, and shall close this paper with a solemn

and earnest question to the reader, _Art thou sheltered by the blood of

Jesus_? Do not rest, beloved, until you can answer with a clear and

unhesitating "Yes." Remember, you are either sheltered by the blood, or

exposed to the horrors of eternal judgment.

PART II.

In our last paper we had before us Israel under the shelter of the

blood. A grand reality, most surely: who could duly estimate it? What

human language could suitably unfold the deep blessedness of being

screened from the judgment of God by the blood of the Lamb--of being

within that hallowed circle where wrath and judgment can never come? Who

can speak aright of the privilege of feeding in perfect safety on the

Lamb whose precious blood has forever averted from us the wrath of a

sin-hating God?

But blessed as all this is, there is much more than this. There is far

more comprehended in the salvation of God than deliverance from judgment

and wrath. We may have the fullest assurance that our sins are forgiven,

that God will never enter into judgment with us on account of our sins,

and yet be very far indeed from the enjoyment of the true Christian

position. We may be filled with all manner of fears about

ourselves--fears occasioned by the consciousness of indwelling sin, the

power of Satan, the influence of the world. All these things may crop up

before us, and fill us with the gravest apprehensions.

Thus, for example, when we turn to Ex. xiv., we find Israel in the

deepest distress, and almost overwhelmed with fear. It would seem as if

they had for the moment lost sight of the fact that they had been under

the cover of the blood.

Let us look at the passage.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of

Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and

the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.

For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in

the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's

heart, that he shall follow after them: and I will be honored upon

Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am

the Lord. And they did so. And it was told the king of Egypt that the

people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned

against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, _that we have

let Israel go from serving us_?"--mark these words:--"And he made ready

his chariot, and took his people with him. And he took six hundred

chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every

one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt,

and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel

went out with a high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the

horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and

overtook them, encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before

Baal-zephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted

up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they

were _sore afraid_: and the children of Israel _cried out_ unto the

Lord."

Now, we may feel disposed to ask, Are these the people whom we have seen

so recently feeding, in perfect safety, under the cover of the blood?

The very same. Whence, then, these fears, this intense alarm, this

agonizing cry? Did they really think that Jehovah was going to judge and

destroy them, after all? Not exactly. Of what, then, were they afraid?

Of perishing in the wilderness after all. "And they said unto Moses,

Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in

the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us

forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt,

saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians! For it had been

better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the

wilderness."

All this was most gloomy and depressing. Their poor hearts seem to

fluctuate between "graves in Egypt" and death in the wilderness. There

is no sense of deliverance; no adequate knowledge either of God's

purposes or of God's salvation. All seems utter darkness, almost

bordering upon hopeless despair. They are thoroughly hemmed in and "shut

up." They seem in a worse plight than ever. They heartily wish

themselves back again amid the brick-kilns and stubble fields of Egypt.

Deserts sands on either side of them; the sea in front; Pharaoh and all

his terrific hosts behind!

The case seemed perfectly hopeless; and hopeless it was, so far as they

were concerned. They were utterly powerless, and they were being made to

realize it, and this is a very painful process to go through; but very

wholesome and valuable, yea, most necessary for all. We must all, in one

way or another, learn the force, meaning, and depth of that phrase,

"without strength." It is exactly in proportion as we find out what it

is to be without strength, that we are prepared to appreciate God's "due

time."

But, we may here inquire, "Is there aught in the history of God's people

now answering to Israel's experience at the Red Sea?" Doubtless there

is; for we are told that the things which happened unto Israel are our

ensamples, or types. And, most surely, the scene at the Red Sea is full

of instruction for us. How often do we find the children of God plunged

in the very depths of distress and darkness as to their state and

prospects! It is not that they question the love of God, or the efficacy

of the blood of Jesus, nor yet that God will reckon their sins to them,

or enter into judgment with them. But still, they have no sense of full

deliverance. They do not see the application of the death of Christ to

their _evil nature_. They do not realize the glorious truth that by that

death they are completely delivered from this present evil world, from

the dominion of sin, and from the power of Satan. They see that the

blood of Jesus screens them from the judgment of God; but they do not

see that _they_ are "dead to sin;" that their "old man is crucified

with Christ;" that not only have their sins been put upon Christ at the

cross, but _they themselves_, as sinful children of Adam, have been, by

the act of God, identified with Christ in His death; that God pronounces

them _dead and risen with Christ_. (See Col. iii. I-4 and the sixth

chapter of Romans.) But if this precious truth is not apprehended, by

faith, there is no bright, happy, emancipating sense of full and

everlasting salvation. They are, to speak according to our type, at

Egypt's side of the Red Sea, and in danger of falling into the hands of

the prince of this world. They do not see "_all_ their enemies dead on

the sea-shore." They cannot sing the song of redemption. No one can sing

it, until he stands by faith on the wilderness side of the Red Sea, or,

in other words, until he sees his complete deliverance from sin, the

world, and Satan--the great foes of every child of God.

Thus, in contemplating the facts of Israel's history, as recorded in the

first fifteen chapters of Exodus, we observe that they did not raise a

single note of praise until they had passed through the Red Sea. We hear

the cry of sore distress under the cruel lash of Pharaoh's task-masters,

and amid the grievous toil of Egypt's brick-kilns. And we hear the cry

of terror when they stood "between Migdol and the sea." All this we

hear; but not one note of praise, not a single accent of triumph, until

the waters of the Red Sea rolled between them and the land of bondage

and of death, and they saw all the power of the enemy broken and gone.

"Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians;

and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. And _Israel saw

that great work which the Lord did_ upon the Egyptians: and the people

feared the Lord and His servant Moses. _Then sang_ Moses and the

children of Israel."

Now, what is the simple application of all this to us as Christians?

What grand lesson are we to learn from the scenes on the shores of the

Red Sea? In a word, of what is the Red Sea a type? And what is the

difference between the blood-stained lintel and the divided sea?

The Red Sea is the type of the death of Christ, in its application to

all our spiritual enemies, sin, the world, and Satan. By the death of

Christ the believer is completely and forever delivered from the _power_

of sin. He is, alas! conscious of the _presence_ of sin; but its power

is gone. He has died to sin, in the death of Christ; and what power has

sin over a dead man? It is the privilege of the Christian to reckon

himself as much delivered from the dominion of sin as a man lying dead

on the floor. What power has sin over such an one? None whatever. No

more has it over the Christian. Sin _dwells_ in the believer, and will

do so to the end of the chapter; but its _rule_ is gone. Christ has

wrested the sceptre from the grasp of our old master, and shivered it to

atoms. It is not merely that His blood has purged our _sins_; but His

death has broken the power of _sin_.

It is one thing to know that our sins are forgiven, and another thing

altogether to know that "the body of sin is destroyed"--its rule

ended--its dominion gone. Many will tell you that they do not question

the forgiveness of their past sins, but they do not know what to say as

to indwelling sin. They fear lest, after all, that may come against

them, and bring them into judgment. Such persons are, to use the figure,

"between Migdol and the sea." They have not learnt the doctrine of Rom.

vi. They have not as yet, in their spiritual intelligence and

apprehension, reached the resurrection side of the Red Sea. They do not

know what it is to be dead unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus

Christ our Lord.

And let the reader particularly note the force of the apostle's word,

"_reckon_." How very different it is, in every way, from our word,

"_realize_!" This latter word may do very well where natural or human

things are concerned. We can realize physical or material facts; but

where a spiritual truth is involved, it is not a question of realizing,

but of reckoning. How can I realize that I am dead to sin? All my own

experience, my own feelings, my inward self-consciousness seems to offer

a flat contradiction to the truth. I cannot realize that I am dead; but

God tells me I am. He assures me that He counts me to have died to sin

when Christ died. I believe it; not because I feel it, but because God

says it. I reckon myself to be what God tells me I am. If I were

sinless, if I had no sin in me, I should never be told to reckon myself

dead to sin; neither should I ever be called to listen to such words as,

"Let not sin, therefore, _reign_ in your mortal body." But it is just

because I have sin dwelling in me, and in order to give me full

practical deliverance from its reigning power, that I am taught the

grand enfranchising truth, that the dominion of sin is broken by the

death of Christ in which I also died.

How do I know this? Is it because I feel it? Certainly not. How could I

feel it? How could I realize it? How could I ever have the

self-consciousness of it, while in the body? Impossible. But God tells

me I have died in the death of Christ. I believe it. I do not reason

about it. I do not stagger at it because I cannot find any evidence of

its truth in myself. I take God at His word. I reckon myself to be what

He tells me I am. I do not endeavor to struggle, and strive, and work

myself into a sinless state which is impossible. Neither do I imagine

myself to be in it, which were a deceit and a delusion; but by a simple,

childlike faith, I take the blessed ground which faith assigns me, in

association with a dead Christ. I look at Christ there, and see in Him,

according to God's word, the true expression of where I am, in the

Divine Presence. I do not reason from myself upwards, but I reason from

God downwards. This makes all the difference. It is just the difference

between unbelief and faith,--between law and grace--between human

religion and divine Christianity. If I reason from self, how can I have

any right thought of what is in the heart of God?--all my conclusions

must be utterly false. But if, on the other hand, I listen to God and

believe His Word, my conclusions are divinely sound. Abraham did not

look at himself and the improbability, nay, the impossibility of having

a son in his old age; but he believed God and gave glory to Him. And it

was counted to Him for righteousness.

It is an unspeakable mercy to get done with self, in all its phases and

in all its workings, and to be brought to rest, in all simplicity, on

the written Word, and on the Christ which that written Word presents to

our souls. Self-occupation is a deathblow to fellowship, and a great

barrier to the soul's rest and progress. It is impossible for any one to

enjoy settled peace so long as he is occupied with himself. He must

cease from self, and harken to God's Word, and rest, without a single

question, on its pure, precious, and everlasting record. God's Word

never changes. I change; my frames, my feelings, my experience, my

circumstances, change continually; but God's Word is the same yesterday,

and to-day, and forever.

Furthermore, it is a grand and essential point for the soul to apprehend

that Christ is the only definition of the believer's place before God.

This gives immense power, liberty, and blessing. "As He is, so are we,

in this world" (I John iv. 17). This is something perfectly wonderful!

Let us ponder it: let us think of a poor, wretched, guilty slave of

sin, a bondslave of Satan, a votary of the world, exposed to an eternal

hell--such an one taken up by sovereign grace, delivered completely from

the grasp of Satan, the dominion of sin, the power of this present evil

world--pardoned, washed, justified, brought nigh to God, accepted in

Christ, and perfectly and forever identified with Him, so that the Holy

Ghost can say, as Christ is, so is he in this world!

All this seems too good to be true; and, most assuredly, it is too good

for us to get; but, blessed be the God of all grace, and blessed be the

Christ of God! it is not too good for Him to give. God gives like

Himself. He will be God, spite of our unworthiness and Satan's

opposition. He will act in a way worthy of Himself, and worthy of the

Son of His love. Were it a question of our deservings, we could only

think of the deepest and darkest pit of hell. But seeing it is a

question of what is worthy of God to give, and that He gives according

to His estimate of the worthiness of Christ, then, verily, we can think

of the very highest place in heaven. The glory of God, and the

worthiness of His Son, are involved in His dealings with us; and hence

everything that could possibly stand in the way of our eternal

blessedness, has been disposed of in such a manner as to secure the

divine glory, and furnish a triumphant answer to every plea of the

enemy. Is it a question of trespass? "He has forgiven us all

trespasses." Is it a question of sin? He has condemned sin at the cross,

and thus put it away. Is it a question of guilt? It is canceled by the

blood of the cross. Is it a question of death? He has taken away its

sting, and actually made it part of our property. Is it a question of

Satan? He has destroyed him, by annulling all his power. Is it a

question of the world? He has delivered us from it, and snapped every

link which connected us with it.

Thus, beloved Christian reader, it stands with us if we are to be taught

by Scripture, if we are to take God at His word, if we are to believe

what He says. And we may add, if it be not thus, we are in our sins;

under the power of sin; in the grasp of Satan; obnoxious to death; part

and parcel of an evil, Christless, Godless world, and exposed to the

unmitigated wrath of God--the vengeance of eternal fire.

Oh that the blessed Spirit may open the eyes of God's people, and give

them to see their proper place, their full and eternal deliverance in

association with Christ who died for them, and _in whom they have died_,

and _thus_ passed out of the power of all their enemies!