I. And, first then, as to our _fact_. There is such a thing as the

assembly of God on the earth. This is a most important fact, surely. God

has an assembly on the earth. I do not refer to any merely human

organization, such as the Greek Church; the Church of Rome; the Church

of England; the Church of Scotland; or to any of the various systems

which have sprung from these, framed and fashioned by man's hand, and

carried on by man's resources. I refer simply to that assembly which is

gathered by God the Holy Ghost, round the person of God the Son, to

worship and hold fellowship with God the Father.

If we set forth upon our search for the assembly of God, or for any

expression thereof, with our minds full of prejudice, preconceived

thoughts, and personal predilections; or if, in our searchings, we seek

the aid of the flickering light of the dogmas, opinions, and traditions

of men, nothing is more certain than that we shall fail to reach the

truth. To recognize God's assembly, we must be exclusively taught by

God's Word, and led by God's Spirit; for, of God's assembly, as well as

of the sons of God, it may be said, "the world knoweth it not."

Hence, then, if we are, in any wise, governed by the spirit of the

world; if we desire to exalt man; if we seek to commend ourselves to the

thoughts of men; if our object be to gain the attractive ends of a

plausible and soul-ensnaring expediency, we may as well, forthwith,

abandon our search for any true expression of the assembly of God, and

take refuge in that form of human organization which most fully commends

itself to our thinkings or our conscientious convictions.

Further, if our object be to find a religious community in which the

word of God is read, or in which the people of God are found, we may

speedily satisfy ourselves, for it would be hard indeed to find a

section of the professing Christian body in which one or both of these

objects might not be realized.

Finally, if we merely aim at doing all the good we can, without any

question as to how we do it; if _Per fas aut nefas_, "right or wrong,"

be our motto in whatever we undertake; if we are prepared to reverse

those weighty words of Samuel, and say that, "To sacrifice is better

than to obey, and the fat of rams better than to harken," then is it

worse than vain for us to pursue our search for the assembly of God,

inasmuch as that assembly can only be discovered and approved by one who

has been taught to flee from the thousand flowery pathways of human

expediency, and to submit his conscience, his heart, his understanding,

his whole moral being to the supreme authority of "Thus saith the

Lord."

In one word, then, the obedient disciple knows that there is such a

thing as God's assembly: and he it is, too, that will be enabled,

through grace, to understand what is a true expression of it. The

sincere student of Scripture knows, full well, the difference between

that which is founded, formed, and governed by the wisdom and the will

of man, and that which is gathered round, and governed by Christ the

Lord. How vast is the difference! It is just the difference between God

and man.

But we may here be asked for the Scripture proofs of our fact that there

is such a thing on the earth as _the_ assembly of God, and we shall, at

once, proceed to furnish these; for we may be permitted to say that,

without the authority of the Word, all statements are utterly valueless.

What, therefore, saith the Scripture?

Our first proof shall be that famous passage, in Matthew xvi., "When

Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples,

saying Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? And they said, Some

say that Thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias,

or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the

living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou,

Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but

My Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art

Peter; and upon this rock I will build My assembly[XVIII.] ([Greek:

ekklesian]); and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (vers.

13-18).

Here our blessed Lord intimates His purpose to build an assembly, and

sets forth the true foundation of that assembly, namely, "Christ, the

Son of the living God." This is an all-important point in our subject.

The building is founded on the Rock, and that Rock is not the poor

failing, stumbling, erring Peter, but CHRIST, the eternal Son of the

living God; and every stone in that building partakes of the Rock-life

which, as being victorious over all the power of the enemy, is

indestructible.[XIX.]

Again, passing over a section of Matthew's Gospel, we come to an equally

familiar passage: "Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee,

go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear

thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then

take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three

witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to

hear them, tell it unto the assembly, but if he neglect to hear the

assembly, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I

say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in

heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in

heaven. Again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth

as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of

My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are _gathered_

together _in My name_, there am I in the midst of them" (chap. xviii.

15-20).

We shall have occasion to refer to this passage again, under the second

division of our subject. It is here introduced merely as a link in the

chain of Scripture evidence of the fact that there is such a thing as

the assembly of God on the earth. This assembly is not a name, a form, a

pretence, an assumption. It is a divine reality--an institution of God,

possessing His seal and sanction. It is a something to be appealed to in

all cases of personal trespass and dispute which cannot be settled by

the parties involved. This assembly may consist of only "two or three"

in any particular place--the smallest plurality, if you please; but

there it is, owned of God, and its decisions ratified in heaven.

Now, we are not to be scared away from the truth on this subject, by the

fact that the church of Rome has attempted to base her monstrous

pretensions on the two passages which we have just quoted. That church

is not God's assembly, built on the Rock Christ, and gathered in the

name of Jesus; but a human apostasy, founded on a failing mortal, and

governed by the traditions and doctrines of men. We must not, therefore,

suffer ourselves to be deprived of God's reality by reason of Satan's

counterfeit. God has His assembly on the earth, and we are responsible

to confess the truth of it, and to be a practical expression of it. This

may be difficult, in a day of confusion like the present. It will demand

a single eye--a subject will--a mortified mind. But let the reader be

assured of this, that it is his privilege to possess as divine certainty

as to what is a true expression of the assembly of God, as surely as the

truth concerning his own salvation through the blood of the Lamb; nor

should he be satisfied without this. I should not be content to go on

for an hour without the assurance that I am, in spirit and principle,

associated with those whose ground of gathering is purely their common

membership in the assembly of God--that assembly which includes all

saints. I say, in spirit and principle, because I may happen to be in a

place where there is no such local expression of the assembly; in which

case I must be satisfied to hold fellowship, in spirit, with all those

who are thus gathered.

This simplifies the matter amazingly. If I cannot have a true expression

of God's assembly, I shall have nothing. It will not do to point me to a

religious community, with some Christians therein, the gospel preached,

and the ordinances administered.

I must be convinced that in very truth, they are gathered on that ground

which, in my heart and conscience, frees them from the charge of

sectarianism. I can own the children of God individually anywhere; but

sectarianism I cannot own or sanction.

No doubt this will give offence. It will be called bigotry,

narrow-mindedness, intolerance, and the like. But this need not

discourage us. All we have to do is to ascertain the truth as to God's

assembly, and cleave to it, heartily and energetically, at all cost. If

God has an assembly--and Scripture says He has--then let me be with

those who maintain its principles, and nowhere else. It must be in this

as in all other matters, truth or nothing. If there be a local

expression of that assembly, well; be there in person. If not, be

content to hold spiritual communion with all who humbly and faithfully

own and occupy that holy ground. It may sound and seem like liberality

to be ready to sanction and go with everything and everybody. It may

appear very easy and very pleasant to be in a place "where everybody's

will is indulged, and nobody's conscience is exercised"--where we may

hold what we like, and say what we like, and do what we like, and go

where we like. All this may seem very delightful--very plausible--very

popular--very attractive; but oh! it will be barrenness and bitterness

in the end; and, in the day of the Lord, it will assuredly be burnt up

as so much wood, hay, and stubble, that cannot stand the action of His

judgment.

But let us proceed with our Scripture proofs. In the Acts of the

Apostles, or rather, the Acts of the Holy Ghost, we find the assembly

formally set up. A passage or two will suffice: "And they, continuing

daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to

house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added

to the assembly, daily, such as should be saved" (Acts ii. 46, 47). Such

was the original, simple apostolic order. When a person was converted,

he thereby belonged to the assembly and took his place in it: there was

no difficulty in the matter, there were no sects or parties, each

claiming to be considered _a_ church, a cause, or an interest. There was

just the one thing, and that was the assembly of God, where He dwelt,

acted, and ruled. It was not a system formed according to the will, the

judgment, or even the conscience of man. Man had not, as yet, entered

upon the business of church-making. This was God's work. It was just as

exclusively God's province and prerogative to baptize the saved into one

body by one Spirit, as to save the scattered.[XX.]

Why, we may justly inquire, should it be different now? Why should the

regenerated seek to belong to something else than that to which they

already belong--the assembly of God? Is not that sufficient? Assuredly.

Should they seek aught else? Assuredly not. We repeat, with emphasis,

"_Either that or nothing_."

True it is, alas! that failure, and ruin, and apostasy have come in.

Man's wisdom, and his will; or, if you please, his reason, his judgment,

and his misguided conscience have wrought, in matters ecclesiastical,

and the result appears before us in the almost numberless and nameless

sects and parties of the present moment. Still, we are bold to say, that

the ground of assembling as at the beginning, simply as being members of

the assembly of God, remains the same, spite of all the failure, the

error, and the confusion, which have come in. The difficulty in

reaching it practically may be great, but its reality, when reached, is

unaltered, and unalterable. In apostolic times the assembly stood out,

in bold relief, from the dark background of Judaism on the one hand, and

Paganism on the other. It was impossible to mistake it; there it stood,

a grand reality! a company of living men, gathered, indwelt, ruled and

regulated by God the Holy Ghost, so that the unlearned or unbelieving

coming in, were convinced of all, and constrained to acknowledge that

God was there. (See carefully, I Cor. xii., xiv. throughout.)

Thus, in this Gospel, our blessed Lord intimates His purpose of building

an assembly. This assembly is historically presented to us in the Acts

of the Apostles. Then, when we turn to the Epistles of Paul, we find him

addressing the assembly in seven distinct places, namely, Rome, Corinth,

Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, and Thessalonica; and finally, in

the opening of the book of Revelation, we have addresses to seven

distinct assemblies. Now, in all these places, the assembly of God was a

plain, palpable, real thing, established and maintained by God Himself.

It was not a human organization, but a divine institution--a

testimony--a light bearer for God, in each place.

Thus much as to our Scripture proofs of the fact that God has an

assembly on the earth, gathered, indwelt, and governed by the Holy Ghost

who is the true and only Vicar of Christ upon earth. The Gospel

prophetically intimates the assembly; the Acts historically presents the

assembly; and the Epistles formally address the assembly. All this is

plain. And if it be broken into fragments now, it is for us to be

gathered on the ground of the _one_ assembly of God, and to be a true

expression of it.

And let it be carefully noted that we will listen to nothing on this

subject but the voice of Holy Scripture. Let not reason speak, for we

own it not. Let not tradition lift her voice, for we wholly disregard

her. Let not expediency thrust itself upon us, for we shall give it no

place whatever. We believe in the all-sufficiency of Holy

Scripture--that it is sufficient to furnish the man of God

thoroughly--to equip him perfectly for all good works (2 Tim. iii. 16,

17). The word of God is either sufficient or it is not. We believe it to

be amply sufficient for every exigency of God's assembly. It could not

be otherwise if God be its author. We must either deny the divinity or

admit the sufficiency of the Bible. There is not a single hair's breadth

of middle ground. It is impossible that God could have written an

imperfect, an insufficient book.

This is a very grave principle in connection with our subject. Many of

our protestant writers have, in assailing popery, maintained the

sufficiency and authority of the Bible; but it does seem very plain to

us that they are always at fault when their opponents turn sharp round

upon them and demand proof from Scripture for many things sanctioned and

adopted by protestant communities.

There are many things adopted and practised in the National

Establishment and other protestant communities, which have no sanction

in the Word; and when the shrewd and intelligent defenders of popery

have called attention to these things, and demanded authority for them,

the weakness of mere protestantism has been strikingly apparent. If we

admit, for a moment, that, in some things, we must have recourse to

tradition and expediency, then who will undertake to fix the boundary

line? If it be allowable to depart from Scripture at all, how far are we

to go? If the authority of tradition be admitted at all, who is to fix

its domain? If we leave the narrow and well-defined pathway of divine

revelation, and enter upon the wide and bewildering field of human

tradition, has not one man as much right as another to make a choice?

The gates of hell shall assuredly prevail against every human

system--against all those corporations and associations which men have

set on foot. And in no case has that triumph been, even already, made

more awfully manifest than in that of the church of Rome itself,

although it has arrogantly laid claim to this very declaration of our

Lord as the bulwark of its strength. Nothing can withstand the power of

the gates of hell but the assembly of the living God, for that is built

upon "the living Stone." Now the local expression of that assembly may

be but "two or three gathered in the name of Jesus," a poor, feeble,

despised handful.

It is well to be clear and decided as to this.

Christ's promise can never fail. He has, blessed be His name, come down

to the lowest possible point by which the assembly can be represented,

even "_two_." How gracious! How tender! How considerate! How like

Himself! He attaches all the dignity--all the value--all the efficacy of

His own divine and deathless name to an obscure handful gathered round

Himself. It must be very evident to the spiritual mind that the Lord

Jesus, in speaking of the "two or three" thought not of those vast

systems which have sprung up in ancient, mediaeval, and modern times,

throughout the eastern and western world, numbering their adherents and

votaries, not by "twos or threes," but by kingdoms, provinces, and

parishes. It is very plain that a baptized kingdom, and "two or three"

living souls gathered in the name of Jesus, do not and cannot mean the

same thing. Baptized Christendom is one thing, and the assembly of God

is another. What this latter is, we have yet to unfold; we are here

asserting that they are not, and cannot be, the same thing. They are

constantly confounded, though no two things can be more distinct.[XXI.]

If we would know under what figure Christ presents the baptized world,

we have only to look at the "leaven" and the "mustard tree" of Matt.

xiii.

The former gives us the internal, and the latter the external character

of "the kingdom of heaven"--of that which was originally set up in truth

and simplicity--a real thing, though small, but which, through Satan's

crafty working, has become inwardly a corrupt mass, though outwardly a

far-spreading, showy, popular thing in the earth, gathering all sorts

beneath the shadow of its patronage. Such is the lesson--the simple but

deeply solemn lesson to be learnt by the spiritual mind from the

"leaven" and the "mustard-tree" of Matt. xiii. And we may add, one

result of learning this lesson would be an ability to distinguish

between "the kingdom of heaven" and "the assembly of God." The former

may be compared to a wide morass, the latter to a running stream passing

through it, and in constant danger of losing its distinctive character,

as well as its proper direction, by intermingling with the surrounding

waters. To confound the two things is to deal a deathblow to all godly

discipline and consequent purity in the assembly of God. If the kingdom

and the assembly mean one and the same thing, then how should we act in

the case of "that wicked person" in I Cor. v.? The apostle tells us "to

put him away." Where are we to put him? Our Lord Himself tells us

distinctly that "the field is _the world_;" and again, in John xvii., He

says that His people are not of the world. This makes all plain enough.

But men tell us, in the very face of our Lord's statement, that the

field is the assembly, and the tares and wheat, ungodly and godly, are

to grow together, that they are on no account to be separated. Thus the

plain and positive teaching of the Holy Ghost in I Cor. v. is set in

open opposition to the equally plain and positive teaching of our Lord

in Matt. xiii.; and all this flows from the effort to confound two

distinct things, namely, "the kingdom of heaven" and "the assembly of

God."

It would not by any means comport with the object of this paper to enter

further upon the interesting subject of "the kingdom." Enough has been

said, if the reader has thereby been convinced of the immense importance

of duly distinguishing that kingdom from the assembly. What this latter

is we shall now proceed to inquire; and may God the Holy Ghost be our

teacher!

II. In handling our question as to the assembly of God, it will give

clearness and precision to our thoughts to consider the four following

points, namely:--

First, what is the _material_ of which the assembly is composed?

Secondly, what is the _centre_ round which the assembly is gathered?

Thirdly, what is the _power_ by which the assembly is gathered?

Fourthly, what is the _authority_ on which the assembly is gathered?

I. And, first, then, as to the material of which God's assembly is

composed; it is, in one word, those possessing salvation, or eternal

life. We do not enter the assembly in order to be saved, but as those

who are saved. The word is, "_On_ this rock I will build My Church." He

does not say, "On My Church I will build the salvation of souls." One of

Rome's boasted dogmas is this--"There is no salvation out of the true

Church." Yes, but we can go deeper still, and say, "Off the true Rock

there is no Church." Take away the Rock, and you have nothing but a

baseless fabric of error and corruption. What a miserable delusion, to

think of being saved by that! Thank God, it is not so. We do not get to

Christ through the Church, but to the Church through Christ. To reverse

this order is to displace Christ altogether, and thus have neither Rock,

nor Church, nor salvation. We meet Christ as a life-giving Saviour,

before we have anything to say to the assembly at all; and hence we

could possess eternal life, and enjoy full salvation, though there were

no such thing as the assembly of God on the earth.[XXII.]

We cannot be too simple in grasping this truth, at a time like the

present, when ecclesiastical pretention is rising to such a height. The

church, falsely so called, is opening her bosom with delusive

tenderness, and inviting poor sin-burdened, world-sick, and heavy-laden

souls to take refuge therein. She, with crafty liberality, throws open

her treasury door, and places her resources at the disposal of needy,

craving, yearning souls. And truly those resources have powerful

attractions for those who are not on "The Rock." There is an ordained

priesthood, professing to stand in an unbroken line with the

apostles.--Alas! how different the two ends of the line!--There is a

continual sacrifice. Alas! a bloodless one, and therefore a worthless

one. (Heb. ix. 22.)--There is a splendid ritual. Alas! it seeks its

origin amid the shadows of a by-gone age--shadows which have been for

ever displaced by the Person, the work, and the offices of the eternal

Son of God. For ever be His peerless name adored!

The believer has a very conclusive answer to all the pretensions and

promises of the Romish system. He can say he has found his _all_ in a

crucified and risen Saviour. What does he want with the sacrifice of the

mass? He is washed in the blood of Christ. What does he want with a

poor, sinful, dying priest, who cannot save himself? He has the Son of

God as his priest. What does he want with a pompous ritual, with all its

imposing adjuncts? He worships in spirit and in truth, within the

holiest of all, whither he enters with boldness, through the blood of

Jesus.

Nor is it merely with Roman Catholicism we have to do in the

establishment of our first point. We fear there are thousands besides

Roman Catholics who, in heart, look to the church, if not for salvation,

at least to be a stepping-stone thereto. Hence the importance of seeing

clearly that the materials of which God's assembly is composed are those

possessing salvation, in whom is eternal life; so that whatever be the

object of that assembly, it most certainly is not to provide salvation

for its members, seeing that all its members are saved ere they enter it

at all. God's assembly is a houseful of saved ones from one end to the

other. Blessed fact! It is not an institution set on foot for the

purpose of providing salvation for sinners, nor yet for providing for

their religious wants. It is a saved, living body, formed and gathered

by the Holy Ghost, to make known to "Principalities and powers in the

heavenlies, the manifold wisdom of God," and to declare to the whole

universe the all-sufficiency of the name of Jesus.

Now, the great enemy of Christ and the Church is well aware of what a

powerful testimony the assembly of God is called and designed to yield

on the earth; and therefore he has put forth all his hellish energy to

quash that testimony in every possible way. He hates the name of Jesus,

and everything tending to glorify that name. Hence his intense

opposition to the assembly as a whole, and to each local expression

thereof, wherever it may happen to exist. He has no objection to a mere

religious establishment set on foot for the purpose of providing for

man's religious wants, whether maintained by government or by voluntary

effort. You may set up what you please. You may join what you please.

You may be what you please; anything and everything for Satan but the

assembly of God, and the practical expression of it in any given place.

That he hates most cordially, and will seek to blacken and blast by

every means in his power. But those consolatory accents of the Lord

Christ fall with divine power on the ear of faith: "On this rock I will

build My assembly, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

2. This conducts us naturally to our second point, namely, What is the

centre round which God's assembly is gathered? The centre is Christ--the

living Stone, as we read in the Epistle of Peter, "To whom coming as

unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and

precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a

holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by

Jesus Christ" (chap. ii. 4, 5).

It is around the person of a living Christ then, that God's assembly is

gathered. It is not round a doctrine, however true; nor round an

ordinance, however important; but round a living, divine Person. This is

a great cardinal and vital point which must be distinctly seized,

tenaciously held, and faithfully and constantly avowed and carried out.

"To whom coming." It is not said "_To which_ coming." We do not come to

a thing, but to a Person. "Let us go forth therefore unto _Him_" (Heb.

xiii.). The Holy Ghost leads us _only_ to Jesus. Nothing short of this

will avail. We may speak of joining _a_ church, becoming a member of a

congregation, attaching ourselves to a party, a cause, or an interest.

All these expressions tend to darken and confuse the mind, and hide from

our view the divine idea of the assembly of God. It is not our business

to join anything. When God converted us, He joined us by His Spirit to

Christ and to all the members of Christ, and that should be enough for

us. Christ is the only centre of God's assembly.

And, we may ask, is not He sufficient? Is it not quite enough for us to

be "joined to the Lord?" Why add aught thereto? "Where two or three are

gathered together _in My name_, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt.

xviii. 20). What more can we need? If Jesus is in our midst, why should

we think of setting up a human president? Why not unanimously and

heartily allow Him to take the president's seat, and bow to Him in all

things? Why set up human authority, in any shape or form, in the house

of God? But this is done, and it is well to speak plainly about it. Man

is set up in that which professes to be an assembly of God. We see human

authority exercised in that sphere in which divine authority alone

should be acknowledged. It matters not, so far as the foundation

principle is concerned, whether it be pope, parson, priest, or

president. It is man set up in Christ's place. It may be the pope

appointing a cardinal, a legate, or a bishop to his sphere of work; or

it may be a president appointing a man to exhort or to pray for ten

minutes. The principle is one and the same. It is human authority acting

in that sphere where only God's authority should be owned. If Christ be

in our midst, we can count on Him for everything.

Now, in saying this, we anticipate a very probable objection. It may be

said by the advocates of human authority, "How could an assembly ever

get on without some human presidency? Would it not lead to all sorts of

confusion? Would it not open the door for everyone to intrude himself

upon the assembly, quite irrespective of gift or qualification?"

Our answer is a very simple one. Jesus is all-sufficient. We can trust

Him to keep order in His house. We feel ourselves far safer in His

gracious and powerful hand than in the hands of the most attractive

human president. We have all spiritual gifts treasured up in Jesus. He

is the fountain-head of all ministerial authority. "He hath the seven

stars." Let us only confide in Him, and the order of our assembly will

be as perfectly provided for as the salvation of our souls. This is just

the reason of our connecting, in the title of this pamphlet, "The

all-sufficiency of the name of Jesus" with the "Assembly of God." We

believe that the name of Jesus is, in very truth, all-sufficient, not

only for personal salvation, but for all the exigencies of the

assembly--for worship, communion, ministry, discipline, government,

everything. Having Him, we have all and abound.

This is the real marrow and substance of our subject. Our one aim and

object is to exalt the name of Jesus; and we believe He has been

dishonored in that which calls itself His house. He has been dethroned,

and man's authority has been set up. In vain does He bestow a

ministerial gift; the possessor of that gift is not free to exercise it

without the seal, the sanction, and the authority of man. And not only

is this so, but if man thinks proper to give his seal, his sanction and

authority, to one possessing not a particle of spiritual gift--yea, it

may be, not a particle of spiritual life--he is nevertheless a

recognized minister. In short, man's authority without Christ's gift

makes a man a minister; whereas Christ's gift without man's authority

does not. If this be not a dishonor done to the Lord Christ, what is?

Christian reader, pause here, and deeply ponder this principle of human

authority. We confess we are anxious you should get to the root of it,

and judge it thoroughly, in the light of Holy Scripture, and the

presence of God. It is, be assured of it, the grand point of distinction

between the principles of the assembly of God and every human system of

religion under the sun. If you look at all those systems, from Romanism

down to the most refined form of religious association, you will find

man's authority recognized and demanded. With that you may minister;

without it you must not. On the contrary, in the assembly of God,

Christ's gift _alone_ makes man a minister, apart from all human

authority. "Not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the

Father, who raised Him from the dead." (Gal. i. I). This is the grand

principle of ministry in the assembly of God.

Now, in classing Romanism with all the other religious systems of the

day, let it, once for all, be distinctly understood that it is _only_ in

reference to the principle of ministerial authority. God forbid that we

should think of comparing a system which shuts out the word of God, and

teaches idolatry, the worship of saints and angels, and a whole mass of

gross, abominable error and superstition, with those systems where the

word of God is held up, and more or less of scriptural truth

promulgated. Nothing can be further from our thoughts. We believe popery

to be Satan's master-piece, in the way of a religious system, although

many of the people of God have been, and may yet be, involved therein.

Further, let us at this stage plainly aver that we believe the saints of

God are to be found in every Protestant community, both as ministers and

members; and that the Lord uses them in many ways--blesses their work,

service, and personal testimony.

And, finally, we feel it right to declare that we would not move a

finger to touch any one of those systems. It is not with the systems we

have to do; the Lord will deal with them. Our business is with the

saints in those systems, to seek by every spiritual and scriptural

agency to get them to own and act upon the divine principles of the

assembly of God.

Having said thus much, in order to prevent misunderstanding, we return

with increased power to our point, namely, that the thread of human

authority runs through every religious system in Christendom, and that,

in good truth, there is not a hair's breadth of consistent standing

ground between the church of Rome and a true expression of the assembly

of God. We believe that an honest seeker after truth, setting out from

amid the dark shadows of popery, cannot possibly halt until he finds

himself in the clear and blessed light of that which is a true

expression of God's assembly. He may take years to travel over the

intervening space. His steps may be slow and measured; but if only he

follows the light, in simplicity and godly sincerity, he will find no

rest between those two extremes. The ground of the assembly of God is

the true position for all the children of God. Alas! they are not all

there; but this is only their loss and their Lord's dishonor. They

should be there because not only is God there, but He is allowed to act

and _rule_ there.

This latter is of all-importance, inasmuch as it may be truly said, Is

not God everywhere? And does He not act in various places? True, He is

everywhere, and He works in the midst of palpable error and evil. But He

is not allowed to _rule_ in the systems of men, seeing that man's

authority is really supreme, as we have already shown. And in addition

to this, if the fact of God's converting and blessing souls in a system

be a reason why we should be there, then we ought to be in the church of

Rome, for how many have been converted and blessed in that awful system?

Even in the recent revival we have heard of persons being stricken in

Roman Catholic chapels. What proves too much proves nothing at all, and

hence no argument can be based on the fact of God's working in a place.

He is sovereign, and may work where He pleases. We are to be subject to

His authority, and work where we are commanded, My Master may go where

He pleases, but I must go where I am told.

But some may ask, "Is there no danger of incompetent men intruding their

ministry upon an assembly of God? And in the event of this, where is the

difference between that assembly and the systems of men?" We reply,

assuredly there is very great danger. But then such a thing would be

_despite_, not in virtue of, the principle. This makes all the

difference. Yes, indeed, we have seen mistakes and failures which are

most humiliating.

Let no one imagine that, while we contend for the truth concerning the

assembly of God, we are at all ignorant or forgetful of the dangers and

trials to which any carrying out its principles are exposed. Far from

it. No one could be for twenty-eight years on that ground without being

painfully conscious of the difficulty of maintaining it. But then the

very trials, dangers, and difficulties only prove to be so many

proofs--painful if you please, but proofs of the truth of the position;

and were there no remedy but an appeal to human authority--a setting up

of man in Christ's place--a return to worldly systems, we should without

hesitation pronounce the remedy to be far worse than the disease. For

were we to adopt the remedy, we should have the very worst symptoms of

the disease, not to be mourned over as disease, but gloried in as the

fruits of so-called order.

But blessed be God, there is a remedy. What is it? "_There am I_ in the

midst." This is enough. It is not, "There is a pope, a priest, a parson,

or a president in their midst, at their head, in the chair, or in the

pulpit." No thought of such a thing, from cover to cover of the New

Testament. Even in the assembly of God at Corinth, where there was most

grievous confusion and disorder, the inspired apostle never hints at

such a thing as a human president, under any name whatsoever. "_God is

the author_ of peace in all the assemblies of the saints" (I Cor. xiv.

33). God was there to keep order. They were to look to Him, not to a

man, under any name. To set up man to keep order in God's assembly is

sheer unbelief, and an open insult to the Divine Presence.

Now, we have been often asked to adduce Scripture in proof of the idea

of divine presidency in an assembly. We at once reply, "There am I;" and

"God is the Author." On these two pillars, even had we no more, we can

triumphantly build the glorious truth of divine presidency--a truth

which _must_ deliver all, who receive and hold it from God, from every

system of man, call it by what name you please. It is, in our judgment,

impossible to recognize Christ as the centre and sovereign ruler in the

assembly, and continue to sanction the setting up of man. When once we

have tasted the sweetness of being under Christ, we can never again

submit to the servile bondage of being under man. This is not

insubordination or impatience of control. It is only the utter refusal

to bow to a false authority--to sanction a sinful usurpation. The moment

we see man usurping authority in that which calls itself the church, we

simply ask, "Who are you?" and retire to a sphere where God alone is

acknowledged.

"But, then, there are errors, evils, and abuses even in this very

sphere." Doubtless; but if there are, we have the word of God to correct

them. And hence, if an assembly should be troubled by the intrusion of

ignorant and foolish men--men who have never yet measured themselves in

the presence of God--men who boldly overleap the wide domain over which

common sense, good taste, and moral propriety preside, and then vainly

talk of being led by the Holy Spirit--restless men, who _will_ be at

something, and who keep the assembly in a continual state of nervous

apprehension, not knowing what is to come next--should any assembly be

thus grievously afflicted, what should they do? Abandon the ground in

impatience, chagrin, and disappointment? give all up as a myth, a fable,

an idle chimera? go back to that from which they once came out? Alas!

this is what some have done, thus proving that they never understood

what they had been doing; or if they had understood it, that they had

not faith to pursue it. May the Lord have mercy upon such, and open

their eyes that they may see from whence they have fallen, and get a

true view of the assembly of God, in contrast with the most attractive

of the systems of men.

But what is an assembly to do when abuses creep in? Correct them by the

word of God. This is God's authoritative voice.

We are fully aware of the difficulties and trials connected with any

expression of the assembly of God. We believe its difficulties and

trials are perfectly characteristic. There is nothing under the canopy

of heaven that the devil hates as he hates that. He will leave no stone

unturned to oppose it. We have seen this exemplified again and again. An

evangelist may go to a place and preach the all-sufficiency of the name

of Jesus for the salvation of the soul, and he will have thousands

hanging on his lips. Let the same man return, and, while he preaches the

same gospel, take another step and proclaim the all-sufficiency of that

same Jesus for all the exigencies of an assembly of believers, and he

will find himself opposed on all hands. Why is this? Because the devil

hates the very feeblest expression of the assembly of God. You may see a

town left for ages and generations to its dark and dull routine of

religious formalism--a dead people gathering once a week to hear a dead

man go through a dead service, and all the rest of the week living in

sin and folly. There is not a breath of life, not a leaf stirring. The

devil likes it well. But let some one come and unfurl the standard of

the name of Jesus--Jesus for the soul and Jesus for the assembly--and

you will soon see a mighty change. The rage of hell is excited, and the

dark and dreadful tide of opposition rises.

This, we most fully believe, is the true secret of many of the bitter

attacks that have been recently made on those who maintain the

principles of the assembly of God. No doubt we have to mourn over many

mistakes, errors, and failures. We have given much occasion to the

adversary in various ways. We have been a poor blotted epistle, a faint

and feeble witness, a flickering light. For all this we have to be

deeply humbled before our God. Nothing could be more unbecoming in us

than pretention or assumption, or the putting forth of high-sounding

ecclesiastical claims. The dust is our place. Yes, beloved brethren, the

place of confession and self-judgment becomes us, in the presence of our

God.

Still, we are not to let slip the glorious principles of the assembly of

God because we have so shamefully failed in carrying them out: we are

not to judge the truth by our exhibition of it, but to judge our

exhibition by the truth. It is one thing to occupy divine ground, and

another thing to carry ourselves properly thereon; and while it is

perfectly right to judge our practice by our principles, yet truth is

truth for all that, and we may rest assured that the devil hates the

truth which characterizes the assembly. A mere handful of poor people,

gathered in the name of Jesus, as members of His body, to break bread in

remembrance of Him, is a thorn in the side of the devil. True it is that

such an assembly evokes the wrath of men, inasmuch as it throws their

office and authority overboard, and they cannot bear that. Yet we

believe the root of the whole matter will be found in Satan's hatred of

the special testimony which such an assembly bears to the

all-sufficiency of the name of Jesus for every possible need of the

saints of God.

This is a truly noble testimony, and we earnestly long to see it more

faithfully carried out. We may fully count upon intense opposition. It

will be with us as it was with the returned captives in the days of Ezra

and Nehemiah. We may expect to encounter many a Rehum and many a

Sanballat. Nehemiah might have gone and built any other wall in the

whole world but the wall of Jerusalem, and Sanballat would never have

molested him. But to build the wall of Jerusalem was an unpardonable

offence. And why? Just because Jerusalem was God's earthly centre, round

which He will yet gather the restored tribes of Israel. This was the

secret of the enemy's opposition. And mark the affected contempt. "If a

fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall." And yet Sanballat

and his allies were not able to break it down. They might cause it to

cease because of the Jews' lack of faith and energy; but they could not

break it down when God would have it up. How like is this to the present

moment! Surely there is nothing new under the sun. There is affected

contempt, but real alarm. And, oh! if those who are gathered in the name

of Jesus were only more true in heart to their blessed Centre, what

testimony there would be! What power! What victory! How it would tell on

all around. "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there

am I." There is nothing like this under the sun, be it ever so feeble

and contemptible. The Lord be praised for raising up such a witness for

Himself in these last days. May He greatly increase its effectiveness,

by the power of the Holy Ghost!

3. We must now very briefly glance at our third point, namely, what is

the power by which the assembly is gathered. Here again man and his

doings are set aside. It is not man's will choosing; nor man's reason

discovering; nor man's judgment dictating; nor man's conscience

demanding; it is the Holy Ghost gathering souls to Jesus. As Jesus is

the only centre, so the Holy Ghost is the only gathering power. The one

is as independent of man as the other. It is "where two or three are

_gathered_." It does not say "where two or three are _met_." Persons may

meet together round any centre, on any ground, by any influence, and

merely form a society, an association, a community. But the Holy Ghost

gathers saved souls only to Christ.

An assembly may not embrace all the saints of God in a locality. In such

a case they cannot be called the assembly of God in that place. But if

they are assembled as members of the body of Christ, they occupy the

ground of the assembly of God.

This is a very simple truth. A soul led by the Holy Ghost will gather

only to the name of the Lord; and if we gather to aught else, be it a

point of truth, or some ordinance or another, we are not in that matter

led by the Holy Ghost. It is not a question of life or salvation.

Thousands are saved by Christ that do not own Him as their centre. They

are gathered to some form of church government, some favorite doctrine,

some special ordinance, some gifted man. The Holy Ghost will never

gather to any one of these. He gathers only to a risen Christ. This is

true of the whole Church of God upon earth; and each local assembly,

wherever convened, is the expression of the whole.

Now, the _power_ in an assembly will very much depend upon the measure

in which each member thereof is gathered in integrity of heart to the

name of Jesus. If I am gathered to a party holding peculiar opinions--if

I am attracted by the people, or by the teaching--if, in a word, it be

not the power of the Holy Ghost, leading me to the true Centre of God's

assembly, I shall only prove a hindrance, a weight, a cause of weakness.

I shall be to an assembly what a waster is to a candle; and instead of

adding to the general light and usefulness, I shall do the very reverse.

All this is deeply practical. It should lead to much exercise of heart

and self-judgment as to what has drawn me to an assembly, and as to my

ways therein. We are fully persuaded that the tone and testimony of an

assembly have been greatly weakened by the presence of persons not

understanding their position. Some present themselves there because they

get teaching and blessing there which they cannot get anywhere else.

Some come because they like the simplicity of the worship. Others come

looking for love. None of these things are up to the mark. We should be

in an assembly simply because the name of Jesus is the only standard set

up there, and the Holy Spirit has "gathered" us thereto.

No doubt ministry is most precious, and we shall have it, in more or

less power, where all is ordered aright. So also as to simplicity of

worship: we are sure to be simple, and real, and true, when the divine

presence is realized, and the sovereignty of the Holy Ghost fully owned

and submitted to. And as to love, if we go _looking for it_ we shall

surely be thoroughly disappointed: but if we are enabled to _cultivate_

and _manifest it_, we shall be sure to get a great deal more than we

expect or deserve. It will generally be found that those persons who are

perpetually complaining of want of love in others are utterly failing in

love themselves; and, on the other hand, those who are really walking in

love will tell you that they receive a thousand times more than they

deserve. Let us remember that the best way to get water out of a dry

pump is to pour a little water in. You may work at the handle until you

are tired, and then go away in fretfulness and impatience, complaining

of that horrible pump; whereas, if you would just pour in a little

water, you would get in return a gushing stream to satisfy your utmost

desire.

We have but little conception of what an assembly would be were each one

distinctly led by the Holy Ghost, and gathered _only_ to Jesus. We

should not then have to complain of dull, heavy, unprofitable, trying

meetings. We should have no fear of an unhallowed intrusion of mere

nature and its restless doings--no _making_ of prayer--no talking for

talking's sake--no hymn-book seized to fill a gap. Each one would know

his place in the Lord's immediate presence--each gifted vessel would be

filled, fitted, and used by the Master's hand--each eye would be

directed to Jesus--each heart occupied with Him. If a chapter were read,

it would be the very voice of God. If a word were spoken, it would tell

with power upon the heart. If prayer were offered, it would lead the

soul into the very presence of God. If a hymn were sung, it would lift

the spirit up to God, and be like sweeping the strings of the heavenly

harp. We should have no ready-made sermons--no teaching or preaching

prayers, as though we would explain doctrines to God, or tell Him a

whole host of things about ourselves--no praying _at_ our neighbors, or

asking for all manner of graces for them, in which we ourselves are

lamentably deficient--no singing for music's sake, or being disturbed if

harmony be interfered with. All these evils should be avoided. We should

feel ourselves in the very sanctuary of God, and enjoy a foretaste of

that time when we shall worship in the courts above, and go no more out.

We may be asked, "Where will you find all this down here?" Ah! this is

the question. It is one thing to present a _beau ideal_ on paper, and

another thing to realize it in the midst of error, failure, and

infirmity. Through mercy, some of us have tasted, at times, a little of

this blessedness. We have occasionally enjoyed moments of heaven upon

earth. Oh, for more of it! May the Lord, in His great mercy, raise the

tone of the assemblies everywhere! May He greatly enlarge our capacity

for more profound communion and spiritual worship! May He enable us so

to walk, in private life, from day to day so as to judge ourselves and

our ways in His holy presence, that at least we may not prove a lump of

lead or a waster to any of God's assemblies.

And then, even though we may not be able to reach in experience the true

expression of the assembly, yet let us never be satisfied with anything

less. Let us honestly aim at the loftiest standard, and earnestly pray

to be lifted up thereto. As to the _ground_ of God's assembly, we should

hold it with jealous tenacity, and never consent for an hour to occupy

any other. As to the tone and character of an assembly, they may and

will vary immensely, and will depend upon the faith and spirituality of

those gathered. Where the tone of things is felt to be low,--when

meetings are felt to be unprofitable--where things are said and done

repeatedly which are felt by the spiritual to be wholly out of place,

let all who feel it wait on God--wait continually--wait believingly--and

He will assuredly hear and answer. In this way the very trials and

exercises which are peculiar to an assembly will have the happy effect

of casting us more immediately upon Him, and thus the eater will yield

meat, and the strong sweetness. We must count upon trials and

difficulties in any expression of the assembly, just because it is _the_

right and divine way for God's people on earth. The devil will put forth

every effort to drive us from that true and holy ground. He will try the

patience, try the temper, hurt the feelings, cause offence in nameless

and numberless ways--anything and everything to make us forsake the true

ground of the assembly.

It is well to remember this. We can only hold the divine ground by

faith. This marks the assembly of God, and distinguishes it from every

human system. You cannot get on there save by faith. And, further, if

you want to be somebody, if you are seeking a place, if you want to

exalt _self_, you need not think of any true expression of the assembly.

You will soon find your level there, if it be in any measure what it

should be. Fleshly or worldly greatness, in any shape, will be of no

account in such an assembly. The Divine Presence withers up everything

of that kind, and levels all human pretension. Finally, you cannot get

on in the assembly if you are living in secret sin. The Divine Presence

will not suit you. Have we not often experienced in the assembly a

feeling of uneasiness, caused by the recollection of many things which

had escaped our notice during the week? Wrong thoughts--foolish

words--unspiritual ways--all these things crowd in upon the mind, and

exercise the conscience, in the assembly! How is this? Because the

atmosphere of the assembly is more searching than that which we have

been breathing during the week. We have not been in the presence of God

in our private walk. We have not been judging ourselves; and hence, when

we take our place in a spiritual assembly, our hearts are detected--our

ways are exposed in the light; and that exercise which ought to have

gone on in private--even the needed exercise of self-judgment, must go

on at the table of the Lord. This is poor, miserable work for us, but it

proves the power of the presence of God in the assembly. Things must be

in a miserably low state in any assembly when hearts are not thus

detected and exposed. It is a fine evidence of the power of the Holy

Spirit in an assembly when careless, carnal, worldly, self-exalting,

money-loving, unprincipled persons are compelled to judge themselves in

God's presence, or, failing this, are driven away by the spirituality of

the atmosphere. Such an assembly is no place for these. They can breathe

more freely outside.

Now, we cannot but judge that numbers that have departed from the ground

of the assembly have done so because their practical ways did not

comport with the purity of the place. No doubt it is easy, in all such

cases, to find an excuse in the conduct of those who are left behind.

But if the _roots_ of things were in every case laid bare, we should

find that many leave an assembly because of inability or reluctance to

bear its searching light. "Thy testimonies are very sure; holiness

becometh Thy house, O Lord, forever." Evil _must_ be judged, for God

cannot sanction it. If an assembly does not it is not practically God's

assembly at all, though composed of Christians, as we say. To pretend to

be an assembly of God, and not judge false doctrine and evil ways, would

involve the blasphemy of saying that God and wickedness can dwell

together. The assembly of God must keep itself pure, because it is His

dwelling-place. Men may sanction evil, and call it liberality and

large-heartedness so to do; but the house of God must keep itself pure.

Let this great practical truth sink down into our hearts, and produce

its sanctifying influence upon our course and character.

4. A very few words will suffice to set forth, in the last place, "the

_authority_" on which the assembly is gathered. It is the word of God

alone. The charter of the assembly is the eternal Word of the living and

true God. It is not the traditions, the doctrines, nor the commandments

of men. A passage of Scripture, to which we have more than once referred

in the progress of this paper, contains at once the standard round which

the assembly is gathered, the power by which it is gathered, and the

authority by which it is gathered--"the name of Jesus"--"the Holy

Ghost"--"the word of God."

Now these are the same all over the world. Whether I go to New Zealand,

to Australia, to Canada, to London, to Paris, to Edinburg, or Dublin,

the Centre, the gathering Power, and the authority are one and the same.

We can own no other centre but Christ; no gathering energy but the Holy

Ghost; no authority but the word of God; no characteristic but holiness

of life and soundness in doctrine.

Such is a true expression of the assembly of God, and we cannot

acknowledge aught else. Saints of God we can acknowledge, love, and

honor as such, wherever we find them; but human systems we look upon as

dishonoring to Christ, and hostile to the true interest of the saints of

God. We long to see all Christians on the true ground of the assembly.

We believe it to be the place of real blessing and effective testimony.

We believe there is a character of testimony yielded by carrying out the

principles of the assembly which cannot be yielded otherwise, even were

each member a Whitefield in evangelistic power. We say this not to lower

evangelistic work. God forbid. We would that all were Whitefields. But

then we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that many affect to despise the

assembly, under the plea of going out as evangelists; and when we trace

their path, and examine the results of their work, we find that they

have no provision for the souls that have been converted by their means.

They seem not to know what to do with them. They quarry the stones, but

do not build them together. The consequence is that souls are scattered

hither and thither, some persuing a desultory course, others living in

isolation, all at fault as to true Church ground.

Now, we believe that all these should be gathered on the ground of the

assembly of God, to have "fellowship in the breaking of bread and in

prayer." They should "come together on the first day of the week, to

break bread," looking to the Lord Christ to edify them by the mouth of

whom He will. This is the simple path--the normal, the divine idea,

needing, it may be, more faith to realize it, because of the clashing

and conflicting elements of the present day, but none the less simple

and true on that account.

We are aware, of course, that all this will be pronounced proselytizing,

and party spirit, by those who seem to regard it as the very _beau

ideal_ of Christian liberality and large-heartedness to be able to say,

"I belong to nothing." Strange, anomalous position! It just resolves

itself in this: it is _somebody_ professing _nothingism_ in order to get

rid of all responsibility, and go with all and everything. This is a

very easy path for nature, and amiable nature, but we shall see what

will come of it in the day of the Lord. Even now we regard it as

positive unfaithfulness to Christ, from which may the good Lord deliver

His people.

But let none imagine that we want to place the evangelist and the

assembly in opposition. Nothing is further from our thoughts. The

evangelist should go forth from the bosom of the assembly, in full

fellowship therewith; he should work not only to gather souls to Christ,

but also bring them to an assembly, where divinely-gifted pastors might

watch over them, and divinely-gifted teachers instruct them. We do not

want to clip the evangelist's wings, but only to guide his movements.

We are unwilling to see real spiritual energy expended in desultory

service. No doubt it is a grand result to bring souls to Christ. Every

soul linked to Jesus is a work done forever. But ought not the lambs and

sheep to be gathered and cared for? Would anyone be satisfied to

purchase sheep, and then leave them to wander whithersoever they list?

Surely not. But whither should Christ's sheep be gathered? Is it into

the folds of man's erection, or into an assembly gathered on divine

ground? Into the latter unquestionably; for that, we may rest assured,

however feeble, however despised, however blackened and maligned, is the

place for all the lambs and sheep of the flock of Christ.

Here, however, there will be responsibility, care, anxiety, labor, a

constant demand for watchfulness and prayer; all of which flesh and

blood would like to avoid, if possible. There is much that is agreeable

and attractive in the idea of going through the world as an evangelist,

having thousands hanging on one's lips, and hundreds of souls as the

seals of one's ministry: but what is to be done with these souls? By all

means show them their true place with those gathered on the ground of

the assembly of God, where, notwithstanding the ruin and apostasy of the

professing body, they can enjoy spiritual communion, worship, and

ministry. This will involve much trial and painful excise. It was so in

apostolic times. Those who really cared for the flock of Christ had to

shed many a tear, send up many an agonizing prayer, spend many a

sleepless night. But, then, in all these things, they tasted the

sweetness of fellowship with the chief Shepherd; and when He appears,

their tears, their prayers, their sleepless nights will be remembered

and rewarded; while those who are building up human systems will find

them all come to an end, to be heard of no more forever; and the false

shepherds, who ruthlessly seize the pastoral staff only to use it as an

instrument of filthy gain to themselves, shall have their faces covered

with everlasting confusion.

But, we may be asked, "Is it not worse than useless to seek to carry out

the principles of the assembly of God, seeing that the professing Church

is in such complete ruin?" We reply by asking, "Are we to be disobedient

because the Church is in ruin? Are we to continue in error because the

dispensation has failed?" Surely not. We own the ruin, mourn over it,

confess it, take our share in it, and in its sad consequences, seek to

walk softly and humbly in the midst of it, confessing ourselves to be

most unfaithful and unworthy. But though we have failed, Christ has not

failed. He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself. He has promised to

be with His people to the end of the age. Matt. xviii. 20 holds as good

to-day as it did 1800 years ago. "Let God be true and every man a liar."

We utterly repudiate the idea of men setting about church-making, or

pretending to ordain ministers. We look upon it as a pure assumption,

without a single shadow of Scripture authority. It is God's work to

gather His Church and raise up ministers. We have no business to form

ourselves into a church, or to ordain office-bearers. No doubt the Lord

is very gracious, tender, and pitiful. He bears with our weakness, and

overrules our mistakes, and where the heart is true to Him, even though

in ignorance, He will assuredly lead on into higher light.

But we must not use God's grace as a plea for unscriptural acting, any

more than we should use the Church's ruin as a plea for sanctioning

error. We have to confess the ruin, count on the grace, and act in

simple obedience to the word of the Lord. Such is the path of blessing

at all times. The remnant, in the days of Ezra, did not pretend to the

power and splendor of Solomon's days, but they obeyed the word of

Solomon's Lord, and they were abundantly blessed in their deed. They did

not say, "Things are in ruin, and therefore we had better remain in

Babylon, and do nothing." No; they simply confessed their own and their

people's sin, and counted on God. This is precisely what we are to do.

We are to own the ruin, and count on God.

Finally, if we be asked, "Where is the true expression of this assembly

of God now?" We reply, "Where Christ is truly the Centre of gathering;

the one body the ground; the Holy Spirit the Leader; the Holy Scriptures

the sole authority; and holiness the practice."

Reader, are you assembled on this divine ground? If so, cling to it with

your whole soul. Are you in this path? If so, press on with all the

energies of your moral being. Never be content with anything short of

His dwelling in you, and your conscious nearness to Him. Let not Satan

rob you of your proper portion by leading you to rest in a mere name.

Let him not tempt you to mistake your ostensible _position_ for your

real _condition_. Cultivate secret communion--secret prayer--constant

self-judgment. Be especially on your guard against every form of

spiritual pride. Cultivate lowliness, meekness, and brokenness of

spirit, tenderness of conscience, in your own private walk. Seek to

combine the sweetest grace towards others with the boldness of a lion

where truth is concerned. Then will you be a blessing in the assembly of

God, and an effective witness of the all-sufficiency of the name of

Jesus.

The veil is rent:--our souls draw near

Unto a throne of grace;

The merits of the Lord appear,

They fill the holy place.

His precious blood has spoken there,

Before and on the throne:

And His own wounds in heaven declare,

Th' atoning work is done.

'Tis finished!--here our souls have rest,

His work can never fail:

By Him, our Sacrifice and Priest,

We pass within the veil.

Within the holiest of all,

Cleansed by His precious blood,

Before the throne we prostrate fall,

And worship Thee, O God!

Boldly the heart and voice we raise,

His blood, His name, our plea:

Assured our prayers and songs of praise

Ascend, by Christ, to Thee.

FOOTNOTES:

[XVIII.] The same Greek word, _ecclesia_, has been rendered both

"church" and "assembly" in our English translation--"assembly" gives the

true meaning.

[XIX.] It is of the utmost importance to distinguish between what Christ

builds, and what man builds. "The gates of hell" shall assuredly prevail

against all that is merely of man; and hence it would be a fatal mistake

to apply to man's building words which only apply to Christ's. Man may

build with "wood, hay, stubble," alas! he does; but all that our Lord

Christ builds shall stand forever. The stamp of eternity is upon every

work of His hand. All praise to His glorious name!

[XX.] There is no such thing in Scripture as being a member of _a_

church. Every true believer is a member of _the_ Church of God--the body

of Christ, and can therefore no more be, properly, a member of anything

else, than my arm can be a member of any other body.

The only true ground on which believers can gather is set forth in that

grand statement, "There is one body, and one Spirit." And again, "We

being many are one loaf, and one body" (Eph. iv. 4; I Cor. x. 17). If

God declares that there is but "one body," it must be contrary to His

mind to own more than that one.

Now, while it is quite true that no given number of believers in any

given place can be called "the body of Christ," or "the assembly of

God;" yet they should be gathered on the ground of that body and that

assembly, and on no other ground. We call the reader's special attention

to this principle. It holds good at all times, in all places, and under

all circumstances. The fact of the ruin of the professing Church does

not touch it. It has been true since the day of Pentecost; is true at

this moment; and shall be true until the Church is taken to meet her

Head and Lord in the clouds, that "_there is one body_." All believers

belong to that body; and they should meet on that ground, and on no

other.

[XXI.] The reader will need to ponder the distinction between the Church

viewed as "the body of Christ," and as "the house of God." He may study

Eph. i. 22; I Cor. xii. for the former. Eph. ii. 21; I Cor. iii.; I Tim.

iii. for the latter. The distinction is as interesting as it is

important.

[XXII.] The reader will do well to note the fact that, in Matt. xvi., we

have the very earliest allusion to the Church, and there our Lord speaks

of it as a future thing. He says, "On this rock I _will_ build My

Church." He does not say, "I _have_ been, or I _am_ building." In short

the Church had no existence until our Lord Christ was raised from the

dead and glorified at the right hand of God. Then, but not until then,

the Holy Ghost was sent down to baptize believers, whether Jews or

Gentiles, into one body, and unite them to the risen and glorified Head

in heaven. This body has been on the earth since the descent of the Holy

Ghost; is here still, and shall be until Christ comes to fetch it to

Himself. It is a perfectly unique thing. It is not to be found in Old

Testament Scripture. Paul expressly tells us it was not revealed in

other ages; it was hid in God, and never made known until it was

committed to him. (See, carefully, Rom. xvi. 25, 26; Eph. iii. 3-11;

Col. i. 24-27.) True it is--most blessedly true--that God had a people

in Old Testament times. Not merely the nation of Israel, but a

quickened, saved, spiritual people, who lived by faith, went to heaven,

and are there "the spirits of just men made perfect." But the Church is

never spoken of until Matt. xvi., and there only as a future thing. As

to the expression used by Stephen, "The Church in the wilderness" (Acts

vii. 38), it is pretty generally known that it simply refers to the

congregation of Israel. The _termini_ of the Church's earthly history

are Pentecost (Acts ii.), and the rapture (I Thess. iv. 16, 17).

THE CHRISTIAN

HIS POSITION AND HIS WORK.

PART I.

What is the true position of a Christian? and what has he got to do? are

questions of the very deepest practical importance. It is assumed, of

course, that he has eternal life: without this, one cannot be a

Christian at all. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting

life." This is the common portion of all believers. It is not a matter

of attainment, a matter of progress, a thing which some Christians have

and others have not. It belongs to the very feeblest babe in the family

of God, as well as to the most matured and experienced servant of

Christ. All are possessed of eternal life, and can never by any

possibility lose it.

But our present theme is not life, but position and work; and in

considering it, we shall ask the reader to turn for a moment to a

passage in Heb. xiii. Perhaps we cannot do better than quote it for him.

There is nothing like the plain and solid word of Holy Scripture.

"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines; for it is a

good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats,

which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an

altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For

the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by

the high priest for sin are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus

also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered

without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp,

bearing His reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek

one to come" (vers. 9-14).

Here, then, we have one grand aspect of the Christian's position. It is

defined by the position of his Lord. This makes it divinely simple; and,

we may add, divinely settled. The Christian is identified with Christ.

Amazing fact! "As He is so _are_ we in this world." It is not said, "As

He is, so _shall_ we be in the world to come." No; this would not come

up to the divine idea. It is, "so are we _in this world_." The position

of Christ defines the position of the Christian.

But this glorious fact tells in a double way; it tells upon the

Christian's place before God; and it tells on his place as regards this

present world. It is upon the latter that Heb. xiii. instructs us so

blessedly, and it is that which is now more especially before us.

Jesus suffered without the gate. This fact is the basis on which the

apostle grounds his exhortation to the Hebrew believers to go forth

without the camp. The cross of Christ closed his connection with the

camp of Judaism; and all who desire to follow Him must go outside to

where He is. The final breach with Israel is presented, morally, in the

death of Christ; doctrinally, in the Epistle to the Hebrews;

historically, in the destruction of Jerusalem. In the judgment of faith,

Jerusalem was as thoroughly rejected when the Messiah was nailed to the

cross, as it was when the army of Titus left it a smouldering ruin. The

instincts of the divine nature, and the inspired teachings of Scripture,

go before the actual facts of history.

"Jesus suffered without the gate." For what end? "That He might sanctify

(or set apart to God) the people with His own blood." What follows? What

is the necessary practical result? "Let us go forth therefore unto Him

without the camp, bearing His reproach."

But what is "the camp?" Primarily, Judaism; but, most unquestionably, it

has a moral application to every organized system of religion under the

sun. If that system of ordinances and ceremonies which God Himself had

set up--if Judaism, with its imposing ritual, its splendid temple, its

priesthood and its sacrifices, has been found fault with, condemned, and

set aside, what shall be said of any or all of those organizations which

have rebuilt it? If our Lord Christ is outside of that, how much more

out of these!

Yes, Christian reader, we may rest assured that the outside place, the

place of rejection and reproach is that to which we are called, if we

would know aught of true fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Mark the

words! "Let us go forth." Will any Christian say, "No; I cannot go

forth. My place is inside the camp. I must work there?" If so, then,

there must be moral distance between you and Jesus, for He is as surely

outside the camp as He is on the throne of God. If your sphere of work

lies inside the camp, when your Master tells you to go forth, what shall

we say for your work? Can it be "gold, silver, precious stones?" Can it

have your Lord's approving smile? It may exhibit His overruling hand,

and illustrate His sovereign goodness; but can it possibly have His

unqualified approval while carried on in a sphere from which He commands

you to go forth?

The all-important thing for every true servant is to be found exactly

where his Master would have him. The question is not, "Am I doing a

great deal of work? but am I pleasing my Master? I may seem to be doing

wonders in the way of work; my name may be heralded to the ends of the

earth as a most laborious, devoted, and successful workman; and, all the

while, I may be in an utterly false position, indulging my own unbroken

will, pleasing myself, and seeking some personal end or object."

All this is very solemn indeed, and demands the consideration of all who

really desire to be found in the current of God's thoughts. We live in

a day of much wilfulness. The commandments of Christ do not govern all.

We think for ourselves, in place of submitting ourselves absolutely to

the authority of the Word. When our Lord tells us to go forth without

the camp, we, instead of yielding a ready obedience, begin to reason as

to the results which we can reach by remaining within. Scripture seems

to have little or no power over our souls. We do not aim at simply

pleasing Christ. Provided we can make great show of work, we think all

is right. We are more occupied with results which, after all, may only

tend to magnify ourselves, than with the earnest purpose to do what is

agreeable to the mind of Christ.

But are we to be idle? Is there nothing for us to do in the outside

place to which we are called? Is Christian life to be made up of a

series of negations? Is there nothing positive? Let Heb. xiii. furnish

the clear and forcible answer to all these inquiries. We shall find it

quite as distinct in reference to our _work_ as it is in reference to

our _position_.

What, then, have we got to do? Two things; and these two in their

comprehensive range take in the whole of a Christian's life in its two

grand aspects. They give us the inner and the outer life of the true

believer. In the first place, we read, "By Him therefore let us offer

the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our

lips, giving thanks to His name."

Is not this something? Have we not here a very elevated character of

work? Yes, verily, the most elevated that can possibly engage the

energies of our renewed being. It is our privilege to be occupied,

morning, noon, eventide, and midnight, in presenting the sacrifice of

praise to God--a sacrifice which, He assures us, is ever most acceptable

to Him. "Whoso offereth praise," He says, "glorifieth Me."

Let us carefully note this. Praise is to be the primary and continual

occupation of the believer. We, in our fancied wisdom, would put work in

the first place. We are disposed to attach chief importance to bustling

activity. We have such an overweening sense of the value of _doing_,

that we lose sight of the place which worship occupies in the thoughts

of God.

Again, there are some who vainly imagine that they can please God by

punishing their bodies. They think that He delights in their vigils,

fastings, floggings, and flagellations. Miserable, soul-destroying,

God-dishonoring delusion! Will not those who harbor it and act upon it

bend their ears and their hearts to those gracious words which we have

just penned, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me?" True, it is, that

those words are immediately followed by that grand practical statement,

"And to him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I show the

salvation of God." But still, here, as everywhere, the highest place is

assigned to praise, not to work. And, most assuredly, no man can be

said to be ordering his conversation aright who abuses his body and

renders it unfit to be the vessel or instrument by which he can serve

God.

No, reader, if we really desire to please God, to gratify His heart and

to glorify His name, we shall give our heart's attention to Heb. xiii.

15, and seek to offer the sacrifice of praise _continually_. Yes,

"continually." Not merely now and then, when all goes on smoothly and

pleasantly. Come what may, it is our high and holy privilege to offer

the sacrifice of praise to God. It does so glorify God when His people

live in an atmosphere of praise. It imparts a heavenly tone to their

character, and speaks more powerfully to the hearts of those around them

than if they were preaching to them from morning till night. A Christian

should "rejoice in the Lord alway," always reflecting back upon this

dark world the blessed beams of his Father's countenance.

Thus it should ever be. Nothing is so unworthy of a Christian as a

fretful spirit, a gloomy temper, a sour, morose-looking face. And not

only is it unworthy of a Christian, but it is dishonoring to God, and it

causes the enemies of truth to speak reproachfully. No doubt, tempers

and dispositions vary; and allowance must be made in cases of weak

bodily health, and of circumstances of sorrow. It is not easy to look

pleasant when the body is in suffering; and, further, we should be very

far indeed from the commending anything like levity or the everlasting

smile of mere unsubdued nature.

But Scripture is clear and explicit. It tells us to "offer the sacrifice

of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving

thanks to His name." How simple! "_The fruit of our lips._" This is what

our God delights in. It is His joy to be surrounded with the praises of

hearts filled to overflowing with His abounding goodness. Thus it will

be throughout eternity, in that bright home of love and glory to which

we are so rapidly hastening.

And let the reader specially note the words, "_By Him_." We are to offer

our sacrifice of praise by the hand of our Great High Priest, who is

ever in the presence of God for us. This is most consolatory and

assuring to our hearts. Jesus presents our sacrifice of praise to God.

It must therefore be ever acceptable, coming thus by the priestly hand

of the Great Minister of the sanctuary. It goes up to God, not as it

proceeds from us, but as it is presented by Him. Divested of all the

imperfection and failure attaching to us, it ascends to God in all the

fragrance and acceptancy belonging to Him. The feeblest note of praise,

the simple "Thank God!" is perfumed with the incense of Christ's

infinite preciousness. This is unspeakably precious: and it should

greatly encourage us to cultivate a spirit of praise. We should be

"continually" praising and blessing God. A murmuring or fretful word

should never cross the lips of one who has Christ for his portion, and

who stands identified with that blessed One in His position and His

destiny.

But we must draw this paper to a close by a rapid glance at the other

side of the Christian's work. If it is our privilege to be continually

praising and blessing God, it is also our privilege to be doing good to

man. "But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with such

sacrifices God is well pleased." We are passing through a world of

misery, of sin and death and sorrow. We are surrounded by broken hearts

and crushed spirits, if we would only look them out.

Yes; this is the point; _if we would only look them out_. It is easy for

us to close our eyes to such things, to turn away from them, to forget

that there are such things always within reach of us. We can sit in our

easy chair, and speculate about truth, doctrines, and the letter of

Scripture; we can discuss the theories of Christianity, and split hairs

about prophecy and dispensational truth, and, all the while, be

shamefully failing in the discharge of our grand responsibility as

Christians. We are in imminent danger of forgetting that Christianity is

a living reality. It is not a set of dogmas, a number of principles

strung together on a thread of systematized divinity, which unconverted

people can have at their fingers' ends. Neither is it a set of

ordinances to be gone through, in dreary formality, by lifeless,

heartless professors. No; it is life--life eternal--life implanted by

the Holy Ghost, and expressing itself in those two lovely forms on which

we have been dwelling, namely, praise to God and doing good to man. Such

was the life of Jesus when He trod this earth of ours. He lived in the

atmosphere of praise; and He went about doing good.

And He is our life, and He is our model on which the life is to be

formed. The Christian should be the living expression of Christ, by the

power of the Holy Ghost. It is not a mere question of leading what is

called a religious life, which very often resolves itself into a

tiresome round of duties which neither yield "praise" to God nor one

atom of "good" to man. There must be _life_, or it is all perfectly

worthless. "The kingdom of God is not meat or drink; but righteousness

and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth

Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men" (Rom. xiv. 17, 18).

Beloved Christian reader, let us earnestly apply our hearts to the

consideration of these great practical truths. Let us seek to be

Christians not merely in name but in reality. Let us not be

distinguished as the mere vendors of peculiar "_views_." Oh! how

worthless are views! How utterly profitless is discussion! How wearisome

are theological hair-splittings! Let us have life, light, and love.

These are heavenly, eternal, divine. All else is vanity. How we do long

for reality in this world of sham--for deep thinkers and earnest workers

in this day of shallow talkers!

NOTE.--The reader will find it profitable to compare Heb. xiii. 13-16

with I Peter ii. 4-9. "Let us go forth therefore unto Him," says Paul.

"To whom coming," says Peter. Then we have "The holy priesthood"

offering up spiritual sacrifices of praise. And "the royal priesthood"

doing good and communicating--"showing forth the virtues of Him who hath

called us out of darkness into His marvelous light." The two scriptures

give us a magnificent view of fundamental, devotional and practical

Christianity.

PART II.

We must ask the reader to open his Bible and read Heb. x. 7-24. In it he

will find a very deep and marvelous view of the Christian's position and

his work. The inspired writer gives us, as it were, three solid pillars

on which the grand edifice of Christianity rests. These are, first, _the

will of God_; secondly, _the work of Christ;_ and, thirdly, _the witness

of the Holy Ghost_, in Scripture. If these grand realities be laid hold

of in simple faith, the soul _must_ have settled peace. We may assert,

with all possible confidence, that no power of earth or hell, men or

devils, can ever disturb the peace which is founded upon Heb. x. 7-17.

Let us then, in the first place, dwell, for a few moments, on the manner

in which the apostle unfolds, in this magnificent passage,

THE WILL OF GOD.

In the opening of the chapter, we are instructed as to the utter

inadequacy of the sacrifices under the law. They could never make the

conscience perfect--they could never accomplish the will of God--never

fulfil the gracious desire and purpose of His heart. "The law, having a

shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can

never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually

make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased

to be offered? because _the worshipers once purged_ should have had _no

more conscience of sins_."

Let the reader carefully note this. "The worshipers once purged should

have had no more conscience of sins." He does not say--"No more

_consciousness of sins_." There is an immense difference between these

two things; and yet, it is to be feared, they are often confounded. The

Christian has, alas, the consciousness of _sin in him_, but he ought to

have no conscience of _sins on him_, inasmuch as he is purged once and

forever, by the precious blood of Christ.

Some of the Lord's people have a habit of speaking of their continual

need of applying to the blood of Christ, which, to say the least of it,

is by no means intelligent, or in accordance with the accurate teaching

of Holy Scripture. It seems like humility; but, we may rest assured,

true humility can only be found in connection with the full, clear,

settled apprehension of the truth of God, and as to His gracious will

concerning us. If it be His will that we should have "no more conscience

of sins," it cannot be true humility, on our part, to go on from day to

day, and year to year, with the burden of sins upon us. And, further, if

it be true that Christ has borne our sins and put them away forever--if

He has offered one perfect sacrifice for sins, ought we not assuredly to

know that we are perfectly pardoned and perfectly purged? Is it--can it

be, true humility to reduce the blood of Christ to the level of the

blood of bulls and of goats? But this is what is virtually done,

though, no doubt, unwittingly, by all who speak of applying continually

to the blood of Christ. One reason why God found fault with the

sacrifices under the law was, as the apostle tells us, "In those

sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year." This,

blessed be His name, was not according to His mind. He desired that

every trace of guilt and every remembrance of it should be blotted out,

once and forever; and hence it cannot be His will that His people should

be continually bowed down under the terrible burden of unforgiven sin.

It is _contrary_ to His will; it is subversive of their peace, and

derogatory to the glory of Christ and the efficacy of His one sacrifice.

One grand point of the inspired argument, in Hebrews x., is to show that

the continual remembrance of sins and the continual repetition of the

sacrifice go together; and therefore, if Christians now are to have the

burden of sins constantly on the heart and conscience, it follows that

Christ should be offered again and again--which were a blasphemy. His

work is done, and hence our burden is gone--gone forever. "It is not

possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin.

Wherefore, when He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and

offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me. In

burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure. Then

said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me) to do

Thy will, O God. Above, when He said, Sacrifice and offering and

burnt-offerings and offerings for sin Thou wouldest not, neither hadst

pleasure therein (which are offered by the law) then said He, Lo, I come

to do Thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that He may establish

the second. By the which will we are sanctified (or set apart) by the

offering of the body of Jesus Christ _once_."

Here we are conducted, in the most distinct and forcible manner, to the

eternal source of the whole matter, namely, the will of God--the purpose

and counsel formed in the divine mind, before the foundation of the

world, before any creature was formed, before sin or Satan existed. It

was the will of God, from all eternity, that the Son should, in due

time, come forth and do a work which was to be the foundation of the

divine glory and of all the counsels and purposes of the Trinity.

It would be a very grave error indeed to suppose that redemption was an

afterthought with God. He had not, blessed be His holy name, to sit down

and plan what He would do, when sin entered. It was all settled

beforehand. The enemy, no doubt, imagined that he was gaining a

wonderful victory when he meddled with man in the garden of Eden. In

point of fact, he was only giving occasion for the display of God's

eternal counsels in connection with the work of the Son. There was no

basis for those counsels, no sphere for their display in the fields of

creation. It was the meddling of Satan--the entrance of sin--the ruin of

man, that opened a platform on which a Saviour-God might display the

riches of His grace, the glories of His salvation, the attributes of His

nature, to all created intelligences.

There is great depth and power in those words of the eternal Son, "In

the volume of the book it is written of Me." To what "volume" does He

here refer? Is it to Old Testament scripture merely? Surely not; the

apostle quotes from the Old Testament, but it is nothing less than the

roll of God's eternal counsels in which the "vast plan" was laid,

according to which, in the appointed time, the eternal Son was to come

forth and appear on the scene, in order to accomplish the divine will,

vindicate the divine glory, confound the enemy utterly, put away sin,

and save ruined man in a manner which yields a richer harvest of glory

to God than ever He could have reaped in the fields of an unfallen

creation.

All this gives immense stability to the soul of the believer. Indeed it

is utterly impossible for human language to set forth the preciousness

and blessedness of this line of truth. It is such rich consolation to

every pious soul to know that One has appeared in this world to do the

will of God--whatever that will might be. "Lo, I come to do Thy will O

God." Such was the one undivided purpose and object of that perfect

human heart. He never did His own will in anything. He says, "I came

down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent

Me." It mattered not to Him what that will might involve to Himself

personally. The decree was written down in the eternal volume that He

should come and do the divine will; and, all homage to His peerless

name! He came and did it perfectly. He could say, "A body hast Thou

prepared Me." "Mine ears hast Thou opened." "I clothe the heavens with

blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. The Lord God hath given

Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in

season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth

Mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened Mine ear, and

I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave My back to the

smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My

face from shame and spitting" (Isa. l. 3-6).

But this leads us, in the second place, to contemplate

THE WORK OF CHRIST.

It was ever the delight of the heart of Jesus to do His Father's will

and finish His work. From the manger at Bethlehem to the cross of

Calvary, the one grand object that swayed His devoted heart was the

accomplishment of the will of God. He perfectly glorified God, in all

things. This, blessed be God, perfectly secures our full and everlasting

salvation, as the apostle in this passage, so distinctly states. "By the

which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus

Christ once."

Here our souls may rest, beloved reader, in sweetest peace and unclouded

certainty. It was the will of God that we should be set apart to

Himself, according to all the love of His heart, and all the claims of

His throne; and our Lord Christ, in due time, in pursuance of the

everlasting purpose as set forth "in the volume of the book," came forth

from the glory which He had with the Father, before all worlds, to do

the work which forms the imperishable basis of all the divine counsels

and of our eternal salvation.

And--forever be His name adored!--He has finished His work. He has

perfectly glorified God in the midst of the scene in which He has been

so dishonored. At all cost He has vindicated Him and made good His every

claim. He magnified the law and made it honorable. He vanquished every

foe, removed every obstacle, swept away every barrier, bore the judgment

and wrath of a sin-hating God; destroyed death and him that had the

power of it, extracted its sting, and spoiled the grave of its victory.

In a word, He gloriously accomplished all that was written in the volume

of the book concerning Him; and now we see Him crowned with glory and

honor, at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. He travelled

from the throne to the dust of death, in order to accomplish the will of

God, and having done so, He has gone back to the throne, in a new

character and on a new footing. His pathway from the throne to the cross

was marked by the footprints of divine and everlasting love; and His

pathway from the cross back to the throne is sprinkled by His atoning

blood. He came from heaven to earth to do the will of God, and, having

done it, He returned to heaven again, thus opening up for us "a new and

living way" by which we draw nigh to God, in holy boldness and liberty,

as purged worshipers.

All is done. Every question is settled. Every barrier is removed. The

vail is rent. That mysterious curtain which, for ages and generations,

had shut God in from man, and shut man out from God, was rent in twain,

from top to bottom, by the precious death of Christ; and now we can look

right up into the opened heavens and see on the throne the Man who bore

our sins in His own body on the tree. A seated Christ tells out, in the

ear of faith, the sweet emancipating tale that all that had to be done

is done--done forever--done for God--done for us. Yes; all is settled

now, and God can, in perfect righteousness, indulge the love of His

heart, in blotting out all our sins and bringing us nigh unto Himself in

all the acceptance of the One who sits beside Him on the throne.

And let the reader carefully note the striking and beautiful way in

which the apostle contrasts _a seated Christ in heaven with the standing

priest on earth_. "Every priest standeth daily ministering, and offering

oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this

Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever ([Greek: eis

to dienekes]--in perpetuity) sat down on the right hand of God; from

henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. For by one

offering He hath perfected forever (in perpetuity) them that are

sanctified."

This is exceedingly blessed. The priest, under the Levitical economy,

could never sit down, for the obvious reason that his work was never

done. There was no seat provided in the temple or in the tabernacle.

There is remarkable force and significance in the manner in which the

inspired writer puts this. "_Every priest_"--"standeth _daily_"--"offering

_oftentimes_"--"_the same sacrifices_"--"which can _never take

away sins_." No human language could possibly set forth, more

graphically, the utter inefficacy of the Levitical ceremonial. How

strange that, in the face of such a passage of Holy Scripture, Christendom

should have set up a human priesthood, with its daily sacrifice!--a

priesthood moreover, not belonging to the tribe of Levi, not

springing from the house of Aaron, and therefore having no

sort of divine title or sanction. And, then as to the sacrifice, it is,

according to their own admission, a sacrifice without blood, and

therefore a sacrifice without remission, for, "Without the shedding of

blood there is no remission" (Heb. ix. 22).

Hence, this self-made priesthood is a daring usurpation, and her

sacrifices a worthless vanity--a positive lie--a mischievous delusion.

The priests of whom the apostle speaks in Heb. x. were priests of the

tribe of Levi and of the house of Aaron--the only house, the only tribe

ever recognised of God as having any title to assume the office and the

work of an earthly priest. And, further, the sacrifices which the

Aaronic priests offered were appointed by God, for the time being, to

serve as _figures_ of Him that was to come; but they never gave Him any

pleasure, inasmuch as they could never take away sins; and the true

Priest having come, the true sacrifice having been offered, the figures

have been forever abolished.

Now, in view of all this, what shall we say of Christendom's priests and

Christendom's sacrifices? What will a righteous Judge say to them? We

cannot attempt to dwell upon such an awful theme. We can merely say,

alas! alas! for the poor souls that are deluded and ruined by such

antichristian absurdities. May God in His mercy deliver them and lead

them to rest in the one offering of Jesus Christ--that precious blood

that cleanses from all sin. May many be led to see that a repeated

sacrifice and a seated Christ are in positive antagonism. If the

sacrifice must be repeated, Christ has no right to His seat and to His

crown--God pardon the very penning of the words! If Christ has a divine

right to His seat and to His crown, then to repeat a sacrifice is simply

a blasphemy against His cross, His name, His glory. To repeat in any

way, or under any form whatsoever, the sacrifice, is to deny the

efficacy of Christ's one offering, and to rob the soul of anything like

an approach to the knowledge of remission of sins. A repeated sacrifice

and perfect remission are an absolute contradiction in terms.

But we must turn, for a moment, to the third grand point in our subject,

namely,

THE WITNESS OF THE HOLY GHOST.

This is of the deepest possible moment for the reader to understand. It

gives great completeness to the subject. How are we to know that Christ

has, by His work on the cross, absolutely and divinely accomplished the

will of God? Simply by the witness of the Holy Ghost in Scripture. This

is the third pillar on which the Christian's position rests, and it is

as thoroughly divine and, therefore, as thoroughly independent of man as

the other two. It is very evident that man had nothing to do with the

eternal counsels of the Trinity--nothing to do with the glorious work

accomplished on the cross. All this is clear; and it is equally clear

that man has nothing to do with the authority on which our souls receive

the joyful news as to the _will of God_, and _the work of Christ_,

inasmuch as it is nothing less than _the witness of the Holy Ghost_.

We cannot be too simple as to this. It is not, by any means, a question

of our feelings, our frames, our evidences, or our experiences--things

interesting in their right place. We must receive the truth solely and

simply on the authority of that august Witness who speaks to us in Holy

Scripture. Thus we read, "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to

us; for after that He had said before, This is the covenant that I will

make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put My laws

into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins

and iniquities will I remember no more."

Here, then, we have fully before us the solid foundation of the

Christian's position and the Christian's peace. It is all of God, from

first to last. The _will_, the _work_, and the _witness_ are all divine.

The Lord be praised for this glorious fact! What should we do, what

would become of us, were it otherwise? In this day of confusion, when

souls are tossed about by every wind of doctrine--when the beloved sheep

of Christ are driven hither and thither, in bewilderment and

perplexity--when ritualism with its ignorant absurdities, and

rationalism with its impudent blasphemies, and spiritualism with its

horrible traffic with demons, are threatening the very foundations of

our faith, how important it is for Christians to know what those

foundations really are, and that they should be consciously resting

thereon!

PART III.

We would recall for a moment to the reader's attention the third point

in our subject, namely, "The witness of the Holy Ghost in Scripture." We

feel it to be of too much importance to be dismissed with such a cursory

glance as we were able to give it at the close of our last paper.

It is absolutely essential to the enjoyment of settled peace that the

heart should rest _solely_ on the authority of Holy Scripture. Nothing

else will stand. Inward evidences, spiritual experiences, comfortable

frames, happy feelings, are all very good, very valuable, and very

desirable; indeed we cannot prize them too highly in their right place.

But, most assuredly, their right place is not at the foundation of the

Christian position. If we look to such things as the ground of our

peace, we shall very soon become clouded, uncertain, and miserable.

The reader cannot be too simple in his apprehension of this point. He

must rest like a little child upon the testimony of the Holy Ghost in

the Word. It is blessedly true that "He that believeth hath the witness

in himself." And again, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our

spirit that we are the children of God." All this is essential to

Christianity; but it must, in no wise, be confounded with the witness

of the Holy Ghost, as given to us in Holy Scripture. The Spirit of God

never leads any one to build upon His work as the ground of peace, but

only upon the finished work of Christ, and the unchangeable word of God;

and we may rest assured that the more simply we rest on these the more

settled our peace will be, and the clearer our evidences, the brighter

our frames, the happier our feelings, the richer our experiences. In

short, the more we look away from self and all its belongings, and rest

in Christ, on the clear authority of Scripture, the more spiritually

minded we shall be; and the inspired apostle tells us that "to be

spiritually minded (or, the minding of the Spirit) is life and peace."

The best evidence of a spiritual mind is childlike repose in Christ and

His Word. The clearest proof of an unspiritual mind is self-occupation.

It is a poor affair to be trafficking in _our_ evidences, or _our_

anything. It looks like piety, but it leads away from Christ--away from

Scripture--away from God; and this is not piety, or faith, or

Christianity.

We are intensely anxious that the reader should seize, with great

distinctness, the importance of committing his whole moral being to the

divine authority of the word of God. It will never fail him. All else

may go, but "the word of our God shall stand forever." Heart and flesh

may fail. Internal evidences may become clouded; frames, feelings, and

experiences may all prove unsatisfactory; but the word of the Lord, the

testimony of the Holy Ghost, the clear voice of Holy Scripture, must

ever remain unshaken. "And this is the Word which by the gospel is

preached unto us."

Thus much, then, as to the divine and everlasting basis of the

Christian's position, as set forth in the tenth chapter of the Epistle

to the Hebrews. Let us, now, see what this same scripture tells us of

the Christian's work, and of the sphere in which that work is to be

carried on.

The Christian is brought into the immediate presence of God, inside the

veil, into the holiest of all. This is his proper place, if indeed we

are to listen to the voice of Scripture. "Having therefore, brethren,

boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a _new_ and

_living_ way which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is

to say, His flesh; and having a high-priest over the house of God; _let

us draw near_ with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our

hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with

pure water."

Our God, blessed be His holy name, would have us near unto Himself. He

has made out for us a title clear and indisputable in "_the blood of

Jesus_." Nothing more is needed. That precious blood stands out before

the eye of faith in all its infinite value. In it alone we read our

title. It is not the blood _and_ something else--be that something what

it may. The blood constitutes our exclusive title. We come before God in

all the perfect efficacy of that blood which rent the veil, glorified

God as to the question of sin, canceled our guilt according to all the

demands of infinite holiness, silenced, forever, every accuser, every

foe. We enter by a new and living way--a way which can never become old

or dead. We enter by the direct invitation, yea, by the distinct command

of God. It is positive disobedience not to come. We enter to receive the

loving welcome of our Father's heart, it is an insult to that love not

to come. He tells us to "come boldly"--to "draw near" with full,

unclouded confidence--a boldness and confidence commensurate with the

love that invites us; the word that commands us, and the blood that fits

and entitles us. It is offering dishonor to the eternal Trinity not to

draw near.

Reader, is all this, think you, understood and taught in Christendom?

Say, do Christendom's creeds, confessions, and liturgical services

harmonize with apostolic teaching in Heb. x.? Alas! alas! they do not.

Nay, they are in direct antagonism; and the state of souls, accordingly,

is the very reverse of what it ought to be. In place of "draw near" it

is keep off. In place of liberty and boldness, it is legality and

bondage. In place of a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, it is a

heart bowed down beneath the intolerable burden of unforgiven sin. In

place of a great High Priest seated on the throne of God, in virtue of

accomplished redemption, we have poor mortal--not to say sinful--priests

standing from week to week, all the year round in wearisome routine,

actually contradicting, in their barren formularies, the very

foundation truths of Christianity.