Well, what was the special character of that work in its earlier stages?

Was it not most manifestly a work of God's Spirit? Did not He take up

and use instruments the most unfit and unfurnished, according to human

thinking, for the accomplishment of His gracious purpose? Do we not

remember the style and character of the agents who were chiefly used in

the conversion of souls? Were they not for the most part "unlearned and

ignorant men?" And further, can we not distinctly recall the fact that

there was a most decided setting aside of all human arrangement and

official routine? Working men came from the field, the factory, and the

workshop, to address crowded audiences; and we have seen hundreds

hanging in breathless interest upon the lips of men who could not speak

five words of good grammar. In short, the mighty tide of spiritual life

and power rolled in upon us, and swept away for the time being a

quantity of human machinery, and ignored all question of man's authority

in the things of God and the service of Christ.

Now we can well remember, that just in so far as the Holy Ghost was

owned and honored, did the glorious work progress; and, on the other

hand, in proportion as man intruded himself, in bustling

self-importance, upon the domain of the Eternal Spirit, was the work

hindered and quashed. I saw the truth of this illustrated in numberless

cases. There was a vigorous effort made to cause the living water to

flow in official and denominational channels, and this the Holy Ghost

would not sanction. Moreover, there was a strong desire manifested, in

many quarters, to make sectarian capital out of the blessed movement;

and this the Holy Ghost resented.

Nor was this all. The work and the workman were _lionized_ in all

directions. Cases of conversion which were judged to be "striking" were

blazed abroad and paraded in the public prints. Travellers and tourists

from all parts visited these persons, took notes of their words and

ways, and wafted the report of them to the ends of the earth. Many poor

creatures, who had up to that time lived in obscurity, unknown and

unnoticed, found themselves, all of a sudden, objects of interest to the

wealthy, the noble, and the public at large. The pulpit and the press

proclaimed their sayings and doings; and, as might be expected, they

completely lost their balance. Knaves and hypocrites abounded on all

hands. It became a grand point to have some strange and extravagant

experience to tell; some remarkable dream or vision to relate. And even

where this ill-advised line of action did not issue in producing knavery

and hypocrisy, the young converts became heady and high-minded, and

looked with a measure of contempt upon old established Christians, or

those who did not happen to be converted after their peculiar

fashion--"stricken," as it was termed.

In addition to this, some very remarkable characters--men of desperate

notoriety, who seemed to be converted, were conveyed from place to

place, and placarded about the various streets, and crowds gathered to

see them and hear them recount their history; which history was very

frequently a disgusting detail of immoralities and excesses which ought

never to have been named. Several of these remarkable men afterwards

broke down, and returned with increased ardor to their former practices.

These things, dearest A., I witnessed in various places. I believe the

Holy Ghost was grieved and hindered, and the work marred thereby. I am

thoroughly convinced of this: and hence it is that I think we should

earnestly seek to honor the blessed Spirit; to lean upon Him in all our

work; to follow where He leads, not run before Him. His work will stand:

"Whatsoever God doeth it shall be forever." "The works that are done

upon the earth, He is the doer of them." The remembrance of this will

ever keep the mind well balanced. There is great danger of young workmen

getting so excited about _their_ work, _their_ preaching, _their_ gifts,

as to lose sight of the blessed Master Himself. Moreover, they are apt

to make preaching the _end_ instead of the _means_. This works badly in

every way. It injures themselves, and it mars their work. The moment I

make preaching my end, I am out of the current of the mind of God, whose

end is to glorify Christ; and I am out of the current of the heart of

Christ, whose end is the salvation of souls and the full blessing of His

Church. But where the Holy Ghost gets His proper place, where He is duly

owned and trusted, there all will be right. There will be no exaltation

of man; no bustling self-importance; no parading of the fruits of our

work; no excitement. All will be calm, quiet, real, and unpretending.

There will be the simple, earnest, believing, patient waiting upon God.

Self will be in the shade; Christ will be exalted.

I often recall a sentence of yours. I remember your once saying to me,

"Heaven will be the best and safest place to hear the results of our

work." This is a wholesome word for all workmen. I shudder when I see

the names of Christ's servants paraded in the public journals, with

flattering allusion to their work and its fruits. Surely those who pen

such articles ought to reflect upon what they are doing: they should

consider that they may be ministering to the very thing which they ought

to desire to see mortified and subdued. I am most fully persuaded that

the quiet, shady, retired path is the best and safest for the Christian

workman. It will not make him less earnest but the contrary. It will not

cramp his energy, but increase and intensify it. God forbid that you or

I should pen a line or utter a sentence which might in the most remote

way tend to discourage or hinder a single worker in all the vineyard of

Christ. No, no, this is not the moment for aught of this kind. We want

to see the Lord's laborers thoroughly in earnest; but we believe, most

assuredly, that true earnestness will ever result from the most absolute

dependence upon God the Holy Ghost.

But only see how I have run on! And yet I have not referred to those

passages of Scripture of which I spoke in my last. Well, dearly beloved

in the Lord, I am addressing one who is happily familiar with the

Gospels and Acts, and who therefore knows that the great Workman

Himself, and all those who sought to tread in His blessed footsteps,

owned and honored the Eternal Spirit as the One by whom all their works

were to be wrought.

I must now close for the present, my much loved brother and

fellow-laborer; and I do so with a full heart, commending you, in spirit

and soul and body, to Him who has loved us, and washed us from our sins

in His own blood, and called us to the honored post of workers in His

gospel field. May He bless you and yours, most abundantly, and increase

your usefulness a thousandfold!

As ever, and for ever, Your deeply affectionate work-fellow, * * *

LETTER III.

There is another point which stands intimately connected with the

subject of my last letter, and that is, the place the word of God

occupies in the work of evangelization. In my last letter, as you will

remember, I referred to the work of the Holy Ghost, and the immense

importance of giving Him His proper place. How clearly the precious word

of God is connected with the action of the Holy Spirit, I need not say.

Both are inseparably linked in those memorable words of our Lord to

Nicodemus--words so little understood--so sadly misapplied: "Except a

man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom

of God" (John iii).

Now, you and I, dearest A., fully believe that in the above passage the

Word is presented under the figure of "water." Thank God, we are not

disposed to give any credit to the ritualistic absurdity of baptismal

regeneration. We are, I believe, most thoroughly convinced that no one

ever did, ever will, or ever could, get life by water baptism. That all

who believe in Christ ought to be baptized we fully admit; but this is a

totally different thing from the fatal error that substitutes an

ordinance for the atoning death of Christ, the regenerating power of the

Holy Ghost, and the life-giving virtues of the word of God. I shall not

waste your time or my own in combating this error, but at once assume

that you agree with me in thinking that when our Lord speaks of being

"born of water and of the Spirit," He refers to the Word and the Holy

Ghost.

Thus, then, the Word is the grand instrument to be used in the work of

evangelization. Many passages of holy Scripture establish this point

with such clearness and decision as to leave no room whatever for

dispute. In the first chapter of James, ver. 18, we read, "Of His own

will begat He us _with the word of truth_." Again, in I Pet. i. 23, we

read, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,

_by the word of God_, which liveth and abideth forever." I must quote

the whole passage because of its immense importance in connection with

our subject: "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the

flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth

away; but the word of the Lord endureth forever. _And this is the word

which by the gospel is preached unto you._"

This last clause is of unspeakable value to the evangelist. It binds

him, in the most distinct manner, to the word of God as the

instrument--the only instrument--the all-sufficient instrument, to be

used in his glorious work. He is to give the Word to the people; and the

more simply he gives it the better. The pure water should be allowed to

flow from the heart of God to the heart of the sinner, without receiving

a tinge from the channel through which it flows. The evangelist is to

preach the Word; and he is to preach it in simple dependence upon the

power of the Holy Ghost. This is the true secret of success in

preaching.

But while I urge this great cardinal point in the work of preaching--and

I believe it cannot be too strongly urged--I am very far indeed from

thinking that the evangelist should give his hearers a quantity of

truth. So far from this, I consider it a very great mistake. He ought to

leave this to the teacher, lecturer, or pastor. I often fear that very

much of our preaching shoots over the heads of the people, owing to the

fact of our seeking rather to unfold truth than to reach souls. We rest

satisfied, it may be, with having delivered a very clear and forcible

lecture, a very interesting and instructive exposition of Scripture,

something very valuable for the people of God; but the unconverted

hearer has sat unmoved, unreached, unimpressed. There has been nothing

for him. The lecturer has been more occupied with his lecture than with

the sinner--more taken up with his subject than with the soul.

Now I am thoroughly convinced that this is a serious mistake, and one

into which we all--at least I am--very apt to fall. I deplore it deeply,

and I earnestly desire to correct it. I question if this very mistake

may not be viewed as the true secret of our lack of success. But,

dearest A., I should not perhaps say "_our_ lack" but _my_ lack. I do

not think--so far as I know aught of your ministry--that you are exactly

chargeable with the defect to which I am now just referring. Of this,

however, you will be the best judge yourself; but of one thing I am

certain, namely, that the most successful evangelist is the one who

keeps his eye fixed on the sinner, who has his heart bent on the

salvation of souls, yea, the one with whom the love for precious souls

amounts almost to a passion. It is not the man who unfolds the most

truth, but the man who longs most after souls, that will have the most

seals to his ministry.

I assert all this, mark you, in the full and clear recognition of the

fact with which I commenced this letter, namely, that the Word is the

grand instrument in the work of conversion. This fact must never be lost

sight of, never weakened. It matters not what agency may be used to make

the furrow, or in what form the Word may clothe itself, or by what

vehicle it may be conveyed; it is only by "the Word of truth" that souls

are begotten.

All this is divinely true, and we would ever bear it in mind. But do we

not often find that persons who undertake to preach the gospel

(particularly if they continue long in one place) are very apt to leave

the domain of the evangelist--most blessed domain!--and travel into that

of the teacher and lecturer? This is what I deprecate and deeply

deplore. I know I have erred in this way myself, and I mourn over the

error. I write in all loving freedom to you--the Lord has of late

deepened immensely in my soul the sense of the vast importance of

earnest gospel preaching. I do not--God forbid that I should--think the

less of the work of a teacher or pastor. I believe that wherever there

is a heart that loves Christ, it will delight to feed and tend the

precious lambs and sheep of the flock of Christ, that flock which He

purchased with His own blood.

But the sheep must be gathered before they can be fed; and how are they

to be gathered but by the earnest preaching of the gospel? It is the

grand business of the evangelist to go forth upon the dark mountains of

sin and error, to sound the gospel trumpet and gather the sheep; and I

feel convinced that he will best accomplish this work, not by elaborate

exposition of truth; not by lectures however clear, valuable, and

instructive; not by lovely unfoldings of prophetic, dispensational, or

doctrinal truth--most precious and important in the right place--but by

fervid, pointed, earnest dealing with immortal souls; the warning voice,

the solemn appeal, the faithful reasoning of righteousness, temperance,

and judgment to come--the awakening presentation of death and judgment,

the dread realities of eternity, the lake of fire and the worm that

never dies.

In short, beloved, it strikes me we want awakening preachers. I fully

admit that there is such a thing as _teaching_ the gospel, as well as

_preaching_ it. For example, I find Paul teaching the gospel in Rom.

i.-viii. just as I find him preaching the gospel in Acts xiii. or xvii.

This is of the very last importance at all times, inasmuch as there are

almost sure to be a number of what we call "exercised souls" at our

public preachings, and these need an emancipating gospel--the full,

clear, elevated, resurrection gospel.

But admitting all this, I still believe that what is needed for

successful evangelization is, not so much a great quantity of truth as

an intense love for souls. Look at that eminent evangelist George

Whitefield. What think you was the secret of his success? No doubt you

have looked into his printed sermons. Have you found any great breadth

of truth in them? I question it. Indeed I must say I have been struck

with the contrary. But oh! there was that in Whitefield which you and I

may well covet and long to cultivate. There was a burning love for

souls--a thirst for their salvation--a mighty grappling with the

conscience--a bold, earnest, face-to-face dealing with men about their

past ways, their present state, their future destiny. These were the

things that God owned and blessed; and He will own and bless them still.

I am persuaded--I write as under the very eye of God--that if our hearts

are bent upon the salvation of souls, God will use us in that divine and

glorious work. But on the other hand, if we abandon ourselves to the

withering influences of a cold, heartless, godless fatalism; if we

content ourselves with a formal and official statement of the gospel--a

very cheerless sort of thing; if, to use a vulgar phrase, our preaching

is on the principle of "take it or leave it," need we wonder if we do

not see conversions? The wonder would be if there were any to see.

No, no; I believe we want to look seriously into this great practical

subject. It demands the solemn and dispassionate consideration of all

who are engaged in the work. There are dangers on all sides. There are

conflicting opinions on all sides. But I cannot conceive how any

Christian man can be satisfied to shirk the responsibility of looking

after souls. A man may say, "I am not an evangelist; that is not my

line; I am more of a teacher, or a pastor." Well, I understand this; but

will any one tell me that a teacher or pastor may not go forth in

earnest longing after souls? I cannot admit it for a moment. Nay more;

it does not matter in the least what a man's gift is, or even though he

should not possess any prominent gift at all, he can and ought,

nevertheless, to cultivate a longing desire for the salvation of souls.

Would it be right to pass a house on fire, without giving warning, even

though one were not a member of the Fire Brigade? Should we not seek to

save a drowning man, even though we could not command the use of a

patent life-boat? Who in his senses would maintain aught so monstrous?

So, in reference to souls, it is not so much a gift or knowledge of

truth that is needed, as a deep and earnest longing for souls--a keen

sense of their danger, and a desire for their rescue.

Ever, dearest A., Your deeply affectionate yoke-fellow, * * *

LETTER IV.

When I took up my pen to address you in my first letter, I had no idea

that I should have occasion to extend the series to a fourth. However,

the subject is one of intense interest to me; and there are just two or

three points further on which I desire very briefly to touch.

And in the first place I deeply feel our lack of a prayerful spirit in

carrying on the work of evangelization. I have referred to the subject

of the Spirit's work; and also to the place which God's word ought ever

to get; but it strikes me we are very deficient in reference to the

matter of earnest, persevering, believing prayer. This is the true

secret of power. "We," say the apostles, "will give ourselves

continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word."

Here is the order: "Prayer, and the ministry of the Word." Prayer brings

in the power of God; and this is what we want. It is not the power of

eloquence, but the power of God; and this can only be had by waiting

upon Him. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might

He increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and

the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall

renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they

shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isa.

xl. 29-31).

It seems to me, dearest A., that we are far too mechanical, if I may so

express myself, in the work. There is too much of what I may call going

through a service. I greatly fear that some of us are more on our legs

than on our knees; more in the railway carriage than in the closet; more

on the road than in the sanctuary; more before men than before God. This

will never do. It is impossible that our preaching can be marked by

power and crowned with results, if we fail in waiting upon God. Look at

the blessed Master Himself--that great Workman. See how often He was

found in prayer. At His baptism; at His transfiguration; previous to the

appointment and mission of the twelve. In short, again and again we find

that blessed One in the attitude of prayer. At one time He rises up a

great while before day, in order to give Himself to prayer. At another

time He spends the whole night in prayer, because the day was given up

to work.

What an example for us! May we follow it! May we know a little better

what it is to agonize in prayer. How little we know of this!--I speak

for myself. It sometimes appears to me as if we were so much taken up

with preaching engagements that we have no time for prayer--no time for

closet work--no time to be alone with God. We get into a sort of whirl

of public work; we rush from place to place, from meeting to meeting, in

a prayerless, barren condition of soul. Need we wonder at the little

result? How could it be otherwise when we so fail in waiting upon God?

_We_ cannot convert souls--God alone can do this; and if we go on

without waiting on Him, if we allow public preaching to displace private

prayer, we may rest assured our preaching will prove barren and

worthless. We really must "give ourselves to prayer" if we would succeed

in the "ministry of the Word."

Nor is this all. It is not merely that we are lacking in the holy and

blessed practice of private prayer. This is, alas! too true, as I have

said. But there is more than this. We fail in our public meetings for

prayer. The great work of evangelization is not sufficiently remembered

in our prayer-meetings. It is not definitely, earnestly, and constantly

kept before God in our public reunions. It may occasionally be

introduced in a cursory, formal manner, and then dismissed. Indeed, I

feel there is a great lack of earnestness and perseverance in our

prayer-meetings generally, not merely as to the work of the gospel, but

as to other things as well. There is frequently great formality and

feebleness. We do not seem like men in earnest. We lack the spirit of

the widow in Luke xviii., who overcame the unjust judge by the bare

force of her importunity. We seem to forget that God will be inquired

of; and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

It is of no use for any one to say, "God can work without our earnest

pleading; He will accomplish His purposes; He will gather out His own."

We know all this; but we know also that He who has appointed the end

has appointed the means; and if we fail in waiting on Him, He will get

others to do His work. The work will be done, no doubt, but we shall

lose the dignity, the privilege, and the reward of working. Is this

nothing? Is it nothing to be deprived of the sweet privilege of being

co-workers with God, of having fellowship with Him in the blessed work

which He is carrying on? Alas! alas! that we prize it so little. Still

we do prize it; and perhaps there are few things in which we can more

fully taste this privilege than in united earnest prayer. Here every

saint can join. Here all can add their cordial Amen. All may not be

preachers; but all can pray--all join in prayer; all can have

fellowship.

And do you not find, beloved brother, that there is always a stream of

deep and real blessing where _the assembly_ is drawn out in earnest

prayer for the gospel, and for the salvation of souls? I have invariably

seen it, and hence it is always a source of unspeakable comfort, joy,

and encouragement to my heart when I see the assembly stirred up to

pray, for then I am sure God is going to give copious showers of

blessing.

Moreover, when this is the case, when this most excellent spirit

pervades the whole assembly, you may be sure there will be no trouble as

to what is called "The responsibility of the preaching." It will be all

the same who does the work, provided it is done as well as it can be. If

the assembly is waiting upon God, in earnest intercession for the

progress of the work, it will not be a question as to the one who is to

take the preaching, provided Christ is preached and souls are blessed.

Then there is another thing which has of late occupied my mind a good

deal; and that is our method of dealing with young converts. Most surely

there is immense need of care and caution, lest we be found accrediting

what is not the genuine work of God's Spirit at all. There is very great

danger here. The enemy is ever seeking to introduce spurious materials

into the assembly, in order that he may mar the testimony and bring

discredit upon the truth of God.

All this is most true, and demands our serious consideration. But does

it not seem to you, beloved, that we often err on the other side? Do we

not often, by a stiff and peculiar style, cast a chill upon young

converts? Is there not frequently something repulsive in our spirit and

deportment? We expect young Christians to come up to a standard of

intelligence which has taken us years to attain. Nor this only. We

sometimes put them through a process of examination which only tends to

harass and perplex.

Now assuredly this is not right. The Spirit of God would never puzzle,

perplex, or repulse a dear anxious inquirer--never, no never. It could

never be according to the mind or heart of Christ to chill the spirit of

the very feeblest lamb in all His blood-bought flock. He would have us

seeking to lead them on gently and tenderly--to soothe, nourish, and

cherish them, according to all the deep love of His heart. It is a great

thing to lay ourselves out, and hold ourselves open to discern and

appreciate the work of God in souls, and not to mar it by placing our

own miserable crotchets as stumbling-blocks in their pathway. We need

divine guidance and help in this as much as in any other department of

our work. But, blessed be God, He is sufficient for this as for all

beside. Let us only wait on Him: let us cling to Him, and draw upon His

exhaustless treasury for each case as it arises, for exigence of every

hour. He will never fail a trusting, expectant, dependent heart.

I must now close this series of letters. I think I have touched most, if

not all, of the points which I had in my mind. You will, I trust, bear

in mind, beloved in the Lord, that I have, in all these letters, simply

jotted down my thoughts in the utmost possible freedom, and in all the

intimacy of true brotherly friendship. I have not been writing a formal

treatise, but pouring out my heart to a beloved friend and yoke-fellow.

This must be borne in mind by all who may read these letters.

May God bless and keep you, dearest A. May He crown your labours with

His richest and best blessing! May He keep you from every evil work, and

preserve you unto His own everlasting kingdom!

Ever believe me, My dearest A., Your deeply affectionate * * *

LETTER V.

It seems as though I must once more take up my pen to address you on

certain matters connected with the work of evangelization, which have

forced themselves upon my attention for some time past. There are three

distinct branches of the work which I long to see occupying a far more

definite and prominent place among us; and these are, the Tract depot,

the Gospel preaching, and the Sunday-school.

It strikes me that the Lord is awakening attention to the importance of

the Tract depot as a valuable agency in the work of evangelization; but

I question if we, on this side of the Atlantic, are thoroughly in

earnest on the subject. How is this? Have books and tracts lost their

interest and value in our eyes? Or does the fault lie in the mode of

conducting our Tract depots? To my mind there seems to be something

lacking in reference to this matter.

I would fain see a well-conducted depot in every important town; by

"well-conducted" I mean one taken up and carried on as a direct service

to the Lord, in true love for souls, deep interest in the spread of the

truth, and at the same time in a sound business way. I have known

several depots fall to the ground through lack of business habits on the

part of the conductors. They seemed very earnest, sincere persons, but

quite unfit to conduct a business. In short, they were persons in whose

hands any business would have fallen through. Then in many places there

is the most deplorable failure as to the valuable and interesting work

of conducting a depot.

And how can we best reach the people, for whom the tracts and books are

prepared? I believe by having the books and tracts exposed for sale in a

shop window, where that is possible, so that people may see them as they

pass, and step in and purchase what they want. Many a soul has been laid

hold of in this way. Many, I doubt not, have been saved and blessed by

means of tracts, seen for the first time in a shop window or arranged on

a counter. But where there is no such opportunity, the assembly's

meeting-room is the Tract depot's natural home.

There is, manifestly, a real want of a Tract depot in every large town,

conducted by some one of intelligence and sound business habits, who

would be able to speak to persons about the tracts, and to recommend

such as might prove helpful to anxious inquirers after truth. In this

way, I feel persuaded, much good might be done. The Christians in the

town would know where to go for tracts, not only for their own personal

reading, but also for general distribution. Surely if a thing is worth

doing at all, it is worth doing well; and if the Tract depot be not

worth attending to, we know not what is.

The Tract depot must be taken up in direct service to Christ. And I feel

assured that where it is so taken up and so carried on, in energy,

zeal, and integrity, the Lord will own it and He will make it a

blessing. Is there no one who will take up this valuable work for

Christ's sake and not for the sake of remuneration? Is there no one who

will enter upon it in simple faith, looking to the living God?

Here lies the root of the matter, dearest A. For this branch of the

work, as for every other branch, we need those who trust God and deny

themselves. It seems to me that a grand point would be gained if the

Tract depot were placed on its proper footing, and viewed as an integral

part of the evangelistic work, to be taken up in responsibility to the

Lord, and carried on in the energy of faith in the living God. Every

branch of gospel work--the Depot, the Preaching, the Sunday-school--must

be carried on in this way. It is all well and most valuable to have

fellowship--full cordial fellowship, in all our service; but if we wait

for fellowship and co-operation in the starting of work which comes

within the range of personal, as well as collective, responsibility, we

shall find ourselves very much behind--or the work may not be done at

all.

I shall have occasion to refer more particularly to this point, when I

come to treat of the Preaching and the Sunday-school. All I want now, is

to establish the fact that the Tract depot is a branch, and a most

important and efficient branch, of evangelistic work. If this be

thoroughly grasped by our friends, a great point is gained. I must

confess to you, dearest A., that my moral sense has often been

grievously offended by the cold, commercial style in which the

publishing and sale of books and tracts are spoken of--a style befitting

perhaps a mere commercial business, but most offensive when adopted in

reference to the precious work of God. I admit in the fullest way--nay,

I actually contend for it--that the proper management of the depot

demands good sound business habits, and upright business principles. But

at the same time I am persuaded that the Tract depot will never occupy

its true ground--never realize the true idea, never reach the desired

end--until it is firmly fixed on its holy basis, and viewed as an

integral part of that most glorious work to which we are called--even

the work of active, earnest, persevering evangelization.

And this work must be taken up in the sense of responsibility to Christ,

and in the energy of faith in the living God. It will not do for an

assembly of Christians, or some wealthy individual, to take up an

inefficient protege, and commit to such an one the management of the

affair in order to afford a means of living. It is most blessed for all

to have fellowship in the work; but I am thoroughly convinced that the

work must be taken up in direct service to Christ, to be carried on in

love for souls, and real interest in the spread of the truth.

I hope to address you again on the other two branches of my theme.

Meanwhile, I remain, dearest A., Your deeply affectionate yoke-fellow, *

* *

LETTER VI.

I have, in some of the earlier letters of this series, dwelt upon the

unspeakable importance of keeping up with zeal and constancy, a faithful

preaching of the gospel--a distinct work of evangelization, carried on

in the energy of love to precious souls, and with direct reference to

the glory of Christ--a work bearing entirely upon the unconverted, and

therefore quite distinct from the work of teaching, lecturing, or

exhorting, in the bosom of the assembly; which latter is, I need not

say, of equal importance in the mind of our Lord Christ.

My object in referring again to this subject is to call your attention

to a point in connection with it, respecting which, it seems to me,

there is a great want of clearness amongst some of our friends. I

question if we are, as a rule, thoroughly clear as to the question of

individual responsibility in the work of the gospel. I admit, of course,

that the teacher or lecturer is called to exercise his gift, to a very

great extent, on the same principle as the evangelist; that is, on his

own personal responsibility to Christ; and that the assembly is not

responsible for his individual services; unless indeed he teach unsound

doctrine, in which case the assembly is bound to take it up.

But my business is with the work of the evangelist; and he is to carry

on his work outside of the assembly. His sphere of action is the wide,

wide world. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every

creature." Here is the sphere and here the object of the

evangelist--"_All_ the world"--"_Every_ creature." He may go forth from

the bosom of the assembly, and return thither again laden with his

golden sheaves; nevertheless he goes forth in the energy of personal

faith in the living God, and on the ground of personal responsibility to

Christ; nor is the assembly responsible for the peculiar _mode_ in which

he may carry on his work. No doubt the assembly is called into action

when the evangelist introduces the _fruit_ of his work in the shape of

souls professing to be converted, and desiring to be received into

fellowship at the Lord's table. But this is another thing altogether,

and must be kept distinct. The evangelist must be left free: this is

what I contend for. He must not be tied down to certain rules or

regulations, nor cramped by special conventionalities. There are many

things which a large-hearted evangelist will feel perfectly free to do

which might not commend themselves to the spiritual judgment and

feelings of some in the assembly; but, provided he does not traverse any

vital or fundamental principle, such persons have no right to interfere

with him.

And be it remembered, dearest A., that when I use the expression,

"spiritual judgment and feelings," I am taking the very highest possible

view of the case, and treating the objector with the highest respect. I

feel this is but right and proper. Every true man has a right to have

his feelings and judgment--not to speak of conscience--treated with all

due respect. There are, alas! everywhere, men of narrow mind, who object

to everything that does not square with their own notions--men who would

fain tie the evangelist down to the exact line of things and mode of

acting which according to their thinking would suit the assembly of

God's people when gathered for worship at the table of the Lord.

All this is a thorough mistake. The evangelist should pursue the even

tenor of his way, regardless of all such narrowness and meddling. Take,

for example, the matter of singing hymns. The evangelist may feel

perfectly free to use a class of hymns or gospel songs which would be

wholly unsuitable for the assembly. The fact is, he _sings_ the gospel

for the same object that he _preaches_ it, namely, to reach the sinner's

heart. He is just as ready to sing "Come" as to preach it.

Such, dearest A., is the judgment which I have had on this subject for

many years, though I am not quite sure if it will fully commend itself

to your spiritual mind. It strikes me we are in danger of slipping into

Christendom's false notion of "establishing a cause," and "organizing a

body." Hence it is that the four walls in which the assembly meets are

regarded by many as a "chapel," and the evangelist who happens to preach

there is looked upon as "the minister of the chapel."

All this has to be carefully guarded against: but my object in referring

to it now is to clear up the point with respect to the gospel preaching.

The true evangelist is not the minister of any chapel; or the organ of

any congregation; or the representative of a body; or the paid agent of

any society. No; he is the ambassador of Christ--the messenger of a God

of love--the herald of glad tidings. His heart is filled with love to

souls; his lips anointed by the Holy Ghost; his words clothed with

heavenly power. Let him alone! Fetter him not by your rules and

regulations! Leave him to his work and to his Master! And further, bear

in mind that the Church of God can afford a platform broad enough for

all sorts of workmen and every possible style of work, _provided only_

that foundation truth be not disturbed. It is a fatal mistake to seek to

reduce every one and every thing to a dead level. Christianity is a

living, a divine reality. Christ's servants are sent by Him, and to Him

they are responsible. "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?

To his own master he standeth or falleth" (Rom. xiv.).

We may depend upon it, dearest A., these things demand our serious

consideration, if we do not want to have the blessed work of

evangelization marred in our hands.

I have just one other point that I would refer to before closing my

letter, as it has been rather a vexed question in certain places--I

allude to what has been termed "the responsibility of the preaching."

How many of our friends have been and are harassed about this question!

And why? I am persuaded that it is from not understanding the true

nature, character, and sphere of the work of evangelization. Hence we

have had some persons contending for it that the Sunday evening

preaching should be left open. "Open to what?" That is the question. In

too many cases it has proved to be "open" to a character of speaking

altogether unsuited to many who had come there, or who had been brought

by friends, expecting to hear a full, clear, earnest gospel. On such

occasions our friends have been disappointed, and the unconverted

perfectly unable to understand the meaning of the service. Surely such

things ought not to be; nor would they be if men would only discern the

simplest thing possible, namely, the distinction between all meetings in

which Christ's servants exercise their ministry on their own personal

responsibility, and all meetings which are purely reunions of the

assembly, whether for the Lord's Supper, for prayer, or for any other

purpose whatsoever.

Your deeply affectionate, * * *

LETTER VII.

Through want of space I was obliged to close my last letter without even

touching upon the subject of the Sunday-school: I must, however, devote

a page or two to a branch of work which has occupied a very large place

in my heart for thirty years. I should deem my series incomplete were

this subject left untouched.

Some may question how far the Sunday-school can be viewed as an integral

part of the work of evangelization. I can only say it is mainly in this

light I regard it. I look upon it as one great and most interesting

branch of gospel work. The superintendent of the Sunday-school and the

teacher of the Sunday-school class are workers in the wide gospel field,

just as distinctly as the evangelist or preacher of the gospel.

I am fully aware that a Sunday-school differs materially from an

ordinary gospel preaching. It is not convened in the same way, or

conducted in the same manner. There is, if I may so express myself, a

union of the parent, the teacher, and the evangelist, in the person of

the Sunday-school worker. For the time being he takes the place of the

parent: he seeks to do the duty of a teacher; but he aims at the object

of the evangelist--that priceless object, the salvation of the souls of

the precious little ones committed to his charge. As to the mode in

which he gains his end--as to the details of his work--as to the varied

agencies which he may bring to bear, he alone is responsible.

I am aware that exception is taken to the Sunday-school on the ground

that its tendency is to interfere with parental or domestic training.

Now I must confess, dearest A., that I cannot see any force whatever in

this objection. The true object of the Sunday-school is, not to

supersede parental training, but to help it where it exists, or to

supply its lack where it does not exist. There are, as you and I well

know, hundreds of thousands of dear children who have no parental

training at all. Thousands have no parents, and thousands more have

parents who are far worse than none. Look at the multitudes that throng

the lanes, alleys, and courtyards of our large cities and towns, who

seem hardly a degree above mere animal existence--yea, many of them like

little incarnate demons.

Who can think upon all these precious souls without wishing a hearty

God-speed to all _true_ Sunday-school workers, and earnestly longing for

more thorough earnestness and energy in that most blessed work?

I say "_true_" Sunday-school workers, because I fear that many engage in

the work who are not true, not real, not fit. Many, I fear, take it up

as a little bit of fashionable religious work, suited to the younger

members of religious communities. Many, too, view it as a kind of

set-off to a week of self-indulgence, folly, and worldliness. All such

persons are an actual hindrance rather than a help to this sacred

service.

Then again, there are many who sincerely love Christ, and long to serve

Him in the Sunday-school, but who are not really fitted for the work.

They are deficient in tact, energy, order, and rule. They lack that

power to adapt themselves to the children, and to engage their young

hearts, which is so essential to the Sunday-school worker. It is a great

mistake to suppose that every one who stands idle in the market-place is

fit to turn into this particular branch of Christian labor. On the

contrary, it needs a person thoroughly fitted of God for it; and if it

be asked, "How are we ever to be supplied with suited agents for this

branch of evangelistic service?" I reply, Just in the same way as you

are to be supplied in any other department--by earnest, persevering,

believing prayer. I am most thoroughly persuaded that if Christians were

more stirred up by God's Spirit to feel the importance of the

Sunday-school--if they could only seize the idea that it is, like the

Tract depot and the preaching, part and parcel of that most glorious

work to which we are called in these closing days of Christendom's

history--if they were more permeated by the idea of the evangelistic

nature and object of Sunday-school work, they would be more instant and

earnest in prayer, both in the closet and in the public assembly, that

the Lord would raise up in our midst a band of earnest, devoted,

whole-hearted Sunday-school workers.

This is the lack, dearest A.; and may God, in His abounding mercy,

supply it! He is able, and surely He is willing. But then He will be

waited on and inquired of; and "He is the rewarder of them that

_diligently_ seek Him." I think we have much cause for thankfulness and

praise for what has been done in the way of Sunday-schools during the

last few years. I well remember the time when many of our friends seemed

to overlook this branch of work altogether. Even now many treat it with

indifference, thus weakening the hand and discouraging the hearts of

those engaged in it.

But I shall not dwell upon this, inasmuch as my theme is the

Sunday-school, and not those who neglect or oppose it. I bless God for

what I see in the way of encouragement. I have often been exceedingly

refreshed and delighted by seeing some of our very oldest friends rising

from the table of their Lord, and proceeding to arrange the benches on

which the dear little ones were soon to be ranged to hear the sweet

story of a Saviour's love. And what could be more lovely, more touching,

or more morally suited, than for those who had just been remembering the

Saviour's dying love to seek, even by the arrangement of the benches, to

carry out His living words, "Suffer the little children to come unto

Me?"

There is very much I should like to add as to the mode of working the

Sunday-school; but perhaps it is just as well that each worker should be

wholly cast upon the living God for counsel and help as to details. We

must ever remember that the Sunday-school, like the Tract depot and the

preaching, is entirely a work of individual responsibility. This is a

grand point; and where it is fully understood, and where there is real

earnestness of heart and singleness of eye, I believe there will be no

great difficulty as to the particular mode of working. A large heart,

and a fixed purpose to carry on the great work and fulfil the glorious

mission committed to us, will effectually deliver us from the withering

influence of crotchets and prejudices--those miserable obstructions to

all that is lovely and of good report.

May God pour out His blessing on all Sunday-schools, upon the pupils,

the teachers, and the superintendents! May He also bless all who are

engaged, in any way, in the instruction of the young! May He cheer and

refresh their spirits by giving them to reap many golden sheaves in

their special corner of the one great and glorious gospel field!

Ever believe me, dearest A., Your deeply affectionate * * *

THE LIVING GOD AND A LIVING FAITH

There is one great substantial fact standing prominently forth on every

page of the volume of God, and illustrated in every stage of the history

of God's people--a fact of immense weight and moral power at all times,

but specially in seasons of darkness, difficulty, and discouragement,

occasioned by the low condition of things among those who profess to be

on the Lord's side. The fact is this, _That faith can always count on

God, and God will always answer faith_.

Such is our fact, such our thesis; and if the reader will turn with us,

for a few moments, to 2 Chron xx., he will find a very beautiful and

very striking illustration.

This chapter shows us the good king Jehoshaphat under very heavy

pressure indeed--it records a dark moment in his history. "It came to

pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of

Ammon, and with them other besides the Ammonites, came against

Jehoshaphat to battle. Then" (for people are ever quick to run with evil

tidings) "there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a

great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, on this side Syria."

Here was a difficulty of no ordinary nature. This invading host was made

up of the descendants of Lot and of Esau; and this fact might give rise

to a thousand conflicting thoughts and distracting questions in the mind

of Jehoshaphat. They were not Egyptians or Assyrians, concerning whom

there could be no question whatever; but both Esau and Lot stood in

certain relations to Israel, and a question might suggest itself as to

how far such relations were to be recognized.

Not this only. The practical state of the entire nation of Israel--the

actual condition of God's people, was such as to give rise to the most

serious misgivings. Israel no longer presented an unbroken front to the

invading foe. Their visible unity was gone. A grievous breach had been

made in their battlements. The ten tribes and the two were rent asunder,

the one from the other. The condition of the former was terrible, and

that of the latter, shaky enough.

Thus the circumstances of king Jehoshaphat were dark and discouraging in

the extreme; and, even as regards himself and his practical course, he

was but just emerging from the consequences of a very humiliating fall,

so that his reminiscences would be quite as cheerless as his

surroundings.

But it is just here that our grand substantial fact presents itself to

the vision of faith, and flings a mantle of light over the whole scene.

Things looked gloomy, no doubt; but God was to be counted upon by faith,

and faith could count upon Him. God is a never failing resource--a great

reality, at all times, and under all circumstances.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the

mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. Though the waters

thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the

swelling thereof. There is a river, the stream whereof shall make glad

the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God

is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and

that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered

His voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of

Jacob is our refuge" (Psa. xlvi. I-7).

Here, then, was Jehoshaphat's resource in the day of his trouble; and to

it he at once betook himself, in that earnest faith which never fails to

draw down power and blessing from the living and true God, to meet every

exigency of the way. "And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek

the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered

themselves together, to ask help of the Lord; even out of all the cities

of Judah they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat stood in the

congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before

the new court, and said, O Lord God of our fathers, art not Thou God in

heaven? and rulest not Thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in

Thy hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand

Thee? Art not Thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this

land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to _the seed of Abraham Thy

friend for ever_?"

These are the breathings of faith--faith that enables the soul to take

the very highest possible ground. It mattered not what unsettled

questions there might be between Esau and Jacob; there were none between

Abraham and the Almighty God. Now, God had given the land to Abraham,

His friend. For how long? _For ever._ This was enough. "The gifts and

calling of God are without repentance." God will never cancel His call,

or take back a gift. This is a fixed foundation principle; and on this

faith always takes its stand with firm decision. The enemy might throw

in a thousand suggestions; and the poor heart might throw up a thousand

reasonings. It might seem like presumption and empty conceit, on the

part of Jehoshaphat, to plant his foot on such lofty ground. It was all

well enough in the days of David, or of Solomon, or of Joshua, when the

unity of the nation was unbroken, and the banner of Jehovah floated in

triumph over the twelve tribes of Israel. But things were sadly changed;

and it ill became one in Jehoshaphat's circumstances to use such lofty

language or assume to occupy such a high position.

What is faith's reply to all this? A very simple, but a very powerful

one--God never changes. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.

Had He not made Abraham a present of the land of Canaan? Had He not

bestowed it upon his seed forever? Had He not ratified the gift by His

word and His oath--these two immutable things in which it was impossible

for Him to lie? Unquestionably. But then what of the law? Did not that

make some difference? None whatever, as regards God's gift and promise.

Four centuries previous to the giving of the law, was the great

transaction settled and stablished between the Almighty God and Abraham

His friend--and settled and stablished forever. Hence nothing can

possibly touch this. There were no legal conditions proposed to Abraham.

All was pure and absolute grace. God gave the land to Abraham by

promise, and not by law, in any shape or form.

Now, it was on this original ground that Jehoshaphat took his stand; and

he was right. It was the only thing for him to do. He had not one hair's

breadth of solid standing ground, short of these golden words, "Thou

gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend forever." It was either this

or nothing. _A living faith always lays hold on the living God._ It

cannot stop short of Him. It looks not at men or their circumstances. It

takes no account of the changes and chances of this mortal life. It

lives and moves and has its being in the presence of the living God; it

rejoices in the cloudless sunlight of His blessed countenance. It

carries on all its artless reasonings in the sanctuary, and draws all

its happy conclusions from the facts discovered there. It does not lower

the standard according to the condition of things around, but boldly

and decidedly takes up its position on the very highest ground.

Now, these actings of faith are always most grateful to the heart of

God. The living God delights in a living faith. We may be quite sure

that the bolder the grasp of faith, the more welcome it is to God. We

need never suppose that the blessed One is either gratified or glorified

by the workings of a legal mind. No, no; He delights to be trusted

without a shadow of reserve or misgiving. He delights to be fully

counted upon and largely used; and the deeper the need, and the darker

the surrounding gloom, the more is He glorified by the faith that draws

upon Him.

Hence, we may assert with perfect confidence, that the attitude and the

utterances of Jehoshaphat, in the scene before us, were in full

accordance with the mind of God. There is something perfectly beautiful

to see him, as it were, opening the original lease, and laying his

finger on that clause in virtue of which Israel held as tenants forever

under God. Nothing could cancel that clause or break that lease. No flaw

there. All was ordered and sure. "Thou _gavest_ it to the seed of

Abraham Thy friend _forever_."

This was solid ground--the ground of God--the ground of faith, which no

power of the enemy can ever shake. True, the enemy might remind

Jehoshaphat of sin and folly, failure and unfaithfulness. Nay, he might

suggest to him that the very fact of the threatened invasion proved

that Israel had fallen, for had they not done so, there would be neither

enemy nor evil.

But for this, too, grace had provided an answer--an answer which faith

knew well how to appropriate. Jehoshaphat reminds Jehovah of the house

which Solomon had built to His name. "They have built Thee a sanctuary

therein for Thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as a sword,

judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in

Thy presence (for Thy name is in this house), and cry unto Thee in our

affliction, then Thou will hear and help. And now, behold, the children

of Ammon, and Moab, and Mount Seir, whom Thou wouldest not let Israel

invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from

them, and distroyed them not. Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come

to cast us out of _Thy possession, which Thou hast given us to inherit_.

O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? for we have no might against this

great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do, but

_our eyes are upon Thee_" (vers. 8-12).

Here, truly, is a living faith dealing with the living God. It is no

mere empty profession--no lifeless creed--no cold uninfluential theory.

It is not a man "saying he has faith." Such things will never stand in

the day of battle. They may do well enough when all is calm, smooth, and

bright; but when difficulties have to be grappled with--when the enemy

has to be met face to face, all merely nominal faith, all mere lip

profession, will prove like autumn leaves before the blast. Nothing will

stand the test of actual conflict but a living personal faith in a

living personal Saviour-God. This is what is needed. It is this which

alone can sustain the heart, come what may. Faith brings God into the

scene, and all is strength, victory, and perfect peace.

Thus it was with the king of Judah, in the days of 2 Chron. xx. "We have

no might; neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee." This

is the way to occupy God's ground, even with the eyes fixed on God

Himself. This is the true secret of stability and peace. The devil will

leave no stone unturned to drive us off the true ground which, as

Christians, we ought to occupy in these last days; and we, in ourselves,

have no might whatever against him. Our only resource is in the living

God. If our eyes are upon Him, nothing can harm us. "Thou wilt keep him

in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in

Thee."

Reader, art thou on God's ground? Canst thou give a "Thus saith the

Lord" for the position which thou occupiest, at this moment? Art thou

consciously standing on the solid ground of holy Scripture? Is there

anything questionable in thy surroundings and associations? We beseech

thee to weigh these questions solemnly as in the divine presence. Be

assured they are of moment just now. We are passing through critical

moments.

Men are taking sides; principles are working and coming to a head. Never

was it more needful to be thoroughly and unmistakably on the Lord's

side. Jehoshaphat never could have met the Ammonites, Moabites, and

Edomites, had he not been persuaded that his feet were on the very

ground which God had given to Abraham. If the enemy could have shaken

his confidence as to this, he would have had an easy victory. But

Jehoshaphat knew where he was; he knew his ground. He understood his

bearings; and therefore he could fix his eyes with confidence upon the

living God. He had no misgivings as to his position. He did not say, as

many do, now-a-days, "I am not quite sure. I hope I am; but sometimes

clouds come over my soul, and make me hesitate as to whether I am really

on divine ground." Ah! no, reader, the king of Judah would not have

understood such language at all. All was clear to him. His eye rested on

the original grant. He felt sure he was on the true ground of the Israel

of God; and albeit all Israel were not there with him, yet God was with

him, and that was enough. His was a living faith in the living God--the

only thing that will stand in the day of trial.

There is something in the attitude and utterance of the king of Judah,

on that memorable occasion, well worthy of the reader's profound

attention. His feet were firmly fixed on God's ground, and his eyes as

firmly fixed on God Himself; and in addition to this, there was the deep

sense of his own thorough nothingness. He had not so much as a shadow

of a doubt as to the fact of his being in possession of the very

inheritance which God had given him. He knew that he was in his right

place. He did not _hope_ it; still less did he doubt it; no, he knew it.

He could say, "I believe and am sure."

This is all-important. It is impossible to stand against the enemy, if

there is anything equivocal in our position. If there be any secret

misgiving as to our being in our right place--if we cannot give a "Thus

saith the Lord" for the position which we occupy, the path we tread, the

associations in which we stand, the work in which we are engaged, there

will, most assuredly, be weakness in the hour of conflict. Satan is sure

to avail himself of the smallest misgiving in the soul. All must be

settled as to our positive standing, if we would make any headway

against the enemy. There must be an unclouded confidence as to our real

position before God, else the foe will have an easy victory.

Now, it is precisely here that there is so much weakness apparent among

the children of God. Very few, comparatively, are clear, sound, and

settled as to their foundation--very few are able, without any reserve,

to take the blessed ground of being washed in the blood of Jesus, and

sealed with the Holy Spirit. At times they hope it. When things go well

with them; when they have had a good time in the closet; when they have

enjoyed nearness to God in prayer, or over the Word; while they are

sitting under a clear, fervent, forcible ministry--at such moments,

perhaps, they can venture to speak hopefully about themselves. But, very

soon, dark clouds gather; they feel the workings of indwelling sin; they

are afflicted with wandering thoughts; or it may be, they have been

betrayed into some levity of spirit, or irritability of temper; then

they begin to _reason_ about themselves, and to question whether they

are, in reality, the children of God. And from reasonings and

questionings, they very speedily slip into positive unbelief, and then

plunge into the thick gloom of a despondency bordering on despair.

All this is most sad. It is, at once, dishonoring to God, and

destructive to the soul's peace; and as to progress, in such a

condition, it is wholly out of the question. How can any one run a race,

if he has not cleared the starting post? How can he erect a building, if

he has not laid the foundation? And, on the same principle, how can a

soul grow in the divine life, if he is always liable to doubt whether he

has that life or not?

But it may be that some of our readers are disposed to put such a

question as the following, "How can I be sure that I am on God's

ground?--that I am washed in the blood of Jesus and sealed with the Holy

Spirit?" We reply, How do you know that you are a lost sinner? Is it

because you feel it? Is mere feeling the ground of your faith? If so, it

is not a divine faith at all. True faith rests _only_ on the testimony

of holy Scripture. No doubt, it is by the gracious energy of the Holy

Ghost that any one can exercise this living faith; but we are speaking

now of the true ground of faith--the authority--the basis on which it

rests, and that is simply the holy Scriptures which, as the inspired

apostle tells us, are able to make us wise unto salvation, and which

even a child could know, without the church, the clergy, the fathers,

the doctors, the councils, the colleges, or any other human intervention

whatsoever.

"Abraham believed God." Here was divine faith. It was not a question of

feeling. Indeed, if Abraham had been influenced by his feelings, he

would have been a doubter instead of a believer. For what had he to

build upon in himself? "His own body now dead." A poor ground surely on

which to build his faith in the promise of an innumerable seed. But, we

are told, "He considered not his own body now dead" (Rom. iv.). What,

then, did he consider? He considered the word of the living God, and on

that he rested. Now this is faith. And mark what the apostle says: "He

staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief" (for unbelief is

always a staggerer), "but was strong in faith, giving glory to God: and

being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able also to

perform. And _therefore_ it was imputed to him for righteousness."

"Ah! but," the anxious reader may say, "what has all this to say to my

case? I am not an Abraham--I cannot expect a special revelation from

God. How am I to know that God has spoken to me? How can I possess this

precious faith?" Well, dear friend, mark the apostle's further

statement. "Now," he adds, "it was not written for his (Abraham's) sake

alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be

imputed, if"--if what?--if we feel, realize, or experience aught in

ourselves? Nay, but "if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord

from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again

for our justification."

All this is full of solid comfort and richest consolation. It assures

the anxious inquirer that he has the self-same ground and authority to

rest upon that Abraham had, with an immensely higher measure of light

thrown on that ground, inasmuch as Abraham was called to believe in a

promise, whereas we are privileged to believe in an accomplished fact.

He was called to look forward to something which was to be done; we look

back at something that is done, even an accomplished redemption,

attested by the fact of a risen and glorified Saviour, at the right hand

of the Majesty in the heavens.

But as to the ground or authority on which we are called to rest our

souls, it is the same in our case as in Abraham's and all true

believers' in all ages--it is the word of God--the holy Scriptures.

There is no other foundation of faith but this; and the faith that rests

on any other is not true faith at all. A faith resting on human

tradition--on the authority of the Church--on the authority of so-called

general councils--on the clergy--or on learned men, is not divine

faith, but mere superstition; it is a faith which "stands in the wisdom

of men," and "not in the power of God" (I Cor. ii. 5).

Now, it is utterly impossible for any human pen or mortal tongue to

overstate the value or importance of this grand principle--this

principle of a living faith. Its value at the present moment is

positively unspeakable. We believe it to be the divine antidote against

most, if not all, the leading errors, evils, and hostile influences of

the day in which our lot is cast. There is a tremendous shaking going on

around us. Minds are agitated. Disturbing forces are abroad. There is a

loosening of the foundations. Old institutions, to which the human mind

clings, as the ivy to the oak, are tottering on every side; and many are

actually fallen: and thousands of souls that have been finding shelter

in them are dislodged and scared, and know not whither to turn. Some are

saying, "The bricks are thrown down, but we will build with hewn stone."

Many are at their wit's end, and most are ill at ease.

Nor is this all; there is a numerous class, for the most part, of those

who are not so much concerned about the condition and destiny of

religious institutions and ecclesiastical systems, as about the

condition and destiny of their own precious souls--of those who are not

so much agitated by questions about "Broad Church," "High Church," "Low

Church," "State Church," or "Free Church," as about this one great

question, "What must I do to be saved?" What have we to say to these

latter? What is the real want of their souls? Simply this, "A living

faith in the living God." This is what is needed for all who are

disturbed by what they see without, or feel within. Our unfailing

resource is in the living God and in His Son Jesus Christ, as revealed

by the Holy Spirit in the holy Scriptures.

Here is the true resting-place of faith, and to this we do, most

earnestly, most urgently and solemnly, invite the anxious reader. In one

word, we entreat him to stay his whole soul on the word of God--the holy

Scriptures. Here we have authority for all that we need to know, to

believe, or to do.

Is it a question of anxiety about my eternal salvation? Hear the

following words, "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in

Zion _for a foundation_, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner

stone, _a sure foundation_: he that believeth shall not make haste"

(Isa. xxviii. 16). These precious words, so pregnant with tranquilizing

power, are quoted by the inspired apostle in the New Testament

Scriptures: "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I

lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and _he that

believeth on Him shall not be confounded_" (I Peter ii. 6).

What solid comfort--what deep and settled repose for the anxious soul is

here! God has laid the foundation, and that foundation is nothing less

than His own eternal and co-equal Son, the Son who had dwelt from all

eternity in His bosom.

This foundation is, in every respect, adequate to sustain the whole

weight of the counsels and purposes of the eternal THREE IN ONE--to meet

all the claims of the nature, the character, and the throne of God.

Being all this, it must needs be fully adequate to meet all the need of

the anxious soul, of what kind soever that need may be. If Christ is

enough for God He must of necessity be enough for man--for any man--for

the reader; and that He is enough is proved by the very passage just

quoted. He is God's own foundation, laid by His own hand, the foundation

and centre of that glorious system of royal and victorious grace set

forth in the word "Zion." (See Heb. xii. 22-24.) He is God's own

precious, tried, chief corner stone--that blessed One who went down into

death's dark waters--bore the heavy judgment and wrath of God against

sin--robbed death of its sting, and the grave of its victory--destroyed

him that had the power of death--wrested from the enemy's grasp that

terrible weapon with which sin had armed him, and made it the very

instrument of his eternal defeat and confusion. Having done all this, He

was received up into glory, and seated at the right hand of the Majesty

in the heavens.

Such is God's foundation, to which He graciously calls the attention of

every one who really feels the need of something divinely solid on which

to build, in view of the hollow and shadowy scenes of this world, and in

prospect of the stern realities of eternity.

Dear reader, you are now invited to build upon this foundation. Be

assured it is for you as positively and distinctly as though you heard a

voice from heaven speaking to your own very self. The word of the living

God is addressed "to every creature under heaven"--"Whosoever will" is

invited to come. The inspired volume has been placed in your hand and

laid open before your eyes; and for what think you? Is it to mock or to

tantalize you by presenting before you what was never intended for you?

Ah! no, reader; such is not God's way. Does He send His sunlight and

showers to mock and to tantalize, or to gladden and refresh? Do you ever

think of calling in question your own very personal welcome to study the

book of Creation? Never; and yet there might be some show of foundation

of such a question, inasmuch as, since that wondrous volume was thrown

open, sin has entered and thrown its dark blots over the pages thereof.

But, spite of sin and all its forms and all its consequences, spite of

Satan's power and malice, God has spoken. He has caused His voice to be

heard in this dark and sinful world. And what has He said? "Behold, I

lay in Zion a foundation." This is something entirely new. It is as

though our blessed, loving, and ever gracious God had said to us, "Here,

I have begun on the new. I have laid a foundation, on the ground of

redemption, which nothing can ever touch, neither sin, or Satan, or

aught else. I _lay_ the foundation, and pledge My word that whosoever

believes--whosoever commits himself, in childlike, unquestioning

confidence, to My foundation--whosoever rests in My Christ--whosoever is

satisfied with My precious, tried, chief corner stone, shall never--no,

never--no, never be confounded--never be put to shame--never be

disappointed--shall never perish, world without end."

Beloved reader, dost thou still hesitate? We solemnly avow we cannot see

even the shadow of a foundation of a reason why thou shouldest. If there

were any question raised, or any condition proposed, or any barrier

erected, reason would that thou mightest hesitate. If there were so much

as a single preliminary to be settled by thee--if it were made a

question of feeling or of experience, or of aught else that thou couldst

do, or feel, or be, then verily thou mightest justly pause. But there is

absolutely nothing of the sort. There is the Christ of God and the word

of God, and--what then? "He that believeth shall not be confounded." In

short it is simply "A living faith in the living God." It is taking God

at His word. It is believing what He says because He says it. It is

committing your soul to the word of Him who cannot lie. It is doing what

Abraham did when he believed God and was counted righteous. It is doing

what Jehoshaphat did when he planted his foot firmly on those immortal

words, "Thou gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy friend, forever." It

is doing what the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, the saints in

all ages have done, when they rested their souls for time and eternity

upon that Word which "is settled forever in heaven," and thus lived in

peace and died in hope of a glorious resurrection. It is resting calmly

and sweetly on the immovable rock of holy Scripture, and thus proving

the divine and sustaining virtue of that which has never failed any who

who trusted it, and never will, and never can.

Oh! the unspeakable blessedness of having such a foundation in a world

like this where death, decay, and change are stamped upon all; where

friendship's fondest links are snapped in the twinkling of an eye by

death's rude hand; where all that seems, to nature's view, most stable,

is liable to be swept away in a moment by the rushing tide of popular

revolution; where there is absolutely nothing on which the heart can

lean, and say, "I have now found permanent repose." What a mercy, in

such a scene, to have "A living faith in the living God."

"They shall not be ashamed that wait for Me." Such is the veritable

record of the living God--a record made good in the experience of all

those who have been enabled, through grace, to exercise a living faith.

But then we must remember how much is involved in those three words,

"_wait for Me_." The waiting must be a real thing. It will not do to

_say_ we are waiting on God, when, in reality, our eye is askance upon

some human prop or creature confidence. We must be absolutely "shut up"

to God. We must be brought to the end of self, and to the bottom of

circumstances, in order fully to prove what the life of faith is, and

what God's resources are. God and the creature can never occupy the

same platform. It must be God alone. "My soul, wait thou _only_ upon

God; for my expectation is from Him. He _only_ is my rock and my

salvation" (Psa. lxii. 5, 6).

Thus it was with Jehoshaphat, in that scene recorded in 2 Chron. xx. He

was wholly cast upon God. It was either God or nothing. "We have no

might." But what then? "Our eyes are upon Thee." This was enough. It was

well for Jehoshaphat not to have so much as a single atom of might--a

single ray of knowledge. He was in the very best possible attitude and

condition to prove what God was. It would have been an incalculable loss

to him to have been possessed of the very smallest particle of creature

strength or creature wisdom, inasmuch as it could only have proved a

hindrance to him in leaning exclusively upon the arm and the counsel of

the Almighty God. If the eye of faith rests upon the living God--if He

fills the entire range of the soul's vision, then what do we want with

might or knowledge of our own? Who would think of resting in that which

is human when he can have that which is divine? Who would lean on an arm

of flesh, when he can lean on the arm of the living God?

Reader, art thou, at this moment in any pressure, in any trial, need, or

difficulty? If so, let us entreat thee to look simply and solely to the

living God. Turn away thine eyes completely from the creature: "Cease

from man, whose breath is in his nostrils."

Let thy faith take hold now on the strength of God Himself. Put thy

whole case into His omnipotent hand. Cast thy burden, whatever it is,

upon Him. Let there be no reserve. He is as willing as He is able, and

as able as He is willing, to bear all. Only trust Him fully. He loves to

be trusted--loves to be used. It is His joy, blessed be His name, to

yield a ready and a full response to the appeal of faith. It is worth

having a burden, to know the blessedness of rolling it over upon Him. So

the king of Judah found it in the day of his trial, and so shall the

reader find it now. God never fails a trusting heart. "They shall not be

ashamed that wait for Me." Precious words! Let us mark how they are

illustrated in the narrative before us.

No sooner had Jehoshaphat cast himself completely upon the Lord, than

the divine response fell, with clearness and power, upon his ear.

"Harken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king

Jehoshaphat; thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid or dismayed by

reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but

God's ... ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves,

stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and

Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them; for

the Lord will be with you."

What an answer! "The battle is not yours, but God's." Only think of

God's having a battle with people! Assuredly there could be little

question as to the issue of such a battle. Jehoshaphat had put the

whole matter into God's hands, and God took it up and made it entirely

His own. It is always thus. Faith puts the difficulty, the trial, and

the burden into God's hands, and leaves Him to act. This is enough. God

never refuses to respond to the appeal of faith; nay, it is His delight

to answer it. Jehoshaphat had made it a question between God and the

enemy. He had said, "They have come to cast us out of _Thy_ possession,

which Thou hast given us to inherit." Nothing could be simpler. God had

given Israel the land, and He could keep them in it, spite of ten

thousand foes. Thus faith would reason. The self-same Hand that had

placed them in the land could keep them there. It was simply a question

of divine power. "O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? for we have no

might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we

what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee."

It is a wonderful point in the history of any soul, to be brought to

say, "I have no might." It is the sure precursor of divine deliverance.

The moment a man is brought to the discovery of his utter powerlessness,

the divine word is, "Stand still, and see the salvation of God." One

does not want "might" to "stand still." It needs no effort to "see the

salvation of God." This holds good in reference to the sinner in coming

to Christ, at the first; and it holds equally good in reference to the

Christian in his whole career from first to last. The great difficulty

is to get to the end of our own strength.

Once there, the whole thing is settled. There may be a vast amount of

struggle and exercise ere we are brought to say "without strength!" But,

the moment we take that ground, the word is, "Stand still, and see the

salvation of God." Human effort, in every shape and form, can but raise

a barrier between our souls and God's salvation. If God has undertaken

for us, we may well be still. And has He not? Yes, blessed be His holy

name, He has charged Himself with all that concerns us, for time and

eternity; and hence we have only to let Him act for us, in all things.

It is our happy privilege to let Him go before us, while we follow on

"in wonder, love, and praise."

Thus it was in that interesting and instructive scene on which we have

been dwelling. "Jehoshaphat bowed his head, with his face to the ground:

and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord,

worshiping the Lord. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites,

and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of

Israel with a loud voice on high."

Here we have the true attitude and the proper occupation of the

believer. Jehoshaphat withdrew his eyes from "that great company that

had come against him," and fixed them upon the living God. Jehovah had

come right in and placed Himself between His people and the enemy, just

as He had done in the day of the exodus, at the Red Sea, so that instead

of looking at the difficulties, they might look at Him.

This, beloved reader, is the secret of victory at all times, and under

all circumstances. This it is which fills the heart with praise and

thanksgiving, and bows the head in wondering worship. There is something

perfectly beautiful in the entire bearing of Jehoshaphat and the

congregation, on the occasion before us. They were evidently impressed

with the thought that they had nothing to do but to praise God. And they

were right. Had He not said to them, "Ye shall not need to fight"? What

then had they to do? What remained for them? Nothing but praise. Jehovah

was going out before them to fight; and they had but to follow after Him

in adoring worship.

"And they rose early in the morning, and went forth in the wilderness of

Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O

Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the Lord your God, so

shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper" (2

Chron. xx. 20).

It is of the very last importance that God's word should ever have its

own supreme place in the heart of the Christian. God has spoken. He has

given us His Word; and it is for us to lean unshaken thereon. We want

nothing more. The divine Word is amply sufficient to give confidence,

peace, and stability to the soul. We do not need evidences from man to

prove the truth of God's word. That Word carries its own powerful

evidences with it. To suppose that we require human testimony to prove

that God's word is true, is to imply that man's word is more valid, more

trustworthy, more authoritative, than the word of God. If we need a

human voice to interpret, to ratify, to make God's revelation available,

then we are virtually deprived of that revelation altogether.

We call the special attention of the reader to this point. It concerns

the integrity of Holy Scripture. The grand question is this, Is God's

word sufficient or not? Do we really want man's authority to make us

sure that God has spoken? Far be the thought! This would be placing

man's word above God's word, and thus depriving us of the _only_ solid

ground on which our souls can lean. This is precisely what the devil has

been aiming at from the very beginning, and it is what he is aiming at

now. He wants to remove from beneath our feet the solid rock of divine

revelation, and to give us instead the sandy foundation of human

authority. Hence it is that we do so earnestly press upon our readers

the urgent need of keeping close to God's word, in simple unquestioning

faith. It is really the true secret of stability and peace. If God's

word be not enough for us, without man's interference, we are positively

left without any sure basis of our soul's confidence; yea, we are cast

adrift on the wild watery waste of skepticism, we are plunged in doubt

and dark uncertainty: we are most miserable.

But, thanks and praise be to God, it is not so. "_Believe in the Lord

your God, so shall ye be established: believe His prophets, so shall ye

prosper._"

Here is the resting-place of faith in all ages. God's eternal Word,

which is settled forever in heaven, which He has magnified according to

all His name, and which stands forth in its own divine dignity and

sufficiency before the eye of faith. We must utterly reject the idea

that aught in the way of human authority, human evidences, or human

feelings, is needful to make the testimony of God full weight in the

balances of the soul. Grant us but this, that God has spoken, and we

argue with bold decision that nothing more is needed as a foundation for

genuine faith. In a word, if we want to be established and to prosper,

we have simply to "Believe in the Lord our God." It was this that

enabled Jehoshaphat to bow his head in holy worship. It was this that

enabled him to praise God for victory ere a single blow was struck. It

was this that conducted him into "the valley of Berachah" (_blessing_)

and surrounded him with spoil more than he could carry away.

And now we have the soul-stirring record: "And when he had consulted

with the people, he appointed _singers unto the Lord_, and that should

praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to

say, Praise the Lord: for His mercy endureth forever." What a strange

advance guard for an army! A company of singers! Such is faith's way of

ordering the battle.

"And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments

against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come

against Judah, and they were smitten." Only think of the Lord setting

ambushments! Think of His engaging in the business of military tactics!

How wonderful! God will do any thing that His people need, if only His

people will confide in Him, and leave themselves and their affairs

absolutely in His hand.

"And when Judah came toward the watch-tower in the wilderness, they

looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to

the earth, and none escaped." Such was the end of "that great

company"--that formidable host--that terrible foe. All vanished away

before the presence of the God of Israel. Yes, and had they been a

million times more numerous, and more formidable, the issue would have

been the same, for circumstances are nothing to the living God, and

nothing to a living faith. When God fills the vision of the soul,

difficulties fade away, and songs of praise break forth from joyful

lips.

"And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of

them" (for that was all they had to do) "they found among them in

abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which

they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and

they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. And on

the fourth day, they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for

there they blessed the Lord."

Such, beloved reader, must ever be the result of a living faith in the

living God. More than two thousand five hundred years have rolled away

since the occurrence of the event on which we have been dwelling; but

the record is as fresh as ever. No change has come over the living God,

or over the living faith which ever takes hold of His strength, and

counts on His faithfulness. It is as true to-day as it was in the day of

Jehoshaphat, that those who believe in the Lord our God shall be

established, and shall prosper. They shall be endowed with strength,

crowned with victory, clothed with spoils, and filled with songs of

praise. May we, then through the gracious energy of the Holy Spirit,

ever be enabled to exercise "A LIVING FAITH IN THE LIVING GOD!"

A SCRIPTURAL INQUIRY

AS TO THE TRUE NATURE OF

THE SABBATH, THE LAW, AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRY

THE SABBATH.

If it were merely a question of the observance or non-observance of a

day, it might be easily disposed of, inasmuch as the apostle teaches us

in Rom. xiv. 5, 6, and also in Col. ii. 16, that such things are not to

be made a ground of judgment. But seeing there is a great principle

involved in the Sabbath question, we deem it to be of the very last

importance to place it upon a clear and Scriptural basis. We shall quote

the Fourth Commandment at full length: "Remember the sabbath day, to

keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the

seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do

any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy

maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in

them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the

sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Ex. xx. 8-11). This same law is repeated

in Exodus xxxi. 12-17. And in pursuance thereof we find in Numbers xv. a

man stoned for gathering sticks on the sabbath day. All this is plain

and absolute enough. Man has no right to alter God's law in reference to

the sabbath; no more than he has to alter it in reference to murder,

adultery, or theft. This, we presume, will not be called in question.

The entire body of old Testament Scripture fixes the seventh day as the

sabbath; and the Fourth Commandment lays down the mode in which that

sabbath was to be observed. Now where, we ask, is this precedent

followed? Where is this command obeyed? Is it not plain that the

professing Church neither keeps the right day as the sabbath, nor does

she keep it after the Scripture mode? The commandments of God are made

of none effect by human traditions, and the glorious truths which hang

around "the Lord's day" are lost sight of. The Jew is robbed of his

distinctive day and all the privileges therewith connected, which are

only suspended for the present, while judicial blindness hangs over that

loved and interesting, though now judged and scattered, people. And

furthermore, the Church is robbed of her distinctive day and all the

glories therewith connected, which if really understood would have the

effect of lifting her above earthly things into the sphere which

properly belongs to her, as linked by faith to her glorified Head in

heaven. In result, we have neither pure Judaism nor pure Christianity,

but an anomalous system arising out of an utterly unscriptural

combination of the two.

However, we desire to refrain from all attempt at developing the deeply

spiritual doctrine involved in this great question, and confine

ourselves to the plain teaching of Scripture on the subject; and in so

doing we maintain that if the professing Church quotes the Fourth

Commandment and parallel scriptures in defense of keeping the sabbath,

then it is evident that in almost every case the law is entirely set

aside. Observe, the word is, "Thou shalt not do any work." This ought to

be perfectly binding on all who take the Jewish ground. There is no room

here for introducing what we deem to be "works of necessity." We may

think it necessary to kindle fires, to make servants harness our horses

and drive us hither and thither. But the law is stern and absolute,

severe and unbending. It will not, it can not, lower its standard to

suit our convenience or accommodate itself to our thoughts. The mandate

is, "Thou shalt not do _any_ work," and that, moreover, on "the seventh

day," which answers to our Saturday. We ask for a single passage of

Scripture in which the day is changed, or in which the strict observance

of the day is in the smallest degree relaxed.

We request the reader of these lines to pause and search out this matter

thoroughly in the light of Scripture. Let him not be scared as by some

terrible bugbear, but let him, in true Berean nobility of spirit,

"search the Scriptures." By so doing he will find that from the second

chapter of Genesis down to the very last passage in which the sabbath is

named, it means the _seventh_ day and none other; and further, that

there is not so much as a shadow of divine authority for altering the

mode of observing that day. Law is law, and if we are under the law we

are bound to keep it or else be cursed; for "it is written, Cursed is

every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the

book of the law to do them" (Deut. xxvii. 26; Gal. iii. 10).

But it will be said, "We are not under the Mosaic law; we are the

subjects of the Christian economy." Granted; most fully, freely and

thankfully granted. All true Christians are, according to the teaching

of Romans vii. and viii. and Galatians iii. and iv., the happy and

privileged subjects of the Christian dispensation. But if so, what is

the day which specially characterizes that dispensation? Not "the

seventh day," but "the first day of the week"--"THE LORD'S DAY." This is

pre-eminently the Christian's day. Let him observe this day with all the

sanctity, the sacred reverence, the hallowed retirement, the elevated

tone, of which his new nature is capable. We believe the Christian's

retirement from all secular things cannot possibly be too profound on

the Lord's day. The idea of any one, calling himself a Christian, making

the Lord's day a season of what is popularly called recreation,

unnecessary traveling, personal convenience, or profit in temporal

things, is perfectly shocking. We are of opinion that such acting could

not be too severely censured. We can safely assert that we never yet

came in contact with a godly, intelligent, right-minded Christian person

who did not love and reverence the Lord's day; nor could we have any

sympathy with any one who could deliberately desecrate that holy and

happy day.

We are aware, alas, that some persons have through ignorance or

misguided feelings said things in reference to the Lord's day which we

utterly repudiate, and that they have done things on the Lord's day of

which we wholly disapprove. We believe that there is a body of New

Testament teaching on the important subject of the Lord's day quite

sufficient to give that day its proper place in every well-regulated

mind. The Lord Jesus rose from the dead on that day (Matt, xxviii. I-6;

Mark xvi. I, 2; Luke xxiv. I; John xx. I). He met His disciples once and

again on that day (John xx. 19, 26). The early disciples met to break

bread on that day (Acts xx. 7). The apostle, by the Holy Ghost, directs

the Corinthians to lay by their contributions for the poor on that day

(I Cor. xvi. 2). And finally, the exiled apostle was in the Spirit and

received visions of the future on that day (Rev. i. 10). The above

scriptures are conclusive. They prove that the Lord's day occupies a

place quite unique, quite heavenly, quite divine. But they as fully

prove the entire distinctness of the Jewish sabbath and the Lord's day.

The two days are spoken of throughout the New Testament with fully as

much distinctness as we speak of Saturday and Sunday. The only

difference is that the latter are heathen titles, and the former divine.

(Comp. Matt. xxviii. I; Acts xiii. 14, xvii. 2, xx. 7; Col. ii. 16).

Having said thus much as to the question of the Jewish sabbath and the

Lord's day, we shall suggest the following questions to the reader,

namely: Where in the word of God is the sabbath said to be changed to

the first day of the week? Where is there any repeal of the law as to

the sabbath? Where is the authority for altering the day or the mode of

observing it? Where in Scripture have we such an expression as "the

Christian sabbath"? Where is the Lord's day ever called the

sabbath?[XXVII.]

We would not yield to any of our dear brethren in the various

denominations around us in the pious observance of the Lord's day. We

love and honor it with all our hearts; and were it not that the gracious

providence of God has so ordered it in these realms that we can enjoy

the rest and retirement of the Lord's day without pecuniary loss, we

should feel called upon to abstain from business, and give ourselves

wholly up to the worship and service of God on that day--not as a matter

of cold legality, but as a holy and happy privilege.

It would be the deepest sorrow to our hearts to think that a true

Christian should be found taking common ground with the ungodly, the

profane, the thoughtless, and the pleasure-hunting multitude, in

desecrating the Lord's day. It would be sad indeed if the children of

the kingdom and the children of this world were to meet in an excursion

train on the Lord's day. We feel persuaded that any who in any wise

profane or treat with lightness the Lord's day act in direct opposition

to the Word and Spirit of God.

THE LAW.

As regards the law, it is looked at in two ways; first, as a ground of

justification; and secondly, as a rule of life. A passage or two of

Scripture will suffice to settle both the one and the other: "Therefore

by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight:

for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. iii. 20). "Therefore we

conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law"

(ver. 28). Again: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of

the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in

Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not

by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be

justified" (Gal. ii. 16).

Then, as to its being a rule of life, we read, "Wherefore, my brethren,

ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should

be married to another, even to Him that is raised from the dead, that we

should bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom. vii. 4). "But now are we

delivered from the law, being dead to that (see margin) wherein we were

held: that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness

of the letter" (ver. 6). Observe in this last-quoted passage two

things: first, "we are delivered from the law;" second, not that we may

do nature's pleasure, but "that we should _serve_ in newness of spirit."

Being delivered from bondage, it is our privilege to "serve" in liberty.

Again we read, further on in the chapter, "And the commandment which was

ordained to life, I found to be _unto death_" (ver. 10). It evidently

did not prove as a rule of _life_ to him. "I was _alive without the law_

once; but _when the commandment came_, sin revived, and _I died_" (ver.

9). Whoever "I" represents in this chapter was alive until the law came,

and then he died. Hence, therefore, the law could not have been a rule

of life to him; yea, it was the very opposite, even a rule of death.

In a word, then, it is evident that a sinner cannot be justified by the

works of the law; and it is equally evident that the law is not the rule

of the believer's life. "For as many as are of the works of the law are

under the curse" (Gal. iii. 10). The law knows no such thing as a

distinction between a regenerated and an unregenerated man: it curses

all who attempt to stand before it. It rules and curses a man so long as

he lives; nor is there any one who will so fully acknowledge that he

cannot keep it as the true believer, and hence no one would be more

thoroughly under the curse.

What, therefore, is the ground of our justification? and what is our

rule of life? The word of God answers, "We are justified by the faith of

Christ," and Christ is our rule of life. He bore all our sins in His

own body on the tree; He was made a curse for us; He drained on our

behalf the cup of God's righteous wrath; He deprived death of its sting,

and the grave of its victory; He gave up His life for us; He went down

into death, where we lay, in order that He might bring us up in eternal

association with Himself in life, righteousness, favor and glory, before

our God and His God, our Father and His Father. (See carefully the

following scriptures: John xx. 17; Rom. iv. 25; v. I-10; vi. I-11; vii.

_passim_, viii. I-4; I Cor. i. 30, 31; vi. 11; xv. 55-57; 2 Cor. v.

17-21; Gal. iii. 13, 25-29; iv. 31; Eph. i. 19-23; ii. I-6; Col. ii.

10-15; Heb. ii. 14, 15; I Peter i. 23.) If the reader will prayerfully

ponder all these passages of Scripture he will see clearly that we are

not justified by the works of the law; and not only so, but he will see

how we are justified. He will see the deep and solid foundations of the

Christian's life, righteousness and peace planned in God's eternal

counsels, laid in the finished atonement of Christ, developed by God the

Holy Ghost in the Word, and made good in the happy experience of all

true believers.

Then, as to the believer's rule of life, the apostle does not say, To me

to live is the law; but, "To me to live is Christ" (Phil. i. 21). Christ

is our rule, our model, our touchstone, our all. The continual inquiry

of the Christian should be, not is this or that according to law? but is

it like Christ? The law never could teach me to love, bless and pray for

my enemies; but this is exactly what the gospel teaches me to do, and

what the divine nature leads me to do. "Love is the fulfilling of the

law;" and yet, were I to seek justification by the law, I should be

lost; and were I to make the law my standard of action, I should fall

far short of my proper mark. We are predestinated to be conformed, not

to the law, but to the image of God's Son. We are to be like Him. (See

Matt. v. 21-48; Rom. viii. 29; I Cor. xiii. 4-8; Rom. xiii. 8-10; Gal.

v. 14-26; Eph. i. 3-5; Phil. iii. 20, 21; ii. 5; iv. 8; Col. iii. I-17.)

It may seem a paradox to some to be told that "the righteousness of the

law is fulfilled in us" (Rom. viii. 4), and yet that we cannot be

justified by the law, nor make the law our rule of life. Nevertheless,

thus it is if we are to form our convictions by the word of God. Nor is

there any difficulty to the renewed mind in understanding this blessed

doctrine. We are by nature "dead in trespasses and sins," and what can a

dead man do? How can a man get life by keeping that which requires life

to keep it--a life which he has not? And how do we get life? Christ is

our life. We live in Him who died for us; we are blessed in Him who

became a curse for us by hanging on a tree; we are righteous in Him who

was made sin for us; we are brought nigh in Him who was cast out for us

(Rom. v. 6-15; Eph. ii. 4-6; Gal. iii. 13). Having thus life and

righteousness in Christ, we are called to walk as He walked, and not

merely to walk as a Jew. We are called to purify ourselves even as He

is pure; to walk in His footsteps; to show forth His virtues; to

manifest His spirit (John xiii. 14, 15; xvii. 14-19; I Peter ii. 21; I

John ii. 6, 29; iii. 3).

We shall close our remarks on this head by suggesting two questions to

the reader, namely, Would the Ten Commandments without the New Testament

be a sufficient rule of life for the believer? Is not the New Testament

a sufficient rule without the Ten Commandments? Surely that which is

insufficient cannot be our rule of life.

We receive the Ten Commandments as part of the canon of inspiration; and

moreover, we believe that the law remains in full force to rule and

curse a man as long as he liveth. Let a sinner only try to get life by

it, and see where it will put him; and let a believer only shape his way

according to it, and see what it will make of him. We are fully

convinced that if a man is walking according to the spirit of the

gospel, he will not commit murder nor steal; but we are also convinced

that a man, confining himself to the standard of the law of Moses would

fall very far short of the spirit of the gospel.

The subject of "the law" would demand much more elaborate exposition,

but the limits of this paper do not admit of it, and we therefore

entreat of the reader to look out the various passages of Scripture

referred to and ponder them carefully. In this way we feel assured he

will arrive at a sound conclusion, and be independent of all human

teaching and influence. He will see how that a man is justified freely

by the grace of God through faith in a crucified and risen Christ; that

he is made a partaker of divine life, and introduced into a condition of

divine and everlasting righteousness, and consequent exemption from all

condemnation; that in this holy and elevated position Christ is his

object, his theme, his model, his rule, his hope, his joy, his strength,

his all; that the hope which is set before him is to be with Jesus where

He is, and to be like Him forever. And he will also see that if as a

lost sinner he has found pardon and peace at the foot of the cross, he

is not, as an accepted and adopted son, sent back to the foot of Mount

Sinai, there to be terrified and repulsed by the terrible anathemas of a

broken law. The Father could not think of ruling with an iron law the

prodigal whom He had received to His bosom in purest, deepest, richest

grace. Oh no! "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through

our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this

grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Rom.

v. I, 2). The believer is justified not by works, but by _faith_; he

stands not in law, but in _grace_; and he waits not for judgment, but

for _glory_.

We come now, in the third place, to treat of the subject of

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY;

in reference to which we have only to say, that we hold it to be a

divine institution: its source, its power, its characteristics, are all

divine and heavenly. We believe that the great Head of the Church

received in resurrection gifts for His body. He, and not the Church, or

any section of the Church, is the reservoir of the gifts. They are

vested in Him, and not in the Church. He imparts them as, and to whom,

He will. No man, nor body of men, can impart gifts. This is Christ's

prerogative, and His alone; and we believe that when He imparts a gift,

the man who receives that gift is responsible to exercise the same,

whether as an evangelist, a pastor or a teacher, quite independently of

all human authority.

We do not by any means believe that all are endowed with the above

gifts, though all have some ministry to fulfil. All are not evangelists,

pastors, and teachers. Such precious gifts are only administered

according to the sovereign will of the divine Head of the Church. Man

has no right to interfere with them. Wherever they really exist, it is

the place of the assembly to recognize them with devout thankfulness.

Christians are exhorted to remember them that are over them in the Lord,

to know them that guide them, and those who addict themselves to the

ministry of the saints, and those who have spoken to them the word of

life. Were they to refuse to do so, they would only be forsaking and

rejecting their own mercies, for all things are theirs. (See Rom. xii.

3-8; I Cor. iii. 21-23; xii., xiv., xvi. 15; Gal. i. 11-17; Eph. iv.

7-16; I Thess. v. 12, 13; Heb. xiii. 7, 17; I Peter iv. 10, 11.)

All this is simple enough. We can easily see where a man is divinely

qualified for any department of ministry. It is not if a man _say_ he

has a gift, but if he in reality has it. A man may say he has a gift on

the same principle as he may say he has faith (James ii. 14), and it may

only be, after all, an empty conceit of his own ill-adjusted mind, which

a spiritual assembly could not recognize for a moment. God deals in

realities. A divinely-gifted evangelist is a reality; a teacher is a

reality; a pastor is a reality; and such will be duly recognized,

thankfully received, and counted worthy of all esteem and honor for

their work's sake.

Now we hold that unless a man has a _bona fide_ gift imparted to him by

the Head of the Church, all the instruction, all the education, and all

the training that men could impart to him would not constitute him a

Christian minister. If a man has a gift, he is responsible to exercise,

to cultivate, and to wait upon his gift.