LAW AND GRACE.
IN his Epistle to the Romans, Paul writes "For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One
shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the
offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our
Lord."
Moses was the representative of the law. You remember that he led
the children of Israel through the wilderness, and brought them to
Jordan; but there he left them. He could take them up to the river,
which is a type of death and judgment; but Joshua (which means
Jesus--Saviour) led them right through death and judgment--through
the Jordan into the Promised Land. Here we have the difference
between Law and Grace; between the Law and the Gospel.
Take another illustration. John the Baptist was the last prophet of
the old dispensation--the last prophet under the law. You remember
that before Christ made His appearance at the Jordan, the cry of
John, day by day was, "Repent: for the kingdom of God is at hand!"
He thundered out the law. He took his hearers down to the Jordan and
baptized them. He put them in the place of death; and that was as
far as he could take them. But there was One coming after him who
could take them into the Promised Land. As Joshua led the people
through the Jordan into Canaan,--so Christ went down into the Jordan
of death, through death and judgment, on to resurrection ground.
If you run all through Scripture you will find that the law brings
to death. "Sin reigned unto death." A friend was telling me lately
that an acquaintance of his, a minister, was once called upon to
officiate at a funeral, in the place of a chaplain of one of Her
Majesty's prisons, who was absent. He noticed that only one solitary
man followed the body of the criminal to the grave. When the grave
had been covered, this man told the minister that he was an officer
of the law whose duty it was to watch the body of the culprit until
it was buried out of sight; that was "the end" of the British law.
And that is what the law of God does to the sinner; it brings him
right to death, and leaves him there. I pity deep down in my heart
those who are trying to save themselves by the law. It never has; it
never will; and it never can--save the soul. When people say they
are going to try and do their best, and so save themselves by the
law, I like to take them on their own ground. Have they, ever done
their very best? granting that there _might_ be a chance for them if
they had, was there ever a time when they could not have done a
little better? If a man wants to do his best, let him accept the
grace of God; that is the best thing that any man or woman can
possibly do.
But you will ask, What is the law given for? It may sound rather
strange, but it is given that it may stop every man's mouth. "We
know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. 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." The law shuts my mouth; grace opens it. The
law locks up my heart; grace opens it--and then the fountain of love
begins to flow out. When men get their eyes opened to see this
glorious truth, they will cease their constant struggle. They will
give up trying to work their way into the kingdom of God by the
deeds of the law. They will give themselves up for lost, and take
salvation as a free gift.
Life never came through the law. As some one has observed: When the
law was given, three thousand men lost life; but when grace and
truth came at Pentecost, three thousand obtained life. Under the
law, if a man became a drunkard the magistrates would take him out
and stone him to death. When the prodigal came home, grace met him
and embraced him. Law says, Stone him!--grace says, Embrace him! Law
says, Smite him!--grace says, Kiss him! Law went after him, and
bound him; grace said, loose him and let him go! Law tells me how
crooked I am; grace comes and makes me straight.
I pity those who are always hanging around Sinai, hoping to get life
there. I have an old friend in Chicago who is always lingering at
Sinai. He is a very good man; but I think he will have a different
story to tell when he gets home to heaven. He thinks I preach free
grace too much; and I must confess I do like to speak of the free
grace of God. This friend of mine feels as though he has a kind of
mission to follow me; and whenever he gets a chance he comes in with
the thunders of Sinai. I never yet met him but he was thundering
away from Horeb. The last time I was in Chicago, I said to him, "Are
you still lingering around Sinai?" "Yes," said he, "I believe in the
law." I have made inquiries, and I never heard of any one being
converted under his preaching: the effects have always dwindled and
died out. If the law is the door to heaven, there is no hope for any
of us. A perfect God can only have a perfect standard. He that
offends in one point is guilty of all: so "all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God."
Paul says to the Galatians: "Is the law then against the promises of
God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have
given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But
the Scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith
of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before
faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a
schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus
Christ."
THE SOFTENING POWER OF GRACE.
So we see that the law cannot give life; all it can do is to bring
us to Him who is the life. The law is said to be "a schoolmaster."
Perhaps some of you do not know what a schoolmaster is. If you had
been under the same schoolmaster as I was when a boy you would have
known. He had a good cane and it was frequently in use. In the
little country district where I went to school, there were two
parties: for the sake of illustration we may call the one the "law"
party and the other the "grace" party. The law party said that boys
could not possibly be controlled without the cane: and they kept a
schoolmaster there who acted on their plan. The struggle went on,
and at last, on one election day, the law party was put out, and the
grace party ruled in their stead. I happened to be at the school at
that time; and I remember we said to each other that we were going
to have a grand time that winter. There would be no more corporal
punishment, and we were going to be ruled by love.
I was one of the first to break the rules of the school. We had a
lady teacher, and she asked me to stay behind. I thought the cane
was coming out again; and I was going to protest against it. I was
quite in a fighting mood. She took me alone. She sat down and began
to talk to me kindly. I thought that was worse than the cane; I did
not like it. I saw that she had not got any cane. She said: "I have
made up my mind that if I cannot control the school by love, I will
give it up. I will have no punishment; and if you love me, try and
keep the rules of the school." I felt something right here in my
throat. I was not one to shed many tears; but they would come--I
could not keep them back. I said to her, "You will have no more
trouble with me;" and she did not. I learned more that winter than
in the other three put together.
That was the difference between law and grace. Christ says, "If you
love Me, keep My commandments." He takes us out from under the law,
and puts us under grace. Grace will break the hardest heart. It was
the love of God that prompted Him to send His only-begotten Son into
the world that He might save it. I suppose the thief had gone
through his trial unsoftened. Probably the law had hardened his
heart. But on the cross no doubt that touching prayer of the
Saviour, "Father, forgive them!" broke his heart, so that he cried,
"Lord, remember me!" He was brought to ask for mercy. I believe
there is no man so far gone but the grace of God will melt his
heart.
It is told of Isaac T. Hopper, the Quaker, that he once encountered
a profane colored man, named Cain, in Philadelphia, and took him
before a magistrate, who fined him for blasphemy. Twenty years
after, Hopper met Cain, whose appearance was much changed for the
worse. This touched the Friend's heart. He stepped up, spoke kindly,
and shook hands with the forlorn being. "Dost thou remember me,"
said the Quaker, "how I had thee fined for swearing?"
"Yes, indeed, I do: I remember what I paid as well as if it was
yesterday."
"Well, did it do thee any good?"
"No, never a bit: it made me mad to have my money taken from me."
Hopper invited Cain to reckon up the interest on the fine, and paid
him principal and interest too. "I meant it for thy good, Cain; and
I am sorry I did thee any harm."
Cain's countenance changed; the tears rolled down his cheeks. He
took the money with many thanks, became a quiet man, and was not
heard to swear again.
PEACE, GRACE AND GLORY.
So there is a great deal of difference between law and grace. "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." There are three
precious things here: peace for the past; grace for the present; and
glory for the future. There is no peace until we see the finished
work of Jesus Christ--until we can look back and see the Cross of
Christ between us and our sins. When we see that Jesus was "the end
of the law for righteousness;" that He "tasted death for every man;"
that He "suffered the Just for the unjust"--then comes peace. Then
there is "the grace wherein we now stand." There is plenty of grace
for us as we need it day by day, and hour by hour.
Then there is glory for the time to come. A great many people seem
to forget that the best is before us. Dr. Bonar says that everything
before the true believer is "glorious." This thought took hold of my
soul; and I began to look the matter up, and see what I could find
in Scripture that was glorious hereafter. I found that the kingdom
we are going to inherit is glorious: our crown is to be a "crown of
glory;" the city we are going to inhabit is the city of the
glorified; the songs we are to sing are the songs of the glorified;
we are to wear garments of "glory and beauty;" our society will be
the society of the glorified; our rest is to be "glorious;" the
country to which we are going is to be full of "the glory of God and
of the Lamb." There are many who are always looking on the backward
path, and mourning over the troubles through which they have passed;
they keep lugging up the cares and anxieties they have been called
on to bear, and are forever looking at them. Why should we go
reeling and staggering under the burdens and cares of life when we
have such prospects before us?
If there is nothing but glory beyond, our faces ought to shine
brightly all the time. If a skeptic were to come up here and watch
the countenances of the audience he would find many of you looking
as though there was anything but glory before you. Many a time it
seems to me as if I were at a funeral, people look so sad and
downcast. They do not appear to know much of the joy of the Lord.
Surely if we were looking right on to the glory that awaits us, our
faces would be continually lit up with the light of the upper world.
We can preach by our countenances if we will. The nearer we draw to
that glory-land, where we shall be with Christ--the more peace, and
joy, and rest we ought to have. If we will but come to the throne of
grace, we shall have strength to bear all our troubles and trials.
If you were to take all the afflictions that flesh is heir to and
put them right on any one of us, God has grace enough to carry us
right through without faltering.
Some one has compiled the following, which beautifully describes the
contrast between law and grace:
The Law was given by Moses.
Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
The Law says--This do, and thou shalt live.
Grace says--Live, and then thou shalt do.
The Law says--Pay me that thou owest.
Grace says--I frankly forgive thee all.
The Law says--The wages of sin is death.
GRACE says--The gift of God is eternal life.
The Law says--The soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Grace says--Whosoever believeth in Jesus, though he were dead, yet
shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Him shall never
die.
The Law pronounces--Condemnation and death.
Grace proclaims--Justification and life.
The Law says--Make you a new heart and a new spirit.
Grace says--A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you.
The Law says--Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Grace says--Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven, whose
sin is covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute
iniquity.
The Law says--Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.
Grace says--Herein is love: not that we love God, but that He loved
us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The Law speaks of what man must do for God.
Grace tells of what Christ has done for man.
The Law addresses man as part of the old creation.
Grace makes a man a member of the new creation.
The Law bears on a nature prone to disobedience.
Grace creates a nature inclined to obedience.
The Law demands obedience by the terror of the Lord.
Grace beseeches men by the mercies of God.
The Law demands holiness.
Grace gives holiness.
The Law says--Condemn him.
Grace says--Embrace him.
The Law speaks of priestly sacrifices offered year by year
continually, which could never make the comers thereunto perfect.
Grace says--But this _Man_, after he had offered _one_ sacrifice for
sins forever . . . by one offering hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified.
The Law declares--That as many as have sinned in the Law, shall be
judged by the Law.
Grace brings eternal peace to the troubled soul of every child of
God, and proclaims _God's_ salvation in defiance of the accusations
of the adversary. "He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
judgment (condemnation), but is passed from death unto life."
"Whence to me this tranquil spirit--
Me all sinful as I am?
Is it thus descends the merit
Of the sin-atoning Lamb?
Grace, all power to deliver,
Gift of a Creative Giver,
Like a full, refreshing river,
Ever flowing.
Over all my course of sinning
Spread its waters without bound,
Cleansing, fertilizing, winning
For the Lord the barren ground.
Lavish from the heavenly treasure,
Fountains of a Father's pleasure,
All the marks of human measure
Overflowing.
Not my virtue or repenting
Earned the precious boon for me.
Thine, my Saviour, the relenting,
Thine the pangs which set me free--
Gift of grace beyond all knowing,
From the heart of Jesus flowing,
Ever flowing, overflowing,
Flowing freely."