53. “A Humble Believer.” Your kind and truly interesting letter has come to hand, for which please accept our warmest thanks.
54. “R. N.” Durham. It is, no doubt, much to be desired that Christians should see eye to eye on every subject; but this can hardly be expected; and, most assuredly, we should not allow our happy fellowship with the members of Christ’s body to be hindered, in the smallest degree, by difference of judgment on the question of baptism. So long as a man is true to Christ—His name—His cause—His truth—His glory, I can love Him with all my heart, though I may deem Him mistaken as to his view of baptism. May the Lord bind us all more closely to Himself and to one another, by the precious ministry of the Holy Ghost!
55. “Dumfries.” We have received a communication dated June 15, from the above; but we cannot read the name of the writer. The subject referred to, has more than once been handled in our pages.
The testimony of scripture is as distinct as possible. It never speaks of God’s being reconciled to us. “If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” (Rom. 5:10.) It does not say that God was reconciled to us. The death of Christ was essential to the reconciliation; but man was the enemy of God and needed to be reconciled. So we read, in Col. 1:21, “And you that were something alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now high he reconciled.” The ground of this is stated in the previous verse, to be “The blood of his cross.” So also, in Corinthians 5, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.” It does not say “reconciling himself to the world.”
Thus, to anyone who bows to scripture, the truth is as clear as a sunbeam. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” “It pleased Jehovah to bruise him.” It is of the utmost importance to maintain, the true aspect of God’s nature and character in the presentation of the gospel. To say that “Christ died to reconcile the Father to us” is to falsify the divine character as seen in the mission and death of His Son. God was not man’s enemy but his friend. True, sin had to be condemned; God’s truth, holiness and majesty had to be vindicated. All this was done, in a divine way, in the cross, where we read, at once, God’s hatred of sin and His love to the sinner. Atonement is the necessary basis of reconciliation; but it is of the very last importance to see that it is God who reconciles us to Himself. This he does, blessed be His name, at no less a cost than “the death of his Son.” Such was His love to man—His kindness—His goodness—His deep compassion, that, when there was no other way possible, sin being in question, in which man, the guilty enemy and rebel could be reconciled to Him, He gave His on from His bosom, and braised Him on Calvary’s cursed tree. Eternal and universal praise to His name!
56. “J. L,” Child Okeford. We heartily thank you for your kindness in sending us the encouraging letter from your friend. We beg your remembrance of our work before the throne of grace.
57. “J. C.,” St. Albans. The tabernacle and its furniture were the pattern of heavenly things—the shadows of good things to come. The baptism of fire refers to the judgment yet to come.
58. “W. S.” St Louis de Gonzague. Year interesting letter of July 6 is safely to hand. We most fully enter into all you say, and deeply sympathize with you in your present position. May the blessed Shepherd and Bishop of souls feed, comfort, and strengthen you, by His own direct and powerful ministry!
59. “B. R.” Victoria, Demerara. We have duly received your kind letter of August 6, and tender you our warmest thanks for it. We are truly glad to find that the little books have reached you safely. Our true love to all the dear friends around you. May the Lord greatly bless you, and sustain your heart in the blessed work to which He has called you! Accept 1 Cor. 15:58 as a little motto for yourself and your dear and honored fellow-laborers.
60. “A. T. S.,” Rochdale. Thanks for the little book, “The Narrow Pathway to the Golden Gate.” We have much pleasure in recommending it to all our young friends.
61. “M. B.,” Rockbridge, America. You are wholly cast upon God, dear friend, in the matter to which you refer. He can open up a way for you to meet with His people; and, until He does so, you have but to wait on Him in holy calmness and quietness of spirit.
62. “W. H.,” Grangemouth. We cannot see what 2 Cor. 11, 8 has to do with the subject of “one man ministry,” or how anyone could think of quoting it in defense of such a thing. Paul received help the assembly at Philippi. He did not receive from the assembly at Corinth, because they were not in a good state. This was to their shame and loss. But what has all this to do with a humanly-ordained minister receiving a stipend from a congregation? There is no such thing in the word of God.
63. “An Anxious Inquirer,” Aberdeen. It is to God we to confess our sins. No doubt, if we have wronged a brother or a follow man, we must confess the wrong, and make restitution. As to your second question, we deem it right to cast you simply upon the Lord for guidance. You should just act according to your light, in tire matter.
64. “J. H.,” Rochester. In 1 John 5:6 we have expiation and cleansing blood and water flowing from the pierced side of it crucified Savior. But how could we have these save by incarnation? One grand effort of Satan, as seen in Popery and Puseyism, is to set aside expiation and cleansing, through the death of Christ, and lead men to believe that in incarnation Christ took fallen humanity into union with Himself; and further that we are made partakers of the benefits of the incarnation by means of the sacraments of the church—a dark, deadly, soul-destroying delusion!
65. “A. B.” Shropshire. We have, in some of our back numbers, referred to 1 Pet. 3:18-20. We believe the passage simply teaches that the Spirit of Christ, in Noah, preached to those whose spirits are now in prison because they did not believe the preaching.
66. “A Constant Reader,” London. We read in 2 John 1:10, “if there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed; for he that biddeth him God speed, is partaker of his evil deeds.” What, think you, would the blessed apostle have said to the elect lady if she were to go, “for three summers” to “partake of the hospitality of a lady who does not believe in the divinity of our Lord Jesus?” We confess we are amazed at your question. We cannot understand how anyone with a spark of loyalty to Christ could think of being the guest of a blasphemer of His Person. You say that “your friend, on each of her visits, has not shunned to exalt, in a very special manner, the Godhead of the Lord Jesus; but with no apparent success.” How could she expect success, when her acts contradict her words? Were she faithfully to tell her friend that she could no longer be the guest of one who blasphemes her Lord, she might look for some practical result. Better far to die in some obscure lodging in London, than accept change of air on such miserable terms.
67. “K. B K.,” Llanberis. We quite agree with your view of the expression, “the terror of the Lord,” and we trust your friend will be led to see the mind of God in the entire context. The believer can never come into judgment. (See John 5:24, where the word is “judgment” and not “condemnation.”) Every man’s work shall be tested; but when the believer is manifested before the judgment scat of Christ, he will be perfectly conformed to the image of his Lord. In 1 Cor. 6 we are taught that the saints shall judge the world and even angels. They will be associated with Christ in that solemn work. It would be strange if the judges were to be arraigned along with the judged. It is very sad to mark the confusion in people’s minds, in reference to a subject so plain and simple. It is, no doubt, the result of legal teaching and bad theology. There is no such thing in the New Testament as a promiscuous resurrection or a general judgment. To maintain such a notion is to deny the very foundations of Christianity. People may not see this; but it is true, nevertheless.
68. “M. B.,” Tetbury. Thanks for the lines.