53. “ J. Μ.,” London. It is quite true—blessedly true—that “ The long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, not willing that any one should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” But we see no warrant whatever, in the word of God for the statement to which you refer. It seems to us to lack the sobriety and dignity of truth.
54. “M. R.,” Teignmouth. Matt. 24:40, 41, bears distinctly upon the Jewish people. The “ one taken,” is for judgment; the “ other left,” is for earthly blessing. It will be the very reverse when the Lord comes to take His church; then those taken will be for glory; those left will be for strong delusion and eternal perdition. Solemn fact! Would that we all felt its awful reality more deeply!
55. “A Believer,” Tunbridge Wells. Heb. 10:19-22 is an exhortation to draw nigh, grounded upon the fact of our having boldness to do so by the blood of Jesus. The Epistle to the Hebrews does not present Christians as already in heaven; but as on their way to it. It abounds in warning and exhortation to get on. It keeps us continually on the move. It is characterized by such utterances as, “ Let us fear;,י “ Let us labor;” “Let us come boldly;” “ Let us go on to perfection;” “ Let us draw nigh;” “Let us hold fast;” “ Let us consider one another;” “ Let us run:” “ Let us go forth.י י The Epistle to the Ephesians gives us one grand aspect of Christianity; and the Epistle to the Hebrews gives us the other. In the former, the Christian is presented as seated in heaven, and coming down to walk on earth in all the varied relationships of life. In Hebrews the Christian is presented as starting from earth, responsive to the heavenly call, and pressing forward to the rest that remaineth.
56. “J. W. Α.,” Margate. Thanks for your paper. It is terrible to think of any one calling himself a Christian, giving such an answer to an anxious soul. How unlike Paul and Silas, in Acts 16!
57. “W. J.,” Birtley. The wise men of Babylon were, as you say, “ just morally incapacitated “ to read or understand the writing. This was the real point in the matter. Had the writing been in a tongue foreign to them, there would have been nothing remarkable in their not being able to read it. “ The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.... neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” “ The world by wisdom knew not God.”
58. “A. W.,” Brighton. We are not at all surprised that the “naturalist” to whom you applied for a solution of your difficulty as to Isa. 65:25, was wholly unable to satisfy you. If, instead of referring you to the stomach of the lion, he had brought the power of God before your soul, he would have done much better. The one who made the lion can make him eat straw if He pleases. Nothing can be more miserable than to hear scientific infidels talking about scripture. It always reminds us of a blacksmith approaching, with his tongs and hammer, an exquisite Geneva watch: or of a butcher attempting, with cleaver and saw, the anatomy of the human eye. You must always draw a broad line of distinction between the facts of science, and the conclusions of so-called scientific men. Facts are facts, wherever you meet them, in the heavens above, in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth; nor is there one solitary fact throughout nature’s vast domain, which will be found in collision with holy scripture. The reasonings of scientific men are continually running counter to the statements of the word of God; and, hence, we utterly reject the reasonings, while we respect the facts. It seems to us, dear friend, as if the grand object of many of our scientific men were to pick holes in the word of God. Terrible object! May God have mercy upon them, and open their eyes that they may see!