Nicodemus

1. Nicodemus: Part 1

2. Nicodemus: Part 2

3. Nicodemus: Part 3

Nicodemus: Part 1

There is a peculiar charm attaching to the way in which truth is presented to us in the Gospels. It is not, of course, a question of the relative value of truth, inasmuch as truth is truth whether we find it in the Gospels or in the Epistles. But then, in the Gospels, the inspired writers present truth in connection with what we may call scenes in actual life. They give us the history of individuals—their exercises, their trials, their difficulties, their questions, their doubts, fears, and mental conflicts.

All this imparts intense interest to the gospel narratives, and tends to rivet the truth upon the heart and understanding. If in the Epistles we have truth didactically unfolded, in the Gospels we have it livingly illustrated.

Now we are all conscious of the charm attaching to a living illustration. It commands the heart and engages the attention. We delight to trace the history of men and women of like passions with ourselves—to be told what they felt and thought and said—to know, upon divine authority, that they had the very same doubts, difficulties, and conflicts that we ourselves have had to encounter—to see how those doubts were removed, those difficulties' solved, those conflicts disposed of. Everybody knows how an anecdote, a simple story, a fragment of living history will rivet the attention of an audience which could hardly be kept awake by the unfading of abstract truth.

This may be viewed as a weakness. Be it so; it is a weakness to which the Spirit of God deigns, in infinite grace, to stoop. Scenes from real human life have an ineffable charm for the human heart; and when those scenes are portrayed by the inimitable pen of the Holy Ghost, their interest is intensified to the very highest possible degree. It is perfectly delightful to see how God can mingle and interest Himself in human affairs—how He can, in His matchless grace, enter into all our circumstances, all our thoughts and feelings, all our mental exercises—to see that there is nothing too small for Him to notice—that He can dwell, with marvelous minuteness, upon things which to our mind seem very trivial. All this is eminently calculated to delight and refresh the heart.

If the reader will open his Bible, and turn to John 3, he will find one of these charming narratives above referred to. In it the inspired penman has recorded for our learning the interesting interview between our Lord and Nicodemus—an interview full of the very deepest and most important instruction. We may truly say, If ever there was a moment in the which the history of Nicodemus claimed special attention, it is just now, in this day of man's proud pretensions, when the utter and hopeless ruin of human nature, and the absolute need of the new birth is so loudly and extensively called in question. The circle is, each clay, becoming wider and wider, in it is fashionable to deny with scorn and proud indignation the total depravity of man, and, as a consequence, the indispensable need of redemption and the new birth—the two things stand or fall together.

If man is not a hopeless ruin, he does not need to be born again. If man does not need to be born again, he is not a hopeless ruin. This is self-evident. Tile two things are inseparable. If human nature is capable of improvement; if there be one redeeming feature in it; if there be aught in it which can be made available—a single ingredient which God can accept; then verily is there no need for redemption and the new birth—then is there no truth in the words, " Ye worst be born again"—no truth in the words, The Son of man 'host be lifted up."

But we must turn to our chapter, and in doing so, we would remind the reader that, in order to seize the full force and import of the opening words, he must view them in immediate connection with the preceding chapter. There we have man, weighed and found wanting; and that, too, under the most favorable circumstances. " There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine."

Here human nature is proved to be deficient, at a moment when, if at all, it ought to be able to answer to the demand. " No wine" at the nuptial feast was a striking commentary on man's state and competency. If there is ever a moment or a scene in man's history in which he might be expected to yield joy, it is at a marriage feast.

But no; he is found wanting in the presence of Christ. This is the point here. Jesus goes to man's nuptial feast and finds him incapable of yielding a single particle of joy. "They have no wino." Such is the humiliating confession. Wine is the symbol of joy; and loan has to own that, even amid the festivities of the bridal hour, he has none.

Some may object and say this is all the merest imagination. We reply, It is not an imagination, but a fact; and a fact, moreover, which speaks in impressive accents to all who have ears to hear. Can we cede, for a moment, the idea that the Holy Ghost has recorded the history of the marriage in Cana of Galileo without a specific design? Impossible. There is a marked object in it, and that is to show not only man's utter deficiency, but further to prove that he must be a debtor to Jesus for every atom of true joy; and finally, that there can be no joy for men, no joy for Israel, no joy in the earth, until the water of purification is turned into the wine of the kingdom.

But we have still farther proof of man's ruined condition. " The Jews' passover was at band, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." John 2:13-16.

Here we have the wickedness of man's heart flagrantly displayed. The very temple of God is made a scene of ungodly traffic.. The worship of Jehovah is made an occasion of greedy grasping after gain. And doubtless, had those unhallowed traffickers been questioned as to what they were at, they would have pleaded all manner of pious excuses. They were only providing for the convenience of those who had come from a distance to worship the God of their fathers. And had they not divine authority for this? Could they not quote Deut. 14 in defense of what they were doing? " If the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: an I thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy household." Verse 24-26.

Men are not slow to betake themselves to arguments which have a certain pious ring about them. They can even quote scripture in defense of their covetous practices. But the eye of Christ could penetrate to the very depths of the soul, however those depths might be concealed by the flimsy arguments of a pious plausibility. He was not to be deceived. He discerned the motive-springs in the heart. He detected and unveiled the moral roots which lay concealed from ordinary eyes. He calls things by their right names. That which should have been the house of God, had become, in their hands, a house of merchandise—that which should have been a loved and hallowed retreat for all true worshippers, was turned into a den of thieves. The precincts of the sanctuary were desecrated by the godless traffic, of those who had learned to turn the service and worship of God into a means of " filthy lucre."

How solemn is all this! What searching lessons are here read out in the ears of the professing church! Is Christendom one whit better than Judaism? Are nominal Christians the breadth of a hair in moral advance of nominal Jews? Alas! alas! we must reply in a melancholy and humiliating negative. Nay; it is worse and worse. For, inasmuch as Christianity is in advance of the legal system—inasmuch as the doctrines of the Gospel are in advance of the shadows of the law—so much is Christendom worse than Judaism—so much are nominal Christians more guilty than nominal Jews. The corruption of the best thing is the worst corruption. The higher the privileges, the deeper the guilt that corrupts them. " Thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell." Is not Christendom higher still, in religious advantages and spiritual privileges? Doubtless. What must be her end? No human tongue can tell—no pen portray—no heart conceive. May the awful reality of these things affect all our hearts more deeply! They are indeed awfully real, for as sure as our blessed Lord Christ did, with a scourge of small cords, clear that godless scene in the temple of Jerusalem, so surely will He clear this guilty Christendom with the sword of judgment and the besom of destruction, of all stumbling-blocks and roots of bitterness. Oh! then let us be in earnest in seeking to urge our fellows to flee from the wrath to come. Let us stand in faithful, earnest, zealous testimony against the gross corruptions and hideous abominations which are being carried on under the name of Christianity. Let us purge ourselves from the dishonorable vessels of this great house, and turn away, with firm decision, from all those who having a form of godliness, deny the power thereof. May God give all His true people grace and power so to do, for His Name and glory's sake!

We had not intended to dwell, at such length, on the scenes in the second of John; but we trust it may not prove altogether profitless to the reader. It is well to have a full view of man in every stage of his history -every phase of his moral condition. We cannot ponder too deeply those faithful records penned by the Holy Ghost, for the purpose of setting before us the real truth as to what man is—those vivid and forcible illustrations which He has furnished for our learning; and hence, ere closing this article, we must glance, for a moment, at the last paragraph of our chapter which seems, as it were, to complete the inspired picture of man's hopeless ruin.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." Verse 23-25.

To an unpracticed eye, it might seem most hopeful to find persons actually professing faith in Christ. Was not this the right thing? Yes verily, if the profession were genuine. But, if spurious, it was only " worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." There is nothing which so hardens the heart and sears the conscience as mere head knowledge—lip profession, nominal faith. To seem to be a Christian, and yet not to be, is the deadliest, delusion possible. " What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he path faith, and have not works I" Such is the solemn inquiry of the inspired guardian, of practical godliness—a whole. some word, most surely, for this day of wide-spread and worthless profession—this day in which millions, on every first day of the week, stand up in the presence of Almighty God, and say they believe this, that, and the other, -while, at the same time, every scene and every act of their lives give the lie to the utterance of their lips? What must be the end of all this terrible dishonesty—this heartless-profession—this gross inconsistency? Oh! for a thorough awakening!

But what was the fatal defect in the faith of those persons referred to in John 2:23? It was this—they believed " when they saw the miracles which He did." Now this was not a divinely wrought faith at all. A faith merely founded on miracles is not saving faith. It is a nominal, notional, bead belief and nothing more. It leaves the soul in greater darkness than that of mere nature. There is no blindness so sad as the blindness of those who profess to see, while as yet their eyes are fast closed by the god of this world, who is never better served than by those who have a name to live while dead.

" But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man."

Reader, we would ask thee one question, ere we lay down the pen. It is this—Can Jesus commit Himself to thee?

(To be continued if Lord will.)

Worship, and homage too, we bring,

With joyous hearts we joyous sing,

To the earth-born heaven-crowned king,

Jesus Christ the Savior -

Worthy of homage and of praise,

Thus we sing our joyous lays."

Nicodemus: Part 2

From the glance which we have taken at John 2, in our last paper, we are in measure prepared for the opening lines of chapter 3. "Man" cannot be trusted. He has been weighed in the divine balance, and found wanting. He has been tried and tested in every possible way, and proved to be utterly worthless. Man, in his very best estate, is unfit for the kingdom of God. " Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man." " They that are in the flesh cannot please God."

These are conclusive statements. There is no possibility of escaping their force and application. There is no exception to the solemn rule. When the Holy Ghost uses the term "flesh," He means the whole race- the whole human family—the first man and all his posterity. So also when He uses the term "man," He refers to the whole species. It is therefore wholly impossible for anyone—man, woman, or child—belonging to that species, that race, that family, to avoid the application of the solemn sentence—" They that are in the flesh cannot please God."

Let the reader see well to it that he really understands the meaning and force of these words. It too often happens that we read, hear, and even quote passages of scripture without understanding their true significance, their spiritual meaning, their proper bearing, their application to ourselves.

What, then, does the Holy Ghost mean when He says, "They that are in the flesh cannot please God?" What is the meaning of being "in the flesh?" Is it the same as being "in the body?" Most certainly not. True Christians, children of God, genuine believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, are in the body; but the Holy Ghost, in Rom. 8:9, expressly tells such that they are not in the flesh." What does this mean? It means that they are no longer viewed by God as connected with the first man—the old Adam—in the old creation. They have entered upon an entirely new footing; they belong to the second Man, the last Adam. They are " in the Spirit," in Christ, members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. They are a new creation. They have passed from the old platform of nature on to the new platform of grace. Hence, although they are in the body, as to the fact of their condition, they are not in the flesh as to the ground or principle of their standing before God.

If we mistake not, it will help the reader immensely, in the clear understanding of this weighty subject, to bear in mind that holy scripture speaks of two men, the first and the second. These two men are each presented as the head of a race. As is the head of the race, so is the race of which he is head. Every member of the race stands in the position of the head. There is no difference.

Now, if it be asked, '' When did the first man become head of a race?" Was it before or after his fall? After, most surely. When the first Adam became the head of a race, he was driven out of paradise; he had lost his innocence; he was a ruined, outcast, sinful man.

We speak, of course, only of Adam federally. Looked at personally, he was pardoned and saved; but he could not transmit his pardon, his salvation, or his new life to his race, or to any single member thereof. These things are not hereditary. They are the fruit of faith; and a father cannot believe for his son. All that belonged to the first man, personally and naturally, he could, in the way of nature, transmit to his posterity; but all that which he enjoyed by grace, through faith, was peculiar to himself, because faith is intensely individual.

But it is of the very last possible importance that the reader should thoroughly understand this great foundation truth of headship. When the first man became head of a race, he was a fallen creature. Hence, if we look at Cain and Abel, we shall find in them a simple illustration of the truth, that, as is the head, so are the members. Both these men were born in sin, and shapen in iniquity. There was no difference in their birth, their nature, or their moral condition. The apostle does not say that " By faith Abel was a better man than Cain." No; but " By faith he offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice." No doubt, in their after history, we see the difference in the men, and the difference in their conduct, because Abel was born of God, and Cain was not; and thus it is that John presents the two men, when lie says, " This is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." 1 John 3:11, 12.

Paul, in Heb. 11, presents the principle on which Cain and Abel stood before God. John presents the nature and practice. In each we have the two men as representing the two races. Abel took his true place as a sinner, and found refuge in the blood of the Lamb. Cain refused to do this, and took his stand upon his own doings. Abel, by faith, placed the blood of a spotless victim between his sin and a holy God, thus he was saved, pardoned, accepted, justified. " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of"—what? of himself? of his feelings? or even of his faith? By no means. What then? " God testifying of his gifts."

And what was it that distinguished Abel's gift? What marked it off from the offering of his brother? What gave it its value in the judgment of God, and made it the meritorious ground of his pardon and justification? 13lood! Yes, reader, all was founded on the blood. Sin having come in, and death by sin, the only way of life, and the only ground of righteousness, is in the blood of the Lamb. To this Cain would not listen, would not submit. He took his own way. He rested on his own doings. He brought a bloodless sacrifice, thus ignoring or denying his guilt. He brought the fruit of a cursed ground, without any blood, to remove the curse. Such was " the way of Cain." Here lay his fatal mistake. He was rejected, not because he was a sinner, but because, being a sinner, he had dared to approach a holy God without blood.

Doubtless, Cain, like thousands in this our day, might reason, and argue, and speculate. He might think it far better, far more suitable, far more rational, far more natural, to bring fruits than blood. But, ah reader, of what possible use can it be to argue, and reason, and speculate? Is it not far better at once to submit to God's way? He must have the upper hand at last; why not let Him have it now? Why not cast aside all our proud reasonings and lofty imaginations, and bow to His eternal word? That word shall judge at the last day, and it shall prevail forever. No power of earth or hell, men or devils, can possibly stand against the word of God; and hence it is the very height of folly and wild madness for anyone to set up his thoughts or his reasonings in opposition to the plain statements of holy scripture; and, on the other hand, it is the beginning and end of all true wisdom to submit in all things to the absolute authority of that word which is settled forever in heaven.

Now, if there is one doctrine above another which shines with special luster, and stands prominently out on the page of inspiration, it is the glorious doctrine of the blood. From Genesis to Revelation it runs like a broad golden line, visible to the most cursory reader. No sooner had sin entered, and man's nakedness become thereby apparent, than the Lord God Himself gave the first great testimony to the indispensable necessity of the blood, in the fact that the coats of skin with which He clothed the naked pair were furnished by the shedding of blood.

What a telling fact! Adam and Eve had sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. But these proved perfectly worthless. They did not even satisfy their own minds. '' I was afraid,'' said Adam, because I was naked." Yes, naked, though he had the apron on. He actually ignored his own device in the moment of real trial. He felt himself perfectly naked because his covering was a bloodless one.

It may, perhaps, be objected that this was but a mere figure. Yes; but a figure of what? Of a great fact- the first of a series of facts which stud the sacred page from beginning to end—facts demonstrating, beyond all question, that, in a world of sinners, THE BLOOD OF ATONEMENT IS THE ONLY BASIS OF ETERNAL LIFE AND DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS.

It is full of interest and spiritual instruction to note the moral link between Adam's apron and Cain's offering, on the one hand; and between God's coat and Abel's sacrifice, on the other. In the former, the blood is completely ignored; in the latter, it is divinely established. There is nothing which so completely sets man aside as the doctrine of the blood; and hence it is that his religious mind so entirely rejects it. Man will work, pray, give, suffer, in order to secure the salvation of his soul, because this gives him a place, and makes him somebody. But man will not accept and confide in the blood, because it makes nothing of all his efforts and all his pretensions. If it be true—and it is true, because God says it—that " without shedding of blood there is no remission," then verily is man's religiousness completely swept away, inasmuch as he can only be pardoned and justified by the death of another.

Reader, have you found pardon and peace in the blood of the Lamb?

Nicodemus: Part 3

IT is of importance that we recognize, to the very fullest extent, the various moral and religious advantages attaching to the position and character of Nicodemus; for, just in proportion as we see and weigh them, do we see the utter insufficiency of all such things to give true rest and satisfaction to an immortal soul. If we had before our eyes a grossly wicked person, a scandalous liver, a drunkard, a thief, or an extortioner, we should all of us feel disposed to say, that such a man has just cause to be dissatisfied with himself, and uneasy as to the future, for, without any manner of question, he is plainly on the broad road that leadeth down to everlasting burnings.

But when we look at Nicodemus, " a man of the Pharisees "—" a ruler of the Jews "—" a master of Israel "—a man evidently occupying the very highest position, and enjoying the very highest religious reputation; when we see such a man giving clear proof of dissatisfaction and uneasiness, it should lead us all to consider well our position and prospects. If Nicodemus, surrounded by everything calculated to lull the conscience into repose, and to fill the heart with confidence and self-gratulation—if a man like him had serious misgivings as to his entire position and prospects, then, most assuredly, it becomes all to look well to their foundations and title deeds.

And it may not be amiss to remind the reader that he must not suppose that the term " Pharisee," in our use of it, presents the same idea as it did in New Testament tunes'. Now-a-days, a man would deem it an insult to be called a Pharisee. But, in the days of Nicodemus, to be a Pharisee was about the most respectable and enviable position that anyone could enjoy. Paul, when he counts up his advantages as a man in the flesh, when he enumerates those things of which he might naturally boast himself, names this amongst the rest, '' As touching the law, a Pharisee.'' To be a Pharisee, therefore, was something to be proud of, as a man. It was viewed as an advantage of the very highest order.

Now, Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He seems to have had every possible religious advantage; and yet he was ill at ease. He had secret misgivings. He was not sure of his foundations. He was dissatisfied with himself, and with his surroundings.

We shall see presently how much reason he bad to be uneasy. We are now as occupied with the fact that he was so. He fat in himself somehow that all was not right, that lie lacked something; and that that something was not to be found in the system to which he was attached, and in which lie occupied such a high position. His heart was not at rest, and his uneasiness was evidenced by the fact of his coming to Jesus.

Now, there is something uncommonly interesting in the history of a man like Nicodemus; and not only interesting bat most instructive. We may here learn in the plainest possible manner, that no system of religion under the sun can ever satisfy the cravings of an awakened conscience, or hush the anxieties of an earnest soul. If any one could find peace in a religious position, or by means of religious observances, Nicodemus might have done so. He was a leader in that system which had been set up by God Himself,—a public teacher and guide of the professed people of God. He sat actually in Moses' seat, and could, as we say, give chapter and verse for all those institutions with which he stood connected. There is no system now existing, or that ever has existed, call it what you please, Greek church, Latin church, Anglican church, high, low, or broad, no religious organization beneath the canopy of heaven, that can put forth such claims as the Jewish polity, inasmuch as this latter was a divine institution, whereas all the former are of human devising, and cannot stand the test of holy scripture for a single moment; they are not of God, though many of God's beloved people and Christ's honored servants are enrolled as members of them.

Bat the religious system in which Nicodemus was trained could boast of having its foundation laid by the hand of the Lord God of Israel. We speak now only of the Jewish economy—its ordinances and offices, which was set up of God, for His own wise ends, a shadow, no doubt, of good things to come; but still appointed of God, and as such, possessing more powerful claims' upon the heart and conscience, than any other system before or since.

And yet Judaism could not satisfy Nicodemus. No; nor can any ism on the face of this earth satisfy the aspirations of a heart that has been roused, in any measure, to a sense of the reality of eternal things. The wants of the soul are far too deep and manifold to be supplied by the fairest and most imposing appliances of systematized religiousness.

Some, however, may feel disposed to say, ' We can understand how drat no merely human system of religion can meet the soul's need; but was not Judaism set up of God? Were not its sacrifices and its priesthood, its laws and its ordinances, of divine appointment? why then could they not moot all the requirements of the soul, and hush the anxieties of the heart?"

If the reader will turn to Heb. 9 and x he will find an elaborate answer to this question—an answer penned by the Holy Ghost, for the special benefit of those who had been taught from their earliest days to build upon the resources of the Jewish religion, and who, though, like Nicodemus, they had discovered their utter inadequacy to meet their need, and had been taught to look to something outside and beyond them all, were nevertheless in danger, through the craft of Satan and the egregious folly of the human heart, of being led back again to the unsatisfying shadows of a by-gone ago on which " Ichabod" had been written, in characters deep and broad, by the hand of Jehovah Himself.

We feel that we cannot do better than quote some passages, lest the reader should not have his Bible at hand.

Speaking of the Jewish economy, the inspired apostle says, " Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary."

Let us mark this, dear reader, " Ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary." Do we not see abundance of this around us in the professing church? May we not observe, on all hands, a sedulous effort to introduce " ordinances " and to set up " worldly sanctuaries?" And all this, not merely in strict accordance with the letter of Old Testament scripture, but according to the commandments, doctrines, and traditions of men, the dictates of the human will, and the wild wanderings of the human imagination. Alas! alas! it is so; and souls in an unconverted state, some utterly careless; some perhaps really serious and anxious, are taught to build upon and make their boast in what can only be regarded as mere consecrated vanities. All this is perfectly appalling to every thoughtful mind.

But let us proceed with our quotation. The apostle informs us that this worldly sanctuary, with all flat appertained to it " Was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." And again, " For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect." Heb. 9:1, 9, 10; 10:1.

How was it possible for any earnest heart or awakened conscience to find rest in such a system? How could shadows tranquillize a troubled soul? Impossible. We want solid realities—divine substance—eternal verities—accomplished facts.

And yet, though this be so, is it not most deplorable to mark the way in which precious souls are being led astray by the cruel deceiver, and taught to build upon rites and ceremonies which are not even a shadow of good things to come, but a blind to hide from the sinner's view the good things that have come the glorious work that has been accomplished, and the Person of Him who has accomplished it? Is it not perfectly heart-sickening to see our fellow-men bewitched and deceived by the gross absurdities of ritualism, bowing's, scrapings, genuflections, vestments, stained windows, and candles in broad day-light? What folly! what an insult to common sense! Only think of men shutting out the light of heaven by their stained glass, and then lighting candles on what they dare to call the altar of God! And these silly vanities are offered to immortal souls as a basis for their eternal salvation! They are virtually and really, though not professedly, robbed of Christ, His sacrifice, and His priesthood, and instead of Him, they are furnished with the senseless mummeries of a dark and degrading superstition.

We write not to give offense to a single reader of Things New and Old," but we must write as we feel or else lay down the pen, and resign our Editorship. How can we be silent, when we see the glorious gospel of Christ abandoned, and immortal souls ruined by thousands? We really cannot; we must speak, whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear. We must sound a warning note in the ears of our fellow-men, and solemnly call upon them to abandon every refuge of lies, to flee from the wrath to come, and find refuge and rest in that one divine and eternal Sacrifice which was offered on the cross eighteen hundred and forty years ago, and is as fresh and as efficacious to-day, as when it was presented by the eternal. Son, and accepted by the Father. Why will the teachers of Christendom persist in leading souls astray? Why will they continue to give them shadows instead of substance? Why will they not open their eyes to see, and their ears to bear the history of the Jewish system? Why will they not learn from it the utter worthlessness of a religion of shadowy representations? Why was Judaism set aside? Because it could not niche him that did its services perfect, as pertaining to his conscience. By what has Judaism been displaced? By the Person, the Sacrifice, and the Priesthood of the Son of God. But what are the ritualistic doctors of Christendom doing? They are actually displacing the Son of God, His Person, and His work, by shadows of their own devising; by rites and ceremonies for which there is not a shadow of authority within the covers of the volume of God.

And we would ask is it not positively impious as before God, to set up a system of carnal ordinances, when He has abolished forever that system which He Himself set up, because it could not satisfy His claims, or meet the sinner's deep necessities? And is it not absolutely cruel to teach people to build the salvation of their souls upon ordinances which do not even possess the value or dignity of those which God has for over set aside by the cross of Christ? The fact is, modern ritualism is neither Christianity nor Judaism, but a mongrel system graved and fashioned by art and man's device, and used of Satan to set aside the glorious Christianity of the Now Testament, to dishonor Christ, and ruin eternally the souls of men.

Christian reader, are we sufficiently awake to the awful condition of things in the church of God? Are we sufficiently in earnest as to the truth of God, and the souls of men? Are we sufficiently alive to the great interests at stake? Are we not sadly deficient in our appreciation of the Person and work of Christ, and the value and authority of the word of God? Are we not terribly cold and indifferent as to the state of souls around us? Do let us weigh these things in the divine presence. Let us wait earnestly upon God and ask Him to stir up our whole moral being in reference to these grand realities. May He graciously deliver us from all cold formality and dead routine; and make us fresh, earnest, deep toned, thoroughly devoted to Christ, and His blessed cause. Time is very short. Souls are perishing. The door of mercy, held open for eighteen long centuries in long-suffering mercy, will soon be closed, closed forever against those who are moving up and down, and in and out before our eyes every day. May God, in His rich grace and abounding mercy, waken us all up to a sense of our responsibility, and lead us forth in calm steady purpose of heart, not in the spasmodic efforts of a fitful zeal, to serve Him in our day and generation!

(To be continued if the Lord will)

Nicodemus: Part 4

How constantly the thoughtful student of scripture is struck by its depth and comprehensiveness! How much, for example, is wrapped up in the following sentence, in reference to Nicodemus, " The same came to Jesus by night!" His coming to Jesus proved beyond question that deep anxieties were awakened in his soul. He felt a want of something. Perhaps he could not have defined his want to any one had he been asked to do so. But still there was a want—a craving- a blank—an anxiety, which nothing within or around him could meet. It might not have been a deep sense of guilt, nor yet a keen dread of danger, but he was dissatisfied, and therefore he came to Jesus.

But then " he came by night." And this fact is noted three times over by the Holy Ghost. Indeed, Nicodemus is never once named, save in immediate connection with his coming to Jesus by night. See John 7:50; 19:39. This fact is never forgotten. It is inseparably linked with his name, in three distinct statements of the Holy Ghost, recorded on the page of inspiration. " The same came to Jesus by night."

Now why was this? Why did Nicodemus seek the cover of darkness for his interview with One whom he recognized as a Teacher come from God? Surely, if' He were such, there was no reason to be ashamed or afraid to come and hear what He had to say.

Alas! the heart understands too well the reason why this master in Israel should seek the privacy of the night for his visit to the despised and outcast Jesus of Nazareth. Nicodemus was very far indeed from being prepared to break with Judaism—to give up the world, or abandon his position. It was one thing to be uneasy in his position, and quite another to be prepared to give it up. It was one thing to be dissatisfied with Judaism, and another thing altogether to be prepared to turn his back upon it. It was not an easy thing to surrender position, influence, and reputation. These are things which the poor human heart clings to with a fond and earnest tenacity. Even money itself, so much prized by most, will be scattered with a liberal hand, if position and influence can thereby be attained.

True it is, to one whose eyes have been opened to see the true character of everything under the sun—to one who has been taught to look at things in the light of eternity, to weigh them in the balances of the sanctuary; and who, moreover, has found rest and satisfaction for his heart in Christ, and all his springs in the living God—to such an one, all this hankering after position and influence, this jealousy about personal reputation and character, this care as to the thoughts of men, seems perfectly pitiable. He has passed in spirit beyond it all. He lives in a region where such things have no more weight than the chair of the summer threshing-floor. They have no charm for his heart. He would not give a " thank you" for all the power, influence, grandeur, wealth, position, and popularity, which this world could heap upon him. He reads the stamp of vanity-utter, miserable vanity- upon it all. He knows, and is persuaded, that it is all passing away; that the clods of the valley will soon cover it all, and the dark shadows of an eternal night settle down upon all those who live only for this world.

But more than this. The man whose eyes have been anointed with heavenly eye-salve sees a beauty, and a preciousness, and an excellency in Christ, which flings into the shade all the glory, the grandeur, the pomp, fashion, glitter, and glare of this wretched world, of which the prince of darkness, the enemy of Christ and of God, is the ruler. What does such an one want with wealth or power? He can say, " I have learned in whatsoever state I am to be content." His heart is satisfied. He is at rest. He has Christ. He lives in the light of eternity. He breathes the very atmosphere of heaven. He is, by faith and in spirit, now, where he shall ere long be in person, and where all the strivings and the graspings, the scrapings and the hoardings, the groveling lusts and passions, the heavings and tossings, the plotting and planning, the scheming and overreaching, of this Godless, Christless, guilty world can have no possible place.

But our friend Nicodemus was very far indeed from this elevated ground when he sought the covert of the night for his interview with Christ. He is not prepared to meet the scorn and derision of those with whom he was socially and religiously associated. Position and reputation were as yet an object to him, and he was not prepared to fling to the winds the thoughts and opinions of men. He was not yet able to count his own righteousness and all his religious advantages as dung and dross, inasmuch as he knew absolutely nothing of " the excellency of the knowledge of Christ."

But further. The very opening words of his address to our Lord reveal in a remarkable mariner his moral and spiritual whereabouts. He says, " Rabbi, WE know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do those miracles that thou doest except God be with him." Here we are admitted to the real secret of his thoughts about Christ—the amount of his apprehension rejecting Him. He viewed Him merely as a teacher, whose divine legation was incontestably proved by the miracles which He did.

Now, it was most assuredly true that our blessed Lord was a teacher come from God, and that His miracles proved Him to be such. But then Nicodemus needed something more than a teacher. He needed a Savior, a Quickener. This he had not yet learned. That lie was ill at ease is evident. The fact of his coming to Jesus proves it, as we have said; though his coming by night; proves that he was by no means prepared to break with the world.

But many a one is ill at ease who does not know the full extent of their ruin, misery, and danger. There may be some misgivings, a certain consciousness that all is not right; but they do not see that their entire condition is a wreck, the whole tree, root and branch, corrupt—the whole system in which they stand condemned, from foundation to topstone. It is not a question of some defective points, which a Teacher come from God may set right. The fact is, there is nothing right. It is not only that the conduct is bad, the practical life a mistake, a vanity, and a lie; but the nature, in its very deepest springs, is utterly and hopelessly corrupt.

This is an all-important fact to seize. It must be discovered sooner or later. But, oh! how unspeakably dreadful to find it out when it is too late! How awful to discover my ruin when I am forever beyond the reach of God's remedy! It is simply to " open the eyes in hell!" Alas! alas! how many there are who will only open their eyes in that appalling place! How much better to hearken now! How much wiser to take God's account both of this present evil world, and of our own personal condition, than to find these things out amid the blackness and darkness of eternal perdition!

Reader, have you seriously thought of these things? Have you found out the truth as to the world and as to yourself? Let us not rest satisfied with dwelling on the history of Nicodemus,, with seeing this, that, and the other point in his truly interesting narrative. We must bring things home to ourselves. Say, then, dear friend, have you bowed to the testimony of God as to the world, and as to yourself? You will be compelled to do so some day. Why not now? The whole world, that thing in which you are living, and in which, perhaps, you are trying to find your home, and your portion, and your enjoyment, is all under the curse. The stamp of death is upon it, and the heavy cloud of divine wrath and judgment is hanging over it. It is of no possible use to deny this, or to seek to shut your eyes to it. It is a fact, whether you believe it or not. A man asleep in a house on fire is none the safer for being unconscious of his danger. So with you, if you are unconverted. You are in and of a world that is as surely hastening on to judgment as the sparks fly upward.

And not only so, but you yourself are declared, by the word of Him who cannot lie, to be a ruined, guilty, hell-deserving sinner, for whom, if you die as you are, there is nothing but the anguish and torment of the lake of fire forever, and forever, and forever. The bare reference to it is perfectly overwhelming. What will the realization be? Oh! dear friend, do let us reason with you. Be persuaded, we entreat of you, to think of these weighty matters this very hour. Do not let the enemy of your precious soul any longer lull you into a false and fatal repose—a repose which may be broken in upon at any moment by the arrow of death, and succeeded by the horrors of a never-ending hell. Be assured of it, it is only a question of time -it may be hours, days, or years, when you must face the solemn realities of eternity. There is no possibility of avoiding this. Forget it you may; meet it you must. We want you now to pause, and look this whole question straight in the face. Take no rest until you are assured on God's authority that " the torment and the fire your eyes shall never see," for the most solid and blessed of all reasons, that Jesus bore your heavy burden on the tree; that He endured, on your behalf, the wrath of a sin-hating God, in order that you might draw nigh to God in all the sweet confidence which His perfect love and Christ's perfect work must impart to the soul that believes.

We shall now pursue our narrative. It is intensely interesting; indeed it must ever be so, to trace the progress of the work of God in a soul, to mark the stages by which the soul travels from nature's moral darkness into the full blaze or God's marvelous light.

Nicodemus took the first step in a right direction when he came to Jesus; and although there was a lack of boldness in coming by night, still, it was well to come at all. We must not expect to find the same measure of energy and decision in every case. Some of us are terribly timid and cowardly—sadly under the influence of the fear of man, which bringeth a snare -far too much affected by public opinion. It needs a powerful grasp of divine and eternal things, an intense realization of the value of the soul, and the deep solemnity of our future, to enable us to rise above the thoughts of men, and fling aside all thought of our position, our influence, and our reputation. Although, in our moments of calm reflection, we cannot but see the utter folly and contemptible weakness of such timings, still, there they are, and their effect is to hinder us sadly in a firm purpose to flee from the wrath to come, and lay hold upon eternal life.

Hence we can understand, and make large allowance for, Nicodemus. We can easily and fully account for his coming to Jesus by night; and we can heartily bless God that he came at all—that lie found his way, even amid the darkness of the night, to One who has said, for the encouragement of all, " Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." Precious words! living, powerful, attractive words! " I will in no wise," on no ground, for no reason whatsoever, " cast out." Who can resist the winning, soul-subduing, power of such words as these? They assure every comer, no matter who he is, or what he is, of a hearty and immediate welcome to Jesus. Nothing is allowed to stand in the way. There is no difficulty, no barrier, no obstacle. It matters not how deep the guilt, how many or how great the sins, how cold the heart, how dead, how ungrateful, how barren, how unworthy, how miserable—the word is, " Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out."

No doubt, when the blessed Savior has us in His presence, He will make us feel everything according to the truth of what He is. We shall see, and think, and feel, and judge, according to the light which streams in upon us from Himself. But it will be all in His presence. If we look at ourselves, and think of our sinfulness and unworthiness, it will only deepen the sense of His grace, for has He not welcomed us, spite of all that we are, and all that we have done? Have not His own precious, charming words fallen, in all their attractive, encouraging power, upon our hearts, in the moral distance of our condition as dead in trespasses and sins?—" Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out!" Yes, truly. Well, then, when we have come to Him, and, in the light of what He is, made discoveries about ourselves—the state of the heart, the guilt of the life, the magnitude and multitude of our sins, such as we never thought of before we set out, or on our way—will not all these things make some difference? How can they, when He has said, " I will in no wise cast out?" Impossible. The only difference they can make is to enhance our sense of the matchless grace of Him who is at once glorified and gratified in saving the chief of sinners. As our debt swells, under our enlightened gaze, from fifty pence to ten thousand talents, it will only deepen our apprehension of that princely grace which has "frankly forgiven us all." Each item in the category of our guilt will but awaken a fresh note to the praise of that grace which has blotted out all our transgressions as a thick cloud. It will but magnify and illustrate the value of that precious blood -which claenseth us from all sin.

Here we pause for the present. May these golden words on which we have been dwelling, those accents of sweetest, richest grace, fall with power upon the heart of the reader—" Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out."

(To be continued, if the Lord will)

Nicodemus: Part 5

The more deeply we ponder the opening words of Nicodemus, the more fully we must see how very far he was from apprehending the glory of the Person of Christ, the object of His mission to this world, or his own real condition, as one dead in trespasses and sins. Our blessed Lord was very much more than " a teacher come from God." He was Himself God over all blessed forever; and it is the special object of the Holy Ghost, in this marvelous Gospel of John, to sot Him before us in all His personal glory. " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men."

And then, as to the object of His mission to this world. Was it to teach mankind some new system of doctrine or morals? No; it was to impart life—that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested in the Son. Man was dead, morally, spiritually dead. There was not so much as a single pulsation of spiritual life in man. It was not merely a question of conduct, of what man was doing. As to this, there might be endless shades of difference. The conduct and character of Nicodemus would, no doubt, contrast strongly with that of the woman of Sychar; but there was no more life in him than in her. Their condition was one and the same—they were dead. Neither the one nor the other had the smallest perception of the glory of Christ's Person, or the object of His mission to this dark and sinful world. True, Nicodemus had a character and a reputation to maintain. The woman of Sychar, on the contrary, felt herself so degraded, that she chose a time for coming to draw water when she might escape the public gaze. Her character was blasted and gone. She stood on the very lowest step of the social ladder. Nicodemus stood on the very highest. Her society would be shunned.; his would be courted by all who had a care for their fair name, or for the good opinion of society.

But, then, when these two, so unlike in outward conduct, stood in the presence of Him who was the light of the world, all distinction vanished, because the deep moral roots of their common nature were revealed in the power of a light which makes everything manifest.

It is of the very last possible importance for the reader to lay hold of this great foundation truth—to see that the real question is not so much what we have been doing, as what we are. No doubt the former has its place and its importance; for, most assuredly, men will be judged according to their works; and the wrath of God cometh upon men for certain deeds; there will also be the few stripes and the many. See Eph. 5:5, 6; Col. 3:5, 6; Rev. 20:12, 13; Luke 12:47, 48.

All this is most clearly established by the word; but it leaves wholly untouched the truth of our common ruin. We have our individual sins, but we are all born in sin; and " there is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the, glory (4. God," The moment you take " the glory of God" as the standard by which every ruin must be judged, you can see at once that all distinctions lade away. God can accent nothing short tied which comes up to the perfect standard of His own glory. The apostle does not say, ".All have sinned, and come short of their duty—-short, of the requirements of the law—short of the claims of conscience." Not any one of these things could furnish the true touchstone or test for man. It is the glory of God, and whatever comes not up to that high and holy standard must be utterly rejected. A man may say that he Las tried to do his best—to do his duty—to live according to the dictates of his conscience—to live up to his light. But the question is, " Have you lived up to the glory of God?" Would God be glorified in accepting you on the ground of what you are, or of what you have done? Would it be to His glory to admit you into His presence, on the plea that you have in all things met His claims?

This, we may rest assured, is the only true way to view this great question. It will avail nothing to talk of our duty, nor yet to compare ourselves one with another. If Nicodemus had compared himself with the woman of Sychar, he might have found some plausible ground on which to plume himself'; but if he measured himself by the standard of the glory of God, his righteousness would appear as " filthy rags," and he would have no difficulty whatever in bowing down to that leveling, humbling, sweeping statement, " there is no difference."

Now this " no difference" doctrine is most unpalatable to all those who pride themselves on their reputation, and are seeking to work out a righteousness for themselves by their good works, their alms-deeds, prayers, religious services, church and chapel going, high-toned morality, benevolence, philanthropy, and such like. Such people cannot bow to the " no difference" principle. They cannot endure the thought or wing classed with the very scum of society. They Mum), believe that all are alike. They will maintain, and contend for it, that there is a difference.

And why is this? Simply because they are measuring themselves by a false standard. This being so, they must reach a false result. If I measure a web of cloth by a false yard-measure, can I possibly get a correct idea of its length? Assuredly not. Nor is it otherwise with all those who refuse to submit to the judgment of God as given in scripture, namely, that " there is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." They judge by a false rule. They " measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves among themselves;" and in so doing, as the apostle tells us, " are not wise." No one can form a prop:)r estimate of himself by comparing himself with his fellows. It is only in the divine presence we can get a true view of ourselves. " Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for"- what? " I have compared myself with others? I have measured myself by a human standard?" Nothing of the kind; but " mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Had Isaiah compared himself with others, he might have found ample cause for self-gratulation; but when lie saw himself in the light of the glory of God, he had but one thing to say of himself, namely, '' I am, undone." He saw himself and his surroundings to be stamped and stained with 'uncleanness, because he stood in the full blaze of a light which makes all things manifest.

Now, it was a ray of the same light and of the same glory that fell upon the heart of Nicodemus, when Jesus uttered those words in his hearing, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." This was a most marvelous utterance for a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a teacher in Israel. It was brief, no doubt; but, oh, how full! how deep! how pointed! how comprehensive! There was no getting over it, or under it, or out of it. It went down to the very deepest roots of man's condition, and there applied the sharp ax of God's eternal truth. It declared, in the very plainest terms, that " there is no difference." If "« man" must be born again, it is perfectly evident that there can be no difference. He does not say that some men must be born again—men of peculiarly scandalous lives, depraved and demoralized in their thoughts and habits. Had our Lord said this, Nicodemus would at once have understood Him. But no; lie speaks of "man," as such—of the race—of fallen humanity. He states the absolute necessity of a new birth for everyone, not merely for a woman of Sychar, but for a man of the Pharisees.

Here, then, most assuredly, we have the "no difference" principle thoroughly established.. It matters not what a man may possess in the way of human righteousness, moral character, standing, or reputation. If he must be born again, if he must get a new life, a new nature, he possesses no real advantage beyond the very lowest, vilest, and most degraded member of the human race, inasmuch as the one as well as the other must be born again. Were it merely a question of moral reform, a man of good character might plume himself on the ground that lie wanted little, if any, improvement. A Pharisee could say, " God, I thank thee that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican." But then, if this Pharisee, as well as the publican, needed to be born again, where lay the difference? If there must be a new life communicated, a new nature imparted, the one was just as far off as the other. The absolute, indispensable, necessity of the new birth, in every ease, proves, beyond all possible question, the utter and hopeless ruin of man—of every man—of the writer and the reader of these lines. It is not reformation, in any shape or form, whether for the Pharisee or the publican, but a new birth, a new life, a new nature, a new creation. The most improved, cultivated, polished, and religious man, in nature, is as far from the kingdom of God as the most degraded sinner on the face of the earth.

Reader, do you accept this doctrine? Do you accept it in its application to yourself? It is very humbling. It leaves not the breadth of a hair of standing-ground for man in nature, be he who or what he may. It matters not, in the smallest degree, what a man may have to boast of or glory in, he has nothing which he can carry with him into the kingdom of God; for in that kingdom " all things are of God." " If any man be in Christ he is a new creation." It is not the old thing improved, but the new thing imparted. It is not a new piece put upon the " old garment," whether that piece be moral reform, self-improvement, religiousness, or even the profession of Christianity. It must be an entirely new thing. " That which is born of the flesh is flesh." It is of no value whatsoever in the sight of God. " The flesh profiteth nothing." " They that are in the flesh cannot please God." John 6; Rom. 8

These are most solemn and startling statements. We press them, with much earnestness, upon the attention of the reader. The devil is seeking, in every possible way, to cast dust in people's eyes, so that they may not see the -full moral force and practical bearing of this great truth upon themselves. The devil has no objection to moral reform or religiousness without Christ; nay, he will most sedulously seek to promote both the one and the other. He likes well to see men trying to improve themselves, and even to see them turning pious, provided they do not turn to Christ.

But this weighty truth respecting the new birth he will not have. He will cushion and quash it by all means in his power. He will give you plenty of religious forms and ceremonies. He will allow you to go in for the very highest type of ritualism. He will permit you to engage largely in the wide range of religious organization. You may spend your fortune, your time, and your energies, in what is called church endowment. Anything and everything, in short, but this—" You must be born again."

How needful, then, it is, how deeply important, for each one of us to put the question to his own heart, " Have I been born again?" Everything hangs upon the answer we give to this question. If we have not experienced the new birth—if we have not been "born of water and the Spirit," that is, by the word of God applied to our souls by the power of the Holy Ghost -then are we, in very truth, dead in trespasses and sins, far off from God, on our way to eternal perdition. It matters not in the smallest degree what place we hold in the social circle, or in the religious world. I may be a person of blameless morals, unblemished reputation, high up in the religious world, a preacher, a teacher, a pastor, respected by all—perhaps judged by all to be a true Christian—and yet, if I have not been born again, the Lord Christ declares I cannot see or enter the kingdom of God; and if I am not in the kingdom of God, I am in the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of Satan; and all my moral qualities, social virtues, and religious advantages, are but the trappings by which Satan seeks to blind my eyes to the truth and reality of my present condition and future destiny.

Now, reader, is not all this most solemn? And does it not behoove us to make sure work of it, as to how we stand in respect to this momentous question—" Am I born again?" It does seem perfectly marvelous how anyone can go on for a single hour in a state of uncertainty as to this. Here we are, with an open Bible before us, with all its solemn, weighty, and lucid statements as to the certain doom of all who die out of Christ—all who die under the headship of the first Adam—die in their sins—die without having been born again. Men may seek to reason, and argue, and oppose. They may try to set aside the truth, the awful truth of eternal punishment; but it is of no use; scripture is against them. The word of God declares in manifold places that man is immortal as to his soul—he must live forever. Where is he to live? Where is he to spend eternity? Reader, what say you? 'Where? If you are not born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God; and if outside the kingdom of God, whether it be with all the advantages of a Nicodemus, or in all the degradation and shame of a woman of Sychar, still you are outside that heavenly kingdom—the kingdom of God's dear Son; and, if outside of that, you are inside, and part of, the kingdom of darkness, over which Satan rules as god and prince.

Beloved reader, do let us entreat of you, ere we close this paper, not to put off the settlement of this great question. Do not any longer go on in uncertainty. Rest not until you can say with holy certainty, I have passed from death unto life"—" I have turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven"—" I know I have eternal life"—" I am in Christ."

God grant that this may be the language of every reader of " Things New and Old!" May the Holy Spirit clothe His own word with power to the heart and conscience of each one who shall take up the present number! This is our heart's deep and earnest desire, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Nicodemus: Part 6

IT demands a measure of acquaintance with the history of exercised souls to enable us fully to appreciate the difficulties which surrounded Nicodemus, and drew forth from him the oft-quoted question, "How can a man be born when he is old?" We are not to suppose that this was the inquiry of a mere heartless caviler, or of one who raised difficulties merely for the sake of raising them. We believe Nicodemus was thoroughly in earnest. We do not see how this can be called in question. The very fact of one, so high up in the social, moral, and religious sphere, coming to Jesus, proved a measure of real earnestness; and hence we must regard him, not as a curious, but as an anxious, inquirer.

But a hazy mist enwrapped his understanding. He had been trained from his earliest days to look upon the Jewish system as of God; and to consider the Jewish people as the children of Abraham, the special objects of divine favor. What, then, could be the meaning of this new birth? Whence the need of it? And how was it to be accomplished? The divine Teacher bad just assured him that this new birth was essential to his entrance into the kingdom of God. According to this, he certainly was not in that kingdom, inasmuch as he had never been born again, nor did he even know the meaning of any such thing. Were it a question of moral reform, of getting rid of certain bad habits, and adopting good ones, he could easily understand that. The very best stand in need of improvement, and the most perfect character will be found, on close inspection, to have some defects.

All this he could easily comprehend. We may safely believe that Nicodemus would at once have entered upon any new line of conduct which the Teacher come from God might suggest to him. But this being born again was entirely beyond him. He could not grasp it. How was it possible for a man to be born when he was old? Could he enter the second time into his mother's womb and he born? In short, he was completely at sea. The ground on which he had hitherto been resting was giving way. Tie had no doubt considered himself in the kingdom of God, inasmuch as he was one of Abraham's seed; but now this heavenly Teacher insists upon a new birth as an indispensable pre-requisite for entrance into that new and heavenly kingdom which was being announced. What could this new birth mean? How is it possible for a man to be born again?

Reader, mark the divine reply. " Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, lie cannot enter the kingdom of God; that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

Here we have the entirely divine character of the new birth most pointedly and forcibly set before us. It is perfectly evident that a man can have nothing to do either with his being born, or his being born again. Both the one and the other are independent of himself; and, most assuredly, the latter is not less so than the former. The very idea of a man's having aught to do with his new birth is as irrational as it is unscriptural.

It is wholly and absolutely of God. It is an essentially divine operation in every respect, from first to last. It is wrought by the word of God and by the Spirit of God, and nothing else. It is not of man in any way, but altogether of God.

Does this touch, in the smallest degree, the great question of man's responsibility? Assuredly not. No one truth can ever interfere with another. Each truth occupies its own sphere, and rests upon its own basis. If this be lost sight of, we must, of necessity, be perplexed and bewildered. A moment's calm reflection will enable the reader to see that, in speaking of the subject of the new birth, it must be taken up on its own merits, and viewed entirely apart from the subject of human responsibility. The two things are perfectly distinct; to confound them is to mar the integrity of each, and interfere with its action. When we think of the new birth, we think of something which is quite as independent of man as the creation of the world, or his own entrance, as a creature, into the world. On the other hand, when we think of man's responsibility, we are occupied, not with a divine operation, but with the bounden duty of man as a responsible being. To make use of any one divinely established truth, in order to weaken another, can only be regarded as the fruit of man's folly and Satan's craft. If we are to be taught by holy scripture, if we are to bow down to its authority in all things, then, verily, we must believe, on the one hand, that man is a responsible being, whose duty it is to bow to the testimony of God; and, on the other, that he is dead in trespasses and sins, and needs the mighty action of the word and Spirit of God to quicken him into new and eternal lire. Are we to reason about such things? No; we are to believe. If we attempt to reason, we sit in judgment upon God. This will never do. God is wiser than we. He knows what is best. He understands what is fitting for Him to do -what is worthy of Himself. It is of no possible use for men to reason in opposition to divine revelation, for God must have the upper hand. He must judge, and not man.

But we must return to our subject, and seek to understand how a man is born again. Doubtless, hundreds are plunged in as deep a mist as was the master in Israel.

And yet it is all most simple. It is nothing more than receiving into the heart the precious, incorruptible, seed—the word of God, unfolded and applied by the power of the Holy Ghost. Thus we read in Jas. 1, Of his own will begat he us with, the word of truth." So also, in 1 Peter, " Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the 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." Chapter 1:23-25.

From these most precious passages we learn that the word of God is the grand agency, in the hand of the Holy Ghost, in producing the new birth. The gospel of the grace of God, implanted in the heart by the blessed ministry of the Holy Spirit, is the incorruptible seed whereby the soul is quickened into new life. Wherever the glad tidings of salvation come with power to the heart, there the new birth takes place; and there, too, is the clear and most comfortable evidence of the sours election of God, as the apostle says, in his Epistle to the Thessalonians, " Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in' the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance."

This makes it all so blessedly simple for the heart. It clears away a thousand difficulties. A person may say, " I would give worlds to know that I am born again." Have you received the glad tidings of God's salvation into your heart? Do you believe in the love of God, as proved in the gift and the death of His only begotten Son? If so, you are born again; you have gotten new and everlasting life; the word of God is the germ of life planted in your heart by the power of the Holy Ghost; you have passed from death to life; you are a child of God; you have actually entered the kingdom of God; and, blessed be His name, you can never perish.

The reader cannot possibly be too simple in his apprehension of this glorious truth. Thousands of earnest souls are sadly perplexed about it. The enemy has spared no pains in surrounding it with all sorts of difficulties, and shrouding it in a thick mist, so that the poor heart is often on the very borders of despair, ardently longing for the new birth, and not knowing the blessed fact that that birth has actually taken place.

Now, it is the sense of all this that leads us to press upon the anxious reader the importance of attending, with simplicity of heart, to the teaching of holy scripture on the subject of the new birth. We shall not occupy his time or our own in combating the ritualistic absurdity of baptismal regeneration—the foolish notion that any soul can get life by water baptism. The scriptures we have quoted prove, beyond all question, that our Lord, in His interview with Nicodemus, refers to the word, under the well-known figure of water. This is an established truth with all spiritual students of scripture, and hence there is no need for us to enter upon any elaborate proof of it in this place. We believe most surely that when our Lord speaks of " being born of water," He means being born of the word. There is nothing mystical, abstruse, or puzzling, in the matter. Every one, man, woman, or child, who receives into the heart the blessed gospel of the grace of God, has received Christ Himself, and this is life eternal.

As many as received him, to them gave lie power [right, authority, or privilege, εζουσιαν] to become the sons of God, to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12, 13.

How clear and consolatory is all this for the anxious soul! lit is divine. It opens up the entire question of the new birth with wonderful power and fullness, and places it upon a basis entirely independent of man. How am I to know that I am born of God? If I have received into my heart the blessed message of God's free love—if I have believed in the gift of God, His own Son—if the word of the gospel has come with power to my heart, then, verily, I am born of God, I am a child of God, I have entered the kingdom, I am the happy possessor of a life which I can never lose, because it is divine and everlasting. A link has been formed between my soul and God, by means of His word, which no power of earth or hell, men or devils, can ever break. I am in relationship with God, and nothing can ever dissolve it. I have eternal life, as the gift of God, and we know—for scripture tells us—that " the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." All praise to His name throughout the everlasting ages!

But how new and strange must all this marvelous truth have appeared to a master of Israel, a ruler of the Jews, a man of the Pharisees! Nicodemus felt the entire platform on which he was standing giving way before the powerful teaching of the Son of God. All his religious advantages, all his privileges as a Jew, all that he had been taught to cling to and lean upon from his earliest days—all was being swept away from him. This new birth left him not so much as a single shred of his own righteousness; it stripped him completely of everything, and placed him on a level with the very vilest and guiltiest of the sons of men. The very worst of men needed nothing more, and the very best could do with nothing less than this blessed new birth. " That which is born of the flesh is flesh;" and " the flesh profiteth nothing." " They that are in the flesh cannot please God." Do what you will with flesh -with man's fallen, sinful, guilty nature—and you cannot make it acceptable to God, or fit for His heavenly kingdom. A man may leave off his wicked works; he may give up certain gross forms of worldliness and outward sin; he may turn over a new leaf, and become outwardly moral and religious; he may even become a public preacher and teacher of religion, and yet never have experienced the new birth—never passed from death to life never been born of water and the Spirit.

How deeply solemn is all this! How needful to have it pressed home upon the heart and conscience, in this day of wide-spread profession! Can aught be more sad than to see men and women deceived by the notion that they are all right because they have given up certain forms of outward sin and worldliness, and become zealous sticklers for religious forms, vigorous supporters of christian institutions, and liberal contributors to the various schemes of religion and philanthropy? There may be all this, and yet the soul be unsaved. " That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Do what you will with flesh—educate it, cultivate it, improve it, elevate it to the very highest possible point of civilization and refinement, and you cannot change it into spirit—you cannot make it fit for the kingdom of God. Religious " flesh" is no nearer to God than the very grossest and vilest forms in which fallen humanity can clothe itself. " We must be born again."

Say, reader, have you been born again? Have you passed from death to life? Have you really come to Jesus, as one utterly and hopelessly lost in yourself, and found in Him salvation? Turn not away, we beseech thee, from this weighty subject. Be not offended with our plain and pointed dealing. Do not fling this paper from thee in disgust and impatience. Say not, „I am sick of this everlasting dunning of religion in my ears. I am weary of this perpetual preaching to me about religion and eternity. I am no worse than my neighbors. I shall take my chance. God is merciful."

Oh! beloved friend, speak not thus, we earnestly entreat thee. Let nothing induce thee to neglect the great business of thy soul's salvation. " What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Do, then, think of thy precious immortal soul! Think of eternity!—think of the unutterable horrors of the lake of fire—the unspeakable joys of the Father's house; look to Jesus now, and be saved!

Nicodemus: Part 7

IN the course of our Lord's reply to the repeated inquiry of Nicodemus, He unfolds that great foundation truth on which the new birth, together with the whole fabric of Christianity, rests. He speaks of the absolute necessity of the death of " the Son of man." If it was essential that man should be born again—should get new life, it was also essential that the Son of man should die.

Thus the matter stands, according to the clear and emphatic teaching of Him who spake as never man spake. There must be a new life, seeing that the old is utterly irrecoverable. The first man had been tried in every possible way, in order to see if any good could be found in him, or anything could be made of him. But all in vain. He was proved to be absolutely irremediable.

What then remains? A new Adam has entered the scene—the second Man—the Lord from heaven. For what end? To improve the first man? To give him a fresh start? To take the first man in his fallen condition into partnership or union with Himself? No; but to die: to be lifted up on the cross; to close, forever, the history of the first man, and to become, in resurrection, the Head of a new race—the center of a new creation. " No man bath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believed' in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Here, then, we have the cross presented as the only ground on which a new and an everlasting life can be communicated to roan. If the word and Spirit of God are the may agency in communicating the life, the cross is the only basis thereof. This is of the very highest possible importance. The first man has been completely set aside. There is not so much as a single spark of spiritual life in him—not one single link with God. He has been weighed in the divine balance and found wanting. He has been declared a hopeless bankrupt, utterly ruined and undone. It is of no possible use for men to argue or reason on the point; inasmuch as no argument or reasoning, be it ever so profound, ever so learned, ever so plausible, can ever overturn the fact so distinctly and so constantly set forth in holy scripture. Man is irrecoverably lost. He is wholly incapable of the very smallest improvement, as to his condition before God. His case is hopeless. He »twit be born again. He must get a new life. He must be regenerated by the word and Spirit of God; and, in order to this, " the Son of man"- the second Adam, had to be lifted up on the cross; -for, in no other way could life flow to the first man. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth ford" much fruit." There could be no life and no union save on the ground of death—the death of Christ—the true " corn of wheat."

How completely does this grand truth sweep away, once and forever, all man's righteousness, all his doings, all his efforts, all his pretensions! The second Man should have remained alone, had He not, in Him is infinite grace, descended " into the dust of death" for us. Between humanity as seen in us, and humanity as seen in Him, there could be no union, there was no possible point of contact. " The Son of man must be lifted up." The foundation of our union with the second Mau was laid in His death. It is on the ground of accomplished rode-minion, and in that alone, we are brought into association with Christ, the Head of the new creation. The cross closed, forever, the history of the first man and of the old creation. A risen Christ is the eternal center and glorious Head of the new creation, wherein " all things are of God "—eternal and universal praise to His name!

Bat not only is the cross the grand foundation of the new birth and of all that stands connected with it; but we also see, from our Lord's further words to Nicodemus, that the love of God's heart is the blessed source from whence it all emanates. '' God so loved "—not merely the Jewish nation, but—" the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

Thus we may see how blessedly our Lord seeks to unfold to Nicodemus the deep and precious secret of the heart of God. This is of the very last possible importance, in connection with the subject of the new birth. The fall of man in the garden of Eden was occasioned by his losing confidence in God. The serpent sought, first of all, to undermine the creature's confidence in the goodness and love of God. This must be distinctly seen, if we would understand man's condition. When we recognize the real secret of man's fall, we can understand the necessity of the new birth, and the mode in which it is produced. Man fell by doubting the love of God. The devil persuaded man that God would not let him have a little fruit. Mark God's answer to the devil's lie. He SO loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son."

What an answer! It is this that draws the heart back to God in holy confidence; and where the heart is thus drawn to God, there is the new birth; but this new birth is produced by the word and Spirit of God, as it is based upon the cross. " God so loved that he /Feer;" and not only so, but " the Son of man must be lifted up." No life for man now save through a crucified Christ. It is not life through the church, through ordinances, sacraments, offices, ceremonies, prayers, penances, and such like. It is not life through moral reform in any one way. No; no, reader, It is life through death and in no other way. If the Son of man mast be lifted up, it proves, beyond all question, that man is 'utterly and irrecoverably lost. To talk of moral reform, or of man's recovery, is to deny the absolute necessity of the cross—to make Christ a liar—and overthrow the very foundations of the grand edifice of Christianity.

(To be concluded in our next, if God permit)

Nicodemus: Part 8

The closing words of our Lord's discourse were eminently calculated to stir the conscience of His hearer. We observe in them a most exquisite blending of " grace and truth," both of which, as we know, " came by Jesus Christ." " He that believeth on the Son of God is not condemned." Most gracious words! And how blessedly simple! True, the moment had not yet arrived for bringing out all the fullness of Rom. 8:1, " There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." Ere this great fact could be enunciated,. His Son of man had not only to be lifted up on the cross, but to rise from the dead and ascend into the heavens, and send down the Holy Ghost to be the living link between Himself and all true believers.

Still it was a wonderfully glorious thing for Nicodemus to hear, that "He that believeth on the Son of God, is not condemned." It was well fitted to draw his heart to that blessed One who was speaking to him in. such sweet accents of grace. There was no reason now why he should be condemned—no reason, so far as God was concerned, seeing He had given His Son. No reason, so far as the Son was concerned, seeing He had come from heaven, to be lifted up, on the cursed tree, in order that Nicodemus might not perish, but have everlasting life; for, most assuredly, Nicodemus was comprehended in that most precious, most consolatory word, " whosoever."

But then there were words of "truth" as well as words of "grace" for this dear and interesting man. "He that believeth not." What or him? What is this condition? "He is condemned already."

Reader, mark this. The unbeliever has not to wait for the day of judgment to learn his condemnation. no sentence is passed already. Not executed, thank God, but passed. He is in the position of a criminal who has been tried, found guilty, and sentenced, and. only awaits the day of execution. In that position it is that God's free grace meets him with a full salvation. " God willeth not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Precious words! Words flowing forth from the loving heart of a Savior God. " He that believeth on him the Son] is not condemned; but lie that believeth not is condemned already, because he Lath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Could aught be more just? How else could it possibly be? If, after all the gracious painstaking of divine love, after having tried every possible means, and tried. in vain, He nevertheless sent His only begotten Son that the sinner—ruined, guilty, and hell deserving, might not perish. If that blessed One was refused, what remained? What save the righteous condemnation of every unbeliever—his eternal_ punishment in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone?

Yes, " This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness lather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

It is not now merely a question of having broken the law. He does not say, "This is the condemnation that the law has been given of God and broken by man." No; but God has given His only begotten Son; and not only given Him from 'His bosom, in perfect love, but bruised Him on Calvary's cursed tree, in perfect righteousness as one standing in our place, in order that grace night reign through righteousness unto eternal life.

If then all this marvelous grace and goodness of God be despised—if the Son be rejected—-if God's salvation be refused, what, we again ask, remains? Nothing, most surely, but eternal condemnation. '' How shall we escape," says the apostle, " if we neglect so great salvation?"

However, it is most grateful to the spirit to know that Nicodemus, through grace, received into a divinely prepared heart the good seed of the kingdom. He passed from death unto life, from darkness to light. He was born again. This is only what we might expect, from such an interview, though the narrative in John 3 does not inform us of his immediate reception of the truth.

His case was markedly different from that of the woman of Sychar—different from first to last. She embraced the truth, at once, and became, forthwith, a glowing witness for her Lord. She was not afraid of losing cote by speaking of the outcast Jesus of Nazareth. Indeed she had no caste to lose; and even though she had, we may safely affirm she would have abandoned it as readily as she abandoned her water-pot in order to fling herself, at once, into the cause of Christ.

But, as we have remarked, in an earlier paper, Nicodemus had a position to maintain—a religious reputation to keep up; and this, as it is ever a serious hindrance to the soul in coming to Christ at the first, so is it a grievous clog and a heavy weight which must be laid aside if' we would really follow with firm purpose of heart, a rejected Christ. And oh, how worthless is everything in the shape of character, reputation, and influence, in this world. What is it all worth, if looked at in the presence of hell fire? What is it all worth, if looked at in the light of the glory of Christ, the glory of heaven? In a word, what is it all worth, when viewed in the light of eternity, and weighed in the balances of the sanctuary?

Still, our friend Nicodemus was enabled, in his measure, to make a stand for his Lord. It may be that some would consider his measure small and his pace slow; but he was real, and this is a grand point. It is better to be slow and sure, than to make a hasty plunge into the path of testimony, and retire from it afterward. Nicodemus had a good deal to contend with, and we must take ll the difficulties of his position into account, are we undertake to condemn the slowness of his movements or the feebleness of his words. Some of us find a difficulty in dropping a word for Christ in a railway carriage, a saloon, or a coffee room. How should we feel if placed like Nicodemus, in the midst of a company of Pharisees and chief priests, who had just sent officers to arrest the blessed Lord?

Let us turn to the close of John 7

" Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people, who knoweth not the law are cursed." This was coming very close to Nicodemus. We can imagine the conflict of his spirit. Doubtless the words of the officers encouraged him. But then the withering question, "Are ye also deceived?" Was he deceived? And again, Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?" Was not he a ruler and a Pharisee? And did not he believe? Surely he must speak. Yes, he does speak. " Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) Doth our law judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth?"

Now, we cannot say there was much in this. It was merely asking a question, and a question too which might apply to any one. Nevertheless, it was quite sufficient to indicate the direction in which Nicodemus was moving. It was the stirring of the new life—feeble, it may be, but real; so real that those around him took knowledge of him. We can fancy we see them turning fiercely upon him, with the indignant question, " Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And everyone went unto his own house. Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives."

There can be no doubt as to the genuine discipleship of Nicodemus. His question, simple as it was, plainly identified him with the rejected Jesus; and when we turn to the closing scenes of the gospel of John, we have still more powerful evidence of his personal devotedness; for there we find him identified with Joseph of Arimathea in his loving service to the dead body of his Lord. And oh! how he must have felt as he gazed upon that lifeless form—that body pierced with wounds! What an explanation to his heart of those words, " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up!" Well might lie exclaim, " All! now, I know the meaning of the lifting up.' My Lord has indeed been lifted up on the cross for me. His death is life to me. Let it be mine, now, henceforth, and forever, to live for Him—to spend in His service and to His glory that life which He has won at such a cost but given to me as a free gift."

Reader, ere we close this series of papers, permit us to put this one question to thee. Mast thou believed on the name of the Son of God? If so, thou art the happy possessor of everlasting life, and may the Lord enable thee to speak and act for him, in the midst of this scene from which He is cast out. May thy whole life be a true and effective testimony for the One who left His Father's bosom and was nailed to the cross to save thee from the flames of an everlasting hell? He alone is worthy. Oh! let us seek to live for Him.