THE great truth which is opened to the heart of fallen man, when quickened by the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, is to know that the fullness of all blessing is in God. Self, under every form which it may assume, is the center of all the thoughts of man in disunion from God. He was separated from Him in knowledge, and with loss of the knowledge of the fountain of good, came the alienation of his affections; and thenceforth, under the rule of another Lord, the object of all his powers was to serve the body of death which became his dwelling. But redemption, while it is deliverance “from this present evil world,” is specially deliverance from ourselves, for being crucified with Christ, and raised up in Him, the presence of the Spirit is the continual death of the flesh. Where there was darkness and death, there is life, and light, and glory. Where there was shame and fear, “now because we are sons, God hath sent into our hearts the Spirit of His Son, crying Abba Father,” bearing witness in that single word of all that “manner of love” which He hath opened to us in Himself and which He hath shed abroad in those whom He hath justified. And thenceforth the heavenly calling of the Christian is to know God—to be brought in communion with Him into that “knowledge of the Holy Ones,” which is understanding—to have all thoughts and desires dwelling only upon Him in never-ceasing contemplation of the blessed and blessing One—even as He reveals Himself according to the riches of His glory.
And from the knowledge of God in the Church, all outward exhibition of His character in the life must flow. Where the apprehension of it is defective, there will necessarily be corresponding poverty of expression in everything which constitutes the essential loveliness of Christianity; for it is only in proportion as God is manifested—manifested in Jesus—that there can be any representation of His mind in His people. The word of God, received into the heart in power, is the word of life; and from its unhindered development flows the true and healthful character of the saints. The simple state of the believer is to know that there is life in Jesus, and that in Him he has eternal life, and thus to receive in communion with Him, the unmingled blessing which flows down from the Son of the living God. It is no longer a subject of doubtful questioning—uncertain feeling—but of undoubting peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For who that lives doubts that he lives, or would seek to anatomize the hearing ear, or the seeing eye, to assure himself of the reality of that which is revealed to them? If the freedom of unconsciousness in natural health and life, is the best proof of the functions of mind or body being undisturbed, and a morbid state be indicated by sensitive uncertainty much more is the spiritual life, which makes us one with Christ, in full and healthful course, only as it turns us away from ourselves to forget—to lose ourselves in contemplation of Him, on whom all the mind of God is occupied—with whom all the thoughts of His saints Should be occupied. A child asks not about his life, but lives in actual enjoyment; and this a picture of the child of God. Whilst walking with Him, his children often make most advance when least conscious of the work of the Spirit upon their minds; for their eyes are fixed upon His glory in the face of Jesus Christ, and knowing that alone, they become changed into the same image. It is the part of faith to receive unquestioning, all that. God hath given in “the Son of His love;” and liberty of action will be proportionate—liberty because unquestioned...
The preceding thoughts have arisen out of others (painfully contrasted) regarding the present state of the Church. A fair inheritance and a bright earnest in present joy is its prerogative, but to one at all acquainted with the state of Christianity in general, the unhealthy character of the religion of the present day (I speak of God’s people) is but too evident. Instead of the simplicity, the forgetfulness of self, the single undivided looking to God’s glory which naturally flow from His free Spirit, the present isolated state of Christians (for they are scattered but as spots in masses of unbelief and worldliness) has naturally communicated to Christianity a character of individuality—nay, of selfishness. Each one is engrossed with his own stale, his own growth, his own fears and hopes; and individual progress is made a greater object than the glory of God—as tough there could be a separation between the two. Instead of the mind being opened to new and fresh discoveries of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are laid up in Christ, (Col. 2:22That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; (Colossians 2:2).) that which is now distinctive called experience, is the soul, stopping short of the full apprehension of redemption, occupied with itself not with God, discovering itself—not Him. The eye is turned inwards in profitless dissection of a heart which is “only evil,” and therefore prevented from looking upwards; a search profitable indeed for a while it may be, if it stops not there but leads to God as the end, and deliverance from all uncertainty. All experience of ourselves is only the experience of evil—experience of God alone gives rest, and acquirement of positive blessing.
It needs not to speak here of the proofs of this morbid state of religion, as seen in its external form. Never indeed might the stir and excitement seem to be greater, but the very pomp and circumstance with which she walks, “silver-slippered, through the streets,” proves, sadly proves, that the “Spirit of truth whom the world can not receive” is not there; that whilst she saith I am rich, she is poor, and having a name to live, is dead; whilst the principle office of the Church to be an exhibition to the world of the grace and truth which are in Christ, is well-nigh or altogether lost.
In sad truth the whole framework is in disorder, which is marked by the consequent want of healthy action in the members; and in the moral desolation which is around, remain only slight traces of former order and beauty. The Church being corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ has lost its glory, and with it its holy standing. The consequence to individuals (for all suffer in the failure of the body) has necessarily been a low and defective standard of holiness and much want of a true estimate of the believers right position in sonship with God.
A striking and lamentable proof of this tendency of the religion of the times to concentrate upon self the promises of scripture, is seen in the almost entire loss (practically) of the hope of the Church, and the substitution of that which Christians can look for only as individuals, namely that the resurrection glory, the only hope of which the witnesses, of which therefore the Spirit can witness, and in which the common interest of all the redeemed is centered, as being the manifestation of the glory of Jesus, is almost lost sight of, except in theory; whilst in its stead, death is proposed to all, at least generally, as the point which brings in the consummation of the Christian’s hope, and the fulfillment of all his desires. The principle is carried out in the whole course of popular interpretation of scripture; and in public discourses, and individual experience, little beyond this is spoken of or rested upon: the inevitable consequence is the separation, more or less, of the joy of the individual from the joy of Christ (which can only be fulfilled in the consummation of all) and the concentration of his feelings upon himself. True it is that “to depart and to be with Christ is far better:” the change is blessed whensoever any of God’s people are removed from a world of evil and sin,. and Satan can no longer harass them; but this is not the point to which the eye is directed by revelation—for if there be one thing which is witnessed by the death and the resurrection of Jesus, it is that death has been overcome. And His people look to resurrection and not death, because that in Christ the sentence has already passed upon them; they are crucified with Christ, therefore they know that the flesh is dead, and reckon themselves as dead—dead to sin—to the world. Their true standing is as being delivered out of a world lying in death, into the world of life. This is their present portion, by virtue of their union with Him who is the quickening Spirit. They are separated from the surrounding world of sin and death, by the cleansing power of His blood, by which they are sanctified; they are brought personally near to Him in communion by the light of life, which He sheds abroad in their souls. As far as faith is concerned, the crisis of death is passed by them, for they have died with Him (Rom. 6.) and His own word is— “if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” (John 8:5151Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. (John 8:51).) Henceforth they are privileged to have the mind of God—to have one object in view with Him whom they love, one common end (so to speak) with God and Christ, the accomplishment of all purpose in Him. The subject suggests a few considerations, though all would fall far short of its unspeakable import.
The great work effected by Satan in the fall of man, was the disorder and scattering of all things. The first Adam was the link between God and His creation, the medium by which all blessing was conveyed to everything which He had made, as the appointed king and lord of all. When he broke his allegiance to God, the communication was severed; and having sold himself to another master, the operation of God’s sentence was to bring himself and all his lost dominion into subjection to death. The fountain of life was cut off, and it is now a world where death is the witness of sin; the stamp and character passed upon all things as the clear evidence of what they now are in the sight of God, and marking entireness of separation from their original standing in his favor. Righteousness, life, kingly dominion are all gone. Yet it is a marvel, when we know by the light of revelation, the true character of all that is invested with the deceitful coloring of Satan—to see that all man glories in as his own, as the proof of his own wisdom and excellence, all that he does and rejoices in, is but remedy—remedy against himself. The proudest results of science and art are but devices—imperfect devices—necessitated by the devastating effects of his own sin, without which they had never been, and simple proofs of his being reduced to do without God, and to act for himself. Thus does he endeavor to hide the witnesses of evil, which rise up against him wheresoever he moves; and for death too, if it might be, he would find a remedy, but there is none; he would put it out of sight if it were possible; but still it remains, the last humbling evidence of his actual condition, the true value of himself, and of all his works. Yet there is remedy—remedy for all the disastrous work of Satan, and the breaking up of God’s order in His creation by the entrance of sin. The purpose of God, though apparently frustrated, was not so, for in that purpose Jesus was set up before the world began, to be head and Lord of all. The mystery of his will, which was aforetime hidden, and obscure in scripture, is now made known to us, “that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both those which are in the heavens, and those which are upon the earth, even in him,” (Eph. 1:1010That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10).) Of this gathering, the cross is the power of God in the fulfilment of this purpose. “Having made peace by the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.” (Col. 1:2020And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20).) The witness and seal on God’s part is in the resurrection of Jesus (who is manifested therein as the second Adam, the head of life and new creation) the great testimony of redemption, the declaration of the future re-uniting to God of all that had been separated from His love—man, and the groaning and travailing creation around him. It is on this that the mind of God is resting, even the full accomplishment of His own wondrous counsels, and everything has been directed by Him to this gathering, when the entire triumph of righteousness over sin—life over death, shall be seen in the full unfolding of that love which has risen above all man’s evil.
And as a witness upon the earth of the glory of the Father into which Christ is raised, and His own glory with which He shall come hereafter, (Luke 9:2626For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:26).) the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead was sent down at His ascension into the hearts of His saints, the earnest of the resurrection power Of Christ, and beginning of God’s gathering. The place, therefore, of the Church, was to fulfill a two-fold evidence— to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places that to them now might be known, by it, the manifold wisdom of God, (Eph. 3:1010To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, (Ephesians 3:10).)—to the world as witness, the only witness, of redemption, convincing it thereby “of sin; of righteousness, and of judgment.” (John 1610Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; (John 16:10)) The Spirit of the risen Jesus could testify but of one thing—resurrection, because it is the earnest of that; the revelation to the believer of a day when the sons of God shall be manifested, and everything which now bears the impress of death, in Himself and around Him, shall he swallowed up in life. The Church is the first fruits (James 1:1818Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18).) of God’s purpose, of Christ’s gathering, “in whom we also have obtained an inheritance.” The great HOPE of the Church, therefore, is in the consummation of the glory of her Lord. The Spirit of God, the uniting Spirit, gathers out of the dominion of Satan this earnest to the praise of His glory. For what is the condition of the Christian in the world? He is spiritually risen indeed with Christ, above the world of death, into the resurrection world—the kingdom of God’s dear Son; but he bears the record of death in his mortal body, and walks where it is yet swayed by Satan, where there is naught but ruin; and the more he has of the Spirit of God, the more must it testify of the godless anarchy and confusion which characterize the rule of evil. His members are upon the earth, though he counts them dead, and finds therein the secret of power over sin, in the contest between the flesh and Spirit. But the Spirit is life because of righteousness, and he overcomes incommunion with the strength of the risen Savior, Still death is to be overcome, though it be conquered indeed as to the conflict in which Jesus was the victor, but a victory of which the full blessing is yet to be conveyed to Himself, to the Church, and to Creation. But when? in dying?—that is but a circumstance in the way, touching his own individual case, in no way connected with Christ’s glory, save that its power is lost upon him who passes through it, in virtue of the word— “(whosoever liveth and believed) in me shall never die.” No, it is his privilege to have his eye removed from the thought and fear of the last enemy, in joyful earnest looking for that day which shall bring the realization of all his own hope, in the full entering of the Church into the joy of her Lord.
“When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” The contrast between the common state and lot of man, as descendants of Adam, and the blessed standing, and rightful hope of the believer in Jesus, is specially shown in Heb. 9:27, 2827And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:27‑28). Death, and beyond this only, judgment, are marked there as the general appointment passed upon men—their only prospect, But in the place of the one, the Church is directed to look to that one offering of Himself by which Christ has borne the sins of many, in which the power of death, which came into the World by sin, is taken away: for He has borne the penalty in being made sin; instead of the other, is the promise of His appearing, “to those who look for Him; the second time, without sin unto salvation.”: “He that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and shall not come into judgment.” (εις κρισιν) The Christian is as sure of salvation, as that there will be a judgment: for the Son of God, for whom he “waits from heaven,” (1 Thess. 1:1010And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)) who “will judge the world in righteousness,” is the same Jesus “which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
The practical effects occasioned by this limitation of the true hope of the saints, are not the less to be lamented because unsuspected in the minds of many of God’s children. Looking short of resurrection implies an inadequate view of the world, in the hopeless misery of its present state of alienation from God, as having the full sentence of death already passed upon all around, and of the entireness and actual character of Christ’s redemption from it. It is also almost necessarily accompanied by a false view of the future prospects of the world; for whilst the individual indeed is separated from present things by his own departure, it brings to the mind no thought of interruption to the busy schemes and interests of the millions around, consequently the external aspect of things is unaltered, and may be supposed to continue for successive generations. But the scriptural truth is, that the expectation of any prospect for the world, save of judgment, is untrue, and leads immediately to wrong practical conclusions. The whole of the present state, fixed as it may seem, hangs but upon a hair, for He is “READY to judge the quick and the dead,” a word which at once sweeps away all stability from the constitution of things. This view implies endurance to the world, and therefore places the mind in a false position. But that which should be nearer than aught besides to the soul of the believer,, is that the glory of Jesus is obscured; for what is contentment in this hope only, but the severing of the thoughts of the individual from union in the common blessing, for which the Church and creation are looking in earnest expectation, in the appearing of Jesus to “take unto Him His great power and reign,” “to be glorified in His saints, and admired in all them that believe”—and centering them upon a state in which though there is bliss, yet there is not glory, though there is communion with Christ by His Spirit, as it is written— “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit— If I make my bed in Hades, behold thou art there,” yet there is not full fruition, that can only be in the presence of His person; for it is together that His people shall see Him. and with the whole of His redeemed only that He will be glorified. There is of necessity therefore in looking no farther, little apprehension of the person of Jesus—of that glorious person to whom His members are predestinate, to be, not only morally, but corporeally transformed, for “He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His own glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself;” and those who look not habitually to the glory of the resurrection will probably find on examination, that their thoughts dwell but little upon the personal presence of Jesus, and all that is implied in this; though they may have many of His spiritual blessings which they enjoy in common with others. And is there not much practical disbelief in this secret passing over the redemption of the body, as if the spirit had all its joy when separated from this tabernacle? But verily if the scripture speaks of joy—to the redeemed, it in full redemption; and everything in the gospels and epistles witnesses of this. Little is said beyond a passing word of the separate state, but the minds of the writers, or rather of the Spirit in the writers, rests upon the fulfillment of promise, (1 John 2) and every thought, every longing hope is strained towards this, and lives in its expectation, for the Spirit of God “calls the things which are not as though they were.” Time, present or future, is but a moment till the day when the word shall be verified— “Behold I make all things new.” Oh! the power and triumph of Jesus can be little estimated when we rest not on that which shall prove him King of kings, and Lord of lords, and in which the power of Satan and of sin, shall utterly be dissolved.
The grievous consequence is that the Church has lost its place in the world as the witness of redemption, for only as conformed in Spirit to its title as Church of the firstborn, can it testify of this. To the resurrection—to “the redemption of our body” little importance is attached, though believed in as a fact. The connection between the resurrection of Christ and that of His saints is little realized, though that same Spirit which raised him up, now dwelling in His people, shall quicken them into life— “If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” There is a general belief like Martha’s, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day,” but what saith the Lord?— “I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live, and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die,” It is one of the saddest proofs of Satan’s power that this present bondage is so little felt, and the grand hope of release quenched in the bosom of the redeemed, by that which is so generally substituted. Truly it is looking to that wherein the hand of the enemy is seen, and away from the hand of the living God.
But viewing Jesus as the resurrection and the life, places us rightly and in full liberty of communion through the one Spirit which He hath sent into His Church, will and must give the true character to our desire and hope. Let us refer to a very few passages out of the whole burden of the Spirit’s testimony, in the epistles, to the deliverance of the Church and creation. Thus speaks the apostle Paul— “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation (κτισις) waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God; For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same—in hope—because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” (Rom. 84That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)) Here is the practical position of the Church. Looking for death?—Nay, but looking for the glory which shall be revealed in us, sympathizing with the creation cursed for man’s sin—our sin; the Spirit witnessing to the world and body of death in which they dwell, and waiting for the redemption. And they themselves daily sustained and upheld in this HOPE which lifts them up within the veil, where is seen the surety of all— “We are saved by hope.” Again —what is the prospect opposed to present suffering? The “exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” In death? nay—the reverse; “We that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” (2 Cor. 5:44For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (2 Corinthians 5:4)) Again, what is the strength against afflictions? their termination by death? nay—but “we have the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God that raiseth the dead.”— “Bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus—delivered to death for Jesus’ sake—knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you”— “In heaviness through manifold temptations;” but “the trial of faith” is to be found “unto praise, and honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”— “Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” What is the consolation to those who sorrow over departed friends? Is it the hope of their own departure?—The wish for this would often be unfaithfulness and impatience; but a comfort far more rich is presented in the assurance “that if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” What is the “HOPE of righteousness” but resurrection, for that is based on righteousness? What is the hope that maketh not ashamed, but in the unlimited glory of God, the necessary result of a righteousness which is the very righteousness of God, made ours through Him “who was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification?” It is the testifier of restoration in our hearts, for it comes of the love of God, witnessing within us that we are HEIRS of God—heirs of glory. Take the two epistles to the Thessalonians, one strain runs through them: the leading motive is— “waiting for His Son front heaven;” finishing in the last chapter with prayer that they may be directed into “patient waiting” for it, the “patience of Christ;” as John in Rev. 14John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; (Revelation 1:4), “your brother in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ” (υπομονη.)
The grand object of hope throughout, is—resurrection; for the appearing and presence of Jesus brings this to the living and the dead, those being raised by His coming, these changed in the twinkling of an eye. And here is the one hope of our calling, of which the apostle speaks; not indeed in death, “for we shall not all sleep,” but when “we which are alive and remain,” lose mortality in life, and they who have passed out of death before us, receive their glorified bodies. The great result of the work of Jesus, and the development of God’s purpose will then be manifested; for man will be set up again in Jesus—the second Adam; and present corruption, dishonor, and weakness, will be raised in incorruption, glory, and power. God’s word was— “Let us make man in our image after our likeness.” Behold its glorious accomplishment. Man has borne the image of the earthly Adam, he shall also bear the image of the heavenly Adam, of Him who is One with God—of Him “in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,”— “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person,”—when “death is swallowed up in victory.” God’s word was— “Let them have dominion”: behold it verified in the “restitution of all things;” (Acts 3.) (for the work of Jesus is nothing less) and over the whole creation, redeemed into life and glory the second Adam and the Church “His bride,” are destined to hold their reign; for He is “heir of all things,” and His Church are “joint-heirs” with Him. What is God occupied with? For what is Christ waiting? The believer’s privilege is to have the mind of God, that must rest on the accomplishment: and we fall short of that mind when we rest not on it also. To rest on anything short of this, is unbelief; robs Christ of His glory, and proves that so far our hearts are not in it. The only thought which can gladden the heart that has an ear to hear the groaning of the creation that which has been subjected by man’s sin, is, that it shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. The only joy for him who is pent up within this tabernacle of death, is the whisper to the mind by the Spirit of its bursting forth in immortality—the fervent craving of the heart, in a world which crucified the Lord of glory, is to see him triumphing where put to shame. The one hope which fills the soul, is—to “behold the man!”
And how near is that coming? “Surely it is yet a little while.” Even as the Spirit and the bride say, come; as we—as the Church travail for it in supplication, so is it in nearness; for it is the cry of the Spirit of Jesus in His people which He must know and answer, though if He be patient, they may well endure.
Well then might the apostles with great power give witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus—the one subject which they had to herald through the world—Ηe that was crucified is risen— and wherefore? but because their hope was in it. It was a testimony to the world that it was judged—to him that received the testimony, that there was life—escape out of the death in which he was dwelling, and both to be revealed in the appearing of Him whom God had raised up. Jesus had won resurrection. It was strange tidings to the world, as indeed the truth of God is of all things most strange to the natural man, (Acts 17:2020For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (Acts 17:20)) and well indeed now, if it be not strange (practically) to the Church also. But in the depth of evil nothing is so difficult for the mind to realize as glory. This, as all other knowledge, can flow only from that which is so hard to the flesh, a full and simple subjection to the Spirit of God. This delivers out of all which is of self; and draws the mind from feeding on the husks within, to the contemplation of the true object of living faith for the Spirit must glorify Jesus. (John 1620Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (John 16:20))
One thing more to be pressed on our minds is, that the apprehension of the person of Jesus, and the looking for the resurrection, to be raised up in His likeness, is the secret of practical holiness, For in it the mind is directed to the true standard to which it is to be conformed, and beholding it by faith is proportionally changed into its image. Nothing less was the aim of Paul— “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death, if by any means Ι might attain unto the resurrection (εξανάσταπις,) of the dead.” Many are the objects of others, “but this one thing I do,” saith Paul. Nothing less than resurrection holiness can satisfy the mind which knows of Christ’s glory; “I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness”—for here only is perfection attained. The hope of resurrection is the stamp of the Spirit upon all a believer’s walk; to be conformed to it, his aim; and verily if he rests short of the one in desire, he must also of the other. The criterion of his spiritual state is as he is resting upon the thought, the soul-purifying thought, of resurrection. To this the energy of the Spirit draws, for it gathers into Christ; and even as it unites with Him, as believers live in the glory, they will be proportionally separated from the world. The full manifestation of death on all sides is shown by it, with which God can have no fellowship; the veil with which Satan had covered the charnel house is removed; the whole aspect of things, with all its many-colored diversities of human passion and interest, is placed in its true light—is proved to be but the LIE of “the devil which deceiveth the whole world.” (Rev. 12:99And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9).) But above, and only above, are truth and life. Let us be carried forward by the Spirit into the inheritance, which is our hope, laid up for us in heaven, and see what all that is of earth will seem when looked back upon.
A strange sight is the Church of God now-divided, scattered abroad, (for the common hope which would unite them is merged in other interests, though individuals may earnestly look for it) instead of rejoicing in the truth, confined by systems of theology from discovery of God, and contending for doctrines, which may be done where vital godliness is not; minding earthly things, looking for blessing to the earth before the resurrection comes, and practically evincing their belief “that it might be a tolerable world if all would agree to make the best of it.” And what is this but, as St. Augustine saith, “Beatαm vitam queerere in regione mortis?” Believers have need to cry for the Spirit of God to raise up the hearts of His people into their true position—the apprehension of “the heavenly calling”— “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”— “the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe,” a power no other than that “which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.” But the eye that is not dimmed by fellowship with unrighteousness, may see that the Lord is working even now. The division for the final gatherings is going on. He is separating to Himself on the one side, and Satan is concentrating his own strength on the other. The conflict is between holiness and sin: and the hour is fast coming which will irrevocably fix the side taken by each individual. The Lord keep His servants unmixed with the world, and simply looking to His glory, for even as they who of old waited in this hope lost not their labor, for they were in the position of obedience, and consequently of blessing; it shall surely be so now. They may mourn and weep now, but they shall be comforted. For the day is rapidly hastening which shall bring together the revelations of judgment and of glory. (2 Thess. 1). The reign of death and sin shall be put down forever, and they who have been washed from their sins in the blood of the Savior shall be presented faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. The ransomed Church and creation shall praise the Lamb that was slain, and the Lamb shall offer up all to the Father. “Unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”