It seems an important point of spiritual wisdom, rightly to understand the principle of quotation made by the Spirit from the Old Testament in the New. The Spirit of God can never be less than perfect and infinite (and this, perhaps, is one reason why no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation), but it is no dishonor to the Holy Ghost to say, as scripture says of Him, that He can be grieved, resisted, and, in one sense, quenched.
Now, just as the sin of man may have power to limit the Holy One, so the abounding grace of God may bring out into fuller significance, and more extensive application, the inspired words of the prophets, when they are repeated by the apostles under the new dispensation. I would take, as an instance, the quotation from Psa. 24:1, " The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." These words, in an Old Testament context, may have an Old Testament meaning; there is a glorious truth legible upon the very surface of the passage; but in Paul's day Jesus was glorified, the Holy Ghost was sent down, and He was now ready to take out of the Old Testament treasury things new as well as old, but all of them things of Christ, and to minister largely and freely to the necessities of the children of God. We seem to have some confirmation of this view in 1 Peter 1:11, 1211Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:11‑12). It is not that an unholy person sees nothing and a holy person everything in the word, but holy men of old (the very channels and instruments of inspiration) had one measure of intelligence, and another and a fuller measure was now revealed to another class tinder another dispensation, even to the holy apostles and prophets, by the Spirit (Eph. 3). Accordingly, we may distinguish between three different aspects of Psa. 24.
1. To the unconverted, the passage, like the rest of Scripture, is without form and void. The letter may convey a meaning, but nothing of interest or of spiritual intelligence.
2. To the godly Jew it spoke of Jehovah's present rights, and future manifested dominion.
3. But though this was the -very teaching of the Spirit, there was deeper instruction which the Spirit would bring out by the hand of Paul in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. A question had arisen, requiring exquisite dexterity in the answer, concerning meats offered to idols. And the answer is so contrived, in the wisdom of the Spirit, as not merely to solve the particular difficulty the Corinthians were in, a solution that would have been of little use when the emergency was over, but to lay, in the broadest and clearest manner, the deep foundations of gospel truth.
The question was, "May I eat meats offered to idols?" "Yes," says Paul, "only with due regard to the conscience of another.' "For [and this little word has probably occasioned much difficulty to many in the interpretation] the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." The Spirit in Paul looks abroad over the whole surface of the globe, and sees not one spot that is not the Lord's. But this is not all; the words themselves require a fuller explanation. The Son might say, as Jehovah, "All the beasts of the forest are mine, and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills." But this would only be the right of the Creator. And so, when sin had found entrance into the world, while Jehovah would retain His rights as Creator, this very fact would be against man's liberty. The earth is the Lord's, and, therefore, man is not free, for on every spot of ground where he can plant his foot he is a trespasser. His very existence upon earth is, in a manner, a trespass; and if he dares to touch any of God's creatures, instead of a partaker by grace, God only knows him as an intruder upon his ground, as a thief and a robber. The key, then, to the connection of this passage with conscience must be found in the interpretation of the word "Lord." Creation and conscience do not correspond; but conscience and the Lordship of Jesus do, and this is one blessed portion of teaching in the New Testament.
Let us first look at Rom. 14:99For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. (Romans 14:9), "For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living." Christ, as Jehovah, was Lord from eternity. Christ, as the risen man (and, of course, not merely man), has acquired a lordship, whereby (having by Himself purged our sins) He has power to give us a dispensation to eat freely, asking no question for conscience' sake. Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. Had not man been a sinner, the first clause might have been sufficient; every creature of God is good, therefore, I may use it. And thus many an impenitent sinner is apt to justify not only the use but the abuse of God's creatures. " God," say they, " has given us all things richly to enjoy, therefore, we may enjoy ourselves and forget God." But Paul has not so learned Christ or creation either. He does not say, "Why am I evil spoken of for that which God has made?" but, " Why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks." Here is his warrant. He looks abroad upon the surface of creation, and sees nothing unsanctified by the blood of Christ. Therefore he may use all things. The lordship of Jesus is the liberty of the saint. The blood has cleansed all things to the believer; but the lordship of Him who died, manifested by resurrection and ascension, has pronounced all things clean. A saint will often, in grace, refuse to exercise his liberty, eating no flesh, if need be, while the world stands, lest he cause his brother to offend. But he cannot deny his liberty, for this would be to deny Christ, if it were but concerning the lawfulness of eating one morsel of meat. We seem to have similar teaching in our Lord's words (Luke 11:4141But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. (Luke 11:41)), " But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you." Not that alms-giving could purchase liberty; but it would seem as if our Lord had said, " Act in grace, and so prove you are on the ground of grace; if on that ground, all things are clean unto you." I may add, that, in the two verses of 1 Cor. 10:31,3231Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: (1 Corinthians 10:31‑32), we have, in the clearest light, the largest extent of Christian liberty, combined with the strictest rule of Christian practice. Everything is cleansed to me, if I can use it with thanksgiving. Nothing is allowable that is not done to the glory of God. If we have grace to act on these two principles, we shall neither be Legalists on the one hand nor Antinomians on the other.
I would not conclude this short paper without a few words on the peculiar force of the word "Lord" in this passage. First, the inspired writer of Psa. 24 has declared, The earth is Jehovah's. The uninspired authors of the Greek version have rendered the word "Jehovah" by "Lord," as their manner is. But, lastly, the New Testament has pronounced Jesus " Lord'; and now the Spirit in Paul has, as we may say, set to his seal, that those translators were right (in that passage), and that. Jesus who died and rose and revived was Jehovah as well as Lord.