Young Christian: Volume 34, 1944

“Nothing but to take your place as a lost sinner, to own that you can do nothing for salvation, to believe that Christ bore the judgment in your stead, and that therefore you are free.”

“But I always felt as if I ought to do something.”

“If you could add anything to Christ’s work you would spoil it, for anything you could do would have to be rejected. If a man is in prison for murder, and is sentenced to be hanged, however well he might behave in prison, it could not alter the sentence of death he is under; so it is with us, we are under God’s judgment, and all our good behavior can make no difference; we can only be saved by accepting God’s salvation, thus owning that we can do nothing for ourselves. Surely you won’t refuse salvation because it is free?”

“O, no,” she answered, “I should be only too glad to know I was saved, but isn’t there a verse somewhere which says, ‘Work out your own salvation’?”

“Yes, there is, it is in Philippians 2:12. But first we will see who the epistle is written to. The very first verse says, ‘Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus.’
A saint is not an unconverted person. In writing to these saints, these saved ones, He says, ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;’ the salvation was theirs before they were told to work it out. Working for a dress is not the same as working at it, when once the material is yours. God gives us the salvation, and we have to work it out.”

“I think I see it now,” she said; “I always thought it meant that we were to work for our salvation.”

“Well, we have found out that God wants to save you, that He has given you the will to be saved, and that you have nothing to do but to believe on His Son; is there anything to keep you from being saved now?”

“But I do believe on His Son.”

“Do you really believe that He came to save you?” I asked.

“Yes, He came to save sinners, and I’m a sinner.”

“Then He must have come to save you. Did He perform what He came to do?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“And are you saved?”

“O, no, I should be afraid to say that.”

“Do you doubt God’s Word? He tells us that those who believe in His Son shall never perish; and the Lord says ‘He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life;’ is that true?”

“The Bible says so,” she answered, “only I don’t feel is if I were saved.”

“But God doesn’t want feelings, He wants faith, you will find nothing in His Word about feeling saved, we are saved by believing on the Lord Jesus, and we rejoice, not because we feel saved, but because of what God says about us.”

“But, I should like to feel it.”

“Now just answer me this question,” I said, “If I had put a $5 bill in your pocket, would it not be there whether you felt it or not?”

“Of course it would.”

“And don’t you think you can be saved by faith in Christ, if God says so, whether you feel it or not?”

“I see it now,” she replied, “we have to believe what God says, only it seems like presumption to think I’m saved; there are many people ever so much better than I am who would not like to say that.”

“Don’t you think it is more like presumption to doubt His Word, as if He did not speak the truth?”

“Yes,” said she, “I should not like to not believe Him.”

“Then you must honor Him by taking Him at His word, and trusting to what He says, won’t you do so?”

“Yes, I will; I will trust Him, only I’m afraid that if I sin after this, I shall begin to think I am not saved after all.”

“That would be very wrong,” I replied, “and very dishonoring to Christ’s finished work, as though its value depended on your walk. We who are saved ought not to sin, but we read that ‘Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor, height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom. 8:39). Once His, we are His forever.”

Dear reader, perhaps you have been harboring doubts of God’s willingness to save you. Perhaps you have thought that some change of life was needed before He could receive you. Never were you more mistaken.

God can accept nothing from you until you have accepted His salvation. His Word says

“They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8).

More than this, He cannot save you unless you accept the salvation He offers. If He did, He would not be perfectly just, and if He were not perfectly just and true, how could we trust His Word and expect the fulfillment of the promises He has made. It is the perfection of His character that gives us confidence in what He says. He has done His part, He can do no more, and you are now responsible to accept His offer. Will you refuse it any longer?

“As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).

Extract: Failure

When people fail, we are inclined to find fault with them, but if you look more closely, you will find that God had some particular truth for them to learn, which the trouble they are in is to teach them.

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: 12

“Well, it is not of profit to me to boast, for I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord” (verse 1, JND). Driven by the attacks at Corinth upon his ministry into giving an account (ever so brief!) of what the service of Christ had included for him in persecution, in hardship and in care, Paul turns to another subject connected with his apostleship: that of visions and revelations of the Lord.

“I knew a man in Christ” (it is an inaccurate rendering, and should read, “I know a man in Christ”) “above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I can not tell; or whether out of the body I can not tell; God knoweth”).

Paul was himself the man of whom he wrote: the man in Christ. “In Christ” left no room for human boasting.

Turn back with me to the fifth chapter, and read again verses 14 to 18, including,

“Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature” (or, it is a new creation).

“Of such an one will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory,” the apostle says, in the fifth verse.

This event in his life, of which Paul is telling: when did it occur? It appears, from as reliable chronology as can be found, to have been when he was at Antioch, or not long before that, during his stay at Tarsus (see Acts 11, verses 25-26); soon after this, came the apostle’s first journey with the gospel under the call of the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:1-4).

“Such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man, (whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth); how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words” (or things said) “which it is not lawful for a man” (not allowed to man) “to utter.”

How great was the favor shown to Paul, thus to be caught up to scenes of divine glory! Must it not have been, in part, to prepare him for the path of suffering that was to be his as the Apostle to the Gentiles?

The expression, “the third heaven”, found here only, was a Jewish term for heaven itself as beyond the atmosphere, beyond the stars. In the fourth verse it is “paradise,” twice mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures.

To the dying thief in Luke 23:43 the dying Saviour said, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”

And in Revelation 2:7, in the letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus:

“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

Another has referred to these passages as relating to heaven, “the capital of God’s dominion where He has the garden of His delights.”

It was there where blessedness is that Paul heard things he could not utter.

The Scriptures in many passages very preciously bring heaven before the children of God. It is the place, first of all, where God dwells (Psa. 2:4, 11:4, 103:19 and 123:1); from which He looks down upon the earth (Psa. 33:13), there His blessed Son was from eternity—in the beginning with God (John 1:1-2), and laying aside His glory (Phil. 2) He came down from heaven (John 6:38) to endure the death of the cross. In resurrection, and in the act of blessing those He had drawn to Himself, He was parted from them and carried up into heaven (Luke 24:50-51).

We, believers, await the nearing moment when the Lord Jesus shall descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we who are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Meanwhile if we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord, but it is better far to be absent from the body, present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6-8), the present portion of believers who die. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, the first man, we shall bear the image of the heavenly one, the Lord Himself (1 Cor. 15:42-50).

And, if not in heaven yet, though we shall soon be, we rejoice that our names are written there (Luke 10:20); through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven (1 Peter 1:12) we have received the gospel of our salvation, and are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession (Eph. 1:13-14).

We are not promised many earthly blessings, as Israel was, but we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (or, in the heavenlies) in Christ (Eph. 1:3).

The angels of God are in heaven (Matt. 22:30), but as ministering spirits, they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14; and see Acts 27:23-24; 8:26; 12:6-11).

By nature the children of wrath even as others, we have learned from God’s Word (Eph. 2:3-7) that He, rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace we are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Paul in our chapter mentioned only one revelation; in Ephesians 3:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:15, and 1 Corinthians 11:23 others are referred to, and the turning event of his life is related in Acts 9:3-8, 22:6-11 and 26:12-18. But the circumstances of what he relates in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 were altogether different, in that, the apostle was caught up to scenes of glory, and heard what he could not pass on to others.

Paul would boast of the man in Christ; to be near God in the glory, as out of the body, does not puff up, as another has said. All is Christ, and Christ is all; self is forgotten. Of Paul, the man, he would not boast, unless in his weaknesses (verse 5),

“For if I shall desire to boast, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the truth; but I forbear, lest any one should think as to me above what he sees me (to be), or whatever he may hear of me” (verse 6, JND).

“And that I might not be exalted by the exceeding greatness of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn for the flesh, a messenger of Satan, that he might buffet me, that I might not be exalted. For this I thrice besought the Lord that it might depart from me. And He said to me, My grace suffices, for (My) power is perfected in weakness” (verses 7-9, JND).

The “flesh”, the old nature, is the same in an apostle, as in the weakest believer. In the language of another, “Nothing amends the flesh. Once come back into the consciousness of his human existence on earth, the apostle’s flesh would have taken advantage of the favor he had enjoyed to exalt him in his own eyes, to say, ‘None have been in the third heaven but thou, Paul’.

“But God is watchful; in His grace, He provided for the danger of His poor servant. To have taken him up to a fourth heaven—so to speak—would only have increased the danger. There is no way of amending the flesh; the presence of God silences it. It will boast of it as soon as it is no longer there. To walk safely, it must be held in check, such as it is. We have to reckon it dead; but it often requires to be bridled, that the heart be not drawn away from God by its means, and that it may neither impede our walk, nor spoil our testimony.

“Finally, observe, that the humiliation needed to reduce the rebellious flesh to its nothingness, is used by Christ to display His power in it. Thus humbled, we learn our dependence. All that is of us, all that constitutes self, is a hindrance; the infirmity is that in which it is put down, laid low, in which weakness is realized. The power of Christ is perfected in it.

“Paul needed to have the flesh reduced to weakness, in order that there might not be in it the motion of sin which was natural to it. When the flesh was reduced to its true nothingness, as far as good is concerned, and in a manifest way, then Christ could display His strength in it.” (Synopsis of the Books of the Bible; 2 Corinthians. J. N. Darby).

What was the “thorn” given to Paul? Scripture does not say.

To be continued, D. V.

Gathered to Thy Name

Gathered to Thy name, Lord Jesus,

Losing sight of all but Thee,

O! what joy Thy presence gives us,

Calling up our hearts to Thee.

Yet with reverence we would linger

In the shadow of the cross,

Which has closed our hearts forever

To the world and all its dross.

And we see with joyful wonder

How the cross has cast its light

On the throne of God up yonder,

So that we can walk in light.

Deepest shame and brightest glory

In that wondrous scene we trace,

For it tells the twofold story

Of God’s grace and man’s disgrace.

Loved with love which knows no measure

Save the Father’s love to Thee,

Blessed Lord, our hearts would treasure

All the Father’s thoughts of Thee.

All His joy, His rest, His pleasure,

All His deep delight in Thee,

Lord, Thy heart alone can measure

What Thy Father found in Thee.

O the joy, the wondrous singing,

When we see Thee as Thou art,

Thy blest name, Lord Jesus, ringing

Sweetest music to God’s heart.

Notes of gladness, songs unceasing,

Hymns of everlasting praise,

Psalms of glory, joy increasing,

Through God’s endless day of days.

I … Me … My: Luke 15:29-32

I is the center, me the subject, and my the circle of the human heart. Self and its interests in a word. And nowhere does this come out more plainly than in the self-righteous. Note this elder son. How does he address himself to his father,

“Father, I have sinned”? Far otherwise. “And he answering, said to his father, Lo these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends.”

If in the younger son we have a divinely drawn portrait of the sinner—such as “drew near unto him ... for to hear him” (vs. 1); in the elder son we have as unmistakably the portrait of the murmuring Pharisees and scribes (vs. 2).

“But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots” (he murmured) “thou hast killed for him the fatted calf” (vs. 30).

There is nothing which self-righteousness resents so much as grace, for grace gives it no place. His father had never rewarded the many years of self-imposed and self-extolled service of this elder son with so much as a kid, and now, “as soon as this thy son” —as if he was not his own brother— “is come, who has utterly disgraced the family name, and dissipated its resources,” he would say, “thou has killed for him the fatted calf.” How galling to his self-esteem.

“As soon,” without waiting to take my merits into consideration, “as your harlot-associate of a son came, you killed for him the best beast in the stall” —that always reserved for an honored guest. Share it with his father in such company, “he would not.” No, it was not his father’s company, and what gave him pleasure, that he cared for, any more than the younger son had done when he betook himself to the far country, and to the lowest of company, to be found even there. His words,

“Thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends” —show it.

Though he was “ever with his father” as to position, his heart was as far away from his father as was the younger son’s in the far country, and much more difficult to recover.

And thus it ever is with the formalist. He uses religion as a means of benefiting himself, and to enable him to go on at a distance from God, while his religion quiets his conscience.

The writer’s mother, once, in giving away tracts, offered one to a Catholic priest, not having noticed what he was in the passing stream. The priest drew back, exclaiming,

“I have a religion.”

“Thank God, I have Christ!” was her reply. And, thank God, the young priest found Him too; for coming up to my mother some years after, he reminded her of the above brief conversation, and told her he had never been able to shake off the effect of her words, till he had sought and found Christ, too.

How great a contrast to the mere formalist is the true Christian. His language is,

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20).

When the soul has tasted that the Lord is gracious, it can say,

“The Son of God loved me, and gave Himself for me,” then only it can say, and that with joy, “not I, but Christ,” and finds in Him its object, lives “by the faith of the Son of God,” that is, finds its center in Him, its subject in His love, (“who loved me and gave Himself for me”), and finds its circle in His interests, responds to His call,

“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.”

“It was meet that we should make merry and be glad.” Thus closes this wonderful scene—the most wonderful picture that was ever painted. What is its subject, do you ask, God laying Himself out to recover wanderers—those that are at a distance from Himself, either in immorality, or in cold, self-satisfied morality.

“Yet doth He devise means that His banished be not expelled from Him” (2 Sam. 14:14).

And if it were not so “we must needs die,” die in our sins, die in our ruin and wretchedness, in our lost condition, and distant position. That position of distance to be fixed for all eternity, as it will be for those who hold out to the last against all His endeavors and entreaties, as we read in Luke 16, in the case of the “rich man.”

Yes, my reader, it is solemnly and sadly true, that if you refuse to go into the house, like the elder son in chapter 15, you will have to be turned into the hell so graphically, but terribly described in Psalm 9:17.

For “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

And are you of the sect of modern Sadducees, or of their dupes who deny that there is such a place as hell? Allow me to ask you, who knows best, they or you, or the Son of God? The one who came from the unseen world into ours; that He might lift its curtain for us, and make us know the certainty of heaven and hell, the end of good and evil; and that He might deliver us, at the cost of bearing our judgment from the hand of a holy God; that He might deliver us from the torment of the one, and introduce us into the bliss of the other.

“A picture,” do you say? with the shortsighted logic of all such cavilers. Granted; but a picture of what? “Eastern imagery?” Granted; but of what? Pictures portray something. Imagery represents something real, not that which has no existence. And the picture of Luke 16:19-31 portrays an awful and endless reality, that we might escape it. O, be warned! Thank God you are not yet in that state of torment, where so much as a drop of water to cool your tongue will be denied. (vs. 24.) You may be where you are perishing with hunger (ch. 15:17), and thank God if you feel it. But you are still where the fullness of the Father’s house is offered, bread enough and to spare, even for a hired servant. “The fatted calf” with “music and dancing,” all the delights of heaven for a prodigal or professor; and the best robe, the ring, the shoes, to fit you for the house, to remind you of your Father’s love, and to give you a standing in His favor, as well as His embrace and kiss.

And not only is Luke 15 a picture of God’s grace in recovering the sinner, but of His joy in receiving him.

What a drama is being enacted on the vast stage of this world. And the chief actors—who are they? Wonder of wonders, God in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all engaged in the work of each individual sinner’s salvation and reception. And what a scene is that on which the curtain falls at the close, (vss. 25-32), on God entreating, and man refusing—self-righteous man, too.

And soon, how soon, the curtain will fall on this vast drama—God still beseeching (2 Cor. 5:20), man still refusing. Christ coming again from heaven will close it; all neglectors, refusers, and rejectors being forever shut out (Luke 13:25-30). And the last word is,

“It was meet that we should make merry and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”

Extract: Where the Lines Fall

What need he complain of the world’s emptiness that hath God’s fullness?

“The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance” (Psa. 16:5).

Then let the lines fall where they will, in a sick bed, or prison, I will say,

“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage” (Psa. 16:6).

A Word to Christian Parents

The day of the Lord draws near. The judgment which will end this present time of God’s long suffering approaches. The flood of wrath which will soon sweep over this earth, piles up like the held-back Jordan of old.

Worse than the fiery storm which overthrew the cities of the plain, gathers speedily. In view of this day, let us briefly trace some of the ways of God towards the families of His people in past times of special judgments.

The principle of “Thou and thy house” is not confined to our present gospel era, though, doubtless, it finds fresh force in this day of grace, and the privilege of “Thy house” is greater to us than it ever was to believers of the days of law, or of the still earlier times.

Noah, the preacher of righteousness, the foreteller of the old ungodly world’s overthrow, was not saved alone. The covenant was established with him only, but the blessing of salvation extended also to his family.

“Everything that is on the earth shall die; but thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons and thy wife, and thy son’s wives with thee” (Gen. 6:17-18).

Rahab, who perished not with disobedient, ungodly Jericho, was not saved alone; her prayer for her relatives was heard.

“Thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household home unto thee.” (Josh. 2:16).

At the time of the exodus of Israel the “little ones” went out from captivity as well as the grown persons.

“We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons, and with our daughters” (Ex. 10:9). And in vain did the enemy seek to hold the families of God’s redeemed people.

Again, upon the eve of the destruction of the cities of the plain, the word came to Lot,

“Hast thou here any besides? Son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place, for we will destroy this place” (Gen. 19:12).

These gracious and encouraging testimonies should stir up our faith in this gospel-day, to lay firm hold upon the largeness of the word,

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

“Bring them up in the nurture and admonitions of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).

“Thou shalt teach them (these words) diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest in the way, and when thou risest up.” (Deut. 6:6-7).

Not in Vain

“Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

Cheer up, despondent mission worker, disconsolate Sunday school teacher, discouraged gospel preacher, weary hospital worker, sorely tried tract distributor! Do you not know that however black things look, how little results you see, how many disappointments you meet in seeking to serve your Lord, everything done with a single eye, under the constraint of His love, will receive His “Well done” in a coming day?

A farmer plows, harrows, and sows, often in adverse weather conditions, and without immediate results, but he waits in patience. In due season you shall reap, if you faint not.

We must also remember that the work of some is to sow, that of others to reap, but both shall rejoice together when the havest is garnered. If we cannot all be successful servants, we can all be faithful ones.

To all outward appearance there never was a more unsuccessful servant than our blessed Lord. After arduous days, and weary nights, spent in going about doing good, laboring, toiling, incessantly, apparently He had spent His strength for naught. But was that so? The decision was with His God; and in the day of glory soon to dawn, innumerable hosts, blessed in heaven and on earth, will witness that His labor was not in vain.

Let us labor on, cheered and encouraged “that our labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58). His eye discerns all done to please Him. In every good work we are to do His will. If we cannot do what we would, may it be true that we have done what we could. Whatsoever we do is to be done heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men, “knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:24).

“If any man serve Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there shall also My servant be: and if any man serve Me, Him will My Father honor” (John 12:26).

Correspondence: Praying for Peace and Prosperity in Jerusalem?

Question: Is it consistent for Christians to pray for the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem, or to help along any of the present schemes to reinstate the Jews in their land?

Answer: God has given Christians a heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1). A heavenly inheritance (1 Peter 1:3-4); and blessed them with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3).

For their sins the Jews were driven out of Palestine. They smote the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek ... Therefore Jehovah gave them up as a nation till the time when she which travaileth hath brought forth (Mic. 5:1,3). Then Israel as a nation will be restored. At the present time, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). God’s word about Israel now is, “Not My people” (Hos. 1:9). And they are now as described in Hosea 3:4. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for the Gentiles sakes; they were broken off from the olive tree of God’s testimony on the earth, that the Gentiles might be grafted into it. Their only escape now from judgment is in the mercy of God shown alike to Jew and Gentile (Rom. 11:28-32). Those who receive the gospel of the grace of God, cease to be Jew or Gentile, and are in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28).

Consistently, therefore, as Christians, we pray for their conversion to the Lord Jesus (whose name they now hate), that they might be saved (Rom. 10:1), and thus be children of God, the Father (Gal. 3:26); members of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13); temples of the Holy Spirit, (1 Cor. 6:19). Israel, as a nation never had, nor in the future ever will have these blessings. Every Christian has them now, and for eternity.

We know also that their national place will never be theirs in possession until the coming of Christ, their true King, in His glory (Zech. 12:10; 13:1; 14:4-5. Rom. 11:26-27).

The Apostle Peter, who was chosen to feed Christ’s sheep, converted from among the Jews (John 21:15-17; Gal. 2:7-8), wrote 1 Peter 5:8,

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

He said nothing of them getting back to their own land.

Christians have nothing to do with that, except that we look forward to the day when our Lord will reign, and we shall reign with Him.

Then I Must Be Saved

One day I was thrown unexpectedly into the company of a young farmer, when our conversation turned upon the inconsistencies of professing Christians, which evidently stumbled him. To bring matters to a personal application, I told him my hope, that the Lord Jesus would soon come from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God, and after that every man shall be given a reward according to his work; adding, that the coming of Christ might take place even while we were talking together.

The young man was much impressed with the thought of Christ’s coming, indeed, he almost allowed himself to be too late for the business he was going to engage in at the next town, in his anxiety to hear more of the subject. As we parted, I pressed upon him the reality that the Lord might come for His saved ones ‘ere he reached his destination, and said,

“If not saved, what would then become of you?” He hung his head and walked away.

I met the same young man some months afterward, and asked if he remembered our conversation, and he immediately replied that it had never been out of his mind.

“Are you saved?” I inquired, and he answered,

“No.” A long conversation followed, but my young friend had not yet his eyes opened.

Again some time elapsed, when I found myself sitting with the young farmer and his wife. It was a winter’s evening, the day’s work was over, and the Word of God was opened. We read and commented upon many precious passages, which show how God in His infinite mercy has provided a way of salvation for man who is ready to perish, and that faith in Christ, the Saviour, is the only way by which a sinner can be saved. It seemed passing strange that for two hours we talked together, none of us growing weary, and yet the light had not shone into either of them. I was just about to give up, when one other passage like the lightning’s flash came into my mind. These are the words,

“He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:10-13). I turned to the young man and said,

“Look at this 13th verse. You say you believe on the Son of God?”

“Yes, I do,” he answered.

“Well then, God, by His Spirit, says, ‘These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.’”

“Then,” said he, “I must be saved!”

“To be sure you are,” I answered.

“Yes,” he said again, “of course I am.”

“Do you see it, Charley?” said his wife.

“Yes,” he said, “I do. It’s only believing in Him.”

From that moment he was satisfied, and his heart overflowed with joy, and he abundantly proved the reality of it by his subsequent life.

Dear reader, do you see it also? Do you believe on the name of the Son of God? Then you have eternal life. But if not, why not?

Mary Sat at Jesus' Feet

A Few Remarks on Luke 10:38-42

How little, beloved brethren, do we enter into the Word of God! In these busy days it is well to remind one another of meditation in it. We complain of the want of growth in the saints; but if you stint yourself in your sustenance, how can you expect growth? We are like children playing with pennies, who think they are dollars. Our time is occupied with other things.

Some of us are travel-stained and weather-beaten, and others entering somewhat freshly on the path; but if any of us look back, can we not say that we did not know when He first touched us—where He would lead us?

Christ is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. There is no distance between the sinner and Christ—He who, as we sometimes say, could lay His hand on the leper, and not be defiled, but remain the spotless, stainless Son of God.

We see Him here with one sitting at His feet, and we shall find her again at His feet in other places. There may be “many things” that engage us, the Lord’s interests too, but they may all be taken away. And we shall not regret it. But one thing, His word shall not be taken away. “One thing is needful.” Martha was caring about the Lord.

Did Mary know, as she sat at His feet, where He would lead His follower? Let us look at the eleventh of John, verse 32,

“Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, ‘Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.’”

She has deepened in acquaintance with Him. But Christ had not come to apply a remedy. Death was there, and death is beyond all remedies. And it was the state of man. God never mends anything, He leaves it to man to mend things. He will not mend this poor earth, He will have new heavens and a new earth. And it is nothing to Him—He can speak a world into existence. He entered into their sorrow—He wept; but it was at more than that, it was at the universal pall spread over everything.

In the twelfth of John we see her again at His feet, with the precious ointment. She is silent, but He speaks for her,

“Against the day of My burying hath she kept this.”

May we so enter into His Word, that when we are together, the ointment may be there.

Extract: The Basis for Our Actions

Having God’s own Word as the basis of our acting, will ever impart strength and stability to our acting. If we merely act from impulse, when the impulse subsides, the acting will subside also.

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: 12

Chapter 12 (Concluded)

Three times Paul besought the Lord that the “thorn” might depart from him; his action reminds us of the Lord’s thrice-uttered prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36-47), just before His betrayal. In the Lord’s prayer we see the fullest submission, as before Him was the awful suffering of Calvary, climaxed by His being forsaken of God (Luke 22:41-45; Heb. 5:7-8).

The trial about which the apostle had prayed—the thorn in his flesh for whose removal he asked, must have been something that he felt might interfere with his preaching.

“But ye know that in weakness of the flesh I announced the glad tidings to you at the first; and my temptation, which was in my flesh, ye did not slight nor reject with contempt; but ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then was your blessedness? for I bear you witness that, if possible, plucking out your own eyes ye would have given them to me.” (JND)

We have such bad hearts that when God does not give what we ask for in prayer, the heart being much set upon having its desire, we may even rebel against the unsearchable wisdom that says “No!” to our desire. It was not so with the apostle; let it never be so with us who rejoice in the same precious Saviour and Lord.

“And He said to me, My grace suffices thee; for My power is perfected in weakness” (verse 9, JND). No accidental circumstance was the “thorn,” but part of the purpose of the Lord for the good of His servant, and for our blessing, if we are able and willing to learn by the trials of other saints. The grace of the Lord Jesus is enough to fill the believer’s heart with rapture. Most of the epistles close with the desire that that grace be with those addressed, and we may with profit turn to many scriptures which tell of this wondrous theme; among them are 2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 1:19-26; 2:1-11; 3:7-14; Col. 1:9-27; 2 Tim. 2:1.

“Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of the Christ may dwell upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ; for when I am weak then I am powerful.” (verses 9-10, JND).

“Most gladly” —this is not the language of disappointment, but rather of one who has learned his Master’s will, and delights in it. And thoroughly had the lesson been learned. Paul’s weaknesses or infirmities (what was contrary to the strength of men, like his being lowered in a basket over the wall of Damascus) he would boast in, in order that the power of Him whom he served might dwell upon him.

Christian, cannot you and I learn deeply for ourselves here, as we pause to think of this pattern saint in circumstances which made nothing of self; of his applying day by day in himself the lesson he had learned in the matter of his thorn? O that much more of Christ and correspondingly less of self shall henceforth be seen in us in our ways and conversation! Little do most of us know practically of what the Apostle in verse 10, wrote, summing up the frequent experiences of his path as “weaknesses,” “insults,” “necessities,” “persecutions,” “straits,” for Christ; concerning all of which he could say that he took pleasure in them, for, said he, “when I am weak, then I am powerful.” Blessed man!

What an insight into the life of the apostle we have gained through the forced testimony from his pen that these chapters have contained!

“I have become a fool; ye have compelled me; for I ought to have been commended by you; for I have been nothing behind those who were in surpassing degree apostles, if also I am nothing. The signs indeed of the Apostle were wrought among you in all endurance, signs and wonders, and works of power” (verses 11-12, JND). There had been ample proof of an apostolic ministry during Paul’s years at Corinth, but if saints of God do not walk as becomes saints, that most blessed ministry of Christ will be without its proper effect.

“For in what is it that ye have been inferior to the other assemblies, unless that I myself have not been in laziness a charge upon you? Forgive me this injury. Behold, this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be in laziness a charge, for I do not seek yours, but you, for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. Now I shall most gladly spend and be utterly spent for your souls, if even in abundantly loving you I should be less loved” (verses 13-15, JND).

Thus the affections of the new nature in the apostle continued to flow, and would continue, with undiminished service for these saints whose worldly ways had given him much grief. Their low spiritual state appears again in the verses that follow. Paul, they said, did not himself burden them, but being crafty he took them by guile, so that through Titus or others, he might profit from the Corinthians. The charge was utterly false (verses 16-18).

“Ye have long been supposing” (or ye have of old supposed) “that we excuse ourselves to you; we speak before God in Christ, and all things, beloved, for your building up. For I fear lest perhaps coming I find you not such as I wish, and that I be found by you such as ye do not wish; lest (there might be) strifes, jealousies, angers, contentions, evil speakings, whisperings, puffings up, disturbances; lest my God should humble me as to you when I come again, and that I shall grieve over many of those who have sinned before, and have not repented as to the uncleanness and fornication and licentiousness which they have practiced” (verses 19-21, JND).

With this solemn foreboding, the chapter closes, and the epistle draws near to its end. Unsparingly sin had been dealt with in the first epistle, and many had humbled themselves as a result, but a deep work remained to be done, and the Lord’s servant warned those who had sinned before, and had not repented. There must be no compromise with sin where Christ is owned as Lord and Saviour.

How to Keep Clear of the Rocks

We would affectionately entreat our readers to study diligently and give more earnest heed than ever to the Word of God. There never was a time when it was more needed. Foundations are being shaken, and a whirlwind of confusion is gathering in the atmosphere; men are claiming to be heard on all hands, and how are their claims to be tested but by the Word of the living God? The one who really feeds on the Word, whose spiritual taste is thus educated, and his principles formed by it, will instantly detect what is contrary to it, and reject it. That is a remarkable passage in Isaiah 7 (speaking of the prophet’s child).

“Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” This is a true principle.

The youngest child fed on what is pure and sweet, turns instinctively from what is not so, and does so not from its knowledge of unpalatable food, but from being accustomed to that which is good.

How do we most readily distinguish the voice of the enemy? Is it by listening for it? Far, far otherwise. Habitual familiarity with the voice and words of Christ is the only way of becoming quick in detecting and rejecting what is contrary.

“The sheep follow Him; for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers” (John 10:27,5).

There never was a greater mistake than to suppose that by acquainting ourselves with the details of evil, we are guarding against the evil of being ensnared by it. Let us earnestly seek to know from the Word the Lord’s path for ourselves—the straight, though narrow one—and take care to walk in it in simple dependence on Himself. We shall thus be kept clear of every false and crooked path on the right hand and on the left, as it is written:

“Concerning the works of men, by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Psa. 17:4).

We lately met with the following striking illustration of this principle: A passenger on board a Mississippi steamer was having some conversation with the pilot, who mentioned that he had been for twenty years on that line, upon which the former remarked:

“Then, of course, you are well acquainted with every point of danger along the whole passage?”

“Far from it,” was the pilot’s reply, “but I know where the deep water flows.”

May we, like this man, keep in the right track, thus avoiding the unknown rocks and quicksands on which so many have been wrecked!

The World and Its Politics

“He brought him to an inn” (Luke 10:24).

Observe, He did not bring him home. This He would do later. But all things in their season. Presently, the Father’s house, its light, its love, its song; but now for a season the inn.

And what is the inn? It is the character the world assumes to us who know the Lord. He is that “certain Samaritan” who by no chance, but of full purpose and design, came our way,—came where we were—and, seeing us in all our misery and ruin, saved us.

He brings us to an inn. ‘Tis but the stopping place for a night. Soon the morning breaks: soon the Lord will return and take us hence. We look for Him. Our expectation lies beyond the stopping place.

No traveler engages himself extensively, or intimately in the affairs of the inn. That business he leaves to those who are vitally connected with it.

Dear young Christian, did you ever chance to spend the night at some such place? Did you spend any leisure moments that were yours in the adorning of the room assigned you? Did you polish the door-knob, or clean the windows? Did you rearrange the furniture? You did not. Your heart was not there. Your interests lay beyond.

And if, in addition, you knew the place to be condemned—if it were soon to be pulled down—soon to be demolished—your interest in it would be still less. If its owners were to attempt to engage you in efforts for its improvement, and were to submit problems to you concerning it, you would think this most odd, and probably would not scruple to say so.

“No,” you would say, “I am only here for the night. I am really not interested. Anyhow I understand the whole building is soon to be pulled down!”

This world, then, is that stopping place. We are only in it for the night.

“A little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb. 10:37).

The character of the world is bad. Scripture declares it an “evil world” (Eph. 1:4). It tells us “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (or “in the wicked one” 1 John 5:19). It tells us “the world passeth away, and the lust thereof,” Satan is its prince. The Lord acknowledged this. (John 14:30).

Moreover it is condemned. Sentence has been pronounced. God has done with it. He tested man four thousand years, but He tests him no longer. The cross of Christ brought all to a climax. Hear the verdict from His lips who cannot lie, “Now is the judgment of this world” (John 12:31). We are straitly warned against it.

“Love not the world,” thunders the aged apostle John, “neither the things which are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him.” Again, James declares “the friendship of the world is enmity against God” (James 4:4).

Shall we participate in the affairs of a scene like this? Do pilgrims cast vote in the countries through which they pass? Do strangers meddle with the governments of lands to which they do not belong? And does not 1 Peter 2:11 tell us that such we are— “pilgrims and strangers”? We are told repeatedly that we are “not of this world” (that is, no part of its system). (See John 15:19; 17:14,16). We are in the world but not of it (John 17:18).

Where is our home land? Of what country are we citizens? Let Philippians 3:20 give us the answer: “Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour.” The saints of God are our fellow-citizens (Eph. 2:19), and like the goodly company of Hebrews 11:13-16, we, confessing that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, seek “a better country.”

We observe also that the Lord Himself, when here in this scene, never interfered in its politics, nor attempted to regulate its government. He never cast a vote. Are we wiser than He?

In His days, Palestine was under the iron heel of Rome. He made no protest, He did not demur, though doubtless agitation against this tyrannical power would have made Him very popular with the masses.

He sanctioned the paying of tribute money to Caesar, though that ruler was both murderer and idolator.

When John the Baptist was slain, Jesus did not lift up His voice against Herod, though this was a crime of the first magnitude. The sorrow-stricken disciples of John come and acquaint Him with the outrage. Jesus makes no protest. He attempts no interference. Again, one asks, are we wiser than He?

What attitude, then, should we take towards the government of the land in which we find ourselves? An attitude of submission, of obedience. We are to submit “to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake” (1 Tim. 2:2).

We are to pay our taxes (Rom. 13:6-7). We are to be respectful to authorities (2 Peter 2:10), and, as far as it lies in us, we are to live peaceably with all men (Rom. 12:18). We are to pray for all men, and particularly for those in authority (1 Tim. 2:2). We should so live that by our “good works” those about us may “glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12).

So, dear young Christian, our happiest place is one of aloofness from this world’s politics.

“Let the dead bury their dead” (Luke 9:60). The world has never yet found the right man, anyhow. Its candidates always prove disappointing. The one whose praises are sung aloud today, is the reviled office-holder of tomorrow. History repeats itself.

Thank God, we know the right man. At present He is rejected here. Some day (and not very far hence) He will assume office. “A king shall reign in righteousness.” Then creation’s groan will cease, and earth shall enter upon a thousand years of such peace, prosperity, joy and gladness as He alone can give. Let us reserve our votes for Him.

Gain to Me

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Phil. 3:7). What a marvelous change! Saul had had many sources of gain. He had gathered many honors round his name. He had made progress in Judaism beyond many of his equals. He had achieved a legal righteousness in which no man could find a flaw. His zeal, his knowledge, and his morality, were of the very highest order.

But, from the moment that Christ was revealed to him, there was a thorough revolution. Everything was changed. His righteousness, his learning, his morality, all that could in any wise be gain to Paul, became as dung. He does not speak of open sins, but of those things that could justly be esteemed as gain to him. The revelation of the glory of Christ had so completely changed the entire current of Paul’s thoughts, that the very things, which he had once esteemed as positive gain, he now regarded as positive loss.

And why? Simply because he had found his all in Christ. That blessed one had supplanted everything in Paul’s heart. All that belonged to Paul was displaced by Christ; and hence it would have involved actual loss to possess any righteousness or wisdom, holiness or morality, of his own, seeing that he had found all these, in divine perfectness, in Christ. If Christ is made of God unto me righteousness, is it not a loss to me to have any righteousness of my own? Surely. If I have that which is divine, have I any need of that which is human? Clearly not.

The more completely I am stripped and emptied of everything in which “I” could glory, or which would be gain to “me,” the better, inasmuch as it only renders me all the more entitled to a full and all-sufficient Christ. Whatever it be that tends to exalt self, whether it be religiousness, morality, respectability, wealth, glory, personal beauty, intellectuality, philanthropy so-called, it is a positive hindrance to our enjoyment of Christ; first, as the foundation of the conscience; and, secondly, as the object of the heart.

May the Spirit of God make Christ more precious to us!

Not Your Own!

“Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price.” 1 Cor. 6:19-20.

“Not your own!” but His you are,

Who has paid a price untold

For your life, exceeding far

All earth’s store of gems and gold.

With the precious blood of Christ,

Ransom, treasure, all unpriced;

Full redemption is secured,

Full salvation is assured.

“Not your own!” but His by right,

His peculiar treasure now;

Fair and precious in His sight,

Purchased jewels for His brow.

He will keep what thus He sought,

Safely guard the dearly bought;

Cherish that which He did choose,

Always love and never lose.

“Not your own!” to Him you owe

All your life, and all you love;

Live, that ye His praise may show,

Who receives all praise above.

Every day and every hour,

Every gift and every power,

Consecrate to Him alone,

Who has claimed you for His own.

Teach us, Master, how to give

All we have and are to Thee;

Grant us, Saviour, while we live,

Wholly only Thine to be.

Henceforth know our calling high,

Thee to serve and glorify:

Ours no longer, but Thine own -

Thine forever, Thine alone!

Not Ashamed

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir,” said a worldly church-member to a young man, who stood outside the entrance gate to the race course holding a banner, with the words inscribed in bold letters:

“Flee from the wrath to come!”

“After death the judgment.”

The pointed words, culled from the Book of God, had pierced his conscience, and unable to find fault with them, he vented his spite on him who held them up to the gaze of thousands.

The young man looked into the angry man’s face, and softly said:

“So I am ashamed of myself, sir, but I’m not ashamed of the Word of God. Are you?”

Aggressive efforts to reach the careless crowd will always meet the sneer of Christ-less men, and even of worldly believers. But shall it be given up because of this? Certainly not. It is a blessed service to carry the Word of God right into the enemy’s camp, but it needs courage. God blessed His Word on the banner that day to awaken a young lady to concern about her soul, and she is now saved and serving Christ.

Thus the Lord’s young servant was amply repaid for the sneers and scorn of the worldly man.

Be not ashamed, dear young Christian, of the Word of God. Speak it freely, scatter it abroad, hold it forth, always, and in all places, and God will give the blessing.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” (Rom. 1:16).

The Path of Faith

The path of faith is necessarily trying, for it is intended by God that our faith should be tried. Untried faith is unknown power; tried faith is God proved. There are times when God so deals with us that we have, practically, no outlook, no future. All around is fog. We cannot see one step before us, and if we try to look ahead, our hearts are ready to break. Now in such seasons the wisest thing is not to think of tomorrow, but to rest in God. When we do this there will soon be found sufficient light to brighten the one spot where we stand, just enough for that one small place. And, fellow Christian, what more light for yourself do you require? If you are enjoying that ray, which comes straight from the throne above and shines upon you, is not that sufficient? So long as you are enjoying this, you will not be distressed by the fog, which closes the next step from your view.

Let us remember, too, that where our God is, the light is ever the same. He is above the clouds. He is the God of peace; and He knows what our next step will be, and what lies before us.

Suited Affections

In the progress of the Apocalypse we see John moved by different affections. He trembles in chapter 1:17; he weeps in chapter 5:4; he wonders with great wonder in chapter 17:6; he loses himself in worshipping delight in chapters 19:10, and 22:8.

That is, he trembles in the presence of the judicial glory of the Son of Man; he weeps at the sight of a sealed book, which, had it been unsealed, would have told secrets about Jesus; he marvels at the sight of Christendom’s apostacy; he loses himself in joy when he hears of the marriage of the Lamb, and when he sees the Bride of the Lamb.

What suited affections! what creations of the Holy Ghost in the soul of a saint! He never trembles, after the one who was alive tells him not to fear. He that had the keys of death and hades encourages him: and that, surely, is enough for us.

Correspondence: LUK 14:26; Early/Latter Rain; Healing in Mill.; Gospel Failure?

Question: What is the meaning of Luke 14:26?

Answer: Verses 16-24 show us that salvation is provided by God, as a free gift of grace to whosoever will.

Verses 24-33 is discipleship. It is following Christ, this costs us everything, that is, we own that we and all we have, belong to Him. He is our object to live for. Our parents, our husband, or wife, our children, our estate, our servants, our very life is His, and at His disposal. This we see in Ephesians 5:22 to 6:9; and in Colossians 3:18 to 4:1.

Refusing to give them the first place, by putting Christ first, and owning His claims paramount, is hating them. They naturally come between us and Christ.

The believer is dead with Christ; that takes him out of all that he was as a man in the flesh. On this ground, a man owns nothing. Then he is risen with Christ, and now He gives him back all he has to love and care for for Him. An unconverted man is ruled by self, so the man in verse 20, says, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”

Redemption puts me on new ground, where I own through it, Christ’s claims on all I have and am (Ex. 13:13).

Question: What is the meaning of “the early and latter rain” in the Old and New Testaments?

Answer: In the Old Testament, the early rain prepared the ground for tilling; and the latter rain supplied moisture to fill and ripen the crops; it is therefore the blessing of the Lord. James 5:7 uses it to exhort the laborer to long patience in waiting for the coming of the Lord.

Question: What passages refer to miracles of healing in the Millenium?

Answer: Jehovah Rophi is Israel’s Healer (Ex. 15:26; Psa. 103; Heb. 6:5). The powers of the age to come are Millenial miracles (Isa. 33:24; Mal. 4:2).

Question: What is to blame for our lack of freedom at times in our ministry of the gospel?

Answer: One great reason is our lack of time spent in prayer. We should be in communion with the Lord, and in dependence upon Him, as a vessel emptied of self, for Him to fill; or as a clean channel for the Living Word to flow through; or as an instrument in His hands to be without a will of our own. Otherwise, we might be in circumstances that we should not be in, and the Lord might make us to feel it. Nearness of spirit to the Lord is the most important thing.

From Darkness to Light!

A man, who, through a very clever operation, was given his sight at the age of thirty years. Now, this was all the more wonderful, considering he had never known what sight was before, as he was, thirty years previously, born blind. One day, prior to the event narrated above, a friend sought to converse with him about the beautiful hills of that land.

“Hills?” he would say. “Yes, but what are hills?”

He received the answer:

“Why, where the land rises—goes up.”

“Goes up?” he says, “But what is ‘goes up?’”

He could not comprehend, for his world was one dead, black level; one vast, even plain of absolute darkness—that was how blind he was.

One day a tourist saw him, and hearing his story, took a great interest in him. He installed him in the Ophthalmic Institute of that city. He underwent a surgical operation, and then had his eyes bandaged up for many days. One day it was decided to remove the bandages, and lo! the man who had been blind all his life could see! No one can possibly realize his sensations at that moment, or for many months after. One can only form a vague idea, and really it is rather pathetic. A doctor and a nurse were bending over his bed. The once blind man was the first to speak.

“You’re the nurse,” he said to the latter. “I know you are a woman because your face is soft and smooth” —that is how he first saw things. And then his mother entered the ward. He watched her coming towards him, but did not recognize her until she spoke.

“Ah! mother,” he cried, “I can see you, and you are very, very beautiful to me.”

All was absolutely new, and everything was absolutely beautiful. They took him home in the train, and the sight of the fields, the houses, and the trees rushing past moved him by turns to laughter and tears. And then he reached the village and the home which he knew so well, and yet knew not at all. Friends flocked to greet him—old friends, dear friends, but he knew none of them until they spoke. The vastness of the land amazed him. He had no idea, he said, that the clouds were so far overhead, nor that the land stretched away on either hand for miles and miles. Then, too, running water was an amazing delight.

“Ah!” he cried, “it is very, very beautiful. Why don’t people make more fuss about it?”

Why, dear reader, do you think I have related to you the foregoing? Because it aptly illustrates the ecstatic joy and unbounded delight that fills the heart of the one whose spiritual eyes have been opened to behold the matchless beauty, the infinite perfection, and the unsullied glories of the Christ of God! O! wonderful, glorious blessing, to see Him, and to know Him as,

“The chiefest among ten thousand—altogether lovely” (Song. of Sol. 5:10 and 16).

What a picture this dear man was, before he received his sight, of every unregenerate soul! Blind to their true state before God, blind too, to the love of God, and to the peerless Saviour who longs to open their eyes. This is how the Word of God designates such,

“Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph. 4:18).

How lamentable indeed to contemplate such a state, and how can it possibly produce any happiness. But have you ever read the words that were addressed to the beloved Apostle Paul, who was chosen of God to go and declare a message of life and love to all in such condition? Then listen!

“I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me” (Acts 26:18).

O! beloved reader, blind and dark indeed, you are still, if you are still in your sins. Does it not touch your very heart to learn of the unutterable love of Jesus, who, went down into the darkness of death, that you might be brought into the light of life? Who bore the storm of God’s righteous wrath, that you might know and enjoy the sweet calm of His blessed favor? Who sank in deep mire where there was no standing, that you might firmly and safely stand upon a rock? O that your heart might immediately respond to such vast and immeasurable love! Turn to Him in all your sins, in all your darkness, and in all your blindness, and He will assuredly give you to know the joy of what it means to have your sins forgiven through faith in His blood; turned from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God. Rest assured, your gladness will then excel that of the dear man of whom I have told you; and your chief delight will be to learn more and more of the one, who, at such an infinite cost to Himself brought you into such a wonderful place.

We read in the ninth of John of another dear man, born blind, but he was brought in contact with the peerless Son of God, who in tenderest grace and pity, opened his eyes; what an object met his gaze, as those eyelids were first unsealed; opened, to first of all behold the Christ of God, to contemplate His beauty!

And is not He the first to meet the gaze of every repentant sinner today? What a sight indeed! Can you, dear reader, say,

“I see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor”? (Heb. 2:9). Ah! if so, I know your great delight is to fall down before Him, in gratitude, praise and worship, and adore Him as the dearest object of your heart.

O! that you may know Him, and that His glorious beauty may fill your vision! Soon He will come to take to glory all His beloved ones, when perfect satisfaction will be the eternal portion of both His own heart, and those of every redeemed soul.

Confessing Christ

As a mutinous crew would hate to hear the praises of the captain they had murdered, so the world hates to hear the very name of Jesus in the lips of those who love Him. But shall we, His friends, be silent because of this? Can we? Will not the love He bears us compel us to open our lips in the confession of His saving name?

God Is Love

1 John 3:1; 4:8-9,17-18

“God is love;” O! let me ponder

Day by day this depth untold,

Learn how love was “manifested,”

And its “manner,” too, behold.

“Perfect love!” to me, my Father,

Yet its deeper depths unfold.

“God is love” —no lie of Satan

Can this mighty rock remove;

Pass away shall earth and heaven,

But this word is fixed above.

Through the everlasting ages

Still abideth, “God is love.”

“God is love” —this love I measure,

By the giving of His Son;

Love that suffered naught to hinder

Till the work was fully done;

And in resurrection power

Life through Him for sinners won.

“God is love” —but O! the “manner”

Of that love on us bestowed:

Slaves of sin, of wrath the children,

Called to be thy sons, O God!

By the Spirit, “Abba Father”

We are free to cry aloud.

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: 13

The “third time,” verse 1, refers to Paul’s purpose of going to Corinth; when he had gone there the first time, the Holy Spirit had wrought in much power for God in the salvation of souls; and when the first epistle was written the apostle gave the Corinthians the assurance that he was coming a second time (chapter 16), but he delayed his going, and tells why in chapters 1 and 2 of the second epistle. Therefore he says “This third time I am coming to you,” for Paul was now, or shortly would be, on the way to Corinth.

He had remained away to spare them (chapter 1:23) that their consciences should be given full opportunity for exercise after the first epistle had been delivered; much self-judgment had indeed followed, but the second epistle shows that a further work was needed. What then was the effect of the second epistle, and of Paul’s second visit to Corinth? The Scriptures are silent as to this, but eternity will reveal it. Acts 20:1-3 gives but the barest mention of the apostle’s journey.

He “departed for to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there abode three months, and when the Jews laid wait for him as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.”

Corinth is not even named, but much of the three months in Greece may well have been spent in that city, and with God’s rich blessing attending.

“In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word (or matter) be established.”

This principle we find in the Old Testament, but for difficulties and discipline in the assembly (or church) of God, we have it in Matthew 18:16 from the Lord.

“I have declared beforehand, and I say beforehand as present the second time, and now absent, to those that have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare. Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me (who is not weak toward you, but is powerful among you, for if indeed He has been crucified in weakness yet He lives by God’s power; for indeed we are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by God’s power toward you); examine your own selves if ye be in the faith; prove your own selves! Do you not recognize yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed ye be reprobates? Now I hope that ye will know that we are not reprobates” (verses 3-6, JND).

Since the Corinthians sought a proof of Christ’s speaking in him, the apostle invites them to examine themselves if they were in the faith; to prove their own selves; did they not recognize that Jesus Christ was in them, unless indeed they were reprobates? To us it seems beyond belief that these objects of God’s grace, snatched from the pit of heathenism, and brought into the light and joy of the truth of the gospel, could be persuaded to distrust the apostle through whom this immeasurable blessing had come to them. But Satan is ever active, and the old nature is in every one of us; our safety from a wrong path lies in a walk of communion with the Lord, which is inseparable from prayer and the spiritual food supplied by the Word of God.

“Crucified in weakness” (not through weakness as in the ordinary translation) refers to the principle on which it took place.

Foretold in Genesis 3:15 (thou shalt bruise—or crush—His heel) Psalm 22; Psalm 69; Isaiah 53; Zechariah 12:10; 13:6-7 and many other Old Testament scriptures, with striking types of a suffering Redeemer, such as Joseph and David afford in their lives, by no other way could redemption be accomplished.

“Yet He lives by God’s power” tells God’s answer to the cross of Christ; divine power came in to raise Him up, though truly death had now no claim on Christ. And we, though weak in Him, shall live with Him by God’s power toward even those erring believers at Corinth. It is a question of the power of God, in contrast to the “weakness” of the one who died for poor lost sinners.

A reprobate is one cast out as good for nothing. The apostle had no doubt that the believers at Corinth were not such, and they would be far from admitting it as true of themselves. They were Christ’s, and they knew it by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

We can but admire the very gracious way of the apostle in dealing with his beloved, but very troublesome, Corinthians in the closing verses of the epistle. How entirely opposite to an exhibition of impatience we have here, though Paul’s spirit must have been deeply tried.

“Now I hope that ye will know that we are not reprobates. But we pray to God that ye may do nothing evil; not that we may appear approved, but that ye may do what is right, and we be as reprobates.”

“For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. For we rejoice when we may be weak, and ye may be powerful. But this also we pray for your perfecting. On this account I write these things being absent, that being present I may not use severity according to the authority which the Lord has given me for building up and not for overthrowing.”

“For the rest, brethren, rejoice; be perfected; be encouraged; be of one mind; be at peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (verses 6-14, JND).

The Church, Which Is His Body

The unfolding of this blessed truth, “the Mystery of Christ,” was committed to the Apostle Paul. It is in his letters we shall find instruction concerning it. Ephesians 4:4 declares,

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.”

This began at Jerusalem, when the promise of the Father was given,—the Holy Ghost came upon the disciples in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. (John 14:16-17; Acts 2:1-4,32,33). It could not take place before John 7:39. It was then that the baptism of the Holy Spirit took place, and thus formed them into “One body” (1 Cor. 12:13). From that time on, God has been gathering into one, the children of God that were scattered abroad. The Jews, the Samaritans and the Gentiles, all who were true believers, were brought into that one body by the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. Acts 10:44-45 and 11:15-17 is the bringing in of the first Gentiles into the body of Christ.

This truth is not spoken of in the Old Testament, nor was it given out till Paul received it from Christ in glory; then it was made known for the obedience of faith (Rom. 16:25-26).

It was God’s purpose concerning His beloved Son to give Him a Body and a Bride,—companions to share His glory. And all who are called during this present period of grace, and know Christ to the salvation of their souls, both of Jews and Gentiles, will inevitably have this blessed place in glory with Him.

This was God’s purpose before the foundation of the world, and is now being carried out.

“Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it” (Matt. 13:45-46; Eph. 5:25), when it existed only in the purposes of God. It was God’s great thought for His Son to have one in whom His affections rested, and who would be, through grace alone, the display of His glory for all eternity (Eph. 3:21).

Meantime the members are being called out, sanctified, that is, set apart, and cleansed by the washing of water by the Word, fitted for Him, as in the picture in Genesis 24—Rebecca was fitted for Isaac (Eph. 5:26), and then when the last member is brought in, He will tarry no longer. We shall be caught up, and He will present her to Himself without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, holy and without blemish (verse 27). In chapter 1:23 we see her in the glory,—the fullness of Him that filleth all in all,—the bride of the Second Man, displaying His glory.

Now on earth the living Christians are spoken of as the body of Christ (not a part of the body on earth, and a part of it in heaven. Those who have departed this life are not looked at, in this present time, as in the body), and it is always complete. In Romans 12:4-5, we see the members working together, each one according to the grace given, ministering according to its faith. In 1 Corinthians 12, it is described in its functional activity. It is plainly here on earth and now. There are no gifts of ministry in heaven, no preaching of the gospel there, no suffering for Christ there; all this is on earth.

If we were judging by the behavior of Christians, we might conclude that the body of Christ is not on earth, or just a theory and not a fact; but the Word of God declares, “There is one body.” Outwardly neglected, and scattered into denominations, we do not see it. Christians, some in ignorance and some in self-will, refuse to obey the truth or neglect it, but there the Word stands,

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling,” thus giving us all the privilege, and putting on us the responsibility of maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We are not asked to keep the unity of the body. The Holy Spirit has formed the body, and maintains it by His presence, uniting every believer to Christ in glory, so that till the Lord comes for His church, it is ever true, “There is one body,” and faith will act upon it, seeking to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is no scriptural way to gather together, and to take the Lord’s supper, but as members of the body of Christ, in the acknowledgment of this truth (1 Cor. 10:16-17 proves this). The Lord’s supper is the external expression of this unity. We being many are one bread (or loaf), one body, for we are all partakers of that one loaf.

In the cup we see redemption, and it is put first here. In the loaf, unity of the body. We, therefore, own every member of that body of Christ, only, that in the last days we need carefulness to distinguish those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. At the first, all who believed were together. Now, we need to carefully guard against those calling themselves Christians, yet walking in ways not approved of by the Word (2 Tim. 2:19-22).

The first mention of the church in Scripture is in Matthew 16:18, where the Lord calls it My church. It is composed of living stones, built upon Christ, the Rock, in eternal security from the power of death. 1 Peter 2:5 describes these living stones as a holy priesthood, offering up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,—each one a purged worshiper. They are the same saints that compose the body of Christ, here seen as a worshipping company.

Where men are the builders, the church is looked at in responsibility, and there it includes all, both saved and unsaved, who have been baptized (1 Cor. 3:10-17; Eph. 4:5; 2 Tim. 2:19-22; 3:2-5; 1 Peter 4:17; Jude; Revelation, chapters 2 and 3). These could not represent the body of Christ, as it includes only believers.

The Mother's Trust

“They shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house. It is the Lord’s passover. The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” (Ex. 12:3,11,13).

Beneath the blood-stained lintel

I with my children stand;

A messenger of judgment

Is passing through the land;

There is no other refuge

From the destroyer’s face -

Beneath the blood-stained lintel

Shall be our hiding-place.

The Lamb of God has suffered,

Our sins and griefs He bore;

By faith the blood is sprinkled

Above our dwelling’s door.

The Lord, who judges righteously,

Has given that sacred sign:

Tonight the blood-stained lintel

Shall shelter me and mine.

My Saviour, for my dear one

I claim Thy promise true:

The Lamb is “for the household” -

The children’s Saviour too.

On earth the little children

Once felt Thy touch divine;

Beneath the blood-stained lintel

Thy blessing give to mine.

O Thou who gave them, guard them -

Those wayward little feet,

The wilderness before them,

The ills of life to meet.

My mother-love is helpless;

I trust them to Thy care!

Beneath the blood-stained lintel -

My place is ever there.

The faith I rest upon Thee,

Thou wilt not disappoint;

With wisdom, Lord, to train them,

My shrinking heart anoint.

With all my children, Father,

I then shall see Thy face -

Under the blood-stained lintel -

The token of Thy Grace.

O, wonderful Redeemer,

Who suffered for our sake,

When o’er the guilty nations

The judgment-storm shall break,

With joy from that safe shelter

Shall we then meet Thine eye,

Beneath the blood-stained lintel,

My children, Lord, and I.

Spoken From the Heart

It was a kind word spoken to me by a young man who sat by my side in a street car that first broke down my prejudice, and caused me to go and hear the gospel. I had often been spoken “at” before that day, and told in a harsh, indifferent kind of way that I was “going to hell.” It was true, no doubt, but the heartless way it was told me, hardened me against it.

My fellow-traveler had a kind, courteous manner, and when he handed me a tract, he simply said,

“It’s a grand thing to have Jesus Christ as a Friend and Saviour. None are so truly happy as those who know and follow Him.”

I felt I could not argue against, or scoff at that young man. He seemed to feel every word he uttered, and there was a strange power about his words that I shall never forget. I determined to know what the secret of such a Christianity was, and I found it was Christ dwelling in the heart. I know Him now as mine, and I long to serve Him in the same spirit as that dear young man, whose quiet effort on the car won my heart. There are lots of opportunities to speak such a word for Jesus.

Young believer, what are you doing for Christ? Are you spreading the savor of His saving name, or will you go to heaven, alone, satisfied that you will be there yourself, without an effort for the salvation of others?

And, you, who are as yet silent Christians, what do you say about all this? Have you not a word for Jesus?

“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1:16).

Availeth Much

There are many examples in Scripture that national prosperity does not lead to the increased fear of God; in fact, it is too often the case that in enjoying the blessings which He gives, we forget God Himself. It was when Jeshurun “waxed fat” that he “forsook God” (Deut. 32:15; see also chap. 8:7 to end). But if in times of prosperity we are apt to forget God, in periods of adversity, the thoughts of men turn to Him. This being so, the present time of sorrow and distress in the world may become, both to the believer and to the unconverted, one of much blessing. To us who believe God’s Word as to the position of those who die in their sins, it is a time for earnest prayer. Many are sobered, and it is our part to pray that they may not miss the present opportunity. It is with a view to encouraging one another in prayer, especially with reference to the gospel, that the following lines are penned.

In His merciful government, God has given us in this land, peace and prosperity for many years, but now He has allowed a war appalling in magnitude, and in the sorrow and distress it occasions. Indifference and godlessness had sadly increased amongst the nations during recent years. Science and education made rapid strides, but God was largely left out, and His Word set aside. Amongst the intellectuals, destructive criticism and science, falsely so-called, had undermined the very foundations of the faith, and their baneful influence soon permeated all classes. But now man’s pride has received a rude shock, and his boasted civilization has been found wanting. God has come in. The powerlessness of politicians, the horrors of the battlefield, and the appalling loss of life, have made men think. The believer sees in all, the hand of God, and we, as His people, can only humble ourselves before Him, feeling the lack of piety in our own lives, and the poor testimony we have been to the world around us.

But while recognizing His hand on the nations, we remember His ways are also in mercy, and knowing that it is still the day of grace, we may be assured that if He allows sorrow and distress, it is that men may be undeceived and turn to Him. The present calamity is surely His voice to all, and it appears to be a divinely given opportunity for the world, ere the Lord comes. For this reason it is a special call to those who know the gospel, and desire the blessing of souls, to service and prayer.

The special opportunities for service in our own land are numerous enough. Sorrow has filled many homes, anxiety for dear ones exists everywhere, and thousands of men are leaving our shores perhaps never to return. It is a time to minister the oil and wine of the gospel, as well as the solemn warning of God’s Word. Thank God! many are spreading the glad tidings, especially among the men in the service, and portions of His Word have been circulated on an unprecedented scale. God is abundantly blessing these efforts, but tens of thousands remain to be reached.

Though we find opportunities for service, there are many homes we cannot reach, and we are debarred from taking part in many of the efforts put forth, both at home and abroad. But it is here where prayer comes in, and may not this be our special service at this time.

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

We are exhorted in this chapter to pray for others, and we are reminded, not that Elias was a mighty prophet, but that he was a man subject to like passions as ourselves, yet he prayed earnestly, and God answered. The Spirit of God assures us that prayers of a righteous man avail, and avail “much.”

God desires the blessing of His creatures, and when we see His hand in judgment, and know that His voice is speaking to many, it is our privilege in an especial way to intercede for them. We are encouraged, therefore, to come to Him, whether it be for a blessing on His children, or for the bereaved homes, or for the suffering and dying, or for His Word circulated in this land and abroad, knowing that He invites our intercessions, and assures us that the prayers of the righteous are of much avail.

Not Your Own

Young believer, God has said, ye have been bought with a price, and are not your own. You are expected to yield yourself unto God (Rom. 6:13), and to present your body to Him, to do what He likes with us (Rom. 12:1).

In the parable we read that at the eleventh hour the Lord came to His vineyard, and idle ones were set to work. When the pay time came, the last received as much as the first.

Now, we are living in “the last hour.” Jesus will soon be here to reward His servants, and then the time for labor will be over.

You have just time to set to work, and, if you do, it may not yet be too late to get the same reward as that earned by others who have obeyed the command, “Go ye into My vineyard,” earlier than yourselves. Do not waste your precious moments, “Ye are not your own.”

“Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

Extract: A Living Christ

I have now a living Christ, perfectly awake to all His people’s wants, a living person in heaven, occupied with me.

Correspondence: Church in Field; ROM 6:3-5 & COL 2:12; Bride/Bridegroom in JOH 3

Question: Is not the treasure in Matthew 13:44 Israel? Is the church hid in the field, or was it hid in God? Does Psalm 135:4 point on to the treasure in Matthew 13:44?

Answer: “The kingdom of heaven” in its mysterious form, (that is, when the King is absent, only called so in Matthew’s Gospel), applies to this present time. It does not apply to Israel in the past, nor in the future—that is, after the church is caught up.

Israel was to be a peculiar treasure, if they had obeyed Jehovah (Ex. 19:5); and they will be it in the reign of Christ, the center for His earthly glory (Psa. 135:4). It will be the kingdom in power then. Israel was never hid in the field. They were well known, not hidden.

In Matthew 13:44 the man found it, and hid it, then sold all that he had, and bought the field for the treasure that was in it. The field is the purchased thing there. In verses 45-46 we find the great object of His delight, the pearl of great price (Eph. 5:25-27). This is what was hid in God, and was only revealed (Eph. 3:9) after Paul was converted.

It is important to notice that all the parables of the kingdom of heaven apply to the church period.

Question: Please explain Romans 6:3-5; and Colossians 2:12.

Answer: The question, “Shall we go on in sin that grace may abound?” is answered, “God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein.”

The teaching is, that we are now brought into a new place through the death of Christ, where He suffered for sin, and we by faith in Him, have part with Him in that death. Can we go on with what we have died to? Then our baptism is unto the death of Christ. His death is now an end to our old place as men in the flesh. Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. His is the pattern of the life we now are to live before God. Our faith lays hold of this blessed truth that we are now before God in Him. We are planted together in the likeness of His death, of which baptism is the symbol, and we shall be also of His resurrection. The believer is always viewed in Romans as being on earth, alive in Christ and justified, but not said to be risen with Christ. Our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, and we are to reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Colossians 2:12. In verse 11, the circumcision made without hands is the death of Christ in which the body of the flesh is put off. In verse 12, we are buried with Him; baptism as a symbol, expresses this. We see also that we are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead, thus we have now put off the old man, and have put on the new, which new life is the life of Christ in us, though we are still on the earth. As dead, buried and risen with Christ, we are freed from ordinances, and are now to hold the Head from which all our springs flow.

All that Thou hast, Thou hast for me.

All my fresh springs are hid in Thee.

In Thee I live; while I confess

I nothing am, yet all possess.

Question: Who are the bride and bridegroom in John 3:29?

Answer: John the Baptist speaks there of Jesus as the Bridegroom, and of the bride of the Song of Solomon,—that is, Jehovah’s people, Israel. No Old Testament prophet knew anything about the church of God in the New Testament (Rom. 16:25-26; 1 Cor. 2:9-10; Eph. 3:5). John was there to introduce the King of Israel, and so speaks of himself as the friend of the Bridegroom, and of his joy being fulfilled in seeing Him.

Faith Before Comprehending

My husband and I were staying in a most beautiful spot of God’s earth. Not being able to walk, my couch was wheeled out on the broad veranda which stretched before our rooms. From here we could overlook the vine-crested hills, the fruitful gardens, shady woods, and beneath, the mighty river.

We often said that our heavenly Father had secured for us these rooms; they were not those originally intended for us. By a mistake a suite of rooms were assigned to us which had already been ordered by another party, but which we vacated upon the urgent entreaty of the hotelkeeper.

Through this chance, as man would call it, we came in contact with a person who aroused our deepest interest. It was a person who was enwrapt by the deep night of unbelief, a prisoner of the great deceiver, but concerning whom our Saviour-God had thoughts of peace.

The veranda bordering close to ours belonged to a suite of rooms from which our own were separated by an evidently thin partition. At least, we were able to hear a melodious voice which was reading every night in French, Italian, and at times in the German language. But we were never able to understand what was read, although the voice could plainly be heard. Nevertheless, or perhaps because of these circumstances, our interest in the unknown reader increased from day to day, never getting a glimpse of her. We often spoke of her. Who might she be? Would we ever get acquainted with her? And, above all, did she perhaps know the Lord Jesus as her Saviour?

At last, after the course of some days, we had the opportunity of beholding the object of our interest for the first time. She was a beautiful young woman. Her face showed earnestness and thoughtfulness. At times her clear, dark eyes looked sad, while the expressions in her face were ever changing. We knew immediately, she, and no on else, must be the reader. More than ever we felt drawn toward her. Beside her stood a gentleman of military appearance, who seemed to be ever ready to gratify her every wish with much carefulness. From the hotel register we learned them to belong to an aristocratic Austrian family.

During the two following days we saw the lady at intervals on the veranda. After that I was obliged to stay in my rooms. Having somewhat recovered, I received a beautiful bouquet one day, accompanied by a note from the Baroness. In loving words she offered the services of her maid to me, in case I needed such service at any time, asking at the same time if a visit from her might be convenient to me. This hour tore down, figuratively speaking, the partition which separated our rooms. When I was somewhat restored, we met daily; while the baron and my husband made long tours through the beautiful country.

I learned many a thing from the past of the fair lady. Although not 25 years of age, she had been married already seven years. Her husband was her idol, and she his. Because she was not strong in constitution, he had given up a much promising public life, so as not to be taken from her side. For the same reason he had left the land of his fathers, the climate not being agreeable to her frail health. They were constantly journeying, staying here and there for months or weeks, according to what influence the locality had upon her state of health. In course of time she related that soon after their arrival she had not been well, which explained the circumstance of seeing her only so long after our arrival. But she had watched us constantly and carefully, she assured me, having also become desirous to get acquainted with us, because we seemed so happy. The more I conversed with the lady, the clearer it became to me, the Lord’s hand was in all these circumstances; He had ordered everything. This was, as the baroness mentioned, the first time she had ever sought any intercourse among hotel guests.

To my deep sorrow I had soon to perceive that the Baroness, in spite of all her many amiable ways and character traits, was yet without Christ. She acknowledged without reserve that in her heart there was a void, an unsatisfied longing, which she was not able to explain. Her case showed to me decidedly that neither riches nor standing, nor youth, beauty or brilliancy of mind, nor even the most unselfish human love, can fill and satisfy the heart of man. There is ever that great void. Only God, and that so as He has revealed Himself in Christ, can still the deep longing of the heart; this every unconverted soul feels at times, and which, no doubt, the unsaved reader of this narrative has felt. Human devices, and means to still these desires and fill the void, there are none effective.

We told our new friend the secret of our happiness; told them of Jesus as the one who has met all the holy claims of God for us, in that He died in our stead. We sought to make clear to her that Jesus took all that was in our way upon Himself, and that this secured our eternity. Finally we testified to them that He was the precious object of our heart, whose love makes bright days still brighter and dark days pleasant and light.

Our words were received with much eagerness. Such a friend as Jesus was she would have also; a pattern like Him she would follow. But—and here was the great objection—to acknowledge and receive Him as the Son of God, as God Himself, she could not. Neither could she see the necessity of the work of atonement, and therefore she would not acknowledge the Word of God having full authority. Loved by all, honored and respected, she was not able to believe she was in God’s eyes a lost sinner; but Jesus must be either what His blessed name signifies—Saviour—God—or nothing, yea a deceiver.

Although matters stood thus with her, yet her interest increased every day while following our explanations. She found more and more to attract her heart in what was said, only her reason hindered her in taking full hold of the truth. Her wish to know the truth increased from day to day, and she often wept when we spoke of these things, being almost persuaded; almost she accepted God’s salvation; almost, but not wholly.

When we some time after took our departure, she bid us farewell with many tears. We promised to write her and exchanged our addresses.

The baron did not share the doubts and difficulties of his wife, but neither shared her deep interest. He acknowledged all to be true, but it was not for him; according to his idea, religion was for the priests and women.

Upon our arrival at R. we sent a few booklets which we thought might be helpful to her, but never received an answer. Often we spoke of her, and still oftener spoke about her to the Lord. Alas! she seemed to have been so near salvation’s door and yet unsaved.

Many years had passed. In all this time we had never heard of our acquaintances from A. Again it was summer and we were making preparations to leave the country for a while. Then—who can picture our surprise—my husband meets one day the baron on the street. Chance! man will say. But it was no mere chance. There is no chance with those who know God. The incidents which led to this meeting were of such extraordinary nature that we could again see distinctly the Lord’s hand.

“How will my wife rejoice when she hears I have met you,” were the first words of the baron. “She has so often longed for you. Through an accident we have lost your card, and we were unable to secure your address again.”

My husband thereupon offered our visit for the afternoon of the same day, which was accepted with thanks.

The baron had not said too much.

“O, how glad I am to see you again!” With these words she received us. “I have not forgotten a word of those things you spoke to me, and have prayed that if all that is true and is for me, God might lead it so that I would meet you once more. I knew the chances for such a meeting were very meager, for we had lost your address and how could we find you in this large city? Nevertheless I prayed and prayed, especially since we are here. We are to leave here within three days. I had almost given up all hope. Then came my husband this morning and brought me news from you. I was hardly able to believe it. Seems as though God were thinking of me.”

We had then a long conversation together. Before leaving, the baroness told me that she had written again and again, but had never sent the letter off. Being unable to say that she was believing, she had, in order not to make us feel sad, kept back the letters. Satan had succeeded until now through the pleasures of the world to hinder the growth of the seed sown, but it had remained in the heart nevertheless, although no fruit had sprung up as yet. At the time of leaving both promised to return the visit on the following day.

It needs no mentioning that we prayed much to the Lord in these hours for our friends, now found again. As far as the baroness was concerned, we received a sooner answer than we had anticipated. She saw that either has God left us without any revelation, or the Bible is this revelation; and, further, that if we accept the Scriptures as the Word of God, it must be received as a whole and not in part. Then we conversed about the person of Christ. From every point we viewed the testimony which God has given concerning Him; and, behold, now, at last, faith entered her heart, where reason had reigned before. Peace and rest were the result, as ever it is.

The following lines, which shortly after she sent to me, tell best the change wrought:

“I had prayed God to let me understand the truth concerning Jesus; God has answered me through the words of your husband last week. I cannot thank you enough for the patience you had with me. Have thought much about the fact, why it is so hard to believe; but now I perceive that the greatest difficulty in the way was my want of lowliness. As long as I sought to fathom Him and His Word in my own foolish pride, I understood nothing; but when I came simply to Him, leaving my own thoughts behind, asking Him humbly to give me His thoughts, then He made all fully clear. I feel so unworthy. And yet, when I think of the death of Christ and of all that He has suffered for me, when I think that it was only my sins which were the cause I have not found Him sooner—O, then my whole heart beats for Him, and then I wish all my friends might find and know Him.”

More and more it became evident that the love of God which had been shed abroad in the heart of our friend, had made of her a new creation. Her modesty and humility were most touching. In another letter she wrote concerning a near relative:

“Do you believe I might dare to tell her what the Lord has done for me? I am so fearful I might be a hindrance and might not be able to explain the truth clearly enough. Am sending her all your letters.”

In answer I wrote:

“Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.”

In return I received the following lines:

“I have written to —, begging her to turn to the Lord, that He might lead her into the truth. He would surely answer her as He answered me. Before, I thought one must understand before believing, but I have found that faith comes first. After that we begin to comprehend. I see now how foolish it was of me, to think we sinful, weak and mortal beings were able from our own selves to understand the eternal and holy God. My prayer to Him is now that He might keep me in His way, teaching me more of Himself, and, above all, that He may draw my husband to Himself.”

Two of her relatives were converted. But her deepest wish has as yet been unanswered. Although her husband would never lay anything in the way of his wife, but the contrary—she was ever the center of his thoughts, and rejoiced at her new-found joy. Deeper feelings than these never awoke in his heart. But his wife does not grow weary in crying to the Lord to have mercy on him, that he might share her deep joy.

And how it is with you, dear reader? Do you already possess and enjoy the peace that passeth all knowledge? If not, do not any longer consult your reason, the thoughts of your own heart. Do not allow Satan to deceive you, nor be led away by your natural desires, but give yourself up to the Lord Jesus for His own possession. Believe in Him. Faith comes before comprehending.

“Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:39-40).

Fragment: The Substance and Style of Service

There is not a single act of service which we render to our Lord that will not be set down in His book; and not only the substance of the act, but the style of it also, for God appreciates style as well as we do.

He loves a cheerful giver, and a cheerful worker, because that is precisely what He is Himself.

Three Looks and Their Results: A Look Within - Depressed

In Psalm 77:4-9, the soul looks within, and reasons on what it finds there: all is darkness and depression; it always is if we commune with own our hearts, and the conclusion is: “Hath God forgotten to be gracious?”

A Look Around - Distracted

In Psalm 73:1-22, the soul looks around, and becomes envious of the foolish and the prosperity of the wicked, and then becomes distracted; until it finds itself in the sanctuary, then to discover not only the end of the wicked, but also its own folly, ignorance and unworthiness.

A Look up - Delighted

In Psalm 63, the soul gets into the sanctuary and looks up: “I have seen Thee in the sanctuary,” and is filled with joy and delight. It could not be otherwise; to behold His power and glory is to be taken out of self, and everything in this scene, and the result is praise and worship.

The Epistle to the Galatians: Galatians 1:1-9

No human mind, or minds, however many and however wise, could have planned and prepared a book such as we have in the Bible, a book of unfailing guidance exactly meeting the needs of the children of God through the centuries, and today shedding its broad beams of heavenly light over a very dark world, for all who are subject to it. This book professes to be, and it is, the Word of God; the believer finds the needs of his soul met therein; finds the path of obedience in it, and, his sorrows relieved, his errors corrected, a heavenly joy filling his heart, as Christ becomes increasingly the object before him, he pursues his course toward an assured end at his Saviour’s side in glory.

The Epistle to the Romans makes plain what man is, lost and undone, and how a holy and righteous God can save lost sinners; nothing can separate the subjects of His grace from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Epistles to the Corinthians point out many of the pitfalls which the old nature within, and Satan, the enemy of our souls, would use to the believer’s loss. (How thankful we should be for this, because these very evils abound around us today!) The truth of the “one body,” comprising all believers, is found in the Corinthians; so is a chapter dealing with the Lord’s supper, and others tell of the Holy Spirit’s work in the assembly, of the coming of the Lord, and many other subjects forming part of the instruction the believer needs.

The Epistle to the Galatians differs from Romans wherein positive truth is presented, in that the recovery of the truth formerly known is what is pressed in the epistle now before us. Perhaps the first mention of Satan’s successful scheme to corrupt the gospel is found in Acts 15:1-31. In Acts 21:20-22 we see that the Jewish believers at Jerusalem were inoculated with this evil mixture of law and grace, though they had learned that the Apostle Paul taught the Jews as he did the Gentiles who believed, justification by faith without the deeds of the law (Rom. 3:28).

Portions of 2 Corinthians 11 and 12 seem to indicate that the false teachers who had found an entrance in that assembly in the Apostle’s absence, were trying to get the Gentile believers converted to Satan’s device of law and grace—Judaism and Christianity. Philippians 1:15 and 3:2-7, 18-19; Colossians 2:14-17 and 1 Timothy 1:3-11 among other passages show how extended were these efforts of the devil to corrupt the truth while Paul was yet alive. Today this corruption of the truth in varying degree is all but universal, notwithstanding its condemnation in the pages of Scripture.

“God, it is true, in His love has suited the gospel to the wants of man. The enemy brings down that which still bears its name to the level of the haughty will of man and the corruption of the natural heart, turning Christianity into a religion that suits that heart, in place of one that is the expression of the heart of God—an all-holy God—and the revelation of that which He has done in His love, to bring us into communion with His holiness ... ”

“God allowed this invasion of His assembly in the earliest days of its existence, in order that we might have the answer of divine inspiration to these very principles, when they should be developed in an established system which would claim submission from the children of God as being the church that He had established, and the only ministry that He acknowledged.” (Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: Galatians, J. N. Darby).

We turn to the text of the epistle: “Paul, apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father who raised Him from among the dead, and all the brethren with me, to the assemblies of Galatia. Grace to you, and peace, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, so that He should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.” (verses 1-5, JND).

Of the nine epistles of Paul addressed to assemblies, this to the Galatians has the most singular form of address. In writing to the Corinthians he had referred to his apostleship as through, or by, the will of God; here the language is, “not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ.” Halted near Damascus in his course as the chief of sinners by the Lord Himself, we see in Acts 9 to verse 30, in chapter 11:25-30, and chapter 12:25, with the beginning of chapter 13, Paul’s history from that meeting on the Damascus road to the commencement of the work outside of Israel’s land to which he was called by the Holy Spirit.

Knowing well what Satan would do to corrupt the gospel, the Lord chose the servant through whom He would make it fully known, chose the place and circumstances of his conversion, dealt with him, not as with the twelve on earth, but as the risen and glorified one, kept him apart from the twelve apostles at Jerusalem in Arabia, and distant Tarsus first, and afterward at Antioch (both these places far to the north of Israel’s land) during years of preparation, that his apostleship might be altogether “not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father who raised Him from among the dead.”

“And all the brethren that are with me;” his brethren, then with the apostle, his companions in service, are united with him; “to the assemblies of Galatia”; setting them apart as though they had taken up with something, some bad teaching (as indeed they had), for which they must be dealt with.

The Apostle wishes, as in all his letters, grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, but here adds, “who gave Himself for our sins, so that He should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory to the ages of ages. Amen.” Since He gave Himself for our sins, our sins are gone from God’s sight in that one perfect offering; and our present position, through His grace, is that He will deliver us in body, as He has already done for our souls, out of the present evil world, which has been judged. Now these things are completely at variance with Judaism, with the principles of law keeping for salvation. The law looks at a man in the world, alive in his sins, and bids him, “Do this and live,” establishing, if he can, his own righteousness here in the world. And many are quite prepared to go on such a footing.

Verses 6-9: “I wonder that ye thus quickly change from him that called you in Christ’s grace to a different gospel which is not another one; but there are some that trouble you, and desire to pervert the glad tidings of the Christ. But if even we or an angel out of heaven announce as glad tidings to you anything besides what we have announced as glad tidings to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, now also again I say, if any one announce to you as glad tidings anything besides what ye have received, let him be accursed” (JND).

In but a few years the believers in Galatia had turned from the Apostle Paul’s teaching of the whole truth of God in its purity, to an adulteration of it, an addition to it. As another has expressed it, to add anything was to deny the perfection of the entirely heavenly revelation of God; to alter its character was to corrupt it. The apostle is not speaking of a doctrine openly opposed to it, but of that which is outside of the gospel he had preached. Thus there cannot be another gospel; it is a different gospel, but there are no glad tidings but what he had preached. Whoever turned away the saints from the perfect truth Paul had preached, let him be accursed.

Ye Must Be Born Again: Part 1

I wish, with the Lord’s help, dear friends, to bring John 3 before you in the way in which it has been before me of late.

Perhaps there is no chapter in the New Testament that, in part, at least, is known better than the 3rd chapter of the Gospel by John; and perhaps there is no part of the New Testament that is so little understood.

What has been before me of late in connection with this is how it brings out what God is by nature, and what man is by nature. God and man are brought together in that way.

In this chapter we have—I hardly like to say, three men; although there are three men—I had rather say, three persons. But one of those men is absolutely different from the other two—He came from heaven. That is the testimony of John the Baptist. When John’s disciples become jealous for their master, they find that the Lord Jesus is getting a greater hearing than John, “He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all come to Him.”

They were jealous of their master’s glory. And the Christian often is jealous of His Master’s glory. That just gives occasion to John the Baptist, who was the greatest born of women, as Jesus said, to tell how he feels—the contrast between himself and his Master,

“He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth.”

How each one of us learns for himself the gracious and wonderful truth that one has come down from heaven. And that one delights in the title of being the Son of Man. And we learn who Christ is; and where He came from. That is one of the first things we wish to learn in order to know God.

Well, the other is a great man—Nicodemus. And he has been to some meetings—the Passover, where Jesus was—and he has seen and heard some of the miracles of the Lord. And that dear man, that great man Nicodemus, referred to in another translation as “the teacher of Israel,” has a need, a felt need in his soul. And that felt need brought him to the Saviour. But his knowledge of who that Saviour was, was very shallow and partial. He comes to Him and says,

“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God.” Well, Nicodemus, how do you know that?

“No man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him.”

When did Nicodemus come? He came at night. What shall we learn of that? We read of Nicodemus twice after this in the gospel; and each time he is mentioned, it is said of him that he came to Jesus by night. Some have felt that he was ashamed to come by day. That is not the speaker’s thought of it. Ah, he had a need in his soul—a felt need. And it is a blessed thing, whether you come to Jesus by night or by day, when you come to Him with a sense of need in your soul. You will receive blessing by coming to Him in that way. What was Nicodemus’ felt need? His need of God—have you felt that? Has a realized sense of need in your soul brought you to God, brought you in the presence of God? If not, you are a stranger to Him. And He appeals to you in His love.

I have often thought of those three men. Ah, you and I would not feel very much at home in the presence of Nicodemus; nor would we feel very much at home in the presence of John the Baptist, for he was a thundering servant of God— “Repent,” was the word with John the Baptist. But, O, if you came to Jesus, you would find yourself perfectly at home; and He would be happy to have you realize yourself at home in His presence.

I sometimes ask the question, What did Jesus come from heaven for? What was He sent from heaven for? To make known the love of God. On one occasion a poor leper just burst the heart of Christ, when he said,

“I do not question your power, but what about your feelings? What about your heart? If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.”

You have the power; have You got the will to do it? At once that hand went forth and touched him. He says,

“I will; be thou clean.” Ah, it was to make known God’s love that Christ came!

And so this great man, this master in Israel, finds himself in the presence of perhaps the lowliest man in Israel; for the one characteristic of the Lord Jesus was lowliness—a lowliness that made Him live a life of loneliness. So He comes; and He says,

“Well, you speak in a bantering way, and you own that God is with Me; and you want to be taught. If you want to be taught, you want the truth, do you not?”

Do you and I desire to know the truth of God, or the truth from God? That is what is needful for salvation—to know the truth of God; who He is, and what He is in His nature. So in the first answer of the Lord Jesus to this great man, this master in Israel, He says,

“If you want to know the truth; if you want Me to teach you, I must tell you the truth of God. And I must tell you, though you are a master in Israel and a teacher, ‘Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”

Have you learned that? O, that is forgotten, dear friends. The majority of the masters in Israel today, have forgotten that, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It is a right thing to tell the people the truth; and woe be the man who stands up to teach or preach the truth of God, when he does not teach the truth of God.

“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Unless you have been born again, you will never see, or enter it.

Now, how is that? What makes man need a new birth? of being born again? or, “born from above,” as the margin gives it; the same word is frequently translated, “born from above”?

(To Be Continued)

Be Joyful

Christians must be cheerful in order to be useful. Hence, “rejoice in the Lord always,” is one of the commandments of the Decalogue of grace. A morose Christian will restrain his blessing from the world.

O, unhappy disciples, “the joy of the Lord is your strength,” and you will be weak and of little use till you find that joy.

“And these things write we unto you that your joy may be full” (1 John 1:4).

A Question

The natural man says to God, “Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways” (Job 21:14).

The believer says, “Teach me Thy way, O Lord” (Psa. 27:11).

Which, reader, do you say?

Correspondence: MAT 19:24; "Inn"; 7 Spirits; Saints in REV 13:7; Help Meet

Question: What is the meaning of the “needle” in Matthew 19:24?

Answer: The needle referred to is the ordinary sewing needle with which everyone is familiar. There is not the slightest ground for the notion that it referred to a small gate in the wall of Jerusalem. Verse 26 would make this clear, as it would by no means be “impossible” for the camel to go through the supposed small gate, even in the judgment of those who advance the “gate” theory. The lesson is that “Salvation is of the Lord.” Matthew 27:57 shows that God is able to do the “impossible”; Joseph was rich, yet he was saved. (See Matthew 27:57-60).

Question: What is the typical meaning of the “inn” in the parable of the Samaritan in Luke 10:34-35?

Answer: The inn being the place in which the delivered man was to be cared for until the return of the “Samaritan,” would typify the place where the Lord cares for His own during His absence, and until His return. This would point to the assembly where the Spirit of God operates for the good and blessing of all Christ’s members. No doubt, there is the additional, that of the transient character of the church’s sojourn; it is an “inn,” not a permanent residence as a palace or castle.

Inasmuch as the Samaritan paid but two pence to the innkeeper, we would gather that the Lord intended to teach the brevity of the time until His return.

Question: What is the meaning of the Seven Spirits in Revelation 4;5, and in other places in the book of Revelation?

Answer: The number “seven” in Scripture suggests completeness, or perfection, either in good or evil. So the “seven Spirits of God” in the book of Revelation would indicate the all-comprehensive, providential workings of that Holy Spirit in God’s judgments upon the earth.

Question: Who are the saints mentioned in Revelation 13:7? Are not the church saints caught up before them?

Answer: These are Jewish saints, who at that time will be carrying out the ceremonial law of God. The “beast” cannot touch the saints who have been caught up at the coming of the Lord. The “beast” will prevent the Jewish remnant from performing their religious observances.

Question: What is the force of the words “help meet” in Genesis 2:18?

Answer: This is the authorized version’s rendering of one word in the original which means “helper.” The Greek equivalent of this word is used once in the New Testament in Hebrews 13:6:

“The Lord is my helper.”

The King's Daughter

The calm sea shone like a mirror, and reflected on its placid bosom the clear blue sky and white fleecy clouds, while nearer the shore the soft verdure that crowned the neighboring heights was reflected in living green. Young children were playing merrily on the smooth, soft sands, while their mothers and nurses were reposing under the pleasant shade of the high cliffs, occupied with their books, knitting, or pencils, according to their various tastes or duties. The day was too hot for walking. I had myself come down to the beach to enjoy a peaceful hour; and seeing a young party with whom I was acquainted, I sat down near them. After watching the children some time, and assisting them to construct the castles, dikes, and canals, about which they were so busy, I turned to their governess and sat down by her.

Having some reason to think she was one who loved the Lord Jesus, I ventured to accost her by saying:

“Well, my dear young friend, what are you doing to serve the Lord?”

“I!” she replied quickly, “Nothing.”

“How is that, if He has redeemed you, loved you, washed you?”

“But I do not know this; I am not a Christian.”

“How is this? I thought you were. You seem very anxious about the souls of your little pupils, you like to hear the gospel preached; you seem to like to speak and hear of the love of Jesus.”

“Yes, but I do not know that He is my Saviour. I fear I have no right to love Him; I think if I had, I should not be so often cross to the children; I should not have such worldly thoughts; my mind would not wander in prayer, as it does. I should like to know that I am a Christian, but how can I think so while I feel so sinful?”

“The truth is this, Miss H,” I replied, “you want to see fruits of faith before you will believe you have the root. You will not believe that the foundation of the house is laid, because you cannot see the roof and chimneys. Let me try to explain myself by a parable.

“A certain king, having large and boundless wealth, resolved to adopt some of his subjects into his family, and to give them all the privileges of his own sons. He did not choose his adopted children exclusively from his nobles and gentry, but he made a general proclamation to his subjects to the effect, that whoever would, might become the king’s son or daughter.

“This proclamation was from time to time repeated and re-echoed in every alley and garret through his empire. Some accepted the invitation; more rejected it. Among those who had heard of the king’s gracious offer was a young girl of low degree. Her heart burned to be the king’s daughter, but how should she attain to this honor? She was poor, without friends, without education; her clothes were ragged and dirty, and her whole appearance forbidding.

“‘Can this invitation be for me?’ she exclaimed.

“‘Yes, for you,’ replied the king’s messenger.

“‘What must I do then?’

“‘Only go to the palace door and knock till you are admitted.’

“The messenger left her; but the next day, again meeting her:

“‘Why have you not gone to the palace?’

“‘O, sir! I have been trying to mend up my clothes; and today I shall borrow a bit of soap to wash them.’

“‘Go just as you are,’ he replied.

“‘Why are you yet outside the palace gate?’ said he another day. ‘You are losing a great deal of time.’

“‘Sir,’ she replied, ‘my speech is so uncouth; I want to take a few lessons in grammar, and to learn how to behave.’

“‘You will never learn court manners,’ said he, ‘till you go to court. You will then be in the king’s company, and will learn from him how to behave, and how to speak; and as to your rags and dirt, you will never be free from them while you live in this filthy alley. Besides which, when you enter the king’s palace, he will take from you all your filthy rags; he will cause you to be thoroughly washed in a fountain kept for the purpose; and then you will be clothed in entirely new garments. So you are wasting time in making all these preparations.’

“The young girl thus addressed was at last wise enough to take her friend’s advice; she rose up, went straight to the palace gate, knocked as though she expected to be answered, and walked in as soon as the door was opened. She was washed, and clothed, and instructed. Gradually she learned the habits of the family. She enjoyed the love and care of the king all her life, and was as happy as a queen.”

“Now, Miss H.,” continued I, “if you will but consent to knock at the palace gate—that is, if you come to God by faith in His dear Son, He will at once admit you into His family. He will wash you in the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, which cleanses from all sin. He will take away the filthy garments of your own righteousness, in which by nature is all your trust. He will clothe you in His own righteousness. He will make you a daughter of the Lord God Almighty.”

“Ah!” replied my friend, “but the girl in your parable knew very well when the door was opened. If I could but see the door opened, I should know I could enter in and be saved.”

“In that difference lies the difficulty; and in that the blessing. What the Lord wants in you is not to act by sight, but by faith. He has said:

“‘Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out’ (John 6:37). Can you simply take Him at His word?”

This was all that this dear young woman needed. The door was open for her, He was ready to receive her. All that was required of her was to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

“I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9).

Extract: The Object and Center of All God's Plans and Purposes

The object and center of all God’s plans and purposes, before ever there was a world, is Christ. And what infinite grace towards poor vile sinners, to choose us for blessing in Christ, and with Christ, and even as Christ,

“Holy and without blame before Him (God) in love.”

Our souls are tested as to this. We have our little plans and purposes, of which, alas, self is often the object and center. But when Christ becomes the only object and center of our thoughts and purposes, we are then in communion with God.

The Epistle to the Galatians: 1:10-2:10

“For do I now seek to satisfy men or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I were yet pleasing men, I were not Christ’s bondman. But I let you know, brethren, as to the glad tidings which were announced by me, that they are not according to man. For neither did I receive them from man, neither was I taught them, but by revelation of Jesus Christ.

“For ye have heard what was my conversation formerly in Judaism, that I excessively persecuted the assembly of God, and ravaged it, and advanced in Judaism beyond many my contemporaries in my nation, being exceedingly zealous of the doctrines” (or traditions) “of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart even from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I may announce Him as glad tidings among the nations, immediately I took not counsel with flesh and blood, nor went I up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia, and again returned to Damascus.

“Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to make acquaintance with Peter, and I remained with him fifteen days; but I saw none other of the apostles but James the brother of the Lord.

“Now what I write to you, behold, before God, I do not lie. Then I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. But I was unknown personally to the assemblies of Judea which are in Christ, only they were hearing that he who persecuted us formerly, now announces the glad tidings of the faith which formerly he ravaged; and they glorified God in me” (verses 10-24, JND).

In the first words of the epistle the inspired writer had said of himself, “Paul, apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father who raised Him from among the dead”; he was sent forth as Christ’s servant to make known His gospel;—was he to seek to satisfy men or God? The answer was at hand; “If I were yet pleasing men, I were not Christ’s bondman!” (verse 10). The gospel is not pleasing to men; they reject His grace; would keep God at a distance.

The Apostle insists at the outset that the “glad tidings,” or gospel, as the ordinary version has it, which he announced, were not according to man, nor received from man, nor was he taught them, but by revelation of Jesus Christ. Several references to revelations are found in the epistles; one that week by week on the Lord’s Day morning (less frequently for many, to their loss) addresses itself to the Christian heart, is 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. Important was it that Paul should know of the Lord’s institution of the memorial bread and wine, in partaking of which His people should have Him before their hearts according to His word, “This do in remembrance of Me.” Gathered in the fewest number, and in much feebleness, as they may be in these days, yet what is there on earth to compare with the meeting when the disciples come together to break bread as they did in Troas (Acts 20:7)?

“Judaism,” or “the Jew’s religion” (verses 13-14) is the Apostle’s name for what had been owned of God, but could no longer be, since the cross. God-fearing souls there were who went on with it, but the case of Israel before God was closed when they rejected and put to death their Messiah.

Verse 16: God’s revealing His Son in Paul brings to our thoughts that other signally honored servant, Peter, whose confession of Jesus as Israel’s Messiah and more as the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16) brought to him:

“Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.”

Peter was the first to whom the truth of Christ’s heavenly and divine glory was made known, as Paul was the first to learn of the union of Christ and the church (Eph. 3).

How much must have been included in those communications to Paul, when God was pleased to reveal His Son in him! “Immediately,” he says, “I took not counsel with flesh and blood, nor went I up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia, and again returned to Damascus.”

As with Moses who, before entering upon his period of active service as the leader of the children of Israel, must spend forty years at the back side of the desert, so Paul must be alone in Arabia before he is ready for the Lord’s service.

Three years pass, and Paul goes to Jerusalem to make acquaintance with Peter, remaining with him fifteen days; what a meeting that must have been, as each learned of the other how the Lord had led him! This would be the occasion referred to in Acts 9:26-31.

Verse 21: The regions of Syria and Cilicia are represented by Antioch and Tarsus in the accounts of Acts 9:30; 11:25-26.

“Then after a lapse of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me; and I went up according to revelation, and I laid before them the glad tidings which I preach among the nations, but privately to those conspicuous among them, lest in any way I run or had run in vain; (but neither was Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, compelled to be circumcised); and it was on account of the false brethren brought in surreptitiously, who came in surreptitiously to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage; to whom we yielded in subjection not even for an hour, that the truth of the glad tidings might remain with you.

“But from those who were conspicuous as being somewhat—whatsoever they were, it makes no difference to me; God does not accept man’s person; for to me those who were conspicuous, communicated nothing; but on the contrary seeing that the glad tidings of the uncircumcision were confided to me” (or, I was entrusted with the glad tidings of the uncircumcision) “even as to Peter that of the circumcision (for He that wrought in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcision wrought also in me towards the Gentiles) and recognizing the grace given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were conspicuous as being pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should go to the nations, and they to the circumcision; only that we should remember the poor, which same thing also I was diligent to do” (chapter 2, verses 1-10, JND).

The fifteenth chapter of the Acts also tells of this conference, with the circumstances surrounding it. “Certain men which came down from Judea” taught the brethren at Antioch, that unless they were circumcised after the custom of Moses they could not be saved. This, as might be expected, caused a commotion, and no small discussion on the part of Paul and Barnabas against the men. In the wise ordering of God the matter was left open at Antioch in order that it might be taken before the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, for a decision which would maintain unity, silence opposition.

Acts 15 gives the outward history, while Galatians 2 brings out what governed the Apostle’s heart at this juncture. Paul, Barnabas and certain others were to go to Jerusalem to lay the matter before the leaders; Paul tells us that he went according to revelation and that he took with him Titus, a Gentile believer who had not been circumcised. Opportunity was then taken by our Apostle to put before the leaders at Jerusalem that which he taught—which, if we except Peter they had evidently not known, or had known but imperfectly before.

The result of this preliminary and private meeting was that Paul was acknowledged as having been taught of God altogether independently of themselves, and it was seen that his ministry was sent of God; he was acting for God as much as they. The leaders contributed nothing to Paul’s doctrine, but gave to him and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that they should go to the nations, while the former, James, Peter and John, should go to the Jews.

We can see the wisdom of God in the time of this meeting; it was not until Paul had continued many years in the service of his Lord, and had, with Barnabas, carried the gospel far into the regions beyond Israel’s borders.

From Acts 15:5-29 we learn of the later meeting at Jerusalem called to consider the demand that believers (among the Gentiles) should be circumcised and should keep the law of Moses. Here Peter gave a clear testimony against this corruption of the gospel, showing that law-keeping for salvation was not in the purpose of God for Jew or Gentile; salvation was through grace alone (verses 7-11). The opposition was silenced and James expressed the judgment of the assembly that Gentile believers should not be troubled on this question.

Heathen at Home

A very considerable portion of the people of this land are utterly ignorant of the way of salvation. This statement applies both to towns and the country. In many country districts neither church nor chapel are visited, and the people live and die without thought of God. In the towns the “lapsed masses” are to be counted by thousands.

Christian reader, what are you doing in the work of carrying the living water to the perishing souls of your immediate neighborhood? Close by your doors are those who, practically speaking, have as vague an idea of divine pardon, and as little desire after the true God, as the heathen at the ends of the earth.

Ye Must Be Born Again: Part 2

Do not think that when God made man, He made him with such a bad nature that he would need to be born again. O no, when Adam came from the hand of God, he came from that hand a perfect man. And love and power had prepared a scene of blessedness for that man—Paradise. And when he got into paradise, he found everything suited to his nature; and his nature suited to everything there.

How is it that our need of a new life, a new nature, is essential to our seeing, or entering, the kingdom of God? Because the best of us are so bad by nature. And that is what has been impressed in my mind of late to bring before my own soul and others, what I am by nature; and what and who God is by nature.

Friends, you have to do with God—God as God, first. Are you ready for that? Have you had to do with Him?

I speak now for a moment to the unconverted. My unconverted friend, do you think if God took you into heaven, that you would be happy? If God took you into heaven unborn again, unconverted, the first thing you would wish to do, would be to get out. Why? O, you would find the light of the holiness of God there; and you would find yourself all exposed to light. No, if God were to take an unconverted man into heaven, he would be utterly unhappy.

Well, what shall He do with him then? Put him into hell? Would he be happy then? Why, I believe he would be as unhappy in heaven as he would be in hell. In heaven the light of the holiness of God would constantly expose and bear down upon him; in hell, the weight of God’s judgment is upon him.

I know it is not common to talk in this way of heaven and hell in these days. But, dear friend, heaven or hell, forever and forever, will be your portion and mine. Think of that. That is worthy of consideration—an eternal home in heaven, all suited to heaven and to the God of heaven; or a place in hell, under the judgment of God, for my sins.

Well, Nicodemus cannot understand it. “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” What would be his need afterward, in order to see or enter the kingdom of God? To be born again; and I repeat the new version in that way. No, it is another kind of birth.

So this perplexed this master in Israel; and it perplexes masters in Israel today. But the Lord Jesus emphasizes the fact:

“Except a man be born again, he cannot enter, or see the kingdom of God.”

O, let these fundamental words and gospel truth remain in our souls. I have known the truth many years; but I find it blessed to go back to the fundamentals. So he goes on, and the Lord Jesus says to him:

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

There might be a great deal of difference in the circumstances of two or three men; but if they have not been born again, they are unsaved masters in Israel.

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh” —what does that mean?

Suppose we should send, say, an unconverted child of ours to a theological seminary to be made a preacher; and he would pass the course of study, and graduate. What is he in nature? What he was when he entered— “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” He remains an unconverted man.

I use the terms born again and converted as almost the same, though they are not exactly the same thought in Scripture. But conversion or new birth is essential.

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

What is the need of it? That I as a sinful man, have a nature that can not be changed, but remains a sinful one. The moral and the immoral man are the same in nature. It was not an immoral man to whom the Lord Jesus was talking here, who had come to Him by night, with a sense of need in his soul. Both the moral and the immoral are in need of conversion, of being born again.

What does this new nature give to those who receive it? The nature from above is another kind of birth; and what does it make them? It makes them children of God—by nature, spiritual nature. What a vast and wonderful change! “Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” (Rom. 8:17). But that is not the rich part of it. The rich part of it is that each child is partaker of the nature of God; he is a child of God by nature. And he can enjoy, and does enjoy and worship God, as one that has a new nature. How fine and sweetly here on earth the child of God gets a foretaste of home; that is, heaven. Communion with God and his Saviour is a foretaste of what will be his everlasting portion.

Well, all this perplexed this learned man—he was a member of the Sanhedrin. And it perplexes the learned at all times; in order to understand it, they have to take the place of being sinners in God’s sight, with a nature that is utterly contrary to His.

(To Be Continued)

Fragment: They are Not Lost

Why should we shed tears immoderately for those who have tears wiped from their eyes?

Why should we be swallowed up with grief for those who are swallowed up of joy?

They are not lost, but are safely at home with Him who loves them and has bought them with His precious blood; not perished, but “with Christ, which is far better,” —where there is “fullness of joy.” They have gone but a little while before us.

“For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” (Heb. 10:37).

Lord, We Shall See Thee as Thou Art

“Lord, we shall see Thee as Thou art,

In yonder mansions fair;

We shall behold Thee face to face,

Thy glorious image bear.

With what delight, what wondering love,

Each thrilling heart shall swell,

When we, as sharers of Thy joy,

Are called in heaven to dwell!

O hasten, hasten on that hour,

And call us to Thy seat;

Lord, Thou without us ne’er wilt count

Thy joy and work complete.”

Beloved of God: Romans 1:7

Thou lovest me! And yet Thy child

Is wayward, foolish, oft defiled;

Is slow to learn and dull to hold,

Quick to forget what Thou hast told;

In service feeble, seeking ease

Ofttimes, instead of Thee to please;

Thus poor my record e’er will be,

And yet, O God, Thou lovest me!

Thou lovest me, because that love

Is in Thee, of Thee, yea, above

All acts. Love’s self is all Thine own!

Thou, God, art love; Thou, love alone!

Hadst Thou but waited for my call,

Or love in me, then not at all

Had I this purest ecstasy

Known ever, that Thou lovest me!

Thou lovest me with that rich heart

That sought its objects far apart

From all that’s winning, all that’s good,

Thou lovest, just because Thou’rt God:

Thus Thou and I the story tell,

Spanning all distance possible;

I, nothing; Thou, infinity;

I, hateful; but Thou lovest me!

Thou lovest me! yes, Thou, God, Thou!

Thyself told out completely now -

Thy holiness, Thy majesty;

Yet this Thou add’st, Thou lovest me!

Me! me the bad, without one claim,

Whose fellowship and touch were shame;

In this prevail’st Thou mightily,

Thou tak’st no taint by loving me!

Nor is it shame to love me so!

None but Thou, God, durst stoop so low;

Because Thou’rt Thou! Thy glory this,

The high prerogative of bliss

Like Thine—Thyself the bliss—to love

With grand imperial love, to move

With sovereign will, and so to be

All things to me by loving me.

Thou lovest me, shall be my boast

Whene’er the foe annoys me most;

Parades each circumstance of ill,

And magnifies the griefs I feel;

Intensifies the bitterness

Of trials, talks of my distress,

As though I could forsaken be!

I know, I know Thou lovest me!

Yes, he will speak of wrath, of rod,

Blaspheme Thee to my fears, my God!

Make light my gains, enlarge on loss;

My soul makes answer, “There’s the cross!”

Beyond that, wrath can never come;

Upon it, Christ met all my doom;

I shout the paean, “I am free!”

For there I find Thou lovest me!

Thou lovest me! And that shall stand

Deeper than sea, firmer than land,

‘Gainst all that Satan can evoke,

‘Gainst destitution, sorrow, stroke,

Scorn, tribulation, hate of man,

And ways of Thine I cannot scan;

I see, above all mystery,

This one clear fact, Thou lovest me!

This settles every doubt and fear;

Makes me a happy worshipper;

Gives to the weary feet a spring;

Makes the face shine, the tongue to sing;

Gives conscience, too, a clear release,

The heart a confidence and peace;

Fills every day and hour with glee -

The joy of heaven—Thou lovest me!

That I am so beloved of God,

Must form my manners on the road

I journey, till I meet Thy Son,

My Lord, who all Thy love has shown;

Must separate from world and sin,

From every path that He’s not in;

Incite to toil, bring victory;

The only power, Thou lovest me!

And how Thy love invites my love!

Draws my whole soul toward Thee to move!

Makes possible to faith Thy facts

And all assurances! Thine acts,

The most astounding, no more strange

Can be, since I’m within their range

By knowing Thee, through love so free,

By knowing how Thou lovest me!

It is enough; no element

I want, to give my heart content,

I sit within this love’s pure glow

With great delight, and waiting so,

The certain coming of my Lord,

So clearly told in love’s pure word,

Then the full flow of life shall be

In heaven as here, Thou lovest me!

Fragment: Meeting Jesus

O! the blessedness, when after all the troubles and conflicts are over, we shall “awake in His likeness.” Dear young Christian, is there nothing in this to quicken your joy in meeting Jesus? Is there nothing to throw contempt upon the world, and its unmeaning joys?

Meditation

Reading in Judges, chapter two, I have been greatly impressed by the Angel removing from Gilgal to Bochim. Truly the people should be found at Gilgal in humiliation and self-judgment, but their loving Lord deigned to meet him at Bochim—the place of tears, and accepts worship in recognizing an altar of sacrifice there. While tenderly recounting His faithful dealings with them, and exposing their failure and departure only to plead,

“Why have ye done this?”

Just as in Jeremiah 13:17, He appeals to those who would not heed His word, saying their conduct wounded His love for them, so that

“Mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears.”

To me, it is deeply affecting that my coldness or failure in any way, should so sorrowfully affect the heart of love to which I owe so much. Let us seek to gratify, rather than wound such a faithful Lover of our souls!

Correspondence: Acts 2:3 & Mat. 3:11; Rom. 10:6-7; Mat. 16:16-18

Question: What do we learn from the cloven tongues of fire that sat upon each of the disciples when the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost? (Acts 2:3). Is that the baptism of fire spoken of in Matthew 3:11?

Answer: The baptism of the Holy Ghost was at Pentecost; the baptism of fire is when the Lord returns with His saints to judge the world, beginning with the unbelieving Jews: then He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

In Matthew 3:16, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove lighting on Him, and the Father’s voice says, “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” “Him hath God the Father sealed.” (John 6:27). The Holy Spirit came upon Him in this form, because of the lowly character He took, “He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed, shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench” (Matt. 12:19-20). Here all is different. He has finished the work given Him to do, and rejected and crucified on earth, risen and glorified in heaven, and received of the Father the Holy Spirit to send down to earth as His witness (John 15:26-27).

The tongues of fire, divided into more than two (the word means “several”), gives us the thought of the power of God in testimony in the Word which was like consuming fire, judging all that comes before it—brings blessing to the believers, and judgment to the unbelievers.

The Lord at Babel (Gen. 11:6-9) confounded the language to scatter the people. He was not their center. When the gospel began, He sent it so that every one could hear in their own tongue the wonderful works of God. This message, if received, gathers those who receive it into one with Christ as their Head and Center. Babel was to shut God out. The gospel brings God in, and brings us to God.

Question: What does Romans 10:6-7 mean?

Answer: This chapter begins by showing the foolishness of those who labor to produce a righteousness of their own, who do not therefore submit themselves to the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes. Then it shows how the gospel has come right to us, to our hearts; no laboring, no efforts, only resting on God’s precious Word. This is the way Deuteronomy 30:12-14 is used here. The word was nigh them, in their mouth, and in their hearts. How blessed and precious the good news of God is!

Question: Please explain Matthew 16:16-18.

Answer: It was on Peter confessing that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, that the Lord expresses His intention to build His church (assembly) on that foundation (see 1 Cor. 3:11).

“Peter” means “a stone,” and it was upon Christ (this rock) that the assembly was to be built. Peter as a stone, was built upon it with the rest of the living stones (1 Peter 2:5). “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” means that the power of death can not destroy the assembly. Individuals die, and are “absent from the body and present with the Lord”; the assembly never dies. The Lord will come and take it up to meet Him in the air to be forever with Him.

“I will build” shows His intention. It was still future. At Pentecost it began. The Lord in glory received the Holy Spirit to send Him down to dwell in all believers (Acts 2:33; 1 Cor. 6:19; 12:12-13). This is the first time the assembly is mentioned in Scripture.

Sowing and Reaping

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” (2 Cor. 6:14).

Ann R. was born in a quiet town. Her parents were worldly people, but very industrious. Ann showed marks of piety at an early age; she took great delight in the Sunday school; she loved her teacher dearly, and much enjoyed committing hymns to memory. Ann’s teacher was a godly young person, who sought to show her pupils their need of a Saviour, and who tried to lead them to Christ. She instructed them that children will be called to give an account to God for their every thought, word and deed, and consequently need the blood of Christ to wash them and make them clean, quite as much as people of mature age. She tried to make them see the evil of trusting to works and morality to save them from judgment, and sought to prove to them that Christ and Christ alone must save every sinner who enters heaven.

Ann R. loved her Saviour, and all went well during her childhood, but when she grew up she accepted the friendship of a worldly young man. He made promises of amendment, saying that if he had a good counselor and a home of his own, he would be a better man. He often told her his home was not a happy one, and that if she would consent to marry him he would turn over a new leaf. Alas! without seeking guidance from her God she accepted him, and they were married early in the spring.

“Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord?” (2 Chron. 19:2).

For a time J. S. kept his promises; he regularly attended the meetings with his wife; he left his worldly comrades, and outwardly there was a change for the better, but, alas! his heart was not changed. His attendance at the meetings was soon irregular; his visits to the saloon increased, and, sad to relate, Ann began to be dragged away from God by him, and would go for a holiday upon the Lord’s day to please him. At the end of two years J.’s life was as wicked as before, and his wife had been led by him into evil. She had disobeyed the plain word of Scripture in marrying a man not a Christian, and the influence she at one time possessed for doing good was gone. Time went on, and J. became a drunkard.

Poor Ann cried to God for forgiveness, and was brought back to the Saviour from whom she had strayed, but she had to travel the path of life in sorrow as regards this world. Lonely and sad, she could see, alas! too late, that she had chosen her own way instead of her God’s way, and though God in mercy had looked upon His wandering sheep, it was after much suffering that she was brought back to the Shepherd she had left.

She was often beaten by her drunken husband, and sometimes he even threatened to take her life. In these dark hours she found her Saviour precious, and the promise, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” very sweet.

J. would not hear one word of counsel; he was determined to fill up the measure of his iniquities. Poor Ann could only carry her heavy burden to God in prayer, and stay herself upon Him. So was a long life spent! Ann reaped as she had sown. There was no cheer in her sad life, save her hope in God.

As her husband saw her happy death, he thought, as have many before:

“Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.” Then God in His mercy began to answer Ann’s prayers. The funeral being over, J. was left alone, and he thought over all his cruelty to his wife; he thought of her patience and love; he was ashamed of his wickedness, and grieved over the hopeless past. Nor did he grieve alone for his cruelty towards his wife! The Spirit of God showed him the depths of the sin of his heart, and he was humbled and contrite before the holy God. He cried aloud in the agony of his soul:

“What must I do to be saved?”

Then he thought of his wife’s Bible, and there he read the tender and compassionate words of Jesus

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”; and O! how he longed for rest.

After turning over the leaves of the Bible, and reading many underlined passages, which seemed to him as his wife’s voice appealing to him from the grave, he read:

“Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off” (Isa. 33:17).

The light shone in upon his dark soul as he read on, and the 22nd verse was blessed to him:

“For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.”

The Spirit of God showed him that Christ had done all for him, when nailed to the cross; he might come with all his sins to Jesus, and trust the gracious call. He came, and found Christ to be “as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isa. 32:2).

Where this word has been disobeyed, the cup of sorrow has often been full for many years with tears, heartaches and keenest disappointment; a big price to pay for transgressing one plain portion of the Word of God, and bringing great dishonor to the Lord.

Faithful in That Which Is Least

Be not looking to do some great thing in order to serve God; but seek grace from Him that, in the many little things which make up your life, you may so act that the Lord shall by and by say to you:

“Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21).

The Epistle to the Galatians: 2:10-21

Chapter 2:10 to 21

“But when Peter came to Antioch I withstood him to the face, because he was to be condemned; for before that certain came from James, he ate with those of the nations; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcision; and the rest of the Jews also played the same dissembling part with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away, too, by their dissimulation.

“But when I saw that they do not walk straightforwardly, according to the truth of the glad tidings, I said to Peter before all, if thou, being a Jew, livest as the nations and not as the Jews, how dost thou compel the nations to Judaize? We, Jews by nature, and not sinners of the nations, but knowing that a man is not justified on the principle of works of law, nor but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we also have believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified on the principle of the faith of Christ, and not of works of law; because on the principle of works of law no flesh shall be justified.

“Now if in seeking to be justified in Christ we also have been found sinners, then is Christ minister of sin. Far be the thought. For if the things I have thrown down, these I build again, I constitute myself a transgressor. For I through law have died to law, that I may live to God. I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me, but in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given Himself for me.

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness is by law, then Christ has died for nothing” (verses 11-21, JND).

Peter had done well in his testimony at the Jerusalem conference, but he failed sadly at Antioch. Before “certain came from James” —probably Jewish believers from Jerusalem where Judaism had its center—Peter ate with the Gentile believers, as of course he should; but when these others came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the newcomers; and the other Jews followed his example, even Barnabas, Paul’s companion, among them.

If Peter did not realize the gravity of what he was doing, Paul did, and he at once took Peter to task before all. The occasion was not one where the feelings of another could be considered and he be spoken to privately about his error. Nor could the fact that God had acted mightily in Peter, who was beyond question reckoned one of the chief apostles, justify silence about the offense. Finally no question of apostolic rank, as of Peter’s being Paul’s superior, to whom deference must be shown, could be raised, for Peter had no such appointment.

The Lord had committed the gospel to Paul’s responsibility, and silence could not be permitted where that gospel was falsified. To Peter therefore he said before all:

“If thou, being a Jew, livest as the nations ... how dost thou compel the nations to Judaize? We, Jews by nature ... have believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified on the principle of the faith of Christ, and not of works of law; because on the principle of works of law no flesh shall be justified.”

Paul’s words went right to the heart of the matter, the Holy Spirit by him showing how much was involved in Peter’s act. In order for Gentile believers to enjoy full Christian communion, they must live as Jews, if Peter’s example should stand; yet he had before felt free to live as the Gentiles did. But said the Lord’s faithful servant in pointed words of truth:

“We, Jews by nature and not sinners of the nations, but knowing that a man is not justified on the principle of works of law; nor but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we also have believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified on the principle of the faith of Christ and not of works of law; because on the principle of works of law no flesh shall be justified.”

In Romans 3:20, we have the conclusion stated:

“Therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His (God’s) sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin,” and, a few verses following, there is:

“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (verse 24).

It may be well to remark that, as the careful reader may have noticed, the better translations have “works of law” or “deeds of law,” not “the works (or deeds) of the law” as in the common version of our Bible. The language in the original would apply to any deeds under any laws or rules, not the ten commandments only.

Verse 17. Going back to the law after receiving Christ had this effect, that having ceased to seek righteousness by the law in order to come to Him, and now judging that they had done wrong in giving up the law, Christ was made to be a minister of sin, because He had made them transgressors under it; as another has expressed it, “If after you have got Christ you are only found through the law to be a sinner, you in effect make Christ the minister of sin.” Monstrous thought!

Verse 18. In coming to Christ, I give up the law as the ground of my hope of salvation; and if I turn back to the law, I make myself a transgressor under it, for the law condemns me, cannot deliver, cannot save me.

Commenting on Peter’s failure and nature’s tendency to lean upon ordinances, the well-known writer frequently quoted in these pages has this to say:

“What a result from the weakness which, in order to please men, had returned to those things that were gratifying to the flesh! How little did Peter think of this! How little do many Christians suspect it! To rest upon ordinances, is to rest upon the flesh; there are none in heaven. When Christ, who is there, is everything, it cannot be done. Christ has indeed established ordinances to distinguish His people from the world, by that which signified on the one hand that they were not of it, but dead with Him to it, and on the other hand, to gather them on the ground of that which alone can unite them all—on the ground of the cross and of accomplished redemption, in the unity of His body.

“But if, instead of using them with thanksgiving according to His will, we rest upon them, we have forsaken the fullness, the sufficiency, of Christ, to build upon the flesh, which can thus occupy itself with these ordinances, and find in them its fatal sustenance, and a veil to hide the perfect Saviour of whose death, as in connection with this world, and with man living in the flesh, these ordinances so plainly speak to us. To rest upon Christian ordinances is exactly to deny the precious and solemn truth which they present to us, that there is no longer righteousness after the flesh, since Christ is dead and risen.” (Synopsis: Galatians; J. N. Darby)

Verse 19: “For I through law have died to law, that I may live to God.”

Once Paul had been under law; his conscience awakened, he saw what he was as a condemned sinner, deserving eternal judgment; his soul then had realized death in all its power. Through law he died to law, because law has nothing to say to a dead man; died to it, in order that he might live to God.

Verse 20: “I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me.”

Christ had borne sin’s judgment, suffered the curse of the law of God and death, yet lives, the risen one. Paul was set free in Christ, outside of the law in grace; was crucified with Him, so that condemnation was gone for him. Nevertheless he lived, no longer Paul, but Christ living in him.

“But in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given Himself for me.”

Happy Paul! living in flesh, as he says, he lives by faith, the faith of the Son of God; he has an all attractive object before his soul, outside of this world; and that object is the one who loved him and gave Himself for him.

Verse 21. This gives the conclusion of the whole matter. The grace of God is not frustrated, and Christ has not died in vain, thinking of the present enjoyment of Christ which the believer may have, of which he is robbed by the false teaching, much current in our day, another has said:

“What a loss, dreadful and inseparable, to lose such a Christ as we under grace have known Him; such a righteousness; such a love; the Son of God our portion, our life; the Son of God devoted for us, and to us!”

The Life of Faith

The Lord in wisdom and love keeps all our needed grace in His own hands, and deals it out just as our circumstances demand. O, who that knows his own heart, and the heart of Christ, would not desire that all his supply should be in God, and not in himself! Who, so to speak, would wish to be his own spiritual treasurer? Who that knows the blessedness of a life of faith, the sweetness of going to God in everything, and for everything, would wish to transfer his mercies from Christ’s keeping to his own, or wish to hold in the present, the supply of the future?

Be satisfied, dear reader, to walk by faith, and not by sight. You have a full Christ to draw from, and a faithful God to look to. You have a “Covenant ordered in all things and sure,” and the precious promise, “As thy day so shall thy strength be” to lean confidently upon, all the journey through. Be content, then, to be poor and dependent. Be willing to travel on empty-handed, seeing God’s heart opened, and Christ’s hand outstretched to supply your “daily bread.”

O, it is sweet to be a dependent creature upon God—to hang upon a loving Father—to lean day by day, moment by moment upon Jesus—to trace God in ten thousand ways, to mark His wisdom here, His condescension there; now His love, and then His faithfulness, all combined and exerted for our good—truly it is the most holy and blessed life upon earth!

The Lord imparts extraordinary strength to meet extraordinary occasions. Why should we, then, shrink from any trial, or flee from any duty, or turn aside from any cross; since for that trial, and for that duty, and for that cross, Jesus has provided its required and appropriate grace? You are, perhaps, exclaiming “Trouble is near.” Well, be it so. So also divine grace is near—and strength is near—and counsel is near—and deliverance is near—and Jesus is near—and God is near—and a throne of grace is near; therefore why need you fear, though trouble is near?

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

There is a table in the wilderness. There is a supply in the desert.

“I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste” (Sol. 2:3).

Our Joseph lives, and in anticipation of the seven years of want, He has amply provided for His brethren. He will send them on their journey with full sacks, and with their money in their sack’s mouth, that free grace might have all the glory.

What a Saviour Jesus Is!

In the Lord we have redemption,

Full remission in His blood,

From the curse entire exemption,

From the curse pronounced by God;

What a Saviour Jesus is!

O what grace, what love is His!

Sweet His name, that name transcending

Every name on earth, in heaven;

Praise, through ages never ending,

To the Son of God be given!

He alone the Saviour is,

Everlasting praise be His!

Ye Must Be Born Again: Part 3

To an unconverted one, there is no joy in God’s presence. We are often struck with it, those of us who are parents. We take our children to the meeting, the gospel meeting—O, how difficult it is to get them. Why? The atmosphere there is not suited to them. Were we to take them to the places of amusement, we should have no trouble to control them. What is the cause of it? What they are in nature; and what they get in the place of amusement, they can enjoy in their nature. But what they get in the gospel meeting is all contrary to their nature, until the grace of God works.

And many a one passes in this world as a child of God; but unless there is a change, and one is born again, he will find himself at the end a lost soul. He has not been born again; if God were to take him to heaven, if it were possible, he would not be happy; and if He were to put him into hell, it would make him unhappy. What is to be done, then?

The only place that man in his unconverted state can be happy is in this world; what is here suits him in his nature. One is often reminded of it when we go by the theaters on the Lord’s day, where they will be standing in line, sometimes for more than two blocks, waiting for the opening. And we have gone down to the gospel meeting in the evening, after having invited different ones, and there would be no response. Every one in those companies has his money in his hand, and has to pay for admission, while we take the gospel to them free, and they do not care for it. That makes us feel often as to our children.

And let us, dear Christian parents, be faithful. Let us make them know the truth that they must be born again, or they will never see or enter the kingdom of God.

Take home with you, “Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.” Young and old, let us give that grand fundamental truth of God a place in our consideration.

How is this new birth brought about— “born of God”? It is brought about by the Word of God.

“Born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23). Can you mentally understand that?

For instance, an unconverted man goes down the street where there is a gospel preacher, who has a few hearers; and he hears that preacher quote the Word of God:

“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). One man says, “That is the truth.” What is taking place? He is being “born again by the Word of God” —the water and the Spirit—he receives a new, spiritual life.

There is no such thing in the Word of God as being born again twice. One is brought into a new and everlasting relationship with God, by receiving the Word of God.

How come we to be so bad in nature? Well, it was through the rejection of the Word of God, and the reception of the word of Satan. God said one thing; Satan said another. Here, on one hand, was one; on the other hand, the other—which will you believe? Ah, Satan got the ear. And that is man’s history, if left to himself, down to this day. The truth of God is rejected, save and except where through sovereign grace, it is accepted. And there is no one born again except by the Word of God; and He is bringing this Word in your conversion, that Word in my conversion; that Word in the conversion of another; but each one has been born again by the reception of the Word of God.

There is another thing besides this, born again. Long, long ago there was emphatic attention called to this—these two musts. Why those two musts—the one is to God, and the other is to man. Because of what? Because of these two natures—born of water and of the Spirit. That is just simply the application and reception of the Word of God.

We find this learned man asks this question: How? How? Those hows trouble us so, in the Word of God, sometimes. Where is their origin? In our heads—man’s mind. They are only to be answered by the Word of God. We find them, frequently, in the Gospel of John— “How can a man be born when he is old?” And, thank God, many an old man has been born again. See to it that you are born again, or you will never see the kingdom of God.

(To Be Continued)

The Midnight Cry: Matthew 25

The whole professing church went out to meet the bridegroom in the beginning. Then as to the return of the bridegroom, “all slumbered and slept.” There has been a considerable awakening, both as to the blessed Person of the Bridegroom and His coming again.

At present the foolish virgins are saying, “Peace and safety.” And we read:

“When they shall say, Peace and safety, Then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” It is further explained, concerning the wise virgins, who have oil in their vessels.

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thess. 5:1-10). Surely all this throws great light, yea, is the explanation of the parable.

What do we find at this moment? A great many Christians have been awakened from sleep. They do not sleep, as do others who profess to be Christians. The light of the Morning Star has shone into their hearts. The Redeemer Bridegroom has been revealed to them, in all His yearning love for His bride. No longer is He the angry Judge to them. He assures them He will soon come and receive them to Himself. The Holy Ghost dwells in them; they have oil in their vessels. “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’” They are not in the darkness, but in the light; they are not asleep, but awake and watching. They know perfectly well, all that is coming on this earth.

There is another company, O how many! These are in midnight darkness, or rejecting the light; they are fast sinking into midnight darkness. So ignorant are they of all that is coming on this earth, that they are mixing with, yea, foremost in, this world’s politics. They refuse to hear the voice of God in His Word. They doubt, and then deny, that it is God’s Word. They will try to believe what man says; what God says they will not hear. Yet they profess to bear the holy name of Christ, but they have no oil in the vessel; no salvation; no peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; no redemption through His precious blood; no certainty for their poor dark souls, beyond death. Now mark, while these are asleep in darkness, dreaming of evolution and progress, peace and safety, it will be sudden destruction. At midnight there was a cry made, “Behold, the Bridegroom!”

If we think of the deepening darkness during the past years, that point of darkness—the end—cannot be far distant. Think how many thousands of professing Christians have during those years, become leavened with infidelity; can we wonder that these are throwing in their lot with the men of lawlessness, of murder, and robbery; and conscience too fast asleep to be disturbed? Can this last long? Must not the crisis come? O, watchman, what of the night? How long till this world’s deepest darkness? And still they say, Peace and safety!

But the sudden crash will come, the sudden destruction will come! O, that we had a heart like Jesus, to weep as He wept over Jerusalem.

In the days of Noah the flood came at last, after long waiting. When Lot had left Sodom, the fire and the brimstone fell. And this brings us to another aspect of the parable.

We must remember that Matthew contains much instruction for the Jews, and does not speak of the rapture of the church. But we learn from other scriptures that the wise virgins, in the sense of true Christians, will be taken first, before the midnight crash of this poor deceived world, and hence before the judgment on those who bear the name of Christ—the empty vessels without oil. So that there is a time of separation, when those that are ready went in with Him to the marriage; and the terrible judgment on those to whom the door was shut.

How sudden the alarm! how sudden the awakening to the awful reality! But too late! O, it may be that in one hour God shall speak, by what means the Spirit is pleased to use—He may raise up an Elias, or He may speak by a little paper like this. Or the distress of all nations may be so manifest, as to awaken the whole professing church that sudden destruction is at the doors.

But contemplate the closing scene of this day of grace: the door shut; the Ccurch gone in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye; the foolish multitude is given up to delusion that they all may be damned.

“Sudden destruction cometh upon them” (2 Thess. 2:11-12).

No doubt the cry has awakened some true Christians, but many are as fast asleep as in the middle ages of Christianity. It will be to their sad loss that they have refused to search the Scriptures.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” The whole redeemed bride of Christ shall be ready to meet the Bridegroom. All who are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, shall be taken to be with Him when He comes, not one shall be left behind.

“They that are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:23).

Beloved reader, to which of these companies do you belong? To the sleepers without oil, or to those who wait ready to go in to the wedding? O, for more waiting and longing to see the Lord! He says, “I come quickly.”

Past, Present and Future

“Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (1 Sam. 7:12).

This is the language of the believer as he looks back.

“A very present help in trouble” is his stay for today; and, as he thinks of the future, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” assures him that all will be provided for, to the end of the journey.

Thus what God has been, is, and will be, become the comfort and support of the heart.

Loved as Christ is loved; “The Eternal God” for his refuge; the “Everlasting arms” underneath; the shelter of “His wings” above; “covered all day long,” like Benjamin; pillowed on “His breast,” like John; “kept as the apple of His eye,” like Israel; surely each believer’s experience should be that of Naphtali, “Satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord.”

Correspondence: Ark a Type; GEN 8:21-22; Sin(s); MAT 16:28; REV 15; MAT 12:16

Question: Is the Ark built by Noah in Genesis a type of the Jews who pass through the tribulation, or is the Ark a type of Christ?

Answer: The Ark in Genesis is a type of Christ, and Noah and his house figure Christ and His companions saved by Him through the tribulation into the millennial earth.

Question: Is Genesis 8:21-22, when the waters abated, pointing on to the new heavens and the new earth? (2 Peter 3:13).

Answer: The eternal state—the new heavens and the new earth come after that. (2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1).

Question: What is the difference between sin and sins?

Answer: Sin is the tree and root of evil in us. Sins are the fruit that grow on the tree. Our old nature cannot bear fruit for God. Our sins are atoned for by Christ on the cross, and so are washed away by His blood (Rev. 1:5). Our old nature was condemned and executed, not made better (Rom. 6:6). We are to reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin, and alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:11).

Question: Please explain Matthew 16:28.

Answer: In the next chapter (verses 1-9), we have the coming of the Son of Man illustrated in the transfiguration scene. Moses pictured the dead saints raised. Elias pictures the living saints caught up. Peter, James and John picture the earthly saints in the reign of Christ. 2 Peter 1:16 says, “We made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,... were eye-witnesses of His majesty.” This is what the verse refers to.

Question: When does the execution of the seven last plagues take place? (Rev. 15).

Answer: At the last part of the tribulation period. It is the great tribulation when men are deceived by the Satanic trinity (verses 13-14).

Question: What is meant by blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Matthew 12:16? Is this the unpardonable sin?

Answer: Read carefully Matthew 12:22-32; Mark 3:22-30, and you will see the diabolical perversity of those who said that “Christ had an unclean spirit.” This was saying that the Lord was possessed by the prince of devils, and that it was by his power that Jesus was working those gracious miracles. This could not be passed over by God, so that those who spoke thus were in danger of eternal judgment. “Neither in this world” (Matt. 12:32), was the age of law. “Neither in the world to come,” is the Millennial age.

In the church period we preach the gospel to every creature, and we know that Jesus has said, “Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.” We do not know those who are beyond the pardoning grace of God. God knows each soul.

“If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them, which believe not, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

What God Did for Me

I was an erring and dead sinner, never regarding the Lord’s Day, or even thinking of Christ’s name, except when sickness came, and I was dreadfully frightened of death. There was a great terror in my mind when I heard of people dying; I wondered whither they were gone; but still I went on and on for years, till my husband was taken very ill. At last the doctor said he could not do anything more for him, for he was dying.

“Dear doctor!” I exclaimed, “what do you mean?”

He answered, “I will try one more medicine, and if that does no good he can’t live.”

When the doctor had left my cottage I found myself with my dying husband alone. One terrible thought filled my heart:—if he dies he will go to hell! I ran out of the cottage crying bitterly. There was a young man passing, and seeing me in tears he asked what was the matter, and I told him the doctor had said that my husband was dying. He asked me if he should go and send another doctor; I begged him to rather send a clergyman. The only thought still on my mind was, if he dies he will go to hell.

The young man started off, and sent a servant of Christ, who quickly came. As he entered, he inquired:

“You have a husband very ill, have you?”

“Yes, I have; please walk upstairs,” and I followed him.

He approached the bedside and said to my husband:

“Do you know if your sins are forgiven?”

I told him he must not talk so to my husband, for he had not sent for him; but if he would please tell him where he could find comfort, as he was very ill. So this Christian read the Scriptures to him, and then knelt down and prayed. In his prayer he asked God to make the sick man’s wife a blessing to him. I told him he must not pray so, since I was a far greater sinner than my husband, as I had never read the Bible to him.

God’s servant spoke of the poor woman that touched the hem of the Saviour’s garment, and was made perfectly whole, and then left us.

After this I felt that I should be the one to go to hell, and not my poor husband, for I had not only my own sins, to answer for, but his. Ah! the dreadful state I was in! I could not eat; I could not sleep; I paced my room and cried to God to save my husband’s life, pleading that he was a poor heathen, and all through me. Yes, it was all my fault, my whole life had been spent in serving Satan. O! what a wretched woman I felt and was now! with no hope for my husband’s life or for his soul, or for my own soul.

I went upstairs and knelt down beside my husband and cried so, that for a time I could not speak to God. Then how earnestly I besought Him to forgive me, and not to send my husband to hell through my sin.

The same dear Christian friend came often to see us, and how I welcomed his visits! Not a word that he said or read ever slipped my memory. After he left, I would sit by my dear husband and read the same scriptures all over again to him, hoping he would get comfort. I then knew nothing of the salvation of God; we were so ignorant, and the Bible had been a strange book to us up to this time.

My husband gradually got better; and, after a time, when he could be left, I said to him:

“Now, dear, you can do as you like, but as long as I live I shall go on the Lord’s Day to hear the Word of God,” and I started off. In the evening he asked:

“Going again?”

“O, yes!” I answered, “and as soon as you are able to go out, you must come too.”

My eyes were now opened. I saw God’s way of saving sinners was through the gift of His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But yet I had not taken Him for myself, and I could not rest, for I kept looking in at my wretched self, and at what I had done. The kind Christian, who had come to me in my great trouble, still came occasionally to see me and talked with me, but my sad state of soul continued.

One day, I was speaking to a woman about God’s wonderful Book, and asked her if she knew she was saved.

“O, yes!” she said, and quoted this passage of Scripture:

“By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).

I saw it immediately, that God had given Christ for me, yes, for wicked me, and that I was saved through faith in Him. Ah! the joy, I could not contain more. I was constrained by His love to tell my dear husband of the wondrous peace I now enjoyed, and that I had now in Christ all I wanted, for this world and for eternity. He seemed quite afraid of me, and perhaps thought I had lost my mind. How differently I prayed now by his bedside; it was all praise and thanksgiving.

I took my precious Bible, and went from house to house in our village to tell of the blessed Saviour of sinners. Especially I went where I heard anyone was dying, and most blessedly did God work. Many, hearing of my joy in Christ, came to my cottage to hear the Bible read, and to inquire what they must do to be saved.

My dear readers, many years have passed since this great change took place, and my blessed Saviour seems more and more precious to me, and nearer and nearer every day. What joy to be even now all day in His precious company; but what will it be to see Him as He is when in the Father’s House above!

O, let us fill up our time for our Lord and Master, who loved us unto death. Souls surround us on every hand who are treading the broad road to hell; what are we doing, who have God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us, to show them the way of salvation through Christ alone? Are we so living that others may be blessed through us? We are not saved to live to ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again. (2 Cor. 5:15).

Ministry Other Than Preaching

The caring for souls—the binding up of those that are broken in spirit—the interesting ourselves in the troubles and trials and difficulties of the saints of God—is of great price with Him, and this kind of ministering is, I am afraid, very imperfectly performed amongst us. This is really the meaning of ministry—not so much speaking.

Tender Conscience

We know of few things more precious than a tender conscience. We do not mean a scrupulous conscience, which is governed by its own crotchets; or a morbid conscience, which is governed by its own fears. Both these are most troublesome guests for anyone to entertain. But we mean a tender conscience, which is governed in all things, by the Word of God, and which refers, at all times, to His authority.

This sound description of conscience we consider an inestimable treasure. It regulates everything, takes notice of the very smallest matter connected with our daily walk and habits—our mode of dress—our houses—our furniture—our table—our entire deportment, spirit, and style—our mode of conducting our business, or if it be our lot to serve others, the mode in which we discharge the service, whatever it is. In short, everything falls under the healthful moral influence of a tender conscience.

“Herein,” says the blessed Apostle, “do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and men” (Acts 24:16).

This is what we may well covet. There is something morally beautiful and attractive in this exercise of Paul, the greatest and most gifted servant of Christ. If in an unguarded moment, he uttered a hasty word, as he did to Ananias the high priest, he was ready, the very next moment, to confess and make restitution so that the hasty utterance:

“God shall smite thee, thou whited wall,” was withdrawn, and God’s Word given instead -

“Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.”

Let us seek to cultivate a tender conscience. It will demand from us what it demanded from Paul, namely, “exercise.” But it is blessed exercise, and it will yield most precious fruits.

Extract: Profiting from the World

To attempt to reprove the world’s ways, while we profit by association with it, is vanity; the world will attach very little weight to such reproof and such testimony.

The Epistle to the Galatians: 3

We have seen, in chapters 1 and 2, the care with which God guarded the gospel of His grace so that we should have it in its purity, just as it was communicated to the Apostle Paul. Is it not equally impressed on our minds and hearts that we should live in the full light of this Word of God, which has been preserved to us in order that we may share in its benefits as fully as in the days of the apostles?

“O senseless Galatians, who has bewitched you, to whom, as before your very eyes, Jesus Christ has been portrayed, crucified? This only I wish to learn of you, have ye received the Spirit on the principle of works of law, or of the report of faith? Are ye so senseless? Having begun in Spirit, are ye going to be made perfect in flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain, if indeed also in vain? He therefore who ministers to you the Spirit, and works miracles among you, is it on the principle of works of law, or of the report of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” (verses 1-6, JND).

Well might the apostle write, “O senseless Galatians, who has bewitched you; to whom, as before your very eyes, Jesus Christ has been portrayed, crucified?” Observe, it is not simply that Christ has died, or that He shed His precious blood, but His having been crucified; the reason for this reference to His cross is because it puts shame upon man, shows the impossibility of man’s improvement by keeping the law.

They had received the Holy Spirit, the certain mark of a believer; had they received Him through works on the principle of law, or through a report received by faith? Having begun by the power of the Spirit, were they going to be made perfect in flesh? They had suffered persecution on account of the gospel received in its purity, without the admixture of Judaism and the law; was it all in vain? He (it was Paul) who ministered to them the Spirit, and worked miracles among them—was it through works on the principle of law or in connection with a testimony received by faith? These were searching questions, indeed, for them to answer. Not many years before, the Galatians had been idolaters. Was it through hearing of the law, or the grace of God, that the light had penetrated their darkened minds?

“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Know then that they that are on the principle of faith, these are Abraham’s sons; and the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations on the principle of faith, announced beforehand the glad tidings to Abraham: In thee all the nations shall be blessed. So that they who are on the principle of faith, are blessed with believing Abraham. For as many as are on the principle of works of law are under curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them; but that by law no one is justified with God is evident, because the just shall live on the principle of faith; but the law is not on the principle of faith; but, he that shall have done these things shall live by them. Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone hanged upon a tree) that the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (verses 6-14, JND).

Verse 6 is a reference to Genesis 15:6: “And he believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness.” “Know then,” says the Apostle, “that they that are on the principle of faith, these are Abraham’s sons”; not a question being raised (nor could be) of circumcision, or of keeping the law of Moses. Genesis 12:3 is next drawn upon as the scripture announcing beforehand the glad tidings to Abraham, foreseeing that God would justify the nations on the principle of faith. “So that they who are on the principle of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” So much for the reward of faith apart from works.

Verses 10-12 discuss the hopeless case of those that are on the principle of works. “As many as are on the principle of works of law are under curse.” Note that it is not said that as many as have broken some part of the law are under curse, but that all who take their stand on law are; the fact is that all are sinners, all have sinned. The quoted passages in verse 10 from Deuteronomy 27:26, and in verse 11, from Habakkuk 2:4, show that the door to justification before God on the ground of law keeping is completely closed.

When then is God’s provision for the Jew whose conscience has been reached by the discovery of his apparently hopeless case as a sinner, and under the law’s curse? Verses 13-14 very preciously tell it for faith’s acceptance: “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is every one hanged upon a tree) that the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

“Us” in verse 13 refers to the believing Jews; compare Christ’s having become a curse by hanging on the cross with 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, He who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” “We” in verse 14 takes in all believers.

The first part of our chapter has been devoted to the contrast of the principles of law and of faith. The law brings a curse upon all that are under it; but God will be a blesser; man’s failure cannot keep Him from exercising His sovereign purpose to bless the creatures of His hand, and in perfect grace He does so through faith in the person and work of His Son.

In the section of the chapter which follows, the subject is the relationship between the law, and the promises of God to Abraham.

“Brethren (I speak according to man), even man’s confirmed covenant no one sets aside, or adds other dispositions to. But to Abraham were the promises addressed, and to his seed; He does not say, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed; which is Christ. Now I say this, A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, the law, which took place four hundred and thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance be on the principle of law, it is no longer on the principle of promise; but God gave it in grace to Abraham by promise. Why then the law? It was added for the sake of transgressions, until the seed came to whom the promise was made, ordained through angels in the hand of a mediator. But a mediator is not of one, but God is one” (verses 15-20, JND).

Two passages of Scripture are referred to in verse 16: the promise in Genesis 12:3, “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed,” and the confirmation in Genesis 22:18, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” The first was spoken to Abraham at the beginning; the second was when he had in figure given his son as a sacrifice. The law given at Sinai, four hundred and thirty years after the unconditional promise to Abraham, could not make that promise of no effect.

Why then was the law given? “For the sake of transgressions”; there is a question between God and man, a question of sin and the guilt of man; and it was necessary that it be raised. Righteousness was therefore required, and sin was in consequence made manifest in the form of transgressions of the law; thus the conscience was reached. Man was made to see that he could not stand before God on the ground of his own responsibility.

The law was ordained through angels, in the hand of a mediator (Moses), unlike the promise which was made to Abraham by God in person. The law is a contract between God and the children of Israel, with Moses standing between as the mediator, but while the contract was perfectly sound, it has failed because of man’s guilt. God therefore stands alone, and will accomplish the blessing He purposed when He spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12.

“Is then the law against the promises of God? Far be the thought! For if a law had been given able to quicken, then indeed righteousness were on the principle of law; but the Scripture has shut up all things under sin, that the promise, on the principle of faith of Jesus Christ, should be given to those that believe. But before faith came, we were guarded under law, shut up to faith which was about to be revealed. So that the law has been our tutor up to Christ, that we might be justified on the principle of faith.

“But faith having come, we are no longer under a tutor; for ye are all God’s sons by faith in Christ Jesus. For ye, as many as have been baptized unto Christ, have put on Christ. There is no Jew or Greek; there is no bondman nor freeman; there is no male and female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus; but if ye are of Christ then ye are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise” (verses 21-29, JND).

To verse 25 the subject is Israel. Note the change in verse 26 from “we” to “ye,” verse 27. Baptism sets forth in a Christian the confession of the death and resurrection of Christ; I am in a wholly new condition; I belong to Christ, and no more (if I had been a Jew) under the law; now with new feelings I am to do what pleases Him.

On Confessing Christ

“Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42-43).

There are not a few, I think, in these days who are in the same state spiritually as these chief rulers spoken of above. They believed on Christ, but would not take a place with Him, because they dreaded the consequences, and it is for the benefit of such that I write the following story:

A young man, J. H., nineteen years of age, was dying. Some days previously he had got wet and chilled right through; inflammation had then set in, and there he lay on his bed dying. Now J. H. was the son of godly parents; he was their eldest son, too, and many a time had they cried to God for him, and many a time had they taken him to the preaching of the gospel that he might be under the sound of the Good News of the grace of God for sinners, but up to that day he had never confessed Christ, and had never taken any stand for Him in this world. He was always a good boy; by that I mean he did not swear or get drunk, but he had never owned, even to his mother, that there had been any change wrought in his soul by the Spirit of God. And now he was dying. How solemn! Only nineteen, a stout, hearty young man, and yet dying, and he knew it. He was come to the last day he had to spend on earth, and he had come to it many years before he or his relatives had in the least expected. And what do you think were the feelings of his father and mother at this time—they who had prayed so often and so earnestly for him, but had so little expected such a sudden blow? What could they do save bow to the hand of God in the matter, and count upon His grace. This they were enabled to do, and were not to be disappointed. Not many hours before his death, J. H. called his mother to his bedside and said:

“Mother, don’t fret for me. It is all right with me; I have been a Christian for two years, though I have never confessed Christ. I was converted that night at H. when the preacher was speaking on John 3:16, but I would not take a stand for Christ, and now God is taking me away.” He then called his sister to him, a girl of seventeen, and said solemnly to her:

“Louise, I know you are a Christian but you have never taken a stand for Christ here. Take care, or God will take you away, too, as He is taking me away, because I would not confess Him.” Soon after this he went to be with Christ.

I am thankful to be able to say that the sister has confessed Christ, and taken a stand for Him since her brother’s death.

Dear reader, if you have accepted Christ as your own precious Saviour, and have never confessed Him as your Lord, let this story speak to you. God has said:

“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9-10).

How sad it would be, if, as in this case, a confession of that precious Saviour had to be, as it were, wrung from you, only a few moments before you pass out of this world.

“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1:16).

“Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Peter 4:16).

Extract: Armor and Prayer

The man who has on “the whole armor of God,” will be able to pray for all saints (Eph. 6:13-18).

Ye Must Be Born Again: Part 4

“Ye must be born again.” What makes that must? Men’s need. “The Son of Man must be lifted up.” What makes that must? Our need of God.

Well, you think this is a strange thing to think of—our need of God. Ah, there is a strange truth that comes out here, which is often overlooked by the preachers of the gospel:

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

There are two things there—perish, and eternal life. What led to that lifting up of the Son of Man? What is the source? It is a great thing to trace things back to their source; especially in this day when all is so shallow and artificial—surface work. The nature of God. You view that awful scene of the Son of Man being lifted up; “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness;” of what does it tell? What is its source, its origin?

“For God so loved.”

The love of God has found a way of meeting man’s need, as well as meeting His own. God looked down from heaven upon the earth in the love of compassion; and it moved His heart, and if I may speak in that familiar way, He says, as it were:

“O, I should like to save that sinner, but there are his sins; I can not pass them over.” God must have satisfaction for sin.

When God saves and blesses me (or any other poor sinner), it is because He has had satisfaction as to my sins. Where do we find satisfaction as to those sins? He found it in judging sin. His nature required that He judge sin according to His nature; and that is what He did in Christ. God had such a satisfaction for my sins; and He sees such worth in the cross of His Son, that the message of forgiveness—and a better word, still, is justification—is sent out world wide from Calvary. O, what a wonderful work, the work of Christ on the cross— “so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”

One thinks some time of what will be the joy of heaven when we are there, and we look into that Saviour’s face and know how God loved Him. Now how God gave Him up for us, and made Him to be a sin offering. Ah, the joy and joys of heaven will be various, but it will ever be Christ, in some way.

“So must the Son of Man be lifted up.” He came down from heaven; and He manifested the power of God in healing all manner of diseases.

But He had not made atonement for sin. And if He knew from day to day the bitterness of the end, He ever knew what was before Him in the cross. The judgment of God against sin and sins, was what was before Him that He would have to meet it.

We get on certain occasions in His life of ministry, that dark cross coming to mind. And, O, how precious the cross of Christ makes Christ to those who know Him as their Saviour; when we look up to His face and bless Him, we say:

“Ah, Lord, it was Thy atoning death upon the cross that met the musts of God.” For man and the world, increasing light is given as to who and what God is in His nature; and man has to do with Him.

Suppose that the Lord Jesus had gone to heaven after He had been on the cross only three hours; at the end of that wondrous life. Do you know what would have been the result? The door would have closed when He went in. What! after all that wondrous life and service? Yes— “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23). O, how well the Lord Jesus knew that! And so, after those first three hours are past—and they are passed in communion with God—there are three hours in communion with God; after which He finds Himself forsaken of God—for what? Sin? Ah, He was bearing sin. And at the end—after three long hours—and they were days and nights to His soul:

“I cry in the daytime, and Thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.” But at last the spell is broken, and He is back in communion with God. What has He done? He has made propitiation to God for sin and sins.

Another wonderful thing it will be to be in heaven, in all His holiness and enjoying God in His holiness; and the holiness of His love, the holiness of God, judges, and does not pass over, sin.

I was struck with a passage of Scripture just recently:

“Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary.” (Lev. 19:30).

What a truth is there—God’s presence and the reverence of His truth. There will be no levity in heaven—it will be all deep, solid joy in heaven. And there will not be any levity in hell, either.

May the Lord bless John 3 to us; help us to think of those three persons which we have spoken of—Nicodemus, John the Baptist, and the Lord Jesus.

At the close John the Baptist says:

“A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.”... “He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth.”

What a wonderful thing it is that one has come down from heaven to let us know what is necessary on our part, and necessary on the part of God, in order that we may enter in.

“No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.”

In heaven and on earth—the same one— “the Son of Man which is in heaven.” And He has told us heavenly things. And what are those heavenly things? Simply:

“Except a man be born again, he cannot see, or enter, the kingdom of God.” That is a heavenly thing.

What a Saviour God has found for us! What a Saviour God saved people with, from their sins! What a wonderful work, and wonderfully precious, too.

The Lord teach the speaker and the hearers to value more and more the truth of John 3—those musts.

(Concluded)

Lord, What Wilt Thou Have Me to Do?

One of the first things that suggests itself to the mind of a newly converted person is, “How can I pay Him back for all He has done for me?” And what question is more natural? With Saul of Tarsus, first it was, “Who art Thou, Lord?” and as soon as Jesus reveals Himself to the astonished Saul, his next thoughts are fitly expressed in, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”

We say, and rightly so, that one can do nothing in order to be saved. But that does not mean that after being saved, the young convert should feel that there is nothing for him to do. Indeed, one of the first things which result from knowing the surpassing love of Christ, and the peace and joy now found in the knowledge of sins forgiven, will be to tell it to others. Not perhaps in an intelligent way—just the wonderful fact that He saves and in such a blessed manner. Perhaps there will be great zeal, even if there is little knowledge. But the heart will be light and right, and in some way it must be told out. For out of the fullness of the heart man speaks. Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.

“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).

Correspondence: 1TH 2:12; LUK 22:19 - Command or Request?; LUK 16:9

Question: How can we walk worthy of God as in 1 Thessalonians 2:12?

Answer: Paul is writing that he charged the Thessalonians to do this, and chapter 1:3, and all the chapter tells us how they did it, and how we also can do so, by walking in the same path in our “work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God our Father.” They turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, Jesus, our Deliverer from the coming wrath. (1 Thess. 1:3,9-10).

Question: When the Lord said, “This do in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19), was it a command or a request?

Answer: To those who truly love Him, it was more than either of them. It was love’s gift to express to us His love; and in our remembering Him, we express our love to Him. Precious privilege!

Question: What is meant by “Make to yourselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness?” What does “fail,” and “everlasting habitations” mean? Luke 16:9.

Answer: Man is looked at as a steward here. We found ourselves unfaithful stewards that must give account. Now we are converted, we are still stewards. The wise steward makes use of the present stewardship for the future.

Verse 9 teaches us so to do. Naturally we would use all for ourselves, for the present, but we are reminded that our present will “fail,” and wisdom secures something for the future. Our future is glory with Christ, but our stewardship requires us to use our present, so that we will be awarded then as in 1 Timothy 6:17-19. For if we live selfishly, Luke 16:11-12 teach that our unfaithfulness will hinder our enjoyment of our own heavenly riches, as in Ephesians 1:3. We will not enjoy what is really life (see JND 1 Tim. 6:19).

God Says I Am Saved

I was asked to visit a young girl, about seventeen years of age, who had injured herself. I had known her for some time, and was aware she was very delicate, but on calling learned she had fallen out of bed, and received an injury to the back of her head, which would eventually prove fatal, it was judged. Being under the care of another surgeon, I had nothing to do with her treatment, so after making a few inquiries as to her bodily suffering, which was great (specially when moved by others, for she was almost completely paralyzed), I began to speak to her about the state of her soul.

“Are you quite happy?” I said.

“No, sir.”

“Why? Are you not saved?”

“I am not sure.”

“But why are you not sure; do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?”

“Yes, but I don’t feel saved.”

“Do you feel lost?”

“Yes I do;” and she now began to weep.

“Why do you know you are lost?”

“Because I am a sinner, and God’s Word says so.”

“Then you believe His Word, do you?”

“O! Yes, sir, indeed I do.”

“Well, then, His Word says, ‘Look unto Me, and be ye saved;’ do you believe that?”

“Yes.”

“But are you looking to Jesus?”

“Yes, sir, but I don’t feel as I should like to.”

“Granted; but does it say, ‘look unto Me and feel saved?’”

“No.”

“What then?”

“Be ye saved?”

“What?”

“Be ye saved.”

“When is that, today or tomorrow?”

“When I look.”

“But are you looking?”

“Yes, I am really looking to Jesus.”

“Then are you saved?” She paused a moment and then firmly replied:

“I don’t feel it, but God says I am saved. I see it now.” The next moment her eye lit up, and her face told the tale of a new spring of joy having been opened to her.

“Well,” I said, “if anyone were to come in and ask you now if you were saved, what would you say?”

“I would say ‘Yes.’”

“And if they asked you how you knew it and were sure of it, what would you say?”

“I would say that I do believe in Jesus, and God says in His Word, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life; and though I don’t feel it, I do believe what God says.”

“Then you rest your soul on Jesus and on God’s Word?”

“Yes, sir, I do; and I could die happy now. I’d like to go at once to Jesus.”

“You have no fears?”

“No, none.”

“No doubts?”

“No; why should I? I see it all clearly. I’m only a poor sinner, and Jesus died for me, and I believe in Him, and God says I’m saved, and so I know I am.”

I had a little more conversation, and called two days after to find her truly filled with joy and peace in believing. Her face shone with the joy the knowledge of God alone can impart.

And now, dear reader, a word with you about the state of your soul. Are you saved—or lost? Which? Don’t shirk the question. It must be answered soon. The longest life has its end. Who has given you a lease of long life? A long eternity you shall have. Where will you spend it? Another day may find you in it.

Gone forever from earth, where Christ died, “suffered for sins once, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” Gone where? With Christ? Or without Him? Would it be without Him? You tremble to say “Yes.” Stop—listen. Your future is awful. Forgotten by man—forsaken by God—forever in hell.

O! pause a moment in your downward course. Listen to the voice of love speaking to you—speaking from heaven:

“Come unto Me.”

“Look unto Me.”

“I am Jesus.”

“By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved.”

You have naught to do but take your true place as a lost sinner now before God. Acknowledge your sin. Justify Him—He’ll justify you. It is all summed up in the sweet confession of the girl. May you this day be able to say like her:

“I’m only a poor sinner—Jesus died for me—I believe in Him—God says I am saved and so I know I am.”

“Rise, my soul! behold ‘tis Jesus,

Jesus fills my wondering eyes;

See Him now, in glory seated,

Where thy sins no more can rise.”

Christ as the Morning Star

“The morning star” is the symbol of the Church’s hope. And there is beauty in this thought, derived as it is from Revelation 2:28 and 22:16.

The characteristics of the morning star are brilliancy and solitariness. It glitters lovely, off in its distant sphere, but it is all alone. It does not command the notice of the world as the sun does. It is only the watchman that sees it. The season for its appearing is quite its own—it is neither night nor day. It fills a moment that is quite its own, and it is only the watchman, or the child of the morning, the one that is up before the sun, that has to do with it.

Is there not a voice in this, dear young Christian? Does it not tell your inmost soul of a coming that is to precede the sunrise—of the appearing of one who does not belong to the world, whose business is not with the earth, or with the children of men; but with an elect people who wait for an unearthly Saviour?

I Am the Shepherd True

I was wandering and weary

When the Saviour came to me,

For the paths of sin were dreary,

And the world had ceased to woo me;

And I thought I heard Him say,

As He came along His way –

“Wand’ring souls, O! do come near Me,

My sheep should never fear Me:

I am the Shepherd true!”

At first I would not hearken,

But put off till the morrow;

But life began to darken,

And I was sick with sorrow;

And I thought I heard Him say,

As He came along His way –

“Wand’ring souls, O! do come near Me,

My sheep should never fear Me:

I am the Shepherd true!”

At last I stopped to listen;

His voice could ne’er deceive me.

I saw His kind eye glisten,

So anxious to relieve me;

And I was sure I heard Him say,

As He came along His way –

“Wand’ring souls, O! do come near Me,

My sheep should never fear Me:

I am the Shepherd true!”

He took me on His shoulder,

And tenderly He kissed me;

He bade my love grow bolder,

And said how He had missed me;

And I was sure I heard Him say,

As He went along His way –

“Wand’ring souls, O! do come near Me,

My sheep should never fear Me:

I am the Shepherd true!”

I thought His love would weaken,

As more and more He knew me;

But it burneth like a beacon,

And its light and heat go through me;

And I ever hear Him say -

As He goes along His way –

“Wand’ring souls, O! do come near Me,

My sheep should never fear Me:

I am the Shepherd true!”

Counsel for Young Christians: Be Like the Bee

Get your portion, young friends! Some persons read the Scriptures, and seem to get nothing out of them. It reminds me of a beautiful butterfly in my little garden the other day. It came over the hedge, and fluttered about, but nothing seemed to suit it; presently, however, there came a honey-bee, and buzzed round the garden; then darted into an open flower, and sucked and sucked till it got its portion, and then sped away satisfied.

Friends, you must be like the bee—get your portion.

The Epistle to the Galatians: 4:1-11

In the last section of the third chapter it was pointed out that the law was not against the promises of God. If a law had been given that was to impart life, then indeed righteousness would have been on the principle of law, but the Scripture has shut up all under sin in order that the promise, by faith in Jesus Christ, should be accomplished in favor of those who believe. But before faith in Christ came, the Jews were kept under the law, shut up to the faith which was about to be revealed.

The law was then the tutor or teacher of the Jews until Christ came, that they might be justified on the principle of faith. Faith having come, says the Apostle, we are no longer under a tutor, for ye are all God’s sons by faith in Christ Jesus. Believers are no longer viewed as Jews or Gentiles; all natural and man-made distinctions are gone, and “ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” But, it is added, if ye are of Christ, then ye are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise.

“Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he differs nothing from a bondman, though he be lord of all; but he is under guardians and stewards until the period fixed by the father. So we, also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the principles of the world; but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, come of woman, come under law, that He might redeem those under law, that we might receive sonship. But because ye are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father. So thou art no longer bondman, but son; but if son, heir also through God” (verses 1-7 JND).

All this is surely plain, and as we read it over, we see that all is of God; His eternal purposes are revealed. And in marvelous grace He has acted, after waiting until the “fullness of the time” had been reached, when man’s history had shown him not only without strength to act toward God, but also a sinner. God’s Son came into the world, taking a relationship with men in lowly grace. Sin and death came in by the woman, and Christ came into the world by woman, though Himself without sin and not subject to death. Through law, man is under condemnation, and Christ in grace put Himself under law also, and thus He came to redeem, that believers might receive sonship, and because they are sons, God has sent the Spirit, whereby they cry Abba, Father. Precious, indeed, this working of divine grace in our souls! What an exchange from the bondage of the Gentiles in nature’s darkness, and the bondage of the Jews under law, for the place of God’s sons and heirs!

“But then indeed, not knowing God, ye were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods; but now, knowing God, but rather being known by God, how do ye turn again to the weak and beggarly principles to which ye desire to be again anew in bondage? Ye observe days and months and times and years. I am afraid of you, lest indeed I have labored in vain as to you” (verses 8-11, JND).

It is those who had been Gentiles to whom the Apostle addresses himself as not knowing God in their former state, because the Jews had a certain knowledge of God under the law. How they must have been shocked at the words, “How do ye turn again to the weak and beggarly principles to which ye desire to be again anew in bondage?” What they had turned to, was the observance of days and seasons, which was a practice of their former human religion, and had a considerable part in it. The Jew, too, had his days and months of religious observance, originally provided by God as part of a religious system whose purpose was done away at the cross of Christ.

The Galatians, as another has said, “desired to be again in bondage to these wretched elements, worldly and carnal, to which they had formerly been in subjection; these things of which the carnal man could form his religion, without one moral or spiritual thought, and which placed the glory due to God in outward observances which an unbeliever and a heathen ignorant of God could call his religion, and glory in it” (J. N. Darby, Synopsis, Galatians, Chapter 4).

The same writer continues, “Judaism was a human religion ordained of God, but by going back to it, when the ordinance of God was no longer in force, they did but go back to the paganism out of which they had been called to have part with Christ in heavenly things.

“Nothing can be more striking than this statement of what ritualism is after the cross. It is simply heathenism, going back to man’s religion when God is fully revealed.”

Another writer’s remarks in the same connection must find a place here: “How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Weigh that expression well. There can not be a more solemn statement as regards the present state of Christendom. What does he mean by saying that these Galatian saints were returning again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which they desired again to be in bondage? They must have been perfectly shocked. Turning again to idolatry! How could this be? They might say, we are only taking up the principle of the law: do you call this the weak and beggarly elements? Why, says the Apostle, when you were unconverted you worshipped false gods—idols; but if you, Christians, go and take up Jewish principles, even these feast-days or other principles of the law, you are in principle idolaters, turning back again to that idolatry out of which God delivered you.

How is this? The reason is plain. It was not that the law in itself could be idolatrous, or that God did not forbear toward the prejudice of those that were Jews. But here were the Gentile believers resorting to these legal elements. Who told them? These things had lost all their meaning, and a Gentile had nothing to do with them; they had their value as a shadow of Christ, before Christ came; but to turn back from Christ risen from the dead to these mere shadows was in God’s sight going back to idolatry. Whenever professing Christendom takes up the law, with its external ceremonials and shadows (quite right as all this was under the law) and adopts them as Christian worship, it has unconsciously, but really, fallen into idolatry.

“...The Holy Ghost presses this upon these Galatian believers, for the evil was only in the germ. If this be true, what a sin to take part in, to countenance or sanction in any way that which is idolatry in God’s judgment! The evil is increasing most rapidly. It is not confined now to popery... The essence of our blessing lies in the soul’s enjoying Christ by the Word of God—the Holy Ghost giving this enjoyment of Christ apart from everything that acts upon the natural eye or mind” (Wm. Kelly, Lectures on Galatians, published in 1864).

Labor of Love

1 Thessalonians 1:3

“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.”

Suppose I go laboring, and the spirit of love is in my work, what a difference there will be when the whole service is stamped with the character of this love! If it is only in preaching the gospel, how fully shall I set forth God’s love to a lost world, if the love of Christ is freshly springing up in my own soul! But alas! how often have we to reproach ourselves with going on in a round of Christian duty, faithful in general intention, but not flowing from the fresh realization of the love of Christ to our souls.

At Last!

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And, I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:1-4).

“At last!

The night is at an end;

The dawn comes softly up,

Clear as its own clear dew;

And weeping has gone out,

To let in only songs

And everlasting joy,

At last! Amen.

“At last!

The Prince of Life has come;

The church is glorified;

The sleepers have awaked,

The living have been changed,

Death has at last been slain,

And the grave spoiled forever!

At last! Amen.

“At last!

The curse is swept away.

The serpent-trail effaced.

The desert smiles with green,

And blossoms like the rose;

‘Tis more than Eden now -

Earth has become as heaven,

At last! Amen.

“At last!

Satan is bound in chains;

The church’s ancient foe,

Old enemy of Christ

Has fallen, with all his hosts;

And Babylon the Great

Has sunk to rise no more!

At last! Amen.

“At last!

Israel sits down in peace;

Jerusalem awakes;

Her King at length has come.

Messiah reigns in power;

The heavens rejoice and sing,

And earth once more is free!

At last! Amen.”

That I May Win Christ

The brief sentence which forms the heading of this article presents to us the earnest aspiration of one who had found an absorbing and commanding object in Christ—the utterance of a soul whose one desire was to grow in the knowledge and appreciation of that blessed one who fills all heaven with His glory. The whole passage from which our motto is taken is full of power. We must quote it for the reader:

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Phil. 3:8).

Let us specially mark the words, “what things were gain to me.” The Apostle is not speaking of his sins, of his guilt, of things of which, as a man, he might justly be ashamed. No; he is referring to his gains, his honors, his distinctions; his religious, his intellectual, his moral, his political advantages—of such things as were calculated to make him an object of envy to his fellows. All these things he counted but loss that he might win Christ.

Alas! how few of us understand anything of this! How few of us grasp the meaning of the words—the real force of the expression:

“That I may win Christ!”

Most of us rest satisfied with thinking of Christ as God’s gift to sinners. We do not aim at winning Him as our prize, by the surrender of all those things which nature loves and values. The two things are quite distinct. As poor miserable, guilty, hell-deserving sinners, we are not asked to do, or to give, or to surrender anything. We are invited, yea commanded to take—take freely—take all.

“God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.”

“The gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

“If thou knewest the free giving of God, thou wouldst have asked.”

All this is blessedly true, thanks be to God for it! But, then, there is another side of the question. What did Paul mean by winning Christ? He already possessed Christ as God’s free gift to him as a sinner. What more did he want? He wanted to win Christ as his prize, even at the cost of all beside.

As Christ, the true merchant man, sold all that He had, in order to possess Himself of what He esteemed “a pearl of great price” —laid aside His glory, stripped and emptied Himself of all—gave up all His claims as man, as Messiah, in order to possess Himself of the church; so, in his measure, that devoted Christian, whose words form our thesis, gave up everything in order to possess himself of that peerless object who had been revealed to his heart on the day of his conversion.

He saw such beauty, such moral glory, such transcendent excellency in the Son of God, that he deliberately surrendered all the honors, the distinctions, the pleasures, the riches of earth, in order that Christ might fill every chamber of his heart, and absorb all the energies of his moral being. He longed to know Him not merely as the one who had put away his sins, but as the one who could satisfy all the longings of his soul, and utterly displace all that earth could offer or nature grasp.

Reader, let us gaze on this picture. It is indeed a fine study for us. It stands out in bold contrast with the cold, selfish, world-loving, pleasure-hunting, money-seeking spirit of this our day. It administers a severe rebuke to the heartless indifference of which we must all alas! be conscious—an indifference expressing itself in numberless and nameless ways. Where do we see aught that answers to the words:

“That I may win Christ.”

Extract: The Son - Serving and Reigning

“Then shall the Son also Himself be subject.” He was serving here—the very thing the devil tried to get Him out of. If he had, it would have been Christ doing His own will;

“But though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.”

But when all things shall have been subdued under Him, He is subject after that.

Just now He is on His Father’s throne, our High Priest. But He will take His own throne and power, and reign, bringing everything into subjection. Then it is not serving, but reigning; afterward He gives up the kingdom to His Father, for everything is brought to order. In the millennium it is a King, reigning in righteousness; but then it will be new heavens and new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.

Innocence dwelt in the first paradise; sin dwells in the present earth; and then, in the new heavens and earth, it will be “wherein dwelleth righteousness.” He gives up the mediatorial kingdom, as it is called, to God, and takes His place as a Man— “The Firstborn among many brethren.” He never gives up the place in which He can own us as associated with Himself in the blessedness of Firstborn of many brethren.

As all was ruined in the first Adam, all shall be blessed in the last. “As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” Then I shall find myself enjoying everything that God can give to the objects of His love, and enjoying it with Christ, then at the head of everything—Son of God and Son of Man—we associated with all the blessedness, and He administering to us, so that the heart can taste His love. And He does not just bring us there, but it is to all eternity. He has purchased us too dearly to give us up. His love will be in constant exercise toward us. It leads us to adore Him more than anything that can be thought of; but we can trust a love that will never cease throughout eternity.

Abiding in Him: Luke 7:36-38

Let us look at the woman in the Pharisee’s house, washing the Lord’s feet; and at His words:

“Abide in Me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me” (John 15:4).

Fruit-bearing is only the result of abiding in Him, and the real abiding in Him is the being constantly occupied with Him. We get cold if not occupied with Him. Take one day of our mind’s course; there are the wanderings and there is the inward spring of evil.

It is a course of wandering from the Lord in thought and mind, that is so important whether we fall or not. A person may be walking in a right way, and fall by accident, as we say. But a person may start in a wrong way, and his whole course be wrong; there is a constant going the wrong way. Real, fruit-bearing can only be when in the right way, that is, when walking near Him.

The poor woman would not have been in the Pharisee’s house if Jesus had not been there. It is nice to be where Jesus is. I must be in heaven in heart and mind. But wherever He is, there is no obstacle which can keep out love. She loved Him for His grace, and for that which led Him to meet her need. His living Person was there, and she was drawn to Him. There was that in Him which drew her. It is a comparatively easy thing to walk in the presence of one we are drawn to.

If in our own esteem we are sinners above others, and if there is a deep work of God in our souls, and a deep sense of His grace, it does not matter where Jesus is, we shall be there. Where there is one of His little ones, we shall seek him out, however poor and uninstructed. Where He is, and where His are there shall we be too, and the result of being with Him, is conformity to Him. Love attracts to His presence; and in His presence we must be like Him. And to be like Him is to be holy, and the end everlasting life.

He did not say, “Go and sin no more.” No; the attractiveness of His presence kept her from that. Her forgiveness—and what that would cost Him!—the bearing of sin to one so holy—only her own vileness, if she had the sense of these things, would keep her, would attract her to Jesus; and us, too.

And in abiding in Jesus, there is fruit-bearing. Having our minds always in fellowship with Him, the course of our minds will then be fruit-bearing, and the course of our walk will correspond. And thus, and only thus, it is that we shall be kept from falling. May we ever be kept in His presence.

Accepted and Acceptable

All the children of God and members of Christ are equally “accepted in the beloved”; all stand in one common relationship. The very feeblest member of the body of Christ is loved by God as Christ is loved. The Head and the members cannot be separated. As He is so are they. The feeblest child in the family has his own place in the Father’s heart, with which no one can ever interfere (Eph. 1:6; John 17:26; 1 John 4:17).

All this is blessedly true, and nothing can ever touch it. But it is one thing to be “accepted,” and another thing to be “acceptable” or agreeable. It is one thing to be a beloved child, and another thing to be a devoted servant. There is the love of relationship, the love of complacency.

These things must not be confounded. And, most assuredly, it should be the earnest desire of every “accepted” child of God to be an “acceptable” servant of Christ. O! may it be so more and more in this day of cold indifference and self-seeking, in which so many seem to rest satisfied with the mere fact of being in fellowship, as it is called—the form of breaking bread; and so few, comparatively, are pressing after that high standard of personal devotedness which, we may rest assured, is “agreeable” to the heart of Christ.

“Wherefore also we are zealous, whether present or absent, to be agreeable to Him” (2 Cor. 5:9, JND).

Fragment: Marks of the Power of the Holy Ghost

Some of the marks of the power of the Holy Ghost in an assembly of saints gathered to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ are: worship, gifts developed, saints agreeing together in the unity of the Spirit, earnestness, fervency, unselfishness, caring for others, love to souls, fellowship in the gospel, and taking the place of rejection with Christ.

Correspondence: MAT 18:20; Leavened Loaf?; Bishops/Deacons/Prophets in N.T.

Question: What does it mean to be gathered in or unto the name of Christ? (Matt. 18:20).

Answer: To be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus is to be gathered in separation from evil, and in the unity of the Spirit. His name is holy and true (Rev. 3:7). We must therefore seek to walk in holiness, and according to the truth. We are members of His body (1 Cor. 12:12-13). He is our Head and Center, and we are enjoined to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace, apart from all divisions of men.

Question: If leaven is a type of evil in Scripture, should the loaf for the Lord’s supper be made of unleavened bread?

Answer: Our care for the bread used at the Lord’s supper is to have it one bread, a piece of dough baked as one. There is nothing said about size or kind.

The bread and wine are only symbols of Christ in death. We know Him as living now for us. We remember Him in His death for us.

The bread in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, recognizes all the children of God as one body (Eph. 1:4).

Question: What are bishops, deacons, and prophets in the New Testament?

Answer: Bishops, elders, overseers, are the same (Acts 20:17, called elders; vs. 28, called overseers). Their character was to be as in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and Titus 1:6-9. They were to look after the spiritual state of the assembly. It does not say how many were appointed.

Deacon is a servant to minister to needy ones, and to serve tables, as in Acts 6. Their character was to be as in 1 Timothy 3:12-13. They were chosen and appointed by the apostles or their delegates Timothy and Titus, but not by the assembly. The Scriptures were not completed and collated at that time.

We have no appointment of elders and deacons now. We have no authority to appoint them, and the assembly now is broken outwardly into sects, which the Word of God deplores (1 Cor. 1:12-13; 3:3-5).

A prophet now is only one speaking the truth. Prophesying now is speaking unto men to edification, exhortation and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3,29). We have no revelations now, for the Word of God is completed (Col. 1:25). There is no need therefore of tongues of interpretations. We are now living in the last day, and awaiting the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let our loins be girded and our lights burning.

The Finished Work of Christ

Preaching in the neighborhood of N., after the meeting one evening, having set forth the finished work of Christ, and the results flowing from it, I went up to a young woman who was looking very sad, feeling that God had a message for her soul. Sitting down beside her, I asked her:

“Well, my friend, have you accepted God’s Christ yet? Are you saved?”

“No, sir, I am not.”

“Why should you not be? has not Christ finished the work, and glorified God?”

“Yes, He has.”

“Then tell me, if Jesus Christ has done it all, what is there left for you to do?”

“Nothing.”

“Then do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?”

“Yes, I do believe from my heart that Jesus Christ bore my sins on the cross.”

Opening my Bible at John 3:36, I let her read:

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.”

“Now,” I asked, “what does God say of those who believe on His Son?”

“They have everlasting life.”

“Will you tell me then if you believe on the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ?”

“Yes, I’m sure I do.”

“Then what does God say of you?”

“I have everlasting life,” she replied. “I never saw it before. I was always trying to be good, and hoped to be saved. And I was afraid when I heard of Jesus Christ coming back, for I was afraid I would be left behind. Now I see that Jesus has done it all; He has finished the work, and we are just to believe on Him. I’m so glad I came here tonight, for if Jesus were to come now I should go with Him, but I never heard it put that way before.”

The sad look had left her face now, and it was lit up with a happy smile, while her soul was filled with joy and peace in believing.

And now, dear reader, let me ask you ere you lay down this little paper—What about your soul? have you accepted God’s Christ yet? Are you saved? If not, why not? O! I do pray you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Perhaps you are trying to be good, but you have no peace yet. Cease from your own doings; take the place of a lost sinner, and receive the lost sinner’s Saviour. Yes, I say, believe on the Eternal Son of God, and this moment God will make good to you the whole of the finish work of His Son. Don’t delay; time is short. Eternity is coming fast upon you. Think of spending a Christless Eternity—and where? In the Lake of Fire!

O! shelter in Jesus now; think of God’s love in giving His Son; think of that sorrowful death of the Son of God on the cross; think how you have resisted the Holy Ghost, whom Jesus sent down, and who has been pleading with you. Do not do so any longer.

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36).

O! Christian reader, think of what a place God wants to give you. He wants you to find your delight in the very same object in whom He has found His, even Christ, and all on the ground of the finished work of Christ.

“In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

Ananias and Sapphira

Ananias and Sapphira wanted to get the character of devotedness, for such the church had, but without the cost of it. Thus hypocrisy had come into the church, but the power of good was there to expose the evil which sought the character of good for credit’s sake. Love of money really governed them, modified by the love of church reputation. And the Holy Ghost’s presence must be manifested in judgment. This was a sad beginning, when the good has to be characterized by the conflict with evil, instead of the good being manifested by keeping evil out.

The Epistle to the Galatians: 4:12-31

“Be as I am, for I also am as ye, brethren, I beseech you; ye have not at all wronged me. But ye know that in weakness of the flesh I announced the glad tidings to you at the first; and my temptation which was in my flesh ye did not slight nor reject with contempt; but ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then was your blessedness? (or, what blessedness was then yours!) for I bear you witness that, if possible, plucking out your own eyes ye would have given them to me.

“So I have become your enemy in speaking the truth to you? They are not rightly zealous after you, but desire to shut you out from us, that ye may be zealous after them. But it is right to be zealous at all times in what is right, and not only when I am present with you—my children, of whom I again travail in birth until Christ shall have been formed in you; and I should wish to be present with you now, and change my voice, for I am perplexed as to you” (verses 12-31, JND).

In the twelfth verse the apostle turns to his relations with the Galatian saints and answers charges made against him by the persons referred to in verse 17 who were influencing them toward keeping the law of Moses. The law had formerly claimed obedience from Paul, but he had become free of its claim through the death of Christ; as Gentiles, the Galatians had not been under law. “Be as I am, for I also am as ye, brethren,” is his answer; that is, be free from the law, as being dead to it in Christ; you are Gentiles, and have never been, and are not, under the law at all, and “I am as ye are.”

Apparently the Galatians thought that in charging Paul with not living according to the law, they were hurting his feelings, and so he says in verse 12, “ye have not at all wronged me”; he fully acknowledged that whatever he was by birth, and as a man, he had given up. The cross of Christ was the end of both the law and the flesh in God’s sight.

Verses 13-15. When he came into Galatia, Paul carried with him something—he does not tell what—connected with his bodily state that made him, or might make him, contemptible to his hearers. It was the thorn in the flesh of 2 Corinthians 12:7. But those to whom the Apostle writes received the word which he spoke, received him as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What had become of the blessedness they then spoke of?

Verses 16-18. The false teachers had succeeded, in measure at least, in alienating the affections of the Galatians from the Apostle.

“So I have become your enemy in speaking the truth to you?” They would, if they could, shut out the Apostle from any contact with the Galatian saints, in order that they might attach them to themselves. Verse 18 suggests a reference to Philippians 2:12, where the Apostle writes in far happier terms of the saints at Philippi:

“Ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.”

In Galatia, on the contrary, the saints, when deprived of the apostle’s presence, had soon slipped from the sense of dependence upon God, and taken up with a fleshly use of the law.

Verses 19-20 bring out touchingly the Apostle’s affection for the saints, a love not weakened by their ingratitude, because that love was, in its source, divine. Perplexed as to them, he wanted to be present with them so as to deal with these believers as their condition of soul might be found to be.

“Tell me, ye who are desirous of being under law, do ye not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one of the maidservant (or bondmaid) and one of the freewoman. But he that was of the maidservant was born according to flesh, and he that was of the free woman through the promise. Which things have an allegorical sense, for these are two covenants, one from Mount Sinai, gendering to bondage, which is Hagar. For Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which is now, for she is in bondage with her children, but the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.

“For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break out and cry, thou that travailest not; because the children of the desolate, are more numerous than those of her that has a husband.

“But ye, brethren, after the pattern of Isaac, are children of promise. But as then he that was born according to flesh persecuted him that was born according to Spirit, so also it is now. But what says the Scripture? Cast out the maidservant (or bond-maid) and her son, for the son of the maidservant shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not maidservant’s children, but children of the free woman” (verses 21-31, JND).

In these verses the Galatian saints are first referred to Genesis 21, verses 9-12, and what light is thrown upon that passage here! A striking contrast is seen between the child “according to flesh” and the child of the free-woman; the one connected with the principle of law embodied in the covenant of Sinai (Ex. 19, 20), and the other, the child of promise, of the Spirit, connected with the unconditional promise to Abraham in Genesis 22, verses 16-18.

“Jerusalem which is now,” full of religion, but in bondage to sin as well as to the Romans, is no longer the mother of the Jew who has believed; he belongs to Jerusalem which is above; he belongs to Christ and thus to the heavenly Jerusalem. In support of this the apostle next quotes Isaiah 54:1, wherein Jerusalem is looked at as restored to God’s favor, as it will be in the Millennium. Therein the statement is made that the children of the desolate are more numerous than those of her that has a husband, referring to the period of Israel’s being set aside as the people of God, and viewing all that have received the offer of salvation since the day of Pentecost as children of desolate Jerusalem. At the time of which Isaiah 54 speaks, the Christians will be in their promised heavenly place, and the Jews, or the believing remnant of them, will have experienced their great spiritual awakening.

Verses 28 to 31 seem to call for no comment. The law, it is plain, was designed for man in the flesh, but we, believers, are called of God to another condition; we are children of the free woman.

We Have the Earnest of the Inheritance

There is one specialty of the church’s hope by reason of the Holy Ghost being the earnest of the inheritance, and that is, that the church even now knows, tastes and enjoys her own blessings. They are actually accomplished blessings. All spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ are already her portion, although not palpable to sight— “for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for; but if we see them not, then do we with patience wait for them” (Rom. 8:24-25). And the church is waiting to have her own blessings manifested, and to enjoy those blessings where sorrow and trial cannot enter; even where the wretched selfishness of our hearts can no longer hinder our full apprehension and enjoyment of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus—the Son of God and the Lamb of God.

It is now the portion of the church, while she cannot actually see Jesus, yet believing in Him, to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; what then must it be to see Him as He is, and to be like Him? That which the church knows, she enjoys even now, by the special relation of the Holy Ghost as the earnest. Her hope is to enjoy what she knows and tastes already, in the Lord’s immediate presence, where there shall be no slow heart or dull mind.

Israel waits for glory and blessing in their own land; but still being in blindness and unbelief, and in a strange land, Israel has no foretaste of the joys which await them; their harps must hang upon the willows; they cannot sing the song of Zion. Creation too awaits its jubilee; the groaning creation earnestly expects deliverance from the bondage of corruption (Rom. 8:20-22); but it has no foretaste of that deliverance.

May we not say that the hope of Israel is as unintelligent as that of creation itself, the blessed agent by whom the blessing is to be accomplished, and the mighty work on which that accomplishment hangs being unknown; and the hope itself, as revealed in the Scripture of truth, is only seen at the end of the dark vista of the wrath of God. But God’s future to the church is all bright and glorious.

“The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed to us.” (Rom. 8:18).

The tribulations are “manifold,” “now” and “for a season”: out from these tribulations the church looks for her rest and glory. There is a real present manifestation of Christ to the church now that He is unseen by the world.

Grace, Godliness, and Glory

“The carnal mind,” which “is enmity against God,” would always make a bad use of His grace to sinners. It dislikes grace, and will always speak against it. It is contrary to its nature. The apostle had no sooner stated the blessed truth, that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound,” than he anticipates, and answers, the opposition of the natural mind to the sovereign grace of God (Rom. 5 and 6).

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom. 6:1).

The believer is dead to sin, in the sense in which Christ is dead to it. This is a deeply precious truth. The following passages make it perfectly plain.

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. ... Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:6- 7,11).

Grace, the pure grace of God, is the only power of a holy, godly walk in this world. As the Lord said to one who was passing through deep trial:

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). It is only by grace that we can:

“Adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men; teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:10-12).

The law demands perfect obedience, and will not yield one point, but gives no power to obey. The divine favor which is our only strength, flows to us through the channel of our gracious, blessed Saviour. He is the rule of the believer’s life, and the grace of God is his power to follow Him.

“For He hath left us an example, that we should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

The law knows nothing of grace; it shows no favor; it can only condemn the offender.

“The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

From the portion in Titus we learn the three following things:

1. Grace brings salvation—complete deliverance. The moment that the grace of God, in Christ Jesus, is received by faith, there is complete salvation to the soul—a full deliverance from sin and all its consequences. The condition of the sinner in God’s sight, is immediately changed. He has “passed from death unto life” —from a condition of death unto one of eternal life (John 5:24). This is also the source and power of holiness. The believer, being vitally connected with Christ—a partaker of the divine nature—and indwelt by the Holy Ghost—he brings forth fruit unto God.

“This only would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? ... That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:2,14).

2. The same grace that brings salvation, leads to true, practical godliness.

“Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.” That is, grace teaches us to deny everything that is unlike God, and displeasing to Him; and also to deny the tendencies of our own hearts to go out after the world. But grace teaches us to do what is good and right, as well as to deny what is evil and wrong. “We should live soberly” —great sobriety, moderation, evenness of mind, temper, and conduct, should characterize every believer. Also “righteously” —justly and honestly towards men. And “godly” —in all holiness of heart and life towards God. This is true sanctification, namely, separation from the world—set apart for God. Such are the happy fruits of the sovereign grace of God to lost, ruined sinners in this present evil world.

3. Grace teaches the believer to look for Glory. He may be a dull scholar, but the lesson is plain enough.

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Here we have set before us Christ Himself, the hope of our hearts, and coming glory—the full display of the Millennial glory of our Saviour-God. The grace that brings salvation, and leads to godliness, sets us in the position of waiting, watching, and looking for the Lord from heaven.

Alas! that this blessed hope should be so little understood, and have so little hold of our hearts. What can be plainer? The grace that brings our salvation, sets it before us. It is fitted and intended to govern our affections, and form our character for the blessed Lord. His first appearing was in grace. His second appearing will be in glory. In this passage our salvation and walk are sweetly connected with both.

May we be led to a deeper knowledge of grace, to a higher character of godliness, and to a more transforming hope of glory.

Extract: The Approbation of Christ

May we covet earnestly the approbation of Christ. How humbling to think how little we seek it! The praise of men puffs up, but His never does. He commends us for what His infinite grace sees in us; He sees in us what His grace has produced, and what answers to His thoughts.

Take My Yoke Upon You, and Learn of Me

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It is perfect grace: no restriction; no setting the Jew in the foremost seat of honor. But “Come unto Me, all ye that labor” —Jew or Gentile, it matters not. Are you miserable? Can you find no comfort?

“Come unto Me, all ye that labor,... and I will give you rest.”

It is without condition or qualification, if the needy but go to Him. In John we have:

“All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

This is the proof of the Father’s drawing—that I go to Jesus. It is the Son of the Father, in John: for grace is always found most full and free where the Son is brought out in all His glory.

“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:29-30).

Grace does not leave men to do as they like, but enables the heart that receives it to desire the will of God. So, after saying, “I will give you rest,” our Lord adds, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Mark the difference. In verse 28 it is, “Come unto Me... and I will give you rest” —it is pure grace to the soul in need, with nothing but its sins to bring; but in saying:

“Take My yoke upon you,... and ye shall find rest to your souls,” He speaks of subjection to Him, and the effect is finding rest to our souls. When the sinner goes in his wretchedness to Jesus, the Saviour gives him rest— “without money and without price.” But if that soul does not follow on in the ways of Christ, he becomes miserable, and loses the comfort he had at first. Why? He has not taken Christ’s yoke upon him.

The terms on which the Lord gives rest to the sinner are, “Come unto Me,” just as you are.

The terms on which the believer finds rest are:

“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.”

The Lord keeps His moral government over His people, and they are more disturbed than any, if not subject to Christ, they can neither enjoy Him nor the world. If I have found such a Saviour, and yet am not bearing His yoke, God does not intend that I should be happy. All else is a false happiness.

We See Jesus

“Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56).

Behold the Son of Man

At God’s right hand on high,

‘Tis by that glorious risen One,

We are to God made nigh.

Ah! see His hands and feet,

His wounded side behold,

From thence for us on Calvary’s cross,

His blood once freely flowed.

What matchless, wondrous grace,

That God’s beloved Son

Should stoop so low, and bear the cross,

For sinners lost, undone.

But O! what boundless joy!

His grief and shame are o’er;

God’s glorified, exalted Son

All heaven doth now adore.

Nor is He there alone,

The people to Him given,

Raised up and quickened with their Head,

Have now their place in heaven.

In spirit there with Him,

We rest in that bright home,

In patience waiting for that day,

When Christ our Lord will come.

Then we shall see His face,

And bear His image bright,

And cast our crowns before His feet

With rapture and delight.

A Word in Season

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Prov. 25:11).

“A word spoken in season, how good it is!” (Prov. 15:23).

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth” (Isa. 52:7).

“The Lord God hath given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned” (Isa. 50:4).

These scriptures as applied to the Lord Himself, as He labored among men, come before us frequently in the way in which He met the needs of those of His day (see Luke 5:1). What eagerness they exhibited, oblivious of the nearness of the sea! They must not miss one word of what to them was so different from anything they had ever heard. Here was the Master Preacher Himself, and who could teach like He?

We are inclined to forget that He is even more approachable today to us, than He was then to them. Do we so hunger and thirst to hear Him? Are we not rather like Peter (vs. 5) who being a fisherman, thought the Lord must be mistaken in asking them to let down the nets for a draft; do we not know the conventional way to do what we have to do, and fail to wait upon Him for guidance? Well, the Lord was in Peter’s boat, and in charge of the business, and obedient; Peter will get the blessing. The Lord will bless all our efforts to serve Him in any way, He will not remain our debtor. They had a better haul that day than they ever had had before. So it is sure to turn out. It ended with Peter, John, James, Andrew being enlisted in the Lord’s work fishing for men.

“Come see a Man, which told me all things that ever I did! Is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29).

The story of how the Lord brought to the surface this dear woman’s need of blessing, is very simple, yet interesting. He had come a long, tiresome journey for this purpose (vs. 4); He had to meet that poor outcast, and make known the Gift of God! But not only her heart was reached that day, but (vs. 39-42), many and many more believed on Him because of His own word.

Service (Luke 10:38-42), if happily rendered as by the Holy Spirit, is very fine; but Mary who sat at His feet and heard His word, had chosen that good part which should not be taken away from her. What was it that she found at His feet, which gave her such happy feelings? The great Teacher, like the master musician touching ever so sweetly the strings of his harp, so played upon her affections, and her soul responded with sweet melody, and this was dear to His heart; He had found none of it where it should have been, and very few whose hearts really were in His keeping. O, may we know something of giving to Him the joy which flows from love reciprocated. To Mary might be applied, and to us too, the words in Song of Solomon, 1:2.

“Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth; for thy love is better than wine. Because of the savor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.” Again 2:3:

“As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.”

There is no happier service than the service we render to His own heart! Any other service should be secondary, for unless service flows from happy communion with Him, it is very inferior and in danger of being rejected altogether.

He alone knows how to speak to us the word in season, fitly; because He alone knows all the path we have to tread, seeing He Himself completed that path (Heb. 12:2). And because He took upon Him our nature (that is our physical) (Heb. 2:16-17); And because He is the Eternal Life which was with the Father (1 John 1:2), and thus God and Man; and the union of both joined in one, form the fountain of love in His heart.

The Approbation of the Lord

It should be joy to any one who loves the Lord Jesus to think of having His individual peculiar approbation and love; to find that He has approved of our conduct in such and such circumstances, though none know this but ourselves who receive the approval.

But, beloved, are we really content to have an approval which Christ only knows? Let us try ourselves a little.

Are we not too desirous of man’s commendation of our conduct? or, at least, that he should know and give us credit for the motives which actuate it? Are we content, so long as good is done, that nobody should know anything about us—even in the church to be thought nothing of? that Christ alone should give us the “white stone” of His approval, and the “new name which no man knoweth save only he that receiveth it”?

Are we content, I say, to seek nothing else? O, think what the terrible evil and treachery of that heart must be that is not satisfied with Christ’s special favor, but seeks honor (as we do) of one another instead!

I ask you, beloved, which would be most precious to you, which would you prefer, the Lord’s public owning of you as a good and faithful servant, or the private individual love of Christ resting upon you, the secret knowledge of His love and approval?

He whose heart is specially attracted to Christ will respond, “the latter.” Both will be ours, if we are faithful; but we shall value the latter most; and there is nothing that will carry us so straight on our course as the anticipation of it.

The Gospel

There is one thing peculiarly sweet in connection with the gospel of God’s grace. It is that which suits the prodigal when he is brought home to the Father’s house, as well as when he is in the far country wanting bread. Hence I have no sympathy with the remark which is sometimes made, “Christians do not want the gospel.” Of course it is one thing to preach the gospel to Christians, and another thing to preach it to poor sinners by the wayside who have never received it; but as for the gospel, by which I understand all the riches of the grace of God, we always need it: for myself, I expect to enjoy the gospel nowhere so much as in heaven.

Correspondence: Joining Unions; Christ Bear the Sins of the Whole World?

Question: What does Scripture say is our path in regard to voluntary associations or unions?

Answer: Confederations of men always have man as their object. See the first one in Genesis 11:4. The Lord broke it in pieces. (Isa. 8:9). For us, 2 Corinthians 6:14 to 7:1, gives simple and full instruction. It begins by marking out the contrast between children of God and the world. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, light with darkness, Christ with Belial, or a believer with an unbeliever? God dwells and walks in and with His people. He is their God.

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be (to Me for) My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” With such a promise from the one who has everything at His disposal, we may well feel encouraged to obey, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Question: When Christ died upon the cross, did He bear the sins of the whole world? In Hebrews 9:28 it says: “the sins of many.”

Answer: Scripture shows us that God has been glorified in the work of the cross about the whole question of sin, so that in righteousness now He can save and cleanse the deepest-dyed sinner living on the earth. (Isa. 1:18). “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Tim. 1:15).

We can therefore tell the unsaved of God’s love to them (John 3:14-16), and say to them, “Christ died for the ungodly.” “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:6-8). Christ “died for all.” (2 Cor. 5:14-15). He bought the whole world (Matt. 13:44); even the blasphemer is bought (2 Peter 2:1).

He is the propitiation for the whole world; (“the sins of” are left out in the original, 1 John 2:2). It is there, God and guilty man can meet. We can tell the guilty ones how to know their sins forgiven. (Acts 10:43). “Whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” (See also Acts 13:38-39.) But it is the language of the believer that says:

“He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities” (Isa. 53:5-6; see 1 Cor. 15:3 and 1 Peter 2:24). Notice the words, our, we, us. Thus the believer applies the truth to himself.

Aprons or Coats of Skin?

After Adam and Eve had sinned and become conscious of their guilt, and of their nakedness “they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Gen. 3:7), intending thus to make themselves presentable to God.

How many are still endeavoring to do the same. Call it what you may: “Doing the best I can,” “Trying to keep the ten commandments,” “Going by the golden rule,” or “Trying to follow Jesus.” No matter what shape you may make the apron, it is still the work of your hands.

No doubt Adam and Eve did the best they could, and were anxiously hoping that God would approve of their sincere efforts. But did He? Let verse 21 answer:

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

Alas, they had left out of their calculations the most important thing, and that was, that death is the sinner’s due; that a sinless substitute must be slain to cover him in his ruined condition.

In the coats of skin that God had made, we have a lovely picture of the cross of Christ. For “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). God pleads with you, dear sinner, to “Stand still and see ... that great work which the Lord did” (Ex. 14:13,31). Behold Him there on the cross, as a Lamb slain in His love for us. He “died for our sins,” (1 Cor. 15:3), and “He said, It is finished” (John 19:30). It is perfect and gloriously complete. “Nothing can be put to it” (Eccl. 3:14).

How much better is God’s salvation than man’s aprons. “Vain is the salvation of man.” (Psa. 60:11, margin). “Neither shall they cover themselves with their works” (Isa. 59:6). “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). God cannot accept your work, but He wants you to accept the work of His Son, “that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear” (Rev. 3:18). “Blessed is he ... whose sin is covered” (Psa. 32:1).

Had God approved of Adam and Eve making their own aprons, or asked them to try to make better ones, that would just suit the thought of most people. For nothing is more popular in the religious world than this erroneous notion that man must do some sort of religious works to merit salvation. It is deeply ingrained in human nature. It matters not how often it is refuted, it asserts itself again and again, in one form or another.

This restless religious tendency to do something, instead of accepting God’s gracious gift, is all because man loves not to plead guilty—own that he is hopelessly ruined and unable to do one single thing to redeem himself. But man would rather try anyway!

“Being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness” (Rom. 10:3), they are denying God’s declaration that “there is none righteous, no, not one, ... there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10,12). In other words, being insensible to their need of God’s “coats of skin,” they go about to sew aprons of fig leaves for themselves.

Israel was bent on doing something. “All the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do” (Ex. 19:8). They did not know themselves. So God gave them the ten commandments to expose their sinfulness. As the mirror shows the face to be dirty, so “by the law, is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. (3:20). The law can do nothing but condemn (2 Cor. 3:9), for all are guilty sinners; and to keep on struggling to justify oneself, only adds to one’s guilt. Therefore it is written: “To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom. 4:4).

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5). “By grace are ye saved through faith ... not of works” (Eph. 2:8-9). “Not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace” (2 Tim. 1:9). So then it is plain that mans’ aprons will not do.

Some sincerely believe that they should enlist Gold’s help to perfect their own salvation. They quote Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your own salvation ... for it is God which worketh in you.” Now, if it said “work for your own salvation,” or “work on your own salvation,” then that would express their idea. But “work out” is addressed to those who already had salvation, as well as the Holy Spirit of God within them, to put their salvation into outward practice in their daily conflicts.

The oft quoted verse, “Faith without works is dead,” rebukes those that “say” they have faith, but show no evidence.

But human effort, and heavenly grace, can never combine any more than oil and water, “If by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace” (Rom. 11:6). Christ must have done it all, that He might have all the praise.

“Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:9).

If salvation were by works, then in heaven they would sing: “Unto ourselves who have done the best we could; to us be the glory forever and ever!” But in Revelation 1:5-6 and 5:9 all praise is acclaimed “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.... to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

I know there are some who have never felt themselves to be lost sinners, they are such lovely people, who shift about as if they were sitting on thorns when I am preaching grace, and nothing but grace. Friend, search yourself and see if this accursed thing be not hidden in your own heart!

Law and Grace Contrasted

“The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:4).

“By Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39).

The two principles are distinct and in sharp contrast to each other, and cannot possibly be mixed, nor one added to the other.

The law makes all depend upon what I am for God. Grace makes all depend upon what God is for me.

The law demands; grace bestows.

The law condemns; grace justifies.

The law curses; grace blesses.

The law keeps one in bondage; grace sets the believer free.

“We are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:15).

The law says: “Thou shalt do.” Grace says: “It is done.”

The law requires righteousness from man. Grace places God’s righteousness upon man.

As God had made coats of skin to clothe Adam and Eve, so the atoning death of the Lamb of God covers the believer. It is “the best robe” (Luke 15:22), “the righteousness of God ... upon all them that believe.” Rom. 3:22.

Our sinless substitute was made sin “for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). “Accepted in the Beloved.” Eph. 1:6. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). “In Christ Jesus ... a new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17).

Adding Law to Grace!

If, after God had made Adam and his wife those lovely and enduring coats of skin, they would return to sewing fig-leaf aprons; or if they attempted to do something to improve upon the coats of skin,—add some device of their own, what would you think? What would God have thought? Yet that is exactly what many who call themselves Christians are doing. They did it in the early days of the church; but listen:

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?... Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?... Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us... Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage... Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Gal. 3:1,3,13; 5:1,4).

False brethren—legalizing teachers, had troubled them by perverting the gospel of the grace of Christ. They taught “Ye must... keep the law” (Acts 15:24,1-11; Gal. 1:6-7; 2:4,16; 5:10,12).

Adam and Eve were wiser. They did not merit, nor have to work for the “coats of skin” or add anything to God’s gift. They had labored in vain to cover their guilt. Now all they could do, was to thank God for His grace to them.

But after God had clothed them, they could display what God had wrought.

Works are never the means of salvation. But after one is saved by faith in the work of Christ, the new life will show itself in good works as evidence.

“I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). Truly, they which have believed God, should “be careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8).

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph. 2:10).

I will not work my soul to save,

For Christ that work has done;

But I will work like any slave

In love to God’s dear Son.

Answered at Midnight

During the depression years, the Lord allowed us to pass through some trying circumstances. We now can praise Him for them all, and see that He was teaching us many lessons. Through the difficulties we learned more of what a God is ours as well as what poor hearts of unbelief we have. We also learned what it is to call upon Him, and have Him answer us. When everything goes along smoothly we are not apt to know much of “fervent prayer,” but sometimes God sees it is needful to bring us through trying times, so that we might prove Him. We can now say that we have learned something of what God is through our difficulties and needs.

We well remember one period of time when my husband was out of work for two years. Work was not to be had, it seemed. Numerous times during those months we proved the care of our Father for us. Yes, He who feeds the birds, and clothes the lilies, provided for us in many different ways. Often He allowed our faith to be tested before the answer came, but He never failed us.

One of these experiences that stands out very vividly in my memory occurred on a Saturday night when we were down to the lowest point, with not a cent in the house, and nothing left to eat. It seemed as though, at last, our Father had forgotten us. My dear husband who is an industrious man, was much distressed, especially because of our six children who had gone to bed hungry. The hours that evening seemed long, but after telling our Father all about our circumstances, we retired.

At midnight a knock was heard on our door, and our first thought was that someone must be sick. You can imagine our astonishment, however, to find a Christian woman whom we knew, standing there with her arms full of food. She lived on a farm not far away, and had come at that hour of the night bringing milk, butter, bread and bacon to us. What feelings of praise and thankfulness to God arose in our hearts, and also reproach to ourselves for having ever any doubt of His loving care.

Needless to say, we asked this dear friend what brought her out at that hour of the night. She said she had gone to bed as usual, but could not go to sleep. It seemed to be pressed upon her that she should come down to us with something to eat. Finally she turned over, and decided to go to sleep, and to visit us in the morning, but it seemed as though some one said, “No, go tonight.” With that she got up, dressed, and came to our home with the food.

We know that many dear children of God have had striking experiences of His gracious care and provision for them, so that what is here recorded is nothing strange, but it and other examples of His care have been much blessed to our souls. Yes, our God and Father sees and knows our need; He loves and cares for us, and He does hear and answer prayer.

The Epistle to the Galatians: 5:1-15

“Christ has set us free in freedom; stand fast therefore, and be not held again in a yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if ye are circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing. And I witness again to every man who is circumcised that he is debtor to do the whole law. Ye are deprived of all profit from the Christ as separated from Him, as many as are justified by law, ye have fallen from grace.

“For we, by Spirit, on the principle of faith, await the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any force, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love. Ye ran well; who has stopped you, that ye should not obey the truth? The persuasibleness is not of Him that calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence as to you in the Lord that ye will have no other mind; and he that is troubling you shall bear the guilt of it, whosoever he may be” (Verses 1-10, New Translation of J. N. Darby).

Well, indeed, may the apostle say (verse 1),

“Christ has set us free in freedom; stand fast therefore, and be not held again in a yoke of bondage.” By nature a Jew, Paul had been under the bondage of the law; the Christians of Galatia, born Gentiles and idolaters, had been under the bondage of their heathen religion. Thus he could say, “has set us free.”

Then he refers to a thing imposed by God before the law was given, on Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 17:10, and afterward added to the requirements under the law in Leviticus 12:3. Circumcision typified having our old nature mortified; should not this rite be continued which connects us with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? No; whatever the use to which God applied circumcision before Christ, it is gone now, and the Apostle emphatically declares (verse 2),

“Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if ye are circumcised,” that is, if you as Christians should seek it as necessary to complete justification before God— “Christ shall profit you nothing.”

Christ is a complete Saviour and an exclusive one, as another has remarked, and the addition of anything to His work is in effect to destroy salvation by Him.

Besides, as the next verse goes on to relate, everyone who is circumcised in order to attain complete salvation, not being content with the work of Christ to that end, is a debtor to carry out every provision of the law. And that is hopeless; he would be back on the ground of a sinner. Sad indeed would that be.

“Ye are deprived of all profit from the Christ as separated from Him; as many as are justified by law; ye have fallen from grace” (verse 4).

It was not that they had departed from Christ openly, but that they had joined the law, together with Christ, as a means of justification, and it was therefore no longer grace, the free grace of God, on which they stood.

Verse 5 presents in contrast the Christian’s position as given him by God,

“For we, by the Spirit, on the principle of faith, await the hope of righteousness.”

The Spirit of God dwells in us, and we are the righteousness of God in Christ. Faith rests in this righteousness, as God rests in it. The Holy Spirit sustains this faith, and directs the believer to the hoped for glory which is due to the righteousness. There Christ is, enjoying the glory due to righteousness—due to Him because of the work. He wrought for God’s glory and our salvation; and we shall soon follow Him there; our hope then is not the hope of attaining righteousness, for we have the righteousness of God, but the hope which righteousness possesses, of glory above. And in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any force, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

We can see how the heart of the Apostle was distressed over the thought of what the Galatian saints were doing in tampering with the truth of God,

“Ye ran well; who has stopped you, that ye should not obey the truth? The persuasibleness is not of Him that calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence as to you in the Lord that ye will have no other mind; and he that is troubling you shall bear the guilt of it, whosoever he may be.”

Paul reproaches the Galatians for having lent an ear to the teachers of Judaism who had found their way in among them. “Leaven” it was, in God’s sight, that they had absorbed,—the very term that is used in 1 Corinthians 5 in characterizing the gross moral evil that had been uncovered in that assembly. Men would consider the shocking abuse of morals at Corinth as terrible, and think the Galatian error a minor thing, but God’s thoughts are not as man’s. The Galatians had taken up with a doctrine which was destructive of the gospel, and robbing Christ of His glory.

“But I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why am I yet persecuted? Then the scandal of the cross has been done away. I would that they would even cut themselves off who throw you into confusion. For ye have been called to liberty, brethren, only do not turn liberty into an opportunity to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; but if ye bite and devour one another, see that ye are not consumed one of another” (verses 11-15 JND).

The book of the Acts shows that the Jews were the usual instigators of the persecution which befell the apostle. The fact that the gospel of Christ makes no provision for what Scripture calls “the flesh” —(the natural man), accounts for the opposition it has always had from the world. Another has said,

“Only preach circumcision, accept the religion of the flesh, and all difficulty will cease; the world will accept your gospel, but it will not be the gospel of Christ.”

Lest Ye Be Weary

Three times in the New Testament is the Christian exhorted not to be weary in well doing. Doubtless all Christians need such an exhortation, but it is especially suitable and necessary for the Sunday-school worker. In some respects he is in a more trying position than the evangelist. For the most part the evangelist is listened to with at least a measure of attention and consideration; but the Sunday-school worker is often treated far otherwise. He is not only not listened to, but he is in no way considered by his scholars; indeed some, after their conversion, have confessed that they rather studied to annoy their teacher, and make him a subject of their sport. How needed then the exhortation, “Be not weary in well doing.”

But perhaps the most trying position of a Sunday-school worker is when he sees outward decorum and attention, but attended with that cold indifference that seems to chill one to the very core. An assent is given to all we say, and many a correct answer we get from such a one; but he can tell you the doom of the unbeliever is the bottomless pit, without the least sign of fear lest it may be his portion. Well, even here we must not be weary in well doing. We are to sow the seed, and withhold not our hand; for we know not which shall prosper. We must not forget that God has described the unconverted as dead in trespasses and sins; and we must not be surprised if we find it exemplified in our scholars. Grieved at heart we should be, and astonished at their unbelief, even as our Lord Himself marveled at the unbelief of the people. Can we expect to find the scholars any different now from what the people were then? No, they are the very same. Let us not then be weary in well doing.

But it would be endless to detail the various trying things that lie across the path of the Sunday-school worker. They are very varied, and each worker has his own peculiar trials and his own share of them. We were rather occupied with a cordial for them—we had almost said a “remedy” for them, but they will doubtless go on to the end—but we have a sweet and blessed cordial to soothe and comfort: it is, to Consider Him.

“Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (Heb. 12:3).

Here is God’s cordial for a weary and fainthearted worker: consider Him. He came to do the will of His Father, and He went perseveringly on to the end. Every step of the way He was met with scorn, opposition, and malice; but He despised the shame and went on to, and endured the cross. How different with us! we too have work to do for God, but at the end of our course here, instead of a cross, there is rest and glory, and it may be a crown.

How blessed such an example! Let us consider Him, and by the aid of the Holy Spirit, we shall start afresh in our work with fresh courage and zeal—keeping our eye fixed upon that blessed one who was down here, as we now are, and who persevered to the end, amidst every discouragement, as we also are exhorted to do. Let us then consider Him, “Lest we be wearied and faint in our minds.”

Extract: Special Joy and Abiding Communion

Special joy, and abiding communion, must not be confounded. The former is an occasional thing; the latter should be constant, being the only right state.

Here a Little and There a Little

The Bible is a perfect book; I expect what I find there.

There is no citadel for the heart like confidence in God.

No accuracy of doctrine will give the soul rest; there must be the knowledge of a Person.

The story of the life of Christ, as given by the four evangelists, is an enlarging, living wonder to the soul from day to day.

He was numbered with the transgressors—He who had had Moses and Elias on either side of Him! (See Luke 9:30-31).

Love does not wait for great occasions, but buckles on its service-suit at once (like Paul preaching at Damascus).

What was the Apostle’s temper of mind in writing the Epistle to the Galatians? In Romans it was the calmness of a teacher. In Corinthians he was a pained rebuker, a disappointed father. In Ephesians all is elevation, looking around on a world of glories.

Justification by faith was no mere dogma to the man who wrote the Epistle to the Galatians.

The God of all grace. How little do we let the majesty of such words in upon the soul!

“Manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ” is said of that church at Corinth, where so much had to be corrected and rebuked. But the Spirit discerned the work of God in the midst of the rubbish of nature.

“According to your faith be it unto you” —a precious sentence—and we want the believing mind, and not the agitated intellect.

Faith has to do, not with difficult problems or abstruse propositions, but with simple facts, and declarations, and promises, while the more the reader is a child and a wayfaring man, the easier he will find them. And they are as sure as they are simple—the words of Him who cannot lie—yea, and the words of Him who is Himself glorified in their being that.

Responsibility and Privilege

In Titus 2 There is a very striking and forcible illustration of each of the above.

May the Spirit of God drive them home to the conscience and heart of every reader.

In verses 4 and 5 the aged women are exhorted to teach the young women; and I want you to notice what they are to teach them, and why.

What they are to teach them is how to behave in their everyday life; the life in the home and before their neighbors. It is summed up in a very few words. They are to be sober (not light and giddy), to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet or wise, diligent in home work, and obedient to their own husbands. “O! that’s what everybody knows!” some one may exclaim. “There’s not much in that!” No! these prosy everyday things are apt to be despised and overlooked, simply because they are everyday things. But look at the second point: why these things are to be taught. “That the Word of God be not blasphemed.”

Did you know that such fearful consequences were wrapped up in these everyday things? Have you remembered that your neighbors and acquaintances know you are a professed follower of Jesus, and that when they see you coming short in these simple practical, everyday matters, it causes them to reflect upon and speak against that “Word” that you profess to obey? And thus through your carelessness in little things, God’s doctrine is blasphemed. O! what a responsibility is ours! Just as upon the pillars of the court of the tabernacle were hung, in the sight of everybody, those spotless curtains of fine-twined linen, so upon us is hanging, in view of the world, the spotless character of pure and undefiled religion. And if we stain it, what then?

O! be faithful, young believer, in every little detail of life, for everything counts.

So much for responsibility. But there is another side in this chapter, and it is enough to make one leap for very joy to know our glorious privilege.

In verses 9 and 10 we have again some exhortations concerning everyday life. This time it is to servants (bondsmen); and they are urged to be obedient to their own masters, and to please them well in all things, not answering again, not appropriating their masters’ goods to their own use, but to be faithful to them in all things. And the reason now given is,

“That they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Saviour, in all things.”

Is not this a privilege? Think of being an ornament to the doctrine of our Saviour! People often speak of ornaments in the church, but they generally mean some talented and gifted person whose name is known everywhere. But God takes up the very humblest, even a bond-slave, and shows how he, in the very commonest everyday actions may be an ornament to His doctrine.

Now, isn’t this real encouragement? And it is not merely that he may be this or that. No! each one of us is either the first or the second. That is, we are all either causing the Saviour’s word to be blasphemed, or we are an ornament to it. Which is it?

Association With Christ

“Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).

“We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor” (Heb. 2:9).

“Both He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified are all of one” (Heb. 2:11).

O, Jesus Lord, Thou matchless One,

Who once this desert trod,

What joy to see Thee seated now

Upon the throne of God!

With glory and with honor crowned,

While heavenly hosts Thy praise resound.

What joy to gaze upon Thy face,

Where glory bright doth shine,

And tell in God the Father’s ear

Thine attributes divine.

Of heaven itself Thou art the Light,

And God Thy Father’s full delight.

Exalted now to His right hand,

The highest place is Thine,

And yet Thou’rt pouring out Thy love

Into this heart of mine;

Detaching me from things of earth,

By showing me Thy peerless worth.

Thy death has closed the things of earth,

But opened heaven to me;

And there in spirit now I’m brought

To dwell, my Lord, with Thee.

And since Thy place above is mine,

I’d seek no place on earth but Thine.

For this is but a desert land,

Because Thou are not here;

Earth’s brightest scenes attract me not,

My heart is with Thee there.

No more can I be satisfied

To seek a place where Thou hast died.

A lonely stranger here below,

Lord, I would follow Thee;

Rejoicing only in that cross,

Which changed all things for me,

Till Thou shalt call me with Thee there,

In Thy rejection here I share.

Correspondence: John 10:1-2

Question: Please explain John 10:1- 2.

Answer: It is the door into the sheepfold for the Messiah. He came, fulfilling all that the Word of God foretold about Him. He was the woman’s seed (Gen. 3:15); the virgin’s Son (Isa. 7:14, 9:6); born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2). The scribes, rulers, and some who pretended to be the Messiah, were the thieves and robbers, who took upon themselves authority that did not belong to them. They cast the healed man out. (chapter 9:34). Jesus was Israel’s true and good Shepherd.

Verse 3. The Porter is God working in spite of man’s wickedness (Acts 2:23), so that through His death and resurrection He could lead His sheep out of the fold, that is, from under the law and ordinances. He calls His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. No Jew could get out from under the law until Christ died and rose again. He goeth before them,

In verse 7, He says, “I am the door of the sheep.” He is their authority for leaving all that belongs to Judaism. He bore the curse of the law. (Gal. 3:13). The law put Him to death, and the converted Jew, like Paul, can say, I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ. The law has nothing to say to a dead man. But now Paul lives: “Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Gal. 2:19-20). So now believers are outside this fold, which is Judaism.

Verse 9 is Christianity; not the fold at all. “I am the door: by Me, if any man (Jew or Gentile) enter in, he shall be saved,” (this is salvation, and it was not known in the fold of Judaism), “and shall go in and out” (this is liberty to “go in” to the presence of God to worship and be strengthened, and to “go out” to serve and follow Him), “and find pasture.” (No pasture grew in the sheepfold). Christ is our food. He leads us in green pastures and by the still waters. His fruit is sweet to our taste.

Verse 16. “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold” (they were Gentiles before their conversion, and were not put under the law by God), “them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock, and one Shepherd.” The word is “flock” in the original in this last instance; a fold is an enclosure, a flock is a company. So now God has a flock, but no fold. (Acts 20:28-29; 1 Peter 5:2-3).

In Whom I Have Redemption

Some years ago, my lot was cast for a time in a very gay, pleasure-loving family, the members of which were, with one exception, apparently strangers to the grace of God. The one exception was a little girl, who loved the Saviour.

A beautiful home hers was, as far as outward things were concerned, but my heart ached as I saw the hollowness and unhappiness which lay beneath the gaiety around me. The servants seemed to have followed the example of their master and mistress, and though owning that they were not safe for eternity, generally avoided any conversation about their souls, excusing themselves on the plea of being “too busy” to listen.

“Ah,” they were warned, “you will not be ‘too busy’ to die.”

Amongst the servants was a nice-looking young woman, whose face was so bright and pleasant that I used at first to think she must be one of the Lord’s own. Her manner, too, was quite different from that of all the rest. As I very rarely saw her, I made inquiry of the servant who usually attended to my wants, and found that she was not living in the house, but only came in when extra help was required for needlework. So, much as I wished to speak to her, I felt there was little prospect of my doing so. But just when we are helpless God can act. One day I found that three or four of the servants, with A. to help, were to be at needlework for several afternoons in the room nearest mine. I felt that this was an opportunity I must not lose; so, when I knew that they were all at work, I took an interesting gospel book—a story of two poor little children—to read to them, feeling sure that their hearts would be touched, when hearing of childish misery and sorrow cheered and brightened by a Saviour’s love.

So, with an earnest prayer that God would use the little book for His own glory, I began reading. They became much interested, and when I had laid the book down, and began to ask them if they would like to know what it was to have their sins forgiven, and to be ready if death came suddenly, to go to a home so bright, so glorious that it was beyond all thought—even then they listened, and more than one looked at her work through tears. When I rose to go there was a general request that I would come again.

That was just what I wanted; so next day I went, and, after finishing the little book, appealed earnestly to them to accept the Saviour at once, telling them that they would be lost if they did not, and that the best of us were poor, helpless sinners, utterly unable to save ourselves, and unable to do anything to please God until saved by faith in Christ Jesus.

That was the last time I read to them all. The particular work required was finished, and I only saw them occasionally, as before. But the Lord’s gracious work had been begun, though I did not know it at the moment. Not many days after, a knock came at the door of my room, early in the morning, and A. entered, and asked if she might come in while I read my morning chapter, as one of the servants had told her I was accustomed to do this, and that I should be glad for any of them to come if they would. For a moment I was tempted to change the chapter which I had already begun for another, as I was reading the Epistle to the Colossians, for I thought a simpler portion might be better. However, I did not alter it, but in coming to the verses:

“In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins,” and the following, I laid particular stress upon them, and spoke to A. about them very earnestly. The next morning she came in still earlier, with her face all aglow, and said:

“O, I felt I must come and tell you at once; I can say that verse now, ‘In whom I have redemption through His blood;’ yes, that’s true of me, really true—I was obliged to come and tell you.”

At first it seemed too good to be true; but, as I saw how her face glowed with an emotion that came from a heart stirred to its depths, I could only join her in tears of joy for the good news. Afterward she told me how angry she had felt when I said she was a lost sinner; that she was sure she was not, for she had lived a good life, getting up at five o’clock to get her work done to go to early communion at her church. No one before had told her she was a sinner.

“But I could not get it out of my mind,” she said, “and when I went to bed I could not sleep, and I lay and thought about it, and the next day, too; and I felt so wretched, for I began to be afraid it was true. Then I read in the Bible,” she added, “but that did not help me; and then I came in to see if you would let me hear you read the other morning, and that verse I could not forget—it kept in my mind, and after I went to bed I was thinking over it, and all at once I saw that that was the way I might be saved—and O, the difference it made! I saw that it was His work, not mine, and I was so happy! I felt almost afraid for the morning to come, for fear the happiness should go; but it hasn’t, for I am ‘in the kingdom of His dear Son.’”

Well, dear reader, I have little more to add. I saw A. for some months after this, and rejoiced to witness the reality of her life in Christ. Her face was brighter than ever, and it was a deep joy to me to see how He had led her on; and now I am looking forward to meet her at Home. Dear reader, can you say:

“In whom I have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins”? (Col. 1:14).

Christ, the Object of Our Hearts

The Spirit of God ever seeks to present Christ more attractively to us, and to enable our hearts to be engaged with Him, as the very one to suit us at every hour. If in joy, to help us in our joy; if in sorrow, to sympathize with us; and then the heart is drawn out more adoringly and absolutely to Christ Himself as the only one who in every way satisfies it. The Lord was on earth a very beautiful object, and no one saw beauty in Him; but now the Spirit of God not only shows us the beauty that is in Him but also gives us a capacity to appreciate and enjoy Him, as the real and sufficient object of our hearts; and when we are spiritual, we are instrumentally doing the very same to others. The heart, delighted by an object that supremely satisfies it, is in the very highest and deepest enjoyment. That object is Christ, and the ministry of the Spirit of God is to present Him to us, and to enable us to see what He is. This joy is unspeakable and full of glory.

The Epistle to the Galatians: 5:15-26; 6:1-10

Chapter 5, verses 15-26; Chapter 6, verses 1-10

The apostle wishes that they who were troubling the Galatians would cut themselves off, but that has not happened; Christendom is today saturated with the doctrine of law-keeping as an aid to salvation. The believer has been called to liberty, but that is not to give opportunity to the old nature, the flesh; instead, we are by love to serve one another. The whole law is fulfilled in one word— “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Liberty to the flesh might well take the form of attacking those who were not circumcised; so the Apostle says, if ye bite and devour one another, see that ye are not consumed one of another. Religious flesh is capable of almost anything.

“But, I say, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall in no way fulfill flesh’s lust. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these things are opposed one to the other, that ye should not do those things which ye desire; but if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under law” (verses 16-18, JND).

How important to heed the admonition of verse 16! The old nature, the flesh, is opposed to the new, in which the Holy Spirit works, in order that the believer may not do the things which he desires, but the Spirit is always prepared to be the believer’s strength, to lead him where the flesh has no power.

Next, we are provided with an index to the works of the flesh, and following that, with the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit (verses 19 to 23).

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strifes, jealousies, angers, contentions, disputes, schools of opinion, envyings, murders, drunkenness’s, revels, and things like these; as to which I tell you beforehand, even as I also have said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit God’s kingdom” (verses 19-21 JnD).

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (verses 22-23 JnD).

“The works of the flesh” —the things that are natural to it; what a shocking catalog! And what a contrast, the fruit of the Spirit! “Love, joy, peace” —these come from God, from His own nature. How lovely these nine specimens of the fruit of the Spirit are, as we compare them with the sixteen samples from the works of the flesh! Neither is a complete list, of course.

“But they that are of the Christ have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts” (verse 24, JND). It is by faith; the work is only really and fully done in Christ; it is in His cross that the crucifixion of the flesh with all its lusts, has taken place.

“Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin” (Rom. 6:6, JND).

“It is true of every believer, distinguishing him from the unsaved. We are to believe it, and to act accordingly.

“If we live by the Spirit, let us walk also by the Spirit.” One more word of caution is needed, because pride comes out of the pretense of keeping the law:

“Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.” Verse 26 (JND).

“Brethren, if even a man be taken in some fault, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” chapter 6:1 (JND). The case supposed is of a child of God who through carelessness commits a fault, is surprised into what is evil. The spiritual ones are to restore him in a spirit of meekness, considering each of them himself, lest he also be tempted. And who is a spiritual man? Is it not plain that it is one who not only lives by the Spirit (every believer does that), but walks also by the Spirit; such a one habitually judges himself before God.

Closely related to this is what follows in verses 2 to 5: “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of the Christ. For if any man reputes himself to be something, being nothing, he deceives himself; but let each prove his own work, and then he will have his boast in what belongs to himself alone, and not in what belongs to another. For each shall bear his own burden.” (JND).

Should we not concern ourselves with the burden or burdens under which a brother may be groaning—need, distress, sorrows, trials, other difficulties? That was “the law of Christ,” the rule of His life as He passed through this world. The Galatians wanted to be under law, and here was one for them, though the ten commandments included no such requirement.

Legalism, trying to keep the law for salvation, easily leads into prideful thoughts of self; he deceives himself; let him prove his own work, if there really was any Christian work of which he had been an instrument. In so far as the new teachers among the Galatians were concerned, it was not by themselves, but by Paul that the work of Christ had been wrought in that region. Verse 5 speaks of personal responsibility, as verse 2 treats of active love taking up the burdens of others. It is not a question of the judgment of God upon our sins in the fifth verse, but our responsibility now that we are Christ’s to live to Him.

“Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teaches in all good things.” Verse 6 (JND).

Here is a responsibility not shouldered by all the saints, and it is a cause of leanness in the soul. The Lord has His servants going about as they are able; their needs are known to Him, and He exercises the hearts of His saints here and there to meet these needs. If they were better provided for, would they not be able to visit saints, not now visited, and more often some who are not sufficiently visited? And those who labor in foreign lands—are they not apt to be neglected; the Bible Truth Depots, too?

There follows a solemn and an encouraging word: (verses 7 to 10):

“Be not deceived: God is not mocked; for whatever a man shall sow, that also shall he reap. For he that sows to his own flesh shall reap corruption from the flesh; but he that sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit shall reap eternal life; but let us not lose heart in doing good; for in due time if we do not faint we shall reap. So then, as we have occasion, let us do good towards all, and specially towards those of the household of faith.” (JND).

There are consequences that follow the walk down here, that will be reflected in the position accorded each of us in glory. We have eternal life already, and it is put before us as a reward above for faithfulness down here.

What Is Due to Christ!

If the question of the position of the soul before God is raised, it is fully answered by this, What is due to Christ? To the sinner nothing is due but wrath and condemnation—to Christ, on the contrary, who has already borne in grace that wrath and condemnation in His own person on the tree, it is only due, on the part of God, that the soul that trusts in Him should be associated with Him in the place He now has taken—yea, been exalted to—by God Himself.

What a precious, heart-cheering truth. Christ has taken our place, and the judgment due to us, and now we are to get His place—for such is due to Him, and is itself a part of the righteousness of God.

Such being our place before God as the result of what is due to Christ; let us ask also, what is our place here as His saints? Again, What is due to Christ, will settle this question fully in all the details of life, whether domestic, ecclesiastical, or otherwise.

Divided Tongues: Acts 2:1-12

It will greatly enhance the grace of this lovely passage of Scripture to bear in mind what it was that rendered the cloven tongues necessary. In the eleventh chapter of Genesis we have the inspired record of the first grand effort of the children of men to establish themselves in the earth, to form a great association, and make themselves a name. And all this, be it remembered, without God. His name is never mentioned. He was not to form any part of this proud and popular scheme. He was entirely shut out. It was not a dwelling-place for God that was to be erected on the plain of Shinar. It was a city for men, a center round which man were to gather.

Such was the object of the children of men, as they stood together on the plain of Shinar. It was not, as some have imagined, to escape another deluge. There is not a shadow of foundation in the passage for any such idea. Here are their words:

“And they said, Go to, let us build a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

There is no thought here of escaping another flood. It is sheer imagination, without any Scripture basis. The object is as plain as possible. It is precisely similar to all those great confederacies, associations, or masses of flesh, that have been formed on the earth from that day to this. The Shinar Association could vie with any association of modern times, both in its principle and object. But it proved to be a Babel, for divided tongues were sent as the expression of divine judgment upon this first great human association.

An association without God, is really nothing but a mass of flesh, based on pride, and ends in hopeless confusion.

“Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces” (Isa. 8:9).

So much for all human associations. May we learn to keep clear of them. May we adhere to that one divine association, namely, the Church of the living God, of which a risen Christ in glory is the living Head, the Holy Ghost, the living Guide; and the Word of God, the living Charter.

It was to gather this blessed assembly that the cloven tongues were sent in grace on the day of Pentecost. No sooner had the Lord Jesus Christ taken His seat at the right hand of power, amid the brightness of heaven’s majesty, than He sent down the Holy Ghost to publish the glad tidings of salvation in the ears of His very murderers. And, inasmuch as that message of pardon and peace was intended for men of various tongues, so the divine messenger came down prepared to address each “in his own tongue wherein he was born.” The God of all grace made it plain, so plain that it cannot be mistaken, that He desired to make His way to each heart with the sweet story of grace.

Man, on the plain of Shinar, did not want God; but God, on the day of Pentecost, proved that He wanted man. Blessed forever be His holy name! God had sent His Son, and man had just murdered Him; and now He sends the Holy Ghost to tell man that there is pardon through that very blood which he had shed, for his guilt in shedding it. Matchless, marvelous, overwhelming grace! O! that it may subdue our hearts, and bind us to Him who is at once its source, its channel, and the power of enjoyment! The grace of God has far out-topped all the enmity of man. It has proved itself victorious over all the opposition of the human heart, and all the rage of hell.

Thus, then, in Genesis 11 divided tongues were sent in judgment. In Acts 2 divided tongues were sent in grace. The blessed God of all grace would cause each one to hear of full salvation, and hear of it in those very accents in which his infant ears had hearkened to the earliest whisperings of a mother’s love! “His own tongue wherein he was born.” It mattered not whether the tongue were soft or harsh, refined or barbarous; the Holy Ghost would use it as the vehicle for conveying the precious message of salvation right home to the human heart. If divided tongues had once been given to scatter in judgment, they were again given to gather in grace; not now round an earthly tower, but round a heavenly Christ; not for the exaltation of man, but for the glory of God.

Now, it is well worthy of notice that when God was giving the law from Mount Sinai, He spoke only in one tongue and to one people. The law was carefully wrapped up in one language, and deposited in the midst of one nation. Not so the gospel. When that was the burden, God the Holy Ghost Himself descended from heaven, in cloven tongues, to waft the soul-stirring tidings far and wide over the whole world, and convey them “to every creature under heaven” in the very dialect wherein he was born.

This is a great moral fact. It comes down upon the heart with uncommon weight and power. When God was speaking in terms of requirement and prohibition, He confined Himself to one language; but when He was publishing the message of life and salvation, pardon and peace, through the blood of the Lamb, He spoke in every language.

Personal Piety

“The root and essence of personal piety is the soul’s own desire after God,” another has said.

Yes, our personal piety is not to be measured by knowledge of even divine things, or by certain attainments, but by our own soul’s desire after God. The Apostle Paul expressed the desire of his soul when he said:

“That I may know Him.” (Phil. 3:10).

Here a Little and There a Little

Extract from a Letter Written After the Crimean War

I would acknowledge the blessings of peace. Surely we should rejoice that the sword is in the scabbard again; but in all prayer or thanksgiving on these subjects, we must remember that it is in the way of overruling and not in the way of governing, that the Lord now holds the nations of the world in His hand. In Millennial days it will be otherwise. Then He will govern and not simply over-rule.

We are to submit to Powers; but to share with them, is not the calling of the church. She will sit and share power when her Lord governs.

I see more to dread from peace than from war; for the world will get further opportunities to ripen its superstitious and infidel thoughts, and prepare itself in its ecclesiastical and civil apostasies for the judgments of the Lord.

The narrow way leads to a wealthy place. Here, it is to be the girded loins (1 Peter 1:13); there, the flowing robes. Here, is to be the trimmed lamp; there, not even sun or moon needed, for the glory never sets.

A spirit of praise greatly helps to take us off from looking at ourselves. May we have it more richly.

If we loved Him as we ought, what manner of people should we be? How much those dear servants of His did and suffered for His name! And yet His love exceeds all, and the very best return we can make to that love, is to believe and rejoice in it.

The supreme place is His by right, whether He seek it in authority, or in affection; whether over the conscience, or over the heart. But not only this. The very claim, when made, is for the health of our souls, for it keeps the soul in its due condition, and tends directly and necessarily to set heaven, where He is, in our esteem and desire far above the earth, and thus sets the heart free for the journey whenever He calls.

Without and Afar Off: Part 1

“Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach.” (Heb. 13:13).

We might well ask several questions regarding the above verse of Scripture:

To whom was this appeal addressed?

Why was it addressed to them?

Can this be applied to us?

If applied to us, what is its true force and meaning?

We shall seek to answer these questions in the fear of the Lord, and for the profit of our souls.

This verse as the rest of the Epistle to the Hebrews, was addressed to the converted Jews. There are very good reasons to believe that it was written by the apostle Paul. Although he was the Apostle to the Gentiles, in this case the Spirit of God used him to write a special and direct word to the Jews who had repented of the deed of their nation in rejecting their Messiah. These had accepted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour.

Converted Jews were naturally much attached to the temple and to the Jewish ritual and customs. They had been brought up in it, and much of it was God-given; but now since the rejection of the Lord Jesus, and the rejection of the testimony of the Holy Spirit from a glorified Christ, God was setting the whole system aside. Christianity was not to be a mere adjunct to Judaism, but something entirely new. God was calling out from among the Jews and from the Gentiles a people for heaven, with heavenly hopes—not earthly. Christians were to be a people on earth waiting for the Lord to come. They were not to have a religion of forms and ceremonies as did the Jews, but to worship God in the Spirit. Forms and ritual were to be set aside for spiritual sacrifices. All was a direct contrast to what had gone before.

Not only was the Jewish order of things to be set aside, but God was about to judge that guilty nation. They had boldly said:

“His blood be on us and on our children.” The sentence of Matthew 22:7.

“He sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city,” was soon to be carried out. God was about to execute judgment on that guilty people.

The Spirit of God addresses this beautiful and instructive epistle, Hebrews, to those who believed among the Jews in order to separate them in heart from that which was so soon to fall under the righteous judgment of God. The whole epistle is one of contrasts. The aim and purpose is to show the Jewish Christians that they had something better. The word “better” occurs many times in the epistle. They were going to lose nothing by giving up outward forms and ordinances for that which was spiritual and heavenly, because all was better. There is much profit in reading Hebrews, and seeing how all of the God-given Jewish services were but types and shadows of the better things that had now come. All that had been in connection with the earthly sanctuary had served its purpose in pointing on to blessed realities which had now been brought in. Therefore it was no loss to turn to the better things connected with Christ in glory, which had all been brought in through His death and resurrection.

With that foundation laid in the epistle the Spirit of God gives this earnest appeal to

“Go forth unto Him without the camp.” Israel had been referred to as the “camp” many times. As soon as Israel was redeemed and brought out of Egypt we read:

“And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them.” This expression then was easily understood by these converted Jews as applying to Israel and Jerusalem.

They were called to go out from the camp, but not merely from the camp. The call is very definitely to go “unto Him.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus must be outside of the camp. When He came into this world He came to Israel. We read that He came unto His own in John 1:11, but His own would not have Him. Finally after being presented to that people in every respect according to the promises and prophecies, He left them and said:

“Your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:38). After that He was taken outside of their religious center, Jerusalem, and crucified “without the gate.” Thus we see that the Lord Jesus was no longer in connection with the camp of Israel and their religion of shadows.

There is probably an allusion in. Hebrews 13:13 to the scene in Exodus 33, where Moses, divinely taught, took a tent and pitched it “without the camp” because the camp had become a defiled place. God could no longer sanction the camp by His presence because it had become defiled by the presence and worship of the golden calf. Moses entered into God’s thoughts and not only placed the tabernacle without, but “afar off from the camp.” So it was in the day when this epistle was written to the Christians from among the Hebrews. The camp was defiled and rejected, and Christ was outside of that whole system. Now they were appealed to that they should go outside of it unto Christ.

Those who heeded the call in that day left the temple, and finally Jerusalem, before it was destroyed by the Roman armies, called in Matthew 22 “His armies.” Thus the separation between Christianity and Judaism was completed.

It is only too sad that Christianity should afterward fall under the snare of Judaism, and go back to the outward forms, ceremonies, and ritual which marked the imperfect thing.

(To be continued)

Soon Christ, the Lord, Will Come

Soon Christ, the Lord, will come

With shout in air,

To call His people Home

To meet Him there,

Then, in His glory bright, we’ll see Him shine,

And know the fullness of His love divine.

E’er long we’ll hear Him say,

Arise and come,

And gladly will we go

To be at Home;

Forever we will be with Him above,

And prove the wondrous fullness of His love.

Lord, haste that happy day

When Thou wilt see

The travail of Thy soul,

And happy be,

When we, in Thine own likeness will arise,

And meet Thee, blessed Saviour, in the skies.

We mourn Thine absence, Lord,

And long to be

Free from all taint of sin,

At Home with Thee;

For never will our hearts be satisfied

Until we see Thee as the one who died.

Correspondence: Should Revelation Be Read in Reading Meetings?

Question: Please explain “He who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Thess. 2:7).

Answer: At the present time all those principles of evil that characterize fallen man, are at work among men. Their manifest power and intensity will increase as we near the end of the age.

“Evil men, and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:13).

“Let” is the old English word for “hinder,” or “restraint,” and for the present there is a hindering power, keeping these wicked tendencies in check. It is the presence on the earth of the Holy Spirit who dwells in the hearts of believers, and who gives His sanction to the Word of God as it is sounded out in testimony in this world. Yet this will not always be so, for, momentarily the church of God awaits the return of her Lord, to catch His people out of the world to meet Him in the air. (1 Thess. 4:17).

Thus suddenly the apostates on the earth find themselves free from the restraining presence of the Spirit of God in believers, and so Satanic wickedness in men’s hearts stride into the open to find its highest expression in the fateful “Wicked one,” or Antichrist. (See 2 Thess. 2:8; 1 John 2:18).

Question: Should the book of the Revelation be read in Reading Meetings?

Answer: It is not wise to say that one portion of the New Testament is more profitable than another: surely we need the teaching of every part of it. Of the Revelation it is specially said,

“Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Chapter 1:3.

We do not see that the Revelation is unsuitable for a reading meeting. Doubtless some parts would be dwelt on more in detail than other parts. For instance, what is more profitable than to dwell minutely on the addresses to the seven churches in the first three chapters? Other chapters might be considered more as to the periods they refer to, with the general scope of their meaning; and other parts again be taken up in their detail as the book is gone through. If there is dependence upon the Lord, will He not lead and guide in all these matters?

Certainly the Revelation is important; for we are exhorted not only to read it, but to keep the things written therein: for the time is at hand. Guidance should be sought from God on each particular occasion as to what part of Scripture should be read at a reading meeting. He knows the hearts of those who usually attend the meeting, and knows best what portion of His Word would be most suitable for them at the time. If there is real dependence upon His guidance, He will guide, and all will be well.

We must not read only favorite portions, or we shall not be thoroughly furnished unto every good work.

I'm Saved Through the Precious Blood of Christ

Such were the triumphant words with which a woman greeted me one day as I entered her cottage.

A severe illness then laid her low, and for a time she seemed softened and subdued, and those who were watching for her soul became hopeful, but, alas! returning health was not accompanied with any sign of a new life, and still they waited and prayed.

On one occasion, after this an evangelist, strange to the village in which she lived, called at her cottage and inquired whether she knew her sins forgiven. She could only say:

“No,” and, after setting God’s way of peace before her, he left, adding, on parting:

“I hope, when I come again, you will be able to tell me your sins are forgiven.”

These words made a deep impression on her mind, and, when I shortly afterward visited her, she told them to me with evident feeling.

Very soon after this, it was laid upon our hearts to commence a little weekly afternoon meeting at her cottage, in order that she might hear the truth, though she took no pains to seek it elsewhere. This was continued for about a month; each time we noticed her earnest gaze as we spoke of salvation for poor sinners, but still the blessing tarried. On one of these occasions, the one who was speaking was specially led to dwell on John’s testimony, recorded in the 19th chapter of his gospel concerning the blood that flowed from Christ’s side, the blood that cleanseth from all sin, the precious blood that speaks peace.

One day in the following week, just as we were sitting down to dinner, a messenger arrived, entreating us, at her request, to go and see this poor woman, saying that she was “dying and had gone mad.” Immediately I hastened to the cottage, in much conflict of soul, scarcely daring to enter the open door, but I was reassured by sounds of joy, and, on my appearance, though propped up in bed, and surrounded by several neighbors, she at once stretched out her arms, her face beaming with delight, and exclaimed:

“I’m saved, I’m saved through the precious blood of Christ.”

Then she proceeded to tell me in glowing language that for nights she had lain awake wondering how she could be washed in His blood, till that morning, when, as she sat at breakfast, the light entered her dark soul with such radiant power, that joy for the time had made her (what others called) mad. As I stood in wondering awe and adoring gratitude at her bedside, I could only wish that many “wise and prudent” ones were afflicted with the same blessed madness.

Continually she exclaimed:

“It’s all true what you’ve told me, and I never believed it before.” Then, with streaming eyes she poured out praise and thanksgiving to Him who had “opened her eyes,” adding, with great solemnity:

“How blind, how deaf I’ve been!”

All the time she was gazing upwards, as if at some object or vision, and would speak with rapture of “the glory of that throne.”

Later in the day I saw her again, and still her joy was the same, expressing itself in verses of hymns, of which, however, she knew but few, but her poor body was evidently groaning under “the weight of glory.”

For a week or two she continued in this blessed frame of soul, very weak in mind and body, but never weary of the one theme—God’s love in saving her. The doctor (a man of the world) who was attending her, was constrained to confess that her madness was one of joy, not melancholy, and to another of his patients he said:

“She preached me an excellent sermon.”

As soon as her health was restored, and much of the mental excitement had subsided, it was her great desire and joy to go and tell others whom she had previously known what the Lord had done for her.

Walking along the road, she would speak to all of the happiness she was experiencing, while her simple tale often brought tears to the eyes of hardened men.

As weeks and months wore on, the change in her was acknowledged by many who at first looked doubtfully on the excitement, and had ventured to prophesy that it would all wear off. In her own simple language she declared:

“He teaches me alone.”

Though able to read but little, and knowing scarcely anything of the Bible, her spiritual intelligence was remarkable, and it was indeed a privilege to feed her hungering soul. Whenever she alluded to her conversion, she always called it “a gift,” thereby tracing it at once to its divine source, and adding her testimony to the truth of God’s Word:

“By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

This history is now told in the earnest hope that laborers in the Lord’s vineyard may be encouraged in the blessed work of winning souls. The power of God must accompany His own word spoken in the Spirit.

To any who may read this narrative, who have not as yet tasted the peace and joy of forgiveness, let me say that the same “precious blood,” shed once and forever, can make you clean.

The same mighty, loving Saviour is able to deliver you from the power of sin and Satan. You need not wait to feel what this poor woman did, before you believe. It was not her feelings, or her happy experience that saved her, but her faith that took God at His word, and accepted His great salvation in Christ.

“There is life in a look at the Crucified One,

There is life at this moment for thee,

Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved,

Unto Him, who was nailed to the tree.”

We Shall Be Like Christ

“When He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

This is our eternal state when Christ shall have come and received us to Himself, raised and changed into His likeness, when our poor earthly body shall have been fashioned like His glorious body.

To be with the Lord and like the Lord forever, is our everlasting joy, and that the fruit of God’s love who has made us His children, and will bring us into the mansions prepared in our Father’s house.

We Shall Not All Sleep

The scoffer may say to me:

“All men will die,” but God’s Word assures me, “We shall not all sleep” (1 Cor. 15:51). The Lord is coming presently, and those who know Him will pass up into glory without death. I know that men scoff at the idea of the Lord’s coming, just as the child of Edom says in Isaiah 21:11-12.

“Watchman, what of the night?”

Well, what is the night? The night is the time of the absence of Jesus, and the morning will be when He returns. And the Apostle Paul says:

“We are not of the night nor of darkness” (1 Thess. 5:5). He calls the Christian a child of light, and of the day. The Christian is in the night, but not of the night: he is of the day, and he is going on to the day.

Now, what do I hear the watchman say, in answer to the scoffer? Listen:

“The morning cometh.”

The morning will surely come, a morning without clouds for every believer, a morning of clear shining after rain. After all the night of sorrow, we look for the coming of the Lord as the Bridegroom of our hearts, and O! what a moment it will be when He comes, and the children of the day rise to meet their Lord in the air. O, happy saints! blessed are ye who belong to the Lord, and are of the day. The apostle, in writing to the Romans can say:

“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand” (Rom. 13:11-12).

The Apostle does not mean that we are more sure about being saved, but that the hour of our deliverance out of this scene, body, soul, and spirit, is nearer than when we believed. The Lord is about to take us to the place to which we belong. Where does a Christian belong? To heaven. Where does a man of the world belong? To earth. Ah, but, you say, if I were to admit that I belong to heaven, I should have to shake off a good deal of the world. Well, that would do you no harm. It is a very good thing for a man who is running a race to shake off a hindrance.

Would that we could see clearly that the Christian belongs to heaven, to Christ, who is there, and that he is not of the night, but is a child of light, and belongs to the day. He is looking for the morning, and he is fitted for it by his Saviour’s work.

Now that the night is far spent, and the day so near at hand, it is high time to awake out of sleep. Why? Because we are going to be judged? No, but because our salvation is nearer than when we believed.

The Epistle to the Galatians: 6:11-18

The conclusion of the epistle is before us. “See how long a letter (or, it may be read, see in what large letters) I have written to you with my own hand. As many as desire to have a fair appearance in the flesh, these compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not be persecuted because of the cross of Christ.

“For neither do they that are circumcised, themselves keep the law, but they wish you to be circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh. But be it far from me to boast, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom (or, which) the world is crucified to me and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but new creation. And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. For the rest, let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the brands of the Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen” (verses 11-18, JND).

In two passages, the Apostle Paul has told how he safeguarded his inspired letters, in view of Satan’s endeavors to injure God’s saints (see 2 Thess. 2:2). One of these is 2 Thessalonians 3:17: “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle, so I write”; the other is 1 Corinthians 16:21: “The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand.” An exception was made of the Epistle to the Galatians, the contents of which it is evident all through weighed much upon the Lord’s servant, so that he would not follow the ordinary practice of dictation to one who, as Tertius in Romans 16:22 (perhaps a trained writer) would write down what was given to him for Paul to add his signature.

Bad as conditions were at Corinth, Paul dictated the two epistles sent there; but so deep were his feelings over the teaching introduced in Galatia, that this letter must be penned entirely by his own hand. Unaccustomed to writing in a day when such work was done by persons trained for it, Paul calls the attention of the Galatians to the unusual fact of his own penmanship, emphasizing the importance of the Epistle. It is also unusual, one may observe, in its entire absence of any personal greetings.

Let us consider with what shameful neglect this epistle has been treated by the Christian world, so called, and the more so since it is marked with such evidences of special character, special importance, throughout, and at its close! The Apostle has revealed the key of the opposition which then was, and still is: It is found in “as many as desire to have a fair appearance in the flesh,” and they insist that there shall be no persecution—bringing in mention of the cross of Christ (verse 12). In the apostle’s day this opposition was Jewish; now it is Gentile, but the principle it follows has not changed. Religion which has room for boasting in what Scripture calls “the flesh,” is not of true Christianity, of course, Wherein then is boasting? The answer is found in verses 14 and 15.

It is only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ that I can boast, the apostle responds, and then he adds, through whom (or through which, for both are true) the world is crucified to me and I to the world. Shall we seek to simplify the meaning of these last statements? The Christian is the present witness of Christ in the world, and is not of the world, though he is in it. First, then the cross of Christ is that which crucifies the Christian to the world; it puts him entirely outside it, as one saved out of it. Second, the world is crucified to the Christian; thus the world is seen with all its unremoved guilt and ignorance of the Father, notwithstanding the coming of the Son. Accordingly, there can be no common ground between a Christian and the world (W. Kelly, Notes on the Epistle to the Galatians, 1864).

Very important is it for his own walk before God that the believer seek to learn well these lessons about the cross which have been presented to us in the Epistle to the Galatians. Here they are in three easily memorized passages:

1. Galatians 2:20. “I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me; but in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given Himself for me.”

2. Galatians 5:24. “But they that are of the Christ have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts.”

3. Galatians 6:14. “But be it far from me to boast, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom (or which) the world is crucified to me and I to the world.”

In No. 1 The cross of Christ is viewed as deliverance from the law. In No. 2 The doctrine of the cross is applied to the flesh—the old nature. In No. 3 it is applied to the world. How does this touch you, young Christian?

Verse 15. But there is more in what is told here than being crucified to the world. “For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but new creation.” The believer has blessing from God, made good through the cross, and he is in new creation. As another has said, he belongs to a system already set up in Christ in the presence of God. I know what my new nature is, when I think of Christ. I see Him risen from the dead and in glory. There all believers will be; and meanwhile they have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, the earnest of that coming glory. It is called here the new creation because it is not life only, but new life in contrast with the old, and implying not only the person, but the work of Christ.

Verse 16. “This rule” is the rule of the new creation, Christ Himself. The only portion of Israel God acknowledges now, are the real believers among them, those in whom there is faith in Christ.

Verse 17. Let none henceforth trouble Paul about his ministry, for in his body he bore the brands of the Lord Jesus as his Master; scourged and stoned and imprisoned, what mark of indignity had not been put on him for Christ’s sake? These, and not circumcision, were the brands of the Lord Jesus. What a condemnation was this of the men who sought to exalt themselves among the Galatian Christians, while pressing their bad doctrines.

Verse 18. Very gracious, indeed, is the close of the epistle which is according to the divine love which filled the writer, whatever the state of those might be to whom he wrote. But we look in vain for any personal greetings; the apostle’s heart turned to the dishonored Christ, and his pen could not spell out a single word of personal regard for those he loved.

The Epistle to the Galatians has been rightly called the death blow to the religious world, root and branch, as it is to a revival or continuance of the same system in our day, the enemy, not of the saints only, but, of the cross of Christ.

Extract: Perfect Love

Jesus was the most isolated of men, and, at the same time, the most accessible, the most affable; the most isolated, because He lived in absolute communion with His Father, and found no echo, no sympathy with the perfect love which was in Him; the most accessible, the most affable, because He was that love for others.

Behold I Come Quickly

O! Lord, our hearts are listening,

That joyous shout to hear,

Which wakes the saints now sleeping,

(That shout so very near) -

When we, with them, ascending,

Shall meet Thee in the air,

To gaze upon Thy glory,

And all Thy likeness bear.

O! hour, for which, in patience,

Thou’st longed through all the night,

Whilst we Thy saints, being gathered,

Were brought into the light;

And now, the church completed,

Thou canst no more delay -

O! Lord, with shouts of triumph,

We pass into the day.

O! hour, of richest blessing -

We, brought to Thee so nigh,

To be Thy joy forever,

And share Thy throne on high;

To rest, in all that brightness,

And ever there abide;

To find Thy heart delighting,

In us, Thy chosen bride.

O! blessed, coming, Saviour,

Then speak the joyous word,

To which our hearts responding,

“Forever with the Lord” -

Forever with Thee, Saviour -

For evermore to be,

In deepest, fullest, blessing -

Forever, one with Thee.

Love Rules All

Could we but see the hand of love that has marked out our way, we would cherish everything that comes to us. Those very hands which send into our lives a distressing circumstance, are the ones that were pierced with the cruel nails on Calvary for us. Is it possible that one who has shed His own Blood for us, could send into our lives that which would cause us harm? No; a thousand times, no! He loves us too much to do such a thing.

Extract: The Glory of God

“We feared the glory of God because of our sins. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God because of our Saviour.”

Without and Afar Off: Part 2

Part 2

In the last issue we saw that the call to go outside of the camp unto Christ, was primarily given to the early Christians in Jerusalem. They had found the better thing in Christianity, and were to leave the mere types and symbols, which in their day had pointed on to Christ, and go out to Him who was now outside of the whole Jewish system.

Now let us refer to our questions in the last issue:

“Can this call to go out, be applied to us?”

“If applied to us, what is its true force and meaning?”

In order to best answer these questions we might ask another -

“Is there now on earth anything that answers to the camp?” Yes, sad to say, there is that which in many respects corresponds to the camp in Israel’s day. It is the vast profession of Christianity. Christianity did not long retain its heavenly character, but became influenced by Judaism, and an earthly religion.

There is no thought in the New Testament of the church of God on earth taking on the ways of the earthly tabernacle. Israel had a religion, God-given as it was, which was suited to man in the flesh. Man did not need a new birth to enjoy or appreciate the magnificence of the temple (Luke 21:5), its wonderful furnishings, the sacrifices, the robed priests, the trained singers, etc. All of these things the natural man could and did enjoy. Christianity never had any of these as given by God. We never read of a Christian temple, but on the contrary, the Lord told the woman in the fourth chapter of John, that there was to be no earthly place of worship now. It was to be worship “in spirit and in truth” which should characterize this time. The early Christians came together in private homes, and while in Troas the Apostle Paul preached on the third floor (See Acts 12:12, 20:5-11; Rom. 16:5).

We read of the Lord and the apostles singing a hymn before they went out on the night of His betrayal, but not one slight mention is made in the New Testament of musical instruments connected with Christian worship. We do get exhortations to singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord, and singing with the understanding in the assembly, but never with the aid of musical instruments. These were proper enough in the past dispensation.

Judaism had priests who stood between the people and God, but the people as a whole could not come near. In true Christianity all saved persons are priests and are fully qualified to approach God direct (1 Peter 2:5). In Hebrews we are exhorted to “draw near.” Yet today, Christendom has set up priests and ministers who are above the people, and has divided the church of God into clergy and laity. This was never the mind of God for those made “nigh by the blood of Christ.”

Yet, today if we look around, we find Christianity housed in fine buildings with their magnificent decorations and ornamentations—all borrowed from the day of types and shadows. We find the best of musical instruments and the finest of talent, supposedly used in the worship of God. The clergy is there and every mark of an earthly religion, but the heavenly character of the Christian has been lost. It is the world and Judaism all mixed up together with Christianity in order to appeal to the natural man.

A man need not be saved to enjoy the fine buildings, services, and oratory found in the professing church. The very truths of God are corrupted and tampered with so that they will be accepted by the majority and suit man as he is. The truth is made palatable, so that memberships can be held.

Furthermore, all kinds of evil have crept into the profession and today every basic truth of God is being denied somewhere in “the camp.” The camp today has become as corrupt or worse than it was in Moses’ day when he placed the tabernacle “without the camp, afar off from the camp.” The Lord Jesus, and the simple truth of a Christian’s heavenly calling are outside of the camp of Christendom today.

Dear fellow-Christian, have you heard the Lord’s call in such a time to

“Go forth unto Him without the camp”?

To enjoy His approval in this day, one must heed that call. The camp on every hand is defiled, and the call to you is to go outside of it. Your Lord is outside and beckons you to come out to where He is. Some have seen the corruptions within the camp, and have decided to separate from everything and walk alone, but this is not what you and I are called to. The call is “unto Him” as well as “without the camp.” There must be a place outside of the camp where the Lord is in the midst, and to that you are called.

In 2nd Timothy when the terrible conditions of the last days are described, the one who would please the Lord is called to separate from the vessels to dishonor. He is called to separation, but it also says to follow “with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” You are not called to walk alone, but when evil abounds you are called to separation. You may have to seek the Lord’s guidance and direction, to find where He is, but the call is plain.

The camp and all that pertains to it, does appeal to the natural man. Each of us has a nature that can be appealed to by beauty, magnificence, music, or oratory; but Christ the Lord who is outside, calls to you and me.

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20).

Some may plead that there are Christians in the camp, and this is readily admitted, but what has that to do with the call of God? Even in Moses’ day when he pitched the tabernacle afar off from the camp, there were some godly Israelites in the camp, and some who prophesied there. There may be godly preachers today in the camp, but if God has called you outside, that is your place. You can leave in the Lord’s hand those who are still in the camp, knowing that He knows them that are His; but your place and mine is not only outside, but by the grace of God, afar off from the camp.

May He grant us grace to keep that distance—not in the spirit of boasting or self-confidence. No, let us hang our heads in shame that we have so little valued our Lord and the place where He is. Let us own how little we have enjoyed and walked worthy of our heavenly calling. Our failures and our feeble response, however, are not grounds for lessening the distance from that which has been corrupt.

It may cost you something to walk with the Lord in true separation. Remember the call in Hebrews adds, “bearing His reproach.” Are you prepared for that? Are you willing to bear a little shame for His Name? The early disciples rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name. Should not the conscious approval of your Lord and Master be sufficient to sustain you in the midst of reproach? Some real Christians may not understand you, and think you are narrow, but ask yourself solemnly whose favor and approval you seek.

Dear young Christian, if God in His grace has called you to that place where the Lord is, outside of the camp, may you seek His help to walk worthy of Him who is there. Furthermore, may you not be enticed back into the camp because of some friends there, or to hear some special man who preaches in the camp. The Lord’s word of exhortation to some who received His approval is:

“Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” (Rev. 3:11).

Value the truth of God, and hold it fast. This would not be said if there were no danger of letting it slip.

(Concluded)

Extract: The Blood of Jesus

The great business of Jesus, the Son, was, by His death, to glorify the Father in justifying the ungodly. It is all-important for the soul really to understand this: that God is perfectly righteous in justifying the ungodly by the blood of Jesus. And that, being thus justified, they are looked at as righteous in the risen Christ. He never takes His eyes off them in Christ.

Blessed Company

I had a conversation with a dear Christian man. Speaking of the love of the Father to him as His child, his face lit up with joy and began to speak in rapturous terms of the Father’s love.

“Some people tell me,” he said, “that I talk too much, but I tell them they are all dumb. Enjoy the Father’s love and not speak about it? Why, I can’t help it. They don’t know the Father’s love, that’s it.

“The doctor came in to see me one day, and he said to me, ‘You are very much alone.’

“‘Alone, doctor,’ I said, ‘why there are four of us; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, and poor me. Isn’t it grand?’”

The dear man’s eyes filled with tears as he thus spoke to me; and he struck his hand on his breast, realizing deep down in his heart the preciousness of the Father’s love.

“If a man love Me, he will keep My Word: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23).

Fellow-believer, “The Father Himself loveth you.” (John 16:27). Whatever trials or difficulties you may have to pass through, this will be a stay to your heart: The blessed Lord came to reveal the Father; and now Christ is risen, it is the joy of each believer to say, “My Father.” It delights His heart to have His children resting in His perfect changeless love.

The Father’s heart, the Father’s love are yours now, and the Father’s house awaits you. The blessed Lord is coming to take us there. What untold glory is in store for us.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself” (John 14:2-3).

Extract: God's Grace

Experimentally to prove God’s grace to be sufficient for us, is more precious than the removal of the thorn in the flesh. Were we only weaker, we should know what it is to be strengthened with might in the inner man. A difficulty is not an obstacle, if we are walking with God.

Correspondence: 1 Cor. 1:25; Lord of Sabbath?; Jude 15

Question: What is meant by the “weakness of God” in 1 Corinthians 1:25?

Answer: The natural mind knows nothing of the things of God. They are foolishness to it. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that perish, but unto us who are saved, it is the power of God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching (the gospel) to save them that believe. It is the power of God, but a stumbling block to the Jews. To the Greeks, foolishness, but unto the called ones, both Jews and Greeks, it was Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. So the gospel is the weakness and the foolishness of God, but it is stronger and wiser than men.

The natural mind talked about it as being weak and foolish, and God’s answer is the 25th verse. God has chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the mighty. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: “That no flesh should glory in His presence.”

Everything is ours in Christ, the despised one. God teaches us to glory only in Him.

“He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

Question: Why does the apostle James use the title “Lord of Sabaoth”?

Answer: James wrote by the Spirit of God to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. He includes unsaved ones in his epistle. Its subject is practical righteousness. In chapter 5:1-6, he is speaking against the wickedness of the rich men who were grinding the faces of the poor (Isa. 3:15), and defrauding their labors, and says their cries of distress under such tyranny, “are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth,” the great “Ruler over all,” Jehovah of Hosts. This is in keeping with the object of the epistle, which contains truth alike applicable to Israel, or the church.

Question: Explain Jude 15.

Answer: This is the judgment of those who are the apostate church, or Christendom, which at the present time includes all kinds, both saved and unsaved. If a man is ungodly, he is a sinner also, but these are emphatically “ungodly sinners,” rebels of deepest dye.

Courtesy of BibleTruthPublishers.com. Most likely this text has not been proofread. Any suggestions for spelling or punctuation corrections would be warmly received. Please email them to: BTPmail@bibletruthpublishers.com.

Young Christian: Volume 34, 1944

Table of Contents

Work Out Your Own Salvation

Extract: Failure

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: 12

Gathered to Thy Name

I … Me … My: Luke 15:29-32

Extract: Where the Lines Fall

A Word to Christian Parents

Not in Vain

Correspondence: Praying for Peace and Prosperity in Jerusalem?

Then I Must Be Saved

Mary Sat at Jesus' Feet

Extract: The Basis for Our Actions

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: 12

How to Keep Clear of the Rocks

The World and Its Politics

Gain to Me

Not Your Own!

Not Ashamed

The Path of Faith

Suited Affections

Correspondence: LUK 14:26; Early/Latter Rain; Healing in Mill.; Gospel Failure?

From Darkness to Light!

Confessing Christ

God Is Love

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: 13

The Church, Which Is His Body

The Mother's Trust

Spoken From the Heart

Availeth Much

Not Your Own

Extract: A Living Christ

Correspondence: Church in Field; ROM 6:3-5 & COL 2:12; Bride/Bridegroom in JOH 3

Faith Before Comprehending

Fragment: The Substance and Style of Service

Three Looks and Their Results: A Look Within - Depressed

A Look Around - Distracted

A Look up - Delighted

The Epistle to the Galatians: Galatians 1:1-9

Ye Must Be Born Again: Part 1

Be Joyful

A Question

Correspondence: MAT 19:24; "Inn"; 7 Spirits; Saints in REV 13:7; Help Meet

The King's Daughter

Extract: The Object and Center of All God's Plans and Purposes

The Epistle to the Galatians: 1:10-2:10

Heathen at Home

Ye Must Be Born Again: Part 2

Fragment: They are Not Lost

Lord, We Shall See Thee as Thou Art

Beloved of God: Romans 1:7

Fragment: Meeting Jesus

Meditation

Correspondence: Acts 2:3 & Mat. 3:11; Rom. 10:6-7; Mat. 16:16-18

Sowing and Reaping

Faithful in That Which Is Least

The Epistle to the Galatians: 2:10-21

The Life of Faith

What a Saviour Jesus Is!

Ye Must Be Born Again: Part 3

The Midnight Cry: Matthew 25

Past, Present and Future

Correspondence: Ark a Type; GEN 8:21-22; Sin(s); MAT 16:28; REV 15; MAT 12:16

What God Did for Me

Ministry Other Than Preaching

Tender Conscience

Extract: Profiting from the World

The Epistle to the Galatians: 3

On Confessing Christ

Extract: Armor and Prayer

Ye Must Be Born Again: Part 4

Lord, What Wilt Thou Have Me to Do?

Correspondence: 1TH 2:12; LUK 22:19 - Command or Request?; LUK 16:9

God Says I Am Saved

Christ as the Morning Star

I Am the Shepherd True

Counsel for Young Christians: Be Like the Bee

The Epistle to the Galatians: 4:1-11

Labor of Love